On 10/29/2014 1:09 PM, Mike & Coreen Smith VE9AA wrote:
A group of us contesters here in the "MAR" section feel the time has come to
announce the end of the MAR section in not only ARRL contests but all
contests. When our Department of Communications (now Industry Canada)
granted us separate prefixes for New Brunswick (VE9), Nova Scotia (VE1) and
Prince Edward Island (VY2), they recognized they we were distinct Provinces
with enough Amateur Radio operators to support a distinct call sign. And as
multipliers go, why wouldn't you want to have three new districts to work
when multiplied by six bands you have a substantial increase in your scores.
Hi Guys,
You are missing a couple of VERY large points here. First, adding
multipliers like this is only justified if it benefits the entire
contesting community. The addition of the three new VE3 sections HURT
competition in SS, because those sections are far easier to work for W1,
W2, W3 than for W6 and W7. The same would be true for NAQP and NA
Sprint. Second, if you want to add sections, you must justify that by
having a critical mass of stations on the air from those sections. I've
got a big station, and it's rare that I work more than one or two MAR in
those contests. DC wants to split from MDC, but it's also rare to find a
DC station workable from the west coast, especially since W3DQ has been
laid up.
Third, many contests have 100W and QRP categories. From a contesting
point of view, to justify adding those multipliers, you've got to have
multiple stations capable of HEARING stations at that power level from
all participating sections.
Think of this -- count the active contesters in MAR, count those in CA.
I want the same number of sections per contester out here as you have
there.
Finally -- for those of us on the left coast, WPX and NA contests are
almost the only ones where we can be competitive. All the DX contests,
including those on 160, are a waste of time. Don't screw that up for us!
73, Jim K9YC
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