[CQ-Contest] ....youth in contesting

[Joe]

I still like the if you're not using it station, let someone else use it.

I still, now 40 years later fondly remember being a Novice in 1976, 
remember running SS as my first contest with a large number of club 
members. It was a blast running legal limit power and tribanders on a 70 
foot tower. especially when you only had a 40 meter dipole at 20 feet 
and one crystal on your DX-40.

Then after seeing how good I and my fellow buddy novice was. we were 
invited to run CQWWCW from a guys station, run his station, Legal limit 
power. 4 ele on 20 5 on 15 and 6 on 10 phased deltas on 40, vertical on 
80, inverted l on 160. never had so much fun!

Joe WB9SBD
Sig
The Original Rolling Ball Clock
Idle Tyme
Idle-Tyme.com
http://www.idle-tyme.com
On 3/26/2016 5:28 PM, Michael Adams wrote:
> While I am reluctant to look like I'm supporting the notion of creating so many categories that everyone is virtually guaranteed to be a winner, I should point out that the introduction of the Rookie overlay (and associated plaque) for CQWW was a surprisingly effective means to motivate me to upgrade my station and stretch my skills the first year it was offered (when I still had about 3 weeks of rookie eligibility left).
>
> I figured it was my best shot at ever getting hardware for one of the big contests.
>
> I think a "Youth TB/Wires" overlay could be an interesting enhancement to some contests, to promote youth activity without necessarily compelling them to feel obliged to drive a superstation.
>
> Alternatively, I could see some fun in a meta-contest based on scores from multiple contests.  Think something like the WRTC qualification process, except spanning only one year, without some of the attempts to normalize scores across entry classes, and maybe a somewhat different set of contests covered.   Throw a rookie or youth overlay on that meta-test, and...?
>
> BTW, while other commitments and a cough have me mostly sitting out WPX this weekend, I did get a kick out of working a 9-year-old YL in Florida Friday evening.  Her exchange number was double mine!
>