[CQ-Contest] NCJ Article RE: Sweepstakes Change Suggestions

[Jim Stahl]

I, too, have not yet received the new NCJ, but I do agree with K3ZJ and N4OGW about the detrimental effects of an earlier time to those on the east coast.

By now we’re too old to have our egos helped or hurt by our SS scores. We’re in it to have fun, which at least to me means making QSOs. And that is why for many years I’ve been doing Single Op, Multi Station in CW SS - operating from more than one place, starting over to become fresh meat one or more times during the contest.

I’ve been fortunate over the years to have had several very good stations available within easy driving distance of one another in Ohio, and now to have a nice waterfront alternative site here in Florida. (Though I may be in Ohio for CW SS this year - our daughter in Cleveland is expecting her first baby on October 20, so we’ll likely be hanging around up north for a bit longer than usual).

I’ve suggested this before, but once again, to make SS fun let everybody who cares to do so to make multiple entries. Do away with the “One Call/One Location” rule. Perhaps include some limits to prevent an “Now stand by while I call you with a few more callsigns” possibility. But make it easy for anyone to become a new station in mid-contest, making it not only fun for that person, but for all the other more traditional full-24 hour guys who will have new people to work on Sunday afternoon and evening.


73  -  Jim   K8MR






> On Mar 14, 2018, at 9:04 AM, RT Clay <rt_clay at bellsouth.net> wrote:
> 
> I haven't received my NCJ yet, but increasing the proportion of daylight hours will further increase the advantage of western or  Carribean (or VY2) stations because of the skip zones on the high bands. Most eastern "tribander" stations actually make most of their Sweepstakes contacts with low 40m or 80m dipoles. I think such a change would make it even less popular to eastern stations.
> 
> Tor
> N4OGW
> 
> --------------------------------------------
> On Tue, 3/13/18, Ken Widelitz <kwidelitz at gmail.com> wrote:
> 
> Subject: [CQ-Contest] NCJ Article RE: Sweepstakes Change Suggestions
> To: cq-contest at contesting.com
> Date: Tuesday, March 13, 2018, 5:48 PM
> 
> The March/April 2018 NCJ has an article by
> Al, K0AD and Bill, W0OR
> suggesting changes to Sweepstakes.
> 
> 
> 
> Al suggests moving the start time up 4
> hours. This makes a lot of sense to
> me. More daylight hours so guys with a
> tribander will  make more contacts.
> Also, perhaps more importantly, East
> Coast SSers won't have to stay up late
> Sunday night suffering the doldrums and
> more will probably operate later on
> Sunday.
> 
> 
> 
> Bill suggests shortening the contest to
> 18 hours. I like that idea but would
> suggest shortening it to 20 hours. Bill
> also suggests a forced off time in
> the middle which doesn't appeal to me
> personally. His last suggestion is to
> allow duplicate QSOs on 10 and 160
> meters. I don't like that at all as it
> makes guys without good 160m antennas
> uncompetitive. As to 10 meters in down
> sunspot cycle years, it will only help
> where there is the occasional
> spotlight propagation and give an
> unfair advantage there.
> 
> 
> 
> Moving up the start time and decreasing
> overall operating time should have a
> positive effect on this contest. Of
> course, getting the NCCC, PVRC and YCCC
> to have a yearly major focus on winning
> the overall gavel is what will help
> the most. A few years ago when they did
> that there were no doldrums Sunday.
> 
> 
> 
> Let the flames begin, and apologies in
> advance to our international list
> members who don't give a hoot about
> SS.
> 
> 
> 
> 73, Ken, K6LA / VY2TT
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
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