[VHFcontesting] Yes -- Please Move the January Contest

Tue Jan 29 09:56:42 EST 2013

I personally think the time change may be the best and easiest solution.
The objective is to get more people to operate, and operate longer.
By starting earlier in the day (both east and west coast), there's less of a chance of getting dragged away by other commitments and when that does happen, you may have already logged 4 hours in the contest.
The jury is still out on the FM experiment. I spent time but really didn't log any q's
On the opposite end, a hard-core VHF'er will stay to the very end (11PM EST). Most bail out much earlier. I feel that the numbers would trend upward by moving the start/finish times earlier.
For this station, January is mainly a local contest with occasional, blessed, band opening on 6M. More stations on means more opportunities to make Q's.
Regardless of if any action is taken, making the contest more available to people who want to operate should be the objective. Football and other contest will always conflict. Its just something that we have to deal with.
Thanks for the q's. Everything ran great in the contest. Looking forward to the spring sprints.
73,
Paul,KE1LIFN41AU345'ASL
--- On Tue, 1/29/13, w8zn at comcast.net <w8zn at comcast.net> wrote:

From: w8zn at comcast.net <w8zn at comcast.net>
Subject: Re: [VHFcontesting] Yes -- Please Move the January Contest
To: "VHF Contesting Reflector" <vhfcontesting at contesting.com>
Date: Tuesday, January 29, 2013, 9:36 AM

So instead of changing the contest date, just change the time. 0000z Saturday until 1700z Sunday. This fixes a couple of things. It give two mornings for tropo and the contest is over before the football games start. Yes, it's a bit longer but look at the HF tests that are 48 hours!

Terry - W8ZN

----- Original Message -----
From: Zack Widup <w9sz.zack at gmail.com>
To: VHF Contesting Reflector <vhfcontesting at contesting.com>
Sent: Tue, 29 Jan 2013 14:24:49 -0000 (UTC)
Subject: Re: [VHFcontesting] Yes -- Please Move the January Contest

It seems I always have other things going on just about every weekend
anymore, so it doesn't much matter to me. I work around them. It could
even be ON Superbowl Sunday for all I care.

I have been an entrant in almost all VHF contests as a Single-Op (QRP)
Portable including the January contest. Sometimes that takes some
doing around here. Not always. I've set up and taken down my antennas
in ice storms and blizzards. But a couple years ago it was sunny and
in the 40's that January weekend.

This last January contest I had some other commitments on Saturday. I
wanted to set up and participate on Sunday. We had a horrendous wind
on Saturday night and Sunday morning. I went to the hill where I've
operated lately (an hour from home) and the wind gusts were hitting 50
mph with wind chill probably in the minus 20's. I couldn't even get
the antennas up so I just went back home where it was warm. Hopefully
next year is better.

73, Zack W9SZ

On 1/29/13, Paul Kiesel <k7cw at yahoo.com> wrote:
> If we could get ARRL to change the date, I would vote for the 1st weekend. I
> think there is less than a zero-point-one percent chance of that occurring,
> though. I think they won't change the hours, either.
>
> I hate to say it, but it looks like this is going to boil down to whether a
> person wants to contest in a VHF contest in January, period - as opposed to
> whether the football games are a stronger draw for attention.  I think there
> might be different levels of interest in the various areas of the country.
> In the Pacific Northwest, we had a fairly decent turnout for the January
> contest. Guys who participate in the contest will watch a football game and
> then come back on the air if they want to watch the game. Out here, I don't
> believe the football games affect participation in the VHF contest that much
> - and I suspect the same may be true in other areas of the country.
>
> Paul, K7CW
>
>
> ________________________________
>  From: Marshall-K5QE <k5qe at k5qe.com>
> To:
> Cc: vhfcontesting at contesting.com
> Sent: Monday, January 28, 2013 8:08 PM
> Subject: Re: [VHFcontesting] Yes -- Please Move the January Contest
>
> Hello Tom and everyone else interested in this topic.....
>
> After reading all the posts on this topic and some private posts to me, the
> following two topics seem to be the most discussed. Most of the posts seem
> to be circling around these two objectives:
> 1)Make every effort to insure that there is 6M Es during the Jan contest
> and
> 2)Engineer the contest so that the various football games don't interfere.
>
> How to accomplish these two objectives is the question.  As Tom has pointed
> out, there is an HF contest every weekend.  However, IF we moved the Jan VHF
> contest to the FIRST weekend in January, the contest would fall in the
> Winter Es season.  The chance of good Es in the Jan contest would be a great
> contest incentive....more contacts, more grids.  What a deal!!  We then
> would be opposite the ARRL RTTY contest.  I don't know how big that contest
> really is AND I don't know how many VHF ops would be torn between the VHF
> contest and the RTTY contest(I do know one).
>
> It seems to me that the RTTY contest is less competition than NAQP or the CQ
> 160M contest.  I know that there are several VHF ops that are quite nutty
> about 160M.  So, the RTTY contest looks to me like the "lesser of evils".
>
> Someone will point out that there are football games on the first weekend in
> Jan.  Assuming that is correct, is there any way to engineer the contest to
> avoid the football games completely? Frankly, I don't know.  After trying to
> understand the NFL's scheduling my head is spinning and pounding at the same
> time.  It appears that the first weekend in Jan is when the wild card games
> are played....one on Sat and one on Sun.  So, this is doubly bad....two
> football games to try to avoid.  However, the significance of these games is
> much less than the later games, so maybe we would not see a huge effect from
> them.  Still, two games are twice as obnoxious as one game.
>
> I have been convinced that my previous idea of a longer contest with breaks,
> but on the same weekend, is not overly bright.  I must have been smoking the
> "funny weed" when I came up with that particular idea.  I was trying to find
> a way to keep the football game from hurting us.  Hopefully, some better
> idea(s) will surface.
>
> Herb has told us that the ARRL will not listen to anything we have to say.
> If I understand his points, they are A)that the VHF contest has been held on
> the third weekend for decades and therefore cannot be moved and B)we are not
> HFers so we don't have the numbers and hence the Grand Poobahs in Newington
> are not interested in us.  Unfortunately, he is most probably correct. The
> ARRL is not noted for careful coordination with its stakeholders.
>
> IF we are stuck with the third weekend date, then is there any way to avoid
> the football game??  When does this football game begin??  Not the pre-game
> blather, but the real game??  Let us assume that it starts at 7PM EST(0000Z
> on Monday).  We could start the contest at 9AM EST(=1400Z) and end it at 6PM
> on Sunday(=2300Z).  If I did my times right(which I often don't), then that
> would be the same 33 hours of contesting time.  The rovers would not have to
> be out two nights....actually it would be good for the rovers to be able to
> get in earlier on Sunday--especially in the January weather.  This idea does
> not change the date of the contest, it just changes the start and stop times
> to avoid the football game.
>
> Does any of this work??  Your ideas are most appreciated.....by me and by
> the others interested in this topic.
>
> 73 Marshall K5QE
>
>
> On 1/28/2013 6:18 PM, Tom Haavisto wrote:
>> I am a relative newbie to VHF contesting, so no problem moving it as far
>> as I am concerned.
>>
>> HOWEVER - take a look at the contest calender.
>>
>> First weekend - ARRL RTTY Roundup
>> Second weekend - ARRL NAQP CW
>> Third weekend - ARRL NAQP SSB
>> Fourth weekend - CQ 160 CW
>>
>> Keeping in it January means sharing with a major contest.  Making it the
>> fourth weekend means sharing with the CQ 160 contest, and I think the hard
>> core contesters have already shown where their loyalties lie.
>>
>> I don't follow professional sports - I prefer RADIO sport :-)
>>
>> Tom - VE3CX
>>
>>
>
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