[NLRS] Move January VHF contest earlier in the month

[Paul Husby]

Anything that would get VHF SS away from the NFL conference 
championships would help.  For years I lobbied to get it on the NFL's 
"off" weekend before the Super Bowl.  I was told that the ARRL did not 
want to compete with the CQ WW 160 CW contest.  Made no sense to me - 
the operator groups are largely different, VHF is primarily a daytime 
contest, 160 is a nighttime contest, and the sponsors are competing 
magazines.  So...?

It is very rare to get significant E-skip on the traditional weekend.  
The odds are better as you go earlier, but even then you are not going 
to get into anything like people are accustomed to in June.  And the 
digital modes can still do extremely well in flat January conditions.

I think football is a much bigger impediment to January contest activity 
than conditions.  Average VHF conditions for a given weekend haven't 
deteriorated over the decades, but activity in VHF SS has nosedived over 
the past 20 years, while TV ratings for the NFL have grown.  Sunday 
night football only moved to NBC in 2005 - the correlation is very 
clear.  The NFL playoffs are likely to change under a new collective 
bargaining agreement.  I would see what the NFL does with their 
schedule, then jump to the open weekend, even if it is in February.

73
Paul W0UC

On 4/19/2020 9:35 AM, Matt Holden wrote:
> K1TO has an interesting idea to move the ARRL January VHF contest earlier
> in the month.  Perhaps swap weekends with RTTY Roundup?
> Would this benefit the VHF+ operators in Florida?  Would it
> enhance activity in the Northern United States and Canada?  Would it
> increase your participation in the ARRL January VHF contest?  Is there data
> somewhere that illustrates just how dramatically the Es openings fall off
> by later January?
> A note from K1TO on 3830:
> https://3830scores.com/showrumor.php?arg=PRapz4iqmvmiJ
> Your thoughts?
> 73,
> Matt Holden KØBBC
> Director, Dakota Division, American Radio Relay League
> Director, Association of Emergency Radio Organizations
> President, Bloomington Amateur Radio Association
> Deputy Director, Bloomington AUXCOMM
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