[CQ-Contest] Is the wpx a prefix test or dx contest?

Thu May 9 10:05:27 EDT 2013

What Rick NQ4I really states is that the WPX contest does not follow their
objective and therefore the rules should be changed.
I checked the WPX rules to see what their exact objective is and this is
what I found: the WPX objective is to work as many amateurs AND prefixes as
possible during the contest period.
Personally I think the above mentioned objective leaves more then enough
room to have a point difference for the higher en lower bands and still be
within the stated objective.
Here in Northern Europe we often hear the Italians en Spanish stations work
tons of DX on the higher band and we are not able to here anything. Should
we therefore change the rules? I think not. No place on earth is exactly
the same. People near the water, especially salt water, have advantages
over amateurs living further from the coast. Amateurs who have a location
on top of a hill have advantages. Amateur living in rural areas have big
advantages over amateurs living in city areas who suffer from
noise polluted bands. Were do we draw the line in trying to level the
playing field?

Now I'm not saying that we shouldn't change anything but like Randy said,
we should look at the bigger picture and take into consideration the
effects of the suggested rule changes in other parts of the world.

73, Maarten PD2R
Operator at PI4DX

Op woensdag 8 mei 2013 schreef Rick Dougherty (rick at nq4i.com) het volgende:

> Hi Bill et al....guess I need to make a few additional comments to defend
> myself...(is that being self serving?)
>
> The historical data I study after each contest consists of skimmer reports,
> signal levels, reverse beacon signal levels and trends, and actual qso
> data.
> For many years it is definately apparent that there is signal level
> differences in Europe on ALL bands when comparing the SE US and the NE
> US....I would like to go one further why not let the WRTC competition have
> some stations set up in Ga, and maybe a few in Ohio, and Minnesota and of
> course a few on the west coast...it is the same country!, So what say?  Any
> reason why it is not even being considered? It would by the reasons I keep
> hearing here, be a fair and level competition.
>
> I wrote the first email to bring to the attention of all  that the WPX
> contest does not follow its stated objectives...the objective being working
> prefixes...the fact that the rules allow different point values is what
> causes the skewed and biased scoring advantages handed to the NE
> US....plain and simple...and then there are those who say take it or leave
> it! Yes it is what it is, but life in full of changes, and we in the
> contesting community need to continue to evolve and change as necessary.
>
> One member of this reflector said I was being self serving...in asking for
> the 3 point value for each contact, that is not self serving..it would
> still take a distance based or bonus value to make my score more
> representative. So in the effort to be self serving, 3 points plus a 50%
> bonus for every contact is what I really want.
>
> Another member of this reflector stated that I simply did not work enough
> 6 pointers on the low bands...duh!!!! I have known for many of the 50 +
> years that I have been contesting that on the low bands my station needs to
> maximize 6 point qso's...you can't work what you cannot hear...unlike a
> single op who spends a few hours on 80, and some time on 40...my operator
> team is sitting on the band every hour it is open, cqing, and responding to
> skimmer spots in hope that a station worth 6 points will call in...my MULT
> station on 80m has a decent 4 square for transmitting and 880 ft
> beverages....any NE station with 60 ft high inverted V can clean our
> clocks...my RUN station on 80m has a 12 element Log Periodic array at 140
> ft...it has 11.6 dbi gain...and a boom length of 225 ft....and we cannot
> run EU hardly ever! Historic data from the reverse beacon network shows 6-8
> db differences between my station and the NE M-M's....there are a number of
> 2nd and 3rd tier EU stations who do not have enough signal level to make it
> past the first hop. Those who do make it to the SE US are down in signal
> level...so there are physically not enough stations who are workable in the
> first place. The well goes dry very early for the SE US. And don't think I
> don't know that W0, W8, W5 and W6's don't have the same problems.
>
> One of the pre contest briefings with the NQ4I team of op's is to make
> every effort to get the 6 pointers.... we leave very little on the table,
> we work every station we can, and we listen extra heard to see if maybe
> there might be another 6 pointer calling down in the noise...
>
> I don't intend to go quietly in the night...I intend to bring the
> in-equity's as I see them up and discuss them...if you think I am whining,
> you got
> another thought coming.
>
> de Rick NQ4I
>
>
>
>
> On Wed, May 8, 2013 at 7:26 AM, <Cqtestk4xs at aol.com <javascript:;>> wrote:
>
> > Never said it was easy from out there, just that it was easier to work
> > three and six pointers from NE than SE.
> >
> > You guys out west get your turns in SS and other domestic contests.
> >
> > 73 Bill
> >
> >
> > In a message dated 5/8/2013 10:54:44 A.M. Coordinated Universal Time,
> > w0mu at w0mu.com <javascript:;> writes:
> >
> > Try it  from Colorado or anywhere further west.
> >
> > Mike W0MU
> >
> > On 5/7/2013  2:25 PM, Cqtestk4xs at aol.com <javascript:;> wrote:
> > > I'm not for changing the rules  but.........
> > >
> > > If one thinks the difference in  propagation relatively minor you
> haven't
> > > operated from both  places.  I had a friend come down from W2 land
> years
> > ago
> > > and  worked in the WAE CW.  He was listening on 80 and wanted to know
> > when
> > > the EU stations got loud.  I told him that was as loud as  they usually
> > get.
> > >
> > > In the winter K1s can run  EU almost 24 hours a day on 40 for CQWW.
> Try
> > > that from  here.
> > >
> > > I'm not saying we don't have advantages,  but we do NOT have pretty
> much
> > the
> > >   same prop as K1  does.
> > >
> > > My previous post summed up SE strategy,  work quantity and not
>  quality.
> > It
> > > worked for me this  year.
> > >
> > > Bill K4XS/KH7XS
> > >
> > > In a message dated 5/7/2013 8:15:54 P.M. Coordinated Universal  Time,
> > > xdavid at cis-broadband.com <javascript:;> writes:
> > >
> > > In  any  case I suspect
> > > that many of us not living on the east coast  find the  distinction
> > > between Georgia and Massachusetts to be  relatively  minor
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-- 
73, Maarten PD2R