[CQ-Contest] [YCCC] Why ARRL SSB Contest is Not My Favorite

[Dick Green WC1M]

Frank,

Actually, I was the person who suggested the study. I did so for four
reasons: 1) Because I noticed that ARRL DX had fallen to third place in log
submissions behind CQ WW and CQ WPX, 2) Because my fellow ops at KC1XX had
little enthusiasm for the contest and we often had trouble recruiting enough
ops to do a full M/M in ARRL DX, 3) Because I had lost enthusiasm for the
contest myself, and 4) Because CAC morale was deteriorating due to not being
asked to do any meaningful work for a long period of time (a chronic problem
with Advisory Committees, but that's another thread.) I discussed it several
times with the staff member in question, and finally proposed the study to
the PSC at one of their meetings.

Dick

> -----Original Message-----
> From: Frank Fallon [mailto:n2ff at optonline.net]
> Sent: Wednesday, March 06, 2013 3:12 PM
> To: Dick Green WC1M
> Cc: yccc at yccc.org; cq-contest at contesting.com
> Subject: Re: [YCCC] Why ARRL SSB Contest is Not My Favorite
> 
> Dick,
> 
> My memory of that CAC discussion was that it was a staff member at ARRL
> who suggested that CAC look at the issue of the ARRL DX rules to improve
> participation
> 
> I remember seeing graphs showing the levels of participation in contest
> and the WPX and CQWW rules/ format had greater participation.  What I
> see here is that there are fewer DX entities to work in the ARRL DX
> contests.  I was active for 16 hours using telnet on four bands and
> while I had 77 entities on one band I wound up with only 98 entities
> when thee contest ended.  Yes, I had a good number of QSO's, 582 but it
> is not my favorite contest.  I usually manage to break 100 in the CQ
> contests.  I believe the non US hams are simply not interested in
> working only US and Canadian stations for 48 hours no matter what mode.
> It's just not that interesting.  So, I have to agree with Hank - it's
> relatively boring as contest go.
> 
> But having said that, I see no way to improve the contest.  It will
> simply have to remain broken.  When I crave excitement it is the CQWW DX
> contest for me!
> 
> 73 de Frank...N2FF.......
> 
> 
> 
> On 3/6/2013 7:29 PM, Dick Green WC1M wrote:
> > A few years ago, some idiot on the CAC tried to explore the
> possibility of making ARRL DX a more interesting (i.e., fun) contest.
> I'm not talking about radical proposals like distance-based scoring that
> got everyone in a tizzy, but relatively modest changes to make the
> contest more inviting to DX and less boring for US ops. When some of the
> CAC's hypothetical discussions about possible changes were leaked to the
> press, violent reactions from certain members of the contest community
> eliminated any stomach for making changes.
> >
> > The most common argument was, "If it ain't broke, don't fix it."
> > Others rightly pointed out that the current format is very attractive
> > to smaller US stations because "we're the DX". It was also suggested
> > that we don't need to stimulate more US participation (true) and the
> > DX participation is pretty darned good (also true -- I had some of the
> > biggest runs of my contest career in the CW weekend this year.)
> >
> > These are all good arguments, but participation isn't the only measure
> of a good contest. Fun is important, too, and your experience has been
> shared by far too many contesters.
> >
> > 73, Dick WC1M
> >
> >> -----Original Message-----
> >> From: k1vv at comcast.net [mailto:k1vv at comcast.net]
> >> Sent: Tuesday, March 05, 2013 9:25 PM
> >> To: hankkier at aol.com
> >> Cc: yccc at yccc.org; cq-contest at contesting.com
> >> Subject: Re: [YCCC] Why ARRL SSB Contest is Not My Favorite
> >>
> >> Maybe something like stamp collecting ... ?
> >>
> >>
> >> Whitey K1VV
> >>
> >> ----- Original Message -----
> >> From: hankkier at aol.com
> >> To: cq-contest at contesting.com, yccc at yccc.org
> >> Sent: Tuesday, March 5, 2013 6:45:08 PM
> >> Subject: [YCCC] Why ARRL SSB Contest is Not My Favorite
> >>
> >>
> >> 1 - almost impossible to find a run frequency without stepping on
> >> someone's toes, except on 10 meters
> >>
> >> 2 - poor participation numbers by DX
> >>
> >> 3 - reduced # of country multipliers available; probably 25% less
> >> than available in CQWW
> >>
> >> 4 - voicebox can't handle the traffic!
> >>
> >> 5 - keep working the same stations on the same bands that we have
> >> worked countless times before
> >>
> >> 6 - BORING
> >>
> >> Some stats:
> >>
> >> - worked 794 different calls; 1281 total qsos
> >>
> >> - just 133 separate stations (11%) gave me 40% of my total QSOs -
> >> worked those on 3 or more bands - virtually ALL of those stations I
> >> have worked in every contest in which I have made any effort - BORING
> >>
> >> - 2 or more bands, 237 (18%) stations and 60% of the points!
> >>
> >> Need something to increase interest, and participation, of DX
> >> stations _______________________________________________
> >> YCCC Reflector mailto:yccc at contesting.com Yankee Clipper Contest Club
> >> http://www.yccc.org Reflector Info:
> >> http://lists.contesting.com/mailman/listinfo/yccc
> >>
> >
> > _______________________________________________
> > YCCC Reflector mailto:yccc at contesting.com Yankee Clipper Contest Club
> > http://www.yccc.org Reflector Info:
> > http://lists.contesting.com/mailman/listinfo/yccc
> >
> >
> >