J. Edward (Ed) Muns, W0YK, wrote:
>It's a waste of time
>and energy for both the spotter and also the majority of those receiving the
>spots [to include the Multiplier]. Furthermore, it is irrelevant information.
>
>
Not to those whose primary interest in watching the cluster is attaining
a "clean sweep".
>Assuming most operators are trying to maximize their score,
>
Not sure that's a valid assumption for "most operators [legally]
watching the cluster". While some percentage of the Unlimited entries
meets your assumption, most of the casual entrants may not be
particularly concerned about maximizing their score. I heard a lot of
"Unlimited" entrants on Sunday afternoon that were giving out very low
serial numbers -- leading me to suggest that it was unimportant to them
whether their packet cluster was on or not.
>There are undoubtedly a few operators who are not pursuing a score at all
>but only want to work a Sweep.
>
Beeeeeeeeeep! *Few?* Trying to get a clean sweep has been great sport
for decades for many who are otherwise unwilling, unable, or
uninterested in going for total score. For instance, back before there
was a cluster, we used to compete around Central NY in seeing who could
work all sections with the fewest total QSOs!
I agree that one *possible* use of the cluster spots is to fill an S&P
bandmap, but I, for one, would be more inclined to use it to find
missing or known-to-be-rare multipliers.
Actually, I have trouble envisioning using it in a single-op environment
for *any* purpose. For me, the whole fun of a contest like SS is
pulling calls (and mults) out of the ether, not the CRT. (Although, as
I get older and my eyes get worse, it's getting harder and harder to
pull them out of the CRT....)
Bud, W2RU
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