[CQ-Contest] Distance-Based Scoring

[Alan Dewey via CQ-Contest]

I agree with Ward on this one.  The ARRL CAC looked at distance based scoring in minute detail a while back for ARRL DX and concluded that it was not the way to go.  There were just too many disparities with propagation.  Our recommendations were more along the lines of regional based scoring as suggested below.  Sure one could argue that regional based scoring  waters down the competition and results in too many awards but the reality of the situation is that comparing scores between areas with drastically different propagation to the high mult / highly populated areas of the world also has problems.

73,

Al, K0AD




 
 
-----Original Message-----
From: Ward Silver <hwardsil at gmail.com>
To: cq-contest <cq-contest at contesting.com>
Sent: Tue, May 26, 2015 4:20 pm
Subject: [CQ-Contest] Distance-Based Scoring


In any contest on bands for which there is a skip zone, distance-based 
scoring
will not work.  Imagine how hard it is to work a station on 10 
meters 200
miles away by backscatter compared to, say, 2500 miles away 
by F2 skip. 
Distance-based scoring works on 160 and 80, sometimes it 
would work on 40,
mostly it won't work on 20-10 or 6 meters.  It might 
be worthwhile on 2 meters
and higher-frequency bands.

Nor is there a handicapping system that equalizes
the vagaries of 
propagation between wildly different locations that is not in
itself 
wildly complicated.  Believe me, I've tried over the years to imagine a

system that would actually work.  They would have to be redesigned every

single year and then be adjusted based on propagation during the actual

contest.  Perhaps there's a doctoral thesis or two in there but not a

contest scoring system.

My opinion is that regional-based reporting and
operator comparison 
works a lot better and is actually close to comparing
apples to apples.  
The WRTC qualification systems move in that general
direction although 
for really big regions (Africa, Oceania, etc) there isn't
enough 
granularity to achieve the desired purpose. Think about a sort of RRTC
- 
Regional Radiosport Team Championships.

If we put the amount of energy
spent chasing impossible weighting and 
scoring systems into recognizing the
really great efforts and 
accomplishments among regional peers, it would
benefit everyone. Sponsor 
a regional plaque or a regional competition or
contribute a regional 
writeup to the sponsors or create a regional rating
system - all quite 
doable, costs little, promotes the contest, recognizes good
efforts - 
what's not to like?  Of course, that would require *us* to do
something 
instead of the sponsors :-)

73, Ward
N0AX
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