Topband: 2004 ARRL 160M Contest

[Tod - ID]

>There is no way a 
>W6 or VE6 can compete with a W1, W2, W3 or W4 in this one if 
>the right coast has decent propagation to EU and other points 
>east.>

My friend Mr. Peterson makes an interesting point which has a fairly
obvious, though unacceptable, solution. Simply make the ARRL 160 meter
contest a one band SS contest with the stipulation that DX stations do not
count as multipliers. While the playing field would hardly be level, it
would curve (Riemannian Space) toward the center of the country and away
from the coasts. Since the ham population of the US is mostly within a
couple of hundred miles of the US coastline such a proposal will not even
get to the ARRL CAC. 

However, in reality, for most folks the ARRL 160 contest is just that -- a
single band, single mode SS in which one works as many US and VE stations as
you can. The addition of the DX multipliers only permits a few major
stations (mostly in the Eastern and Southeastern US) to establish a
difference between themselves.

It is quite possible to adjust scores by dumping the DX multipliers after
the logs have been submitted and get an alternate score for everyone. Since
you are a veteran reporter Ford (this is your second year after all), why
not quietly do that analysis and report what the top 50 stations with each
scoring method might be. My personal opinion is that there will be precious
little change - a good contest operator at a good 160 meter station is going
to work a LOT of people and dropping DX multipliers won't change the ranking
by much.

Tod, KØTO