This is strictly my opinion, and my first-ever post to this group.
Well said, Scott.
I often participate in events for my own reasons, and they sometimes have
little to
do with the rules or purported objectives of a given contest, no matter who is
the
sponsor.
=================================================================================
The primary purpose of ANY operating event is to STIMULATE ACTIVITY ON THE
BANDS.
=================================================================================
This presents A LOT OF opportunities to measure oneself in many ways; e.g., can
I
even *HEAR* the DX that the guy across town is working, and is it because I am
doing
the right things, but my setup is insufficient, or am I doing something
incorrectly
and I would, if I weren't making that mistake? Also, since every recurrence of
the
event is different, it won't go down exactly the same way as before; is it
realistic
to harbor certain expectations?
Let's get off the scoring inequity rant, and think about the benefit to our
hobby.
The fairness is in our chance to take a pulse on ourselves, and the "Race" is
only
against what we have done before in a similar situation. Are we going to whine
about
how propagation tends to favor those at lower latitudes as well? Or that an
unusual
sporadic E cloud only formed over 1 continent and not another? Or that crazy
opening
to Asia for NA during CQWWCW in the middle of the night? Some things are beyond
anyone's influence.
I see it as a choice of what "game" the event represents. If the event is
stacked in
favor of a certain geographical area, like a state QSO party, why does that
even
matter, if I'm just wondering how many CO stations I can work in the few spare
hours
I have that weekend? It isn't always about "what's in it for me?" when I
operate. I
like SS more for the challenge of making a sweep than winning my section, even
though
I've done both. I'm hopeful that the HPM event stays just that way-- an EVENT.
The
ones who are involved are just doing it because it's a FUN activity.
KA1IOR
_______________________________________________
CQ-Contest mailing list
CQ-Contest@contesting.com
http://lists.contesting.com/mailman/listinfo/cq-contest
|