Hi all, I don't actually see what we buy with distance scoring. Could
someone fill me in there?? I know it is intrinsically "more fair", That is
to say, reward is given to "more distant" qso's. But does this change
anything really? It won't make the more modest stations compete better with
the larger stations, because the bigger stations will benefit too. I can
only see a benefit to a very modest station with a range of 20-50 miles or
so who operates from the center of a grid as opposed to a station on a grid
corner let's say. This benefit certainly doesn't seem worth making the rules
so much more complicated except on the higher microwave bands.
When the ARRL went from ARRL sections to Maidenhead grid locators in the VHF
contests there was a noticeable complaint from the "BIG" stations "back
East" who felt they were going to lose an advantage. And that change really
did affect scores because the sections out west are so BIG. But I think the
change really only HELPED the big stations back east in the long run. My
point in bringing this up is that if folks think "distance scoring" will
improve their ability to compete, I disagree.
I don't see that distance scoring, at least on the bands below, say, 10gHz,
really changes anything, since everyone is ALREADY playing by the same
rules. It might make the actual score numbers bigger, but so what?
Maybe I'm missing something here. That wouldn't be unusual!
bill, K1DY FN54 Maine
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