Topband: re: [CQ-Contest] 2003 CQ 160 Change Coming

[Tom Rauch]

> >"Starting with 2003 the CQ 160 Contests will be changed to
> >48-hour contests to conform with most other worldwide contests.  The
> >starting time will be 0000Z on Saturday and the ending time 2359Z on
> >Sunday.  
> 
> The proposal laid out by W4ZV means that the contest doesn't start for
> us on the east coast until 2 hours after sunset (8 hours for
> Europeans) and it means that we now have to operate single band
> contest 3 nights instead of just two.  The Europeans would operate 1/2
> night on Saturday morning, Full night Saturday night, and 1/2 night on
> Sunday.
> 
> Am I the only one that thinks this is a really stupid idea?

No, it sure sounds foolish to me!! I don't know what is behind the 
idea, but it means exactly what you say. Now many people will 
have to operate three nights, with fewer rewards in QSO's.

So now we have mandated periods of no operation and three 
evenings that must be worked. Not a good idea at all! 
 
> This is smarter: 
> ---------------- 
> The contest starts 1 hour before local sunset on Friday and ends 1
> hour after local sunrise on Sunday.  The contest starts for everyone
> when the band is open and ends when the band is closed.

As long as the total hours are limited, that makes much better 
sense.
73, Tom W8JI
W8JI@contesting.com