[CQ-Contest] Level Playing Field and Geography
Jim Brown
k9yc at audiosystemsgroup.com
Mon May 25 21:02:47 EDT 2015
On Mon,5/25/2015 5:05 PM, Steve Sacco NN4X wrote:
> Perhaps all entries should be graded on a curve? /sarc
A concept I've toyed with is for stations within each geographic region
are assigned a handicap based on how their scores compare to other
scores in the same region. For example, stations in W1 make a logical
region. ARRL sections SNJ, NLI, ENY, NNJ, WDC, DE, and EPA might make
another one. WNY, NNY, WPA, OH, MI, WV, and the ON sections might be
another. Canada east of VE3 another. And so on. A station's final score
in a contest would be adjusted based on a factor proportional to his
score and the average of all scores in his region.
This simple concept (simple now, thanks to computing power) could be
part of leveling the playing field in a lot of contests. The other half
of it is changing the scoring rules so that more stations want to work
each other. This might involved redefining what counts as a multiplier,
or perhaps eliminating multipliers and going to distance-based scoring,
like the Stew Perry.
K6XX, for example, has long suggested counting entities within the
European Union as a single multiplier. Don't like all those lovely EU
multipliers going away? How about call area multipliers for VK and ZL,
and multipliers for JA prefectures?
All of these suggestions are VERY easily implemented with computers that
are on all of our desks. Heck -- I've seen scoring rules changes added
to N1MM Plus in a week! With this sort of change, CQWW actually BECOMES
a WW contest, rather than a party for the privileged class.
73, Jim K9YC
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