Topband: Stew Perry TBDC changes being considered

[Jim Monahan]

I would not be in favor of such a change for the following reasons:

While conditions may have been better this past October then December,
in my 20 years of Topband operations, this is not usually the case.

And, conditions in some areas may not necessarily be the same in
other areas of the world.

Conditions traditionally are best from mid-December to the end of
February based on my observations.

Noise levels are generally the least during these winter months.

At 43N where I live, there is two hours less darkness that week in October then
in the traditional event dates in December.

That is about 13 hours of darkness in October and 15 in December during
the third weekend.

As I'm sure you know, most participants reside in the northern temperate
zone of the USA and Europe.

For my own sake, foliage does not disperse until the middle of November.
With my antennas in the woods, there is considerable degradation in performance
until the leaves fall.

While that is my own personal situation, that might apply to others as well.

I wouldn't be able to participate during an October time period.

The CQWW CW is the same weekend as Thanksgiving and people seem to
work around that quite effectively.

While Christmas may have other considerations, I believe the current dates
just before or after Christmas are best.

My observation is that the contest is enjoying a continuous growth over the
last 11 years.

It fits "nicely" about a month apart from the ARRL 160, CQ160CW and CQ160SSB
respectively.

Each weekend is full of contests, it seems, so finding one that works best for
everyone would be, I suspect, nearly impossible.

Since some people like to complain, I doubt you can find a weekend that everyone
will be pleased with.

However, I'm sure you have to consider what is best overall. It will be interesting
to see what you come up with.

Good luck!

Jim, K1PX

K1PX at msn.com<about:blank>