In a message dated 10/2/2007 10:15:45 P.M. Eastern Standard Time,
jjreisert@alum.mit.edu writes:
(in a different order, shown differently to fit my comments - MR):
>>>> There are just too many contests. Huge ones, big ones and puny
ones. They
can't all co-exist on the same frequencies. If you move the contests
around,
you can minimize the frequency collisions. But if everyone refuses to give
up
THEIR weekend, it's never going to happen.
There may be too many contests, but that is not what this thread is all
about. The small contests fall into the category of "trees falling in the
forest". I can't think of any real reason for there to be a Nebraska QSO
Party,
but if the guys in Omaha want to have one for the 6 people who might show up,
let them go at it. They do, they hold it on the same weekend as the Florida
QSO Party, and the world seems no worse for it.
>>>> Sure, those in FL, CA, PA flourish, as do some of the others like MI,
OH, TN
(sorry, I'm not going to remember them all), but many don't. The New England
and 7-land guys have the right idea. Maybe some of the other call areas
should
do the same.
There is a critical mass of activity that must exist for any contest to be
worthwhile. By assembling all the W1s or W7s into one contest, that mass can
be achieved. W2 and W0 would seem to be candidates to do this. W6 by default
already has. W3, W4, W5, W8, and W9 already have several decent parties by
individual states.
Another way to achieve critical mass would be to hold several different
parties from different regions at the same time with similar rules. The 1's,
7's,
Indiana, and MARAC (the county hunters) hold their contests on the same
weekend. Unfortunately there is no logging software that is designed to
support
simultaneous contests, so a person serious in one has a hard time working any
of the others. If software writers could solve this problem, and sponsors
harmonize their rules to make the software guys job less difficult, one good
contest could be made out of several mediocre ones.
>>>>> Free some slots so other contests can be moved around. For
example, I think
there's a NAQP or Sprint that lands on 40 meters the same time as the CQ WPX
RTTY contest (I'm probably getting this wrong, but there IS such a conflict
somewhere).
The February CW Sprint falls on the WPX RTTY weekend. Before the Sprint
swapped weekends between CW and SSB, the CW Sprint fell on the weekend of the
XE
RTTY DX contest. So the effect on the 40 meter CW band was about the same.
The main problem remains the duplication of DX RTTY efforts. A quick review
of the QST Contest Corral listings shows RTTY contests by: UK, BARTG Sprint,
XE, BARTG, EA, SP, VOLTA, ANARTS, DL-DX, SARTG, SCC, Russia, JARTS, and OK,
all with the same format of anybody in the world work anybody else,
multipliers consisting of host country provinces + DX countries + (in some
cases) call
areas in W, VE, JA, and VK, on an per band basis. Most run 24 hours, some
go for 48 hours.
Perhaps if some of these contests could be shortened, combined, or scheduled
concurrently, the critical mass for a truly good contest could be achieved
and at the same time the every-weekend RTTY QRM on 40 meters minimized.
73 - Jim K8MR
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