[CQ-Contest] Level Playing Field and Geography

[steve.root at culligan4water.com]

Distance has very little to do with difficulty. Propagation is all about North and South. People southwest of me have much better propagation to Europe than I do even though I'm "closer". By the same token, folks in 4 land enjoy vastly better propagation to Asia than I'll ever experience. Distance based scoring wouldn't help me in the least.

The ONLY thing that "levels the playing field" is recognition of superior efforts in limited geographical areas. I doubt the sponsors of most contests, especially CQ, even consider such things. Hence the dismissive "participant" label as opposed to "competitor". 

73 Steve K0SR