First: there is _no way_ to handicap scoring to balance entries in a DX
contest by region - propagation is different every year, and greatly
different across the sunspot cycle. A formula that might seem fair one
year would be completly wrong the next.
What _can_ be equalized is the reporting of scores in the magazines - it's
just a matter of deciding how to do it without too much increase in the
space used. Wherever I've been, one of the main goals in a contest has been
to make "the box" - the band breakdown box.
Why not break that into 5 regions and report the top two S/O scores in each
region? Most years, the only people who would lose out would be the
3rd through 10th place finishers in the Northeast. Whose to say that
the person who finished 5th in W1 is more deserving of the recognition
of being in the box than the person who won the west coast or the Black
Hole? The top ten by scores could still be overall within the US - that
wouldn't bother me.
For M/S, maybe the top score in each region, plus the 1 or 2 next best
regardless of region. M/M might stay as is, or some exception might be
made to include a substantial effort from a region with poor propagation.
Any other ideas?
Ron, WA6DGX
debry@sb.fsu.edu
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