[VHFcontesting] cherry picking

[Nate Duehr]

On Dec 15, 2007, at 3:12 PM, Gregg Seidl wrote:

>   To me spending 30 minutes trying to work a rover on 2304 for a  
> grid you
> already have is WAY more fun then working 40 stations on 6 meters  
> during
> that same 30 minutes.If you tell them they can't operate those bands  
> that
> don't "pay" as much they won't and then there won't be as much  
> activity on
> them,is that what we want?Gregg K9KL  where there are more cows then  
> people


This leads into an interesting discussion of STRATEGY, Gregg... which  
is far more interesting than discussion about the rules!

While it may be more "fun" to many of us to make that 30 minute 2304  
contact, if all 40 of those 6m contacts are in different grid squares,  
leaving the points on the table to work the 2304 guy doesn't make any  
sense, if you're serious about competing for points.  6m is always the  
wildcard in VHF contests.

40 Q's in 30 minutes isn't that high of a Q rate for 6m either, when  
its open.  If you can increase your Q speed by working on your  
operating practices and automating as much of your logging as  
possible, you can have your cake and eat it too... work 30-40 of those  
6m contacts in 15 minutes, and spend the rest of the 15 minutes  
allotted for this (obviously arbitrary) scenario working the 2304  
guy.  (4 Q's a minute is my highest unsustained Q rate, and 3 Q's a  
minute is in my logs multiple times in 2006 during the 6m openings.)

Or if the sun is setting and 6m is likely to drop off soon, and the  
2304 you're trying to work is a rover, ask 'em on 2m/70cm how long  
they plan to stay in the grid square.  If they're gonna be there for  
the night... see if they'll make a sked to meet you back on 2304 in an  
hour or two once 6 dies completely.

You have to weigh the benefits of each contact against the  
"opportunity costs" of leaving other contacts unmade and against all  
of the outside factors like band conditions, all the time.  It's great  
mental exercies.

It is a contest after all.

On the flip side, there's absolutely nothing wrong with you doing  
exactly what you said above and wanting to work the 2304 contact.  The  
guy on the other end also has to decide if it's "worth it" to him, too.

I *LOVE* playing these what-if's while driving between grid squares  
and also after the contest while reviewing my logs.  HOW could I have  
done BETTER?  It made 2006 with its huge 6m openings a completely  
different contest than 2007 out here, and THAT's the part that fun to  
me!

--
Nate Duehr, WY0X
nate at natetech.com