[UK-CONTEST] How many people go contesting?

[Steve Reed]

Another source of data for "active band users" are cluster spots.  As a test
I downloaded all spots of G3 stations for 2007 from DX summit, stripped off
/P /M and similar suffixes, removed the odd "test" callsigns (e.g. G3XXX)
and dumped the records into a database for analysis. Result:

3741 records
504 unique callsigns
259 calls with more than 1 spot
113 calls with 5 or more spots
4 calls with 100 or more spots

Clearly some of the callsigns spotted only once will be busted.

I would expect the list of callsigns would include most G3 active band users
- obviously contesters and Dxers, but a casual look through the data shows
spots on all bands from VLF to GHz, and for QRP, Digital modes, EME, etc,
etc.  Probably the only significant category of active band user not well
represented are the local rag-chew merchants - although even they are
sometimes spotted! 

Didn't take very long to do this, but extending the exercise for all G calls
would take a while.  Would it be worth it?  Would such data help in any
useful way to working out overall levels of activity to compare with
contest-only sources such as logs, contest results or supercheck databases?

Steve, G0AEV
 

-----Original Message-----
From: uk-contest-bounces at contesting.com
[mailto:uk-contest-bounces at contesting.com] On Behalf Of Peter Hobbs
Sent: 30 June 2008 22:04
To: UK Contest reflector; Bob G3PJT
Subject: Re: [UK-CONTEST] How many people go contesting?

A poll of the RSGB QSL sub-managers would be a starting point.  They get 
some cards for everyone who's even modestly active (as opposed to the 
Sunday morning brigade), whether they bother to collect them or not and so 
wouldn't be too self-selecting.
73
Peter G3LET

----- Original Message ----- 
From: "Bob G3PJT" <g3pjt at btinternet.com>
To: "Roger G3SXW" <g3sxw at btinternet.com>
Cc: "UIK-Contest" <UK-Contest at contesting.com>
Sent: Monday, June 30, 2008 10:07 PM
Subject: Re: [UK-CONTEST] How many people go contesting?


> Yes Roger but to make such comparisons one has to start with estimates.
> To get the UK number of contesters is reasonably straightforward since I
> guess that you only have to look at the big contest logs eg IOTA CQWW
> and that will get most of them. For my purpose the difficult bit is
> getting an estimate of the non-contesters who are active in the UK
> amateur population. As you say this is a sum of minority interests of
> which the casual chatterers are the most difficult to estimate. And
> there are the inevitable overlaps. However I think it is worth a bit of
> effort to work it out.
>
> 73 Bob G3PJT
>
> Roger G3SXW wrote:
>> Bob,
>> We have many sub-hobbies so I believe that it is *relative* size of
>> population rather than actual size which matters. In other words there
>> are x times more contesters than ATVers, y times more than ARDFers,
>> etc. I think we all know that contesters are one of the biggest on-air
>> sub-groups.
>>
>> I doubt that there is any way to make valid quantifications. If all
>> RSGB contest logs could be dumped into one central data-base then you
>> could see how many unique call-signs are present. The adjudicators
>> would have to remove Busted calls first, and presumably single
>> instances might be discounted, only designating a contester as such if
>> he joins in (makes QSOs, not sends in logs) say minimum three contests
>> per year.
>>
>> Just for comparison CQ World-Wide attracts some 30,000 different
>> contesters to join in on the air each year (both modes, but with
>> Busted calls removed).
>> Cheers - 73 de Roger/G3SXW.
>>
>>
>>
>>
>> ----- Original Message ----- From: "Bob G3PJT" <g3pjt at btinternet.com>
>> To: "UK Contest" <uk-contest at contesting.com>
>> Sent: Monday, June 30, 2008 6:05 PM
>> Subject: [UK-CONTEST] How many people go contesting?
>>
>>
>>> Hi
>>>
>>> I was told over the weekend that ,
>>>
>>> ' only 10% of the readership of RadCom go contesting' , with the
>>> implication that not much attention should be given to contesting.
>>>
>>> As that 10% would be 2500 amateurs it seems to me that this might be 80%
>>> of the truly active radio amateurs in the RSGB, active in the most
>>> general sense..
>>>
>>> Anybody got any ideas as to how many RSGB members actually use our
>>> spectrum on a regular basis?
>>>
>>> Or can you suggest a way I might estimate it?
>>>
>>> 73 Bob G3PJT
>>> _______________________________________________
>>> UK-Contest mailing list
>>> UK-Contest at contesting.com
>>> http://lists.contesting.com/mailman/listinfo/uk-contest
>>
>>
> _______________________________________________
> UK-Contest mailing list
> UK-Contest at contesting.com
> http://lists.contesting.com/mailman/listinfo/uk-contest
>


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