With the goal of increasing participation which can best be accomplished by
encouraging people that have never operated in SSCW before, to get on and try
it, I have two suggestions:
1) As Mike has suggested below, have slow or slower speed cw band segments, AND
give 2x points to stations for working a slow or slower speed station in this
band segment. That is, BOTH station get 2x points
for a slow speed qso (say 15 wpm or slower) in this band segment.
I like this idea because even if qrq guys want to operate at 15 wpm in the
slower speed segment and make qso’s at 15 wpm or less, they get rewarded for
working anyone at 15 wpm or less. This can potentially create a pool of
additional stations operating in the slower speed band segment that ordinarily
would never operate their or at slower speeds. With more stations to work in
this segment, more people will operate there and have better rate and this
activity will self-perpetuate and give slower speed guys more stations to work
either by calling cq or by s & p.
When I was a Novice operating in the Novice Roundup in 1973, there were only 2
stations to work on the 80 cw Novice band. How nice it would have been if
there were 10 stations to work!
2) Award 4x points for working a Novice station in the Novice band segment and
4x points for working a Technician
anywhere signing with /T.
I know that in the past, there was at least one ARRL sponsored contest (10
meter contest?) that gave additional points for working Novice and technician
stations on cw.
I think that adopting a strategy like this could potentially encourage new
stations to try operating in SSCW, especially if stations were looking for them
to work. And, once these new to the contest slow and slower speed stations get
on and have fun, perhaps they operate longer and more often and improve their
cw skills and become more active?
73
Bob KQ2M
From: Michael Clarson
Sent: Wednesday, March 21, 2018 6:21 PM
To: Joe
Cc: cac-i@reflector.arrl.org ; CQ contest reflector ; W0MU Mike Fatchett
Subject: Re: [CQ-Contest] NCJ Article RE: Sweepstakes Change Suggestions
There seems to be two themes here. One is SS is dying and we need to
make changes, and the other is "I love it the way it is, the new guys
should get on board". Perhaps I've oversimplified, but maybe the rules
can be tweaked to meet both themes. I suggest that the rules include
recommended slow speed CW band segments where it is encouraged for the
calling stations to match the sending station's speed. Second is to
add a local club competition category to encourage participation with
"every little bit helps". This just might get some of the newcomers to
give it a try without messing with the status quo. --73, Mike, WV2ZOW
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