[CQ-Contest] Be careful what you wish for

[W0MU Mike Fatchett]

Sunday has been bad for years.  Why is this year more special or more 
bad (sk) than other years?

Maybe people can only handle it for so many years before it is no longer 
fun.

We are no different than regular people and there are many many things 
to keep us entertained or busy other than radio.  When things are no 
longer fun, people stop participating.

How do you make SS fun on Sunday?

W0MU


On 11/6/2017 12:16 PM, Jeff Clarke wrote:
> That's nice Kelly but in the end most people just want to have fun and 
> right now Sweepstakes isn't on Sunday. That shows with the lack of 
> activity on Sunday. I can't think of another all-band contest other 
> than Sweepstakes where you can only work a station once?
>
> BTW we don't run out of CA stations to work after sunset. I first went 
> to 20 meters on Saturday at 2145z. Stayed there until about 2210z when 
> I went to 40 meters. I went back to 20 meters at 2339z. Stayed there 
> until 0215z (The band was open all over the country , including CA, 
> from here in GA.) and then back to 40 meters. That's why my 80 meter 
> QSO count was lower than it normally is. I tried 80 later on Saturday 
> night but there wasn't much activity because everyone was on 40 
> meters. My guess is that most of the people who have higher numbers on 
> 80 meters were SO2R and were interleaving QSO's between 80 and 40 meters.
>
> Jeff
>
>
>
> On 11/6/2017 1:29 PM, ve4xt at mymts.net wrote:
>> The main benefit I see from the one-Q per station rule is it 
>> democratizes SS unlike other contests.
>>
>> Here is what leads me to this conclusion: megabuck GA station is 
>> going to work out California on 20 and higher before sunset. Because 
>> of this, his 6/6/6 on 80 (cmon, have a sense of humor) is not as 
>> valuable, so he's primarily left working on 80 what he can't work on 
>> the high bands, just like everyone else.
>>
>> Give him the chance to work all those W6s again on 40 and 80, which 
>> he can do far easier than Joe Lunchbucket with an inverted vee at 50, 
>> and again on 160 with his high dipole, and you've turned SS into a 
>> megabuck-station-only contest like many of the others.
>>
>> SS is unique in how small stations can still do quite well. Much of 
>> that is due to the neutering of multi-element low-band antennas 
>> through the one-q per station rule. I like the fact a good op may 
>> need nothing more than a tribander and shorty-forty on the same tower 
>> to win.
>>
>> I get that Sunday doldrums are a drag, but I'm not sure opening up 
>> this particular rule is the best answer.
>>
>> 73, kelly, ve4xt
>>
>>
>>
>> Sent from my iPad
>>
>>> On Nov 6, 2017, at 10:36, Jeff Clarke <ku8e at ku8e.com> wrote:
>>>
>>> I love CW contests with a passion but I might consider not doing CW 
>>> SS FT anymore.  I took just about all my off time in one stretch 
>>> starting at 0800 Z so I could get a decent nights sleep because I 
>>> dreading operating (BORING) on Sunday. The only thing that kept me 
>>> going was that I needed about 5 multipliers for a sweep. Watching 
>>> football when operating also helped me get thru it ! If it wasn't 
>>> for those things I might have quit early.
>>>
>>> Maybe it's the right time to think about a rules change because it 
>>> isn't  going to get better anytime soon. The declining sunspots will 
>>> make participation decrease even more than it has.  I'm still fairly 
>>> young in my 50's and I'm afraid in 10 years there won't be anyone to 
>>> work in a CW contests. Lots of checks in the 1950's and 1960's. Not 
>>> as many in the 1970's when I was licensed. Very few above the 1990's 
>>> and 2000 +.
>>>
>>>   I know it's been discussed before but maybe it's time to allow a 
>>> QSO with the same station on multiple bands. It would at least make 
>>> SS more fun. Before anyone argues this wouldn't be fair consider 
>>> pretty much the same people win every year because they have a good 
>>> station/antennas and are SO2R experts. Plus most have a geographical 
>>> advantage as well. I will admit I have it a lot better in Georgia 
>>> then I did in Ohio. But not as good as those on the west coast. How 
>>> else could I make almost make 400 QSO's on 20 meters using a dipole 
>>> at 40 feet? Plus when 40 meters goes long it's good for me too 
>>> because the guys north of me can't work each other. That gives me 
>>> somewhat of a captive audience. On the other hand 80 meters isn't as 
>>> good for me as it was in Ohio. Always get beat out when a station 
>>> further away is called by someone closer to them. So no matter the 
>>> advantage you might enjoy it might be offset by someone else's on 
>>> another band.
>>>
>>> I also wish they would make SO2R a separate category because it 
>>> gives someone an advantage similar to SOA.
>>>
>>> Jeff KU8E
>>>
>>> _______________________________________________
>>> CQ-Contest mailing list
>>> CQ-Contest at contesting.com
>>> http://lists.contesting.com/mailman/listinfo/cq-contest
>>
>
> _______________________________________________
> CQ-Contest mailing list
> CQ-Contest at contesting.com
> http://lists.contesting.com/mailman/listinfo/cq-contest