I'll second what Kelly has to say. DX propagation is slightly better in St.
Paul than in Winnipeg, but it's still very difficult from here. For that
reason, domestic contests attract more participation from this part of North
America. Any proposed changes to contest rules that make it into another DX
contest would be very unpopular in my neck of the woods.
Along the same lines, any domestic contest that includes 10 and 15 meters is
tough from here. With the exception of the peak sunspot years, all we are
going to get is a little bit of N/S propagation. In an NAQP, that puts us
several hundred QSO's behind in the first few hours. And as others have
pointed out, it's not possible to make that up later in the contest on the
low bands. The average Ham (if there is such a thing) probably has some
type of tribander on the roof, and low wires for 40 and 80. They probably
don't have anything resembling a real 160 meter antenna. This means that
they are reasonable effective on 10 and 15 meters, less so on 20 meters, and
are poorly equipped on 40, 80, and 160. They may limit their participation
only to the bands where they "get out". If you are in that magic one-hop
skip distance (AZ, NM, TX, etc.) then you can really make hay on the high
bands. If you're farther away it's tougher. If you're too close, it is
frequently impossible. If you're close (8 land, 9 land, 4 land) to these
guys, you can work them on the low bands. otherwise it's tough to either
hear them or get their attention. I still think the best attitude to have
is to define your LOCAL competition and see how you stack up against them,
and stop worrying about WP3R or ZF2NT. And have some fun!
See you all in Sprint, and I hope the skip on 20 is short this year :-)
73 Steve K0SR
----- Original Message -----
From: Kelly Taylor <ve4xt@mb.sympatico.ca>
To: Stuart Santelmann KC1F <kc1f@adelphia.net>; Leigh S. Jones
<kr6x@kr6x.com>; <CQ-Contest@contesting.com>
Sent: Sunday, January 25, 2004 7:34 PM
Subject: Re: [CQ-Contest]re: NAQP and the (midwest)(south)east coast
> I think what we're seeing here is the typical disparity of opinions
between
> those who can easily work DX and those who cannot. For some, DX QSOs comes
> as easily or easier than domestic QSOs do for others. So of course those
> folk would like to be able to work DX in domestics.
>
> A DX contest is not as fun from here as a domestic contest and from a
place
> like ND, a DX test is even worse. At least we can work Americans for
credit:
> from ND, Americans are all zeroes (points, that is) and DX just is NOT as
> readily accessible as it is from almost any location closer to an ocean,
> preferably the Atlantic, but West Coasters do get a lot more DX than we
do,
> even if they still feel disadvantaged against the East Coasters.
>
> But the truth is, from even southern Ontario (in southern Ontario terms,
> central Canada -- go figure), the layers of DX that are available that
> simply aren't available here are amazing (and depressing). Often,
> particularly during periods of low sunspots, we can only hear the first
tier
> of stations: lower tiers are just background noise. We'll see DX spots
from
> West Coasters working into Asia on 10 at times we can't even hear the West
> Coast, never mind Asia. And from the East Coast, Europe is open for
business
> hours before it is here, and when it is open here, it's nowhere near as
> fruitful as it is for East Coasters, so there's a double disadvantage. So
> you start on Europe hundreds of Qs behind stations still working at a
higher
> rate than you'd ever be able to, no matter how good an op you are.
>
> This is not to complain, merely to explain why some of us want domestic
> contests left alone. It's possible to win NAQP or SS (as VE4GV and VE4VV
> have proven) from here. Nobody will win a DX contest from here. You could
> staff a 10-tower station with all the K1ARs, N5KOs, N6TRs, K1TOs, ZF2NTs
and
> K1DGs you want: give them 10/10/10/10/10s on all bands, Mark Vs and Alphas
> at each position AND put a trillion dollars up for challenge and you still
> will not win from here.
>
> If you're in a position where DX comes easily, be thankful. Enjoy the DX
> contests with our blessings. But please, don't turn fun domestic contests
> into more dreary battles against things we have no control over. Let us
have
> at least some fun, OK?
>
> The intrinsic disadvantages to working DX contests from here, truthfully,
> limits enthusiasm for them among VE4s. Bringing those same disadvantages
to
> otherwise interesting domestic contests might just vaporize contesting
> enthusiasm from here altogether. And then how would you ever get a Sweep
> again?
>
> 73, kelly
> ve4xt
>
> ----- Original Message -----
> From: "Stuart Santelmann KC1F" <kc1f@adelphia.net>
> To: "Leigh S. Jones" <kr6x@kr6x.com>; <CQ-Contest@contesting.com>
> Sent: Saturday, January 24, 2004 5:41 PM
> Subject: Re: [CQ-Contest]re: NAQP and the (midwest)(south)east coast
>
>
> >
> > > And, I'd have to point out that the reason that so many west
> > > coast superstations and superb operators show up in an
> > > NAQP contest is because remarkably few contests are
> > > pleasant these days from the west coast. For many top
> > > west coast operators, DX contests must be operated from
> > > DX locations to be any fun. When I say this, read "for
> > > example, ZF2NT". The rare chance to get on the air and
> > > compete on an equal footing with the rest of the country
> > > brings top western stations out of the woodwork these
> > > days. And, until guys like KQ2M and K1EA are regular
> > > participants in the NAQP simply because they are really
> > > really hungry to get into the top ten, you won't ever know
> > > what the potential for the northeast really is in this contest.
> > > They'll have to be hungry like west coast operators in order
> > > to overlook the fact that many consider the NAQP to be
> > > a second tier contest.
> > >
> > > KR6X
> > >
> >
> > DX contests are simply a lot more fun from New England than domestic
> > contests. I'd venture to say that most of you would rather run DX
> stations
> > at 150/hour than US stations ! I operate SS because of the tradition,
and
> > to get a mug. NAQP and the Sprint fall off my list compared to family
> > things, and doing antenna work for the DX contests. Maybe I'll turn my
> > antennas west for an NAQP and see how I do !
> >
> > 73 from still frozen NH, with Democratic
> > candidates around every corner, and Go Patriots !
> >
> > P.S. To Leigh: your high pitched "Whiskey Six Hotel X Ray" is still
etched
> > in my mind after 30 years !
> >
> >
> > 73
> > Stu KC1F
> >
> >
> > ---------------------------------------------------------------
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>
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