[CQ-Contest] Level Playing Field and Geography

[W0MU]

K1ZZ won SO Unilimited HP

On 5/25/2015 8:22 PM, john at kk9a.com wrote:
> What about the Sweepstakes contests?  I have not read any complaints about
> the lack of high scores from the Atlantic/East Coast.
>
>
> Top five SO for 2014 CW
> N9RV	            232,898
> W7RN (N6TV, op)   224,930
> N2IC/5            213,974
> N2NT (N2NC, op)	212,148
> NR5M (K5GA, op)   210,156
>
> Top five SO for 2014 SSB
> W7WA	            369,018		
> N9RV (K5TR, op)	351,256
> K5TA           	332,332
> K6NA (N6ED, op)	325,028
> AA5B	            308,594
>
>
> 73,
> John KK9A
>
>
> To:	cq-contest at contesting.com
> Subject:	[CQ-Contest] Level Playing Field and Geography
> From:	Jim Brown <k9yc at audiosystemsgroup.com>
> Reply-to:	k9yc at arrl.net
> Date:	Mon, 25 May 2015 12:24:18 -0700
>
> On Mon,5/25/2015 10:57 AM, W0MU wrote:
> In 30 years how many times has that happened? In 30 years what is the
> percentage of Atlantic/East Coast winners compared to the rest of the field.
> I suspect these numbers strongly favor the East Coast/Atlantic region.
>
>  From Steve's website:
>
> I've operated FD QRP with a tribander and low dipoles from a 5,000 ft peak
> near Monterey, CA. I could hold a run frequency for most of FD on CW, and
> had rates around 70/hour at the end of the contest! It's like stealing candy
> from a baby. In Steve's case, it's like being at least 1,500 miles closer to
> whoever you're trying to work.
>
> Yes, Steve's a great op, but his QTH is worth a lot. Another great op, Trey,
> N5KO, turns in winning scores for domestic contests from a similar site (see
> W6NL) at the edge of Silicon Valley. When I lived in Chicago, anyone
> operating there was much louder than anyone from W6.
>
> Someone (Randy or Doug?) did an excellent presentation to CTU in Dayton this
> year that I watched online. In it, he showed all the entries for CQWW
> plotted as dots on a world map. The greater the distance from the Atlantic
> Basin, the fewer the number of dots.
>
> That map is powerful support for my thesis that the current scoring rules
> are bad for contesting, because they discourage participation by anyone
> outside the Atlantic Basin. Look at W6 as compared to the East Coast.
> California is 12% of the US population. I'd bet that fewer than 1% of US
> entries in CQWW are from W6.
>
> Look at VK/ZL -- population 8% of US. Look at Asia. Even more telling --
> look at the writeup in CQ. Top scores are listed by US, by EU, and "World."
> Why no listings for SA? For OC? For AS? For AF? The answer is simple --
> they're not in the "old boys' club that makes the scoring rules! Why do
> stations in PJ, P4, etc. not bother to try to work SA (and stations in AF
> not bother to work AF)? Simple -- it's a 1 point Q, while the rest of the
> world is 3 points and has a lot more mults, and you've got to turn your beam
> to work them.
>
> The scoring rules define the contest. For major DX contests, they are badly
> broken.
>
> 73, Jim K9YC
>
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