[VHFcontesting] Re: Limited Multi Class

[Bill Olson]

Hi Clarke and all, Yikes, this subject is sure bringing folks out of the 
woodwork. That is good i think. Here are some things to mull over.

1. Is the reason there is a decline in contest activity because the "playing 
field" is not level???? I don't think so. Look back in old QST's at contest 
results. There were TWO entr
ant categories: Single op, Multiop. And multipliers were arrl sections.. not 
grids. That is about as unequal a playing field as we have ever had, yet 
there was a LOT of activity. Maybe participation is declining because the 
ham population is declining or at least the ham population interested in 
this stuff. Plus there are a LOT more things to do these days!!

2. Does giving increased value for qso-distance help level the playing 
field?? At first glance it does. Heck, a 500 mile QSO should certainly be 
worth more than a 5 mile one! But as Clarke says, going to grid squares did 
not make for scoring equity. I was around before and after and I remember 
(living in FN20 at the time(!)) thinking that when grid multiplier started 
my score was going to go down relative to other stations in more remote 
locations (I was a very "competitive" person at that time...). But this did 
not happen. In fact I think grid squares actually made the situation less 
eqitable. The east coast stations had a whole lot more multipliers available 
to multiply their large qso total by. While I haven't studied this situation 
and should probably not pretend like i know, here's my gut feeling look at 
the "distance-multiplier" situation: Take a big unlimited multiop in West 
Virginia (let's say) and one in Wyoming, dead band both places. The station 
in WV can work every station in every grid within 500 miles and the big 
stations up to 800 miles away on 8 or 9 bands. To the north and south the WV 
station works all the grids on the East coast because there are stations in 
all of them. To the west it's a bit iffier but with rovers probably most 
grids available. The WY station has the same power antennas and bands as the 
WV station, but a much lower population density. That station works a third 
of the grids to the west and maybe half in other directions. So the 
population density which would seem to only affect qso total affects the 
multiplier as well (same thing that happened with the change to grid 
squares). This could certainly be changed with rover stations, but my 
experience with rovers is you often miss them when they are in the grid that 
you really need. They show up and disappear. That is the nature of roving. 
But then that is a different story... Anyway, maybe the distance-multiplier 
thing levels the playing field somewhat, but I'm not sure it makes the 
western stations able to compete heads-up with the eastern ones. I will say 
that the "graduated grid square value" that Clarke offers is better than 
having every contact be worth a value based on its distance. In the east 
there are more contacts, both short and long so the eastern scores will 
always be higher. But I guess just plain "trying it" is the only way to know 
if something really helps the situation. I'm OK with that. What the heck....

3. If there are too many different categories (I am suprised at how many 
different ones there are now!) there comes a point when there aren't enough 
entrants in each category for a meaningful competition. I'm not saying there 
are too many categories now, but we have to be careful. Winning first place 
out of ONE is not much of a victory!

4. I have no idea what to make of the HSCW thing, either. I like hearing the 
other guy too, but then I am an old-fashioned guy... This really does need 
to be studied.

5. Why do we do this? (Or as Clarke says, "What is the point of the 
contest?") By reading some of the comments I would guess for some it is to 
"WIN". Well, heck, it IS a contest, a "competition" so that's the point on 
some level. But i have entered many many VHF contests in the forty-some 
years I have been doing this, and most of them I never had a snowball's 
chance in hell of winning!! I certainly didn't enter to WIN. I entered to 
have fun, work a few new states or sections or whatever, get some new gear 
working, check out some new antennas, talk with my buddies (if only 
briefly), and maybe on competitive level see if i could beat out the guy 
that beat me by 200 points the year before, or move from 12th place in the 
New Hampshire section  to 11th... These days I go out roving in Northern New 
England with 4 bands sometimes. I do not "win"! I'm just thinking of myself 
here now, but I just DON'T REQUIRE A "LEVEL PLAYING FIELD" TO HAVE FUN or to 
want to enter the contest!!

Blah blah.

Changing the rules so everyone will be happy is a lot of work (and, of 
course, totally impossible). So before we do this, let's look at the bigger 
picture. Things need to be brought up to date, but i don't think everyone 
will ever have an equal chance to win.

That's all I have to say and i'm gonna go be quiet now.

Seeya all on in less than 2 weeks from K1WHS!!! (unlimited multiop 50MHz 
thru 24GHz from *Maine* - we will do our best from our skinny little "corner 
of the country"!!)

bill, K1DY







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