[NLRS] VHF Contest log submission trends

Fri Sep 17 18:32:51 EDT 2010

Regarding the UHF contest, I have a slide on this topic that goes back to the contests beginning in 1978.  From 1978 to 1992 there was no growth in logs with the number of submitted logs bouncing between 108 and 173.  In 1993 the ARRL pushed activity with a pins program that generated 223 logs and in 1994 there was a really good tropo opening that generated 249 logs.  From 1994 to 1998 the number of logs slowly declined to 164 in '98.  1999 had another "lets get the guys on" push by the League that resulted in 249 longs.  However, from 1999 to 2003 logs again slowly decreased with only 140 logs in '03 and that resulted in the serious discussion about eliminating this contest and the resulting birth of Rovermania (locally).  Since 2003 there has been a steady yearly increase in logs with the exception of 2007.   Here are the counts 2003 (140), 2004 (169), 2005 (183), 2006 (191), 2007 (166), 2008 (194), and 2009 (244).   The three peak years have been 1994 (249 - big tropo), 1999 (249- League push), and 2009 (244). 

Regarding the 10 GHz & Up Contest, this one started in 1986 as 10gig only.  The "And Up" was added 1996.   Starting in 1986, here are the number of logs submitted - 52, 56, 54, 49, 77, 68, 71, 83, 80, 75, 78, 80, 69, 76, 92, 120, 134, 141, 136, 131, 115, 113, 103, 107.   In terms of number of logs, the peak year was 2003 and the trend has been downward since then.  

73, Jon
W0ZQ

-----Original Message-----
From: Paul Husby <husby002 at gmail.com>
To: NRLS Reflector <nlrs at mailman.qth.net>
Sent: Fri, Sep 17, 2010 4:36 pm
Subject: [NLRS] VHF Contest log submission trends

I have added to K9JK's data on log submissions, and put it on another 
roup spreadsheet at:
https://spreadsheets.google.com/ccc?key=0AvU0R8d2qq2DdFEtemRHdTNiQk9aSFNPa2lMUlE4WkE&hl=en&authkey=CJ398NcH
I have breakdowns for UHF and Sept contests, and for Dakota, Central and 
idwest divisions.  For the 10GHz contest I put in what I thought were 
he entries from the local group;  the ARRL database is a little flaky 
n returning results for 10G and I was a bit unsure sometimes separating 
he CO entries from the MN entries.
I annotated in color a couple of significant events, and put ??? for 
ome interesting numbers that need explanation; having been inactive 
hose years, I'm not sure where propagation events or major roving 
fforts are the cause.  Fill them in if you know what went on!  Also, 
aybe someone could annotate the 10G years and show where major roving 
as involved.
There seems to be no consistent trend for Sept and UHF, so I would guess 
he changes are probably related to roving activity and 10G Contest 
oving.  I do know that the drop from '09 to '10 in both UHF and Sept is 
oing to be very large.
73,
aul W0UC
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