> There is another part of Steve's rule that is required to
make it work as intended. A DX station
> operating in the window MUST ONLY LISTEN OUTSIDE THE
WINDOW.
Contest DX Windows would be worth a lot more for DX if they
used split operation like that, but band space is already at
a premium. I'm afraid the bad would outweigh the good. There
already are constant problems with people who can't zero
beat the other station they are calling. I can't imagine how
bad it would get around the Window if the DX station said
"up 2" and was on 1834.3. You'd hear people calling from
1835 to 1839. Worse yet we have DX stations who just say
"up" or "down".
Contests are supposed to be fun, but we have to face facts.
NONE of the 160 only contests are DX challenges, and none of
them encourage rare or difficult DX to be worked. That's
because the nature of 160 is always that none of us are on a
level playing field.
If we want a level playing field where we all have about the
same shot, we need to work 20 meters.
If we work 160.... geographical location, local noise floor,
and room for antennas dominates everything else. That will
NEVER be equal and no group of rules will ever make it
equal. Any rule that makes one thing better, like banning
certain stations from the DX Window, will mess things up for
dozens of others.
If people want a contest that encourages DX, then let's make
a new contest like the Stew Perry and add a restriction that
only contacts over 3000 miles count. Use the distance from
Boston to LA as a guideline. That's stop Europe to Europe
and USA to USA and prevent people from parking just outside
a border to an area rich in multipliers and contacts.
73 Tom
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