[CQ-Contest] CQWW and other contests

[Rick Dougherty NQ4I]

I have been competing in the CQWW contests since 1983...in all those years
I have won only 2 times..once as MS and once as M2...I NEVER could win as
MM because of the disadvantage I had living in Georgia...my best effort was
a score 0f 27 Mil and it neted me a third place result...from Ga, it is
damn near impossible to even compete against a station in Va...also in the
SE US and in zone 5...after 30 years of trying and don't get me wrong here,
I have built a pretty big contest station...bigger antennas do not make up
for the propagation differences...I and my op's have listened in ll of the
contests to the NE us stations running EU on 20m in the day time and we
can't even hear who they are working...distance based scoring will not make
up for the disadvantages!

Because of these huge discreepancies, I have closed down my MM conteswt
station and downsized to a SO2R station..still not competitive with a SO2R
station in the nE US...my towers are coming down...my antennas are for
sale, and radios are being sold off...it is not from trying..it is not from
having great operators...it is not from being motivated ...it is strictly
from having such a disadvantage in the competition....If I win a plaque, it
is only because someone in W1, W2 or W3 does not get on in the category I
chose...

So this is my final set of comments here on CQ Conmtest...I am planning to
discontinue my subscription to this list, I plan to offer the station to
SO2R op's who wish to compete, but WILL never have a chance to win
outright!!

Farewell to all,

de Rick NQ4I