I am just getting caught up with this thread - wow,
what a volume of discussion ! I would like to relate
one experience...
Almost 20 years ago, when I lived in Montreal, a small
group of us VHF contesters tried an experiment in
increasing activity. In Quebec, most people speak
French and so are not as likely to pay attention to
QST as in other parts of the continent. We wrote up a
small summary of the June contest rules, in both
French and English, and prepared a simplified
hand-drawn map of southern Quebec showing the grid
square boundaries. In May, we mailed copies of these
to the callbook address of every VE2 that we had
worked on VHF SSB/CW over the previous year or two (I
think there were about 60 if I recall correctly).
The effect on activity was very pronounced...my
recollection is that there were at least twice as many
VE2's on in that contest than previously.
Unfortunately, this was a one time effort. In fact
some stations were heard complaining in the next
contest that they hadn't been notified and nearly
missed it !
I doubt if this would have as much effect in other
parts of the continent as the language barrier was the
prime cause of low activity, although there might be
parts of the US and Mexico where a Spanish language
mailing would achieve results.
But still, there are lots of operators out there who
just don't read QST or the internet contest calendars
and could benefit from a reminder and simplified
explanation. Nowadays there could be some cost
savings from using the internet where email addresses
can be found. It might be easier to sustain the
effort if it were a VHF club project than if run by
individuals as in our case. Maybe just making some
standard material available for inclusion in local
club bulletins would work.
On another note, while the lack of line scores in QST
hasn't really had a chance to reduce activity (or at
least log submissions), I am convinced it will
gradually have that effect. It seems to me I was
pretty impressed at seeing my callsign in QST and CQ
the first few years I entered contests. That and the
occasional certificate have been quite effective in
keeping my enthusiasm up over the years, despite a
limited site and low power. Also, I note at that the
top of the ARRL website's contest results page it
says: "Adobe Acrobat files of the various QST results
articles and a PDF set of lines cores will be made
available to all amateurs when the issue of QST in
which they appear is mailed to members."
Notwithstanding this statement, all the "Scores" files
are marked "Members Only", regardless of their age. I
wonder if this discrepancy is just an oversight ?
73,
Steve VE3SMA
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