Is WPX an international or domestic contest?
I agree with SM2EKM, changing intra-country contacts to 1 point will
make the contest a domestic competition for the US.
The change certainly won't benifit Australian contesters and I bet it
won't benifit most other countries either. The only clear winner from
this change is the US.
IMHO the change does nothing for promoting international contacts, which
should be one of the goals of a worldwide competition.
If you feel the primary focus of the contest is working prefixes, then
you probably don't care whether your working DX or local stations.
However for me, the World Prefix Contest is about working DX prefixes
not about working the ham down the street.
There are plenty of domestic contests, like the ARRL Sweepstakes, where you
can receive points for working your next door neighbor - if that's what you
want to do. If this is supposed to be an international contest, then the
rules (including points, number of hours on the air, etc) should encourage
DX QSOs and to some extent discourage local contacts.
Maybe a compromise worth considering is to increase the point
value for DX contacts to 5 points, as suggested by Ernesto (LU6BEG),
to offset the 1 point for intra-country contacts.
73, Jim VK1FF/WB2FFY
Internet Email: VK1FF@contesting.com
Amateur Radio Packet: VK1FF@VK1KCM.ACT.AUS.OC
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