[PaQSO] Suggestions (Was Pa QSO Party Rules)

[ed.miske@kennametal.com]

This gets a little long....I started to discard it two or three times, but
to heck with that....here it is....all I ask is, if you are going to
comment in reply, please read the whole thing.

Just for the record, I totally disagree with what I believe AD8J's comment
implies, (and I mentioned my disagreement to John in a private email
yesterday)

>.....The PA stations will spend more time
>on 10, 15 and 20 meters if the stations
>are there to work."

To me, that implies that we should expect our west coast friends to be
there waiting for us to show up.

That'll never happen. I remember how, back in the early/mid 90's, when I
was new to contesting, I could not wait for a state QSO party to roll
around. As a contest newbee/wannabee they were the most fertile learning
ground there was. Lots of slow speed CW.......many casual, friendly SSB
operators. A great way to learn the contesting ropes. I would be at my
operating position before the opening bell, ready to go, only to be
dissapointed when I found about enough activity to keep my attention for
the first 10 or 15 minutes. In that time I'd work the 10 or 15 or 20
stations that were around, and then I'd shut down and never come back to
the event for that year. That is what I envision happening in 100's of
shacks from Kansas to California at 1615z on Saturday of the Pa QSO
Party,,,,,newbee's and some oldbee's returning, only to be dissapointed yet
again by the lack of activity.

Certainly there is a "chicken or egg" element to this.....I'm not arguing
that.......if the Pa stations aren't there, the out-of state stations won't
be there, and if the out of state stations aren't there the Pa stations
won't stay there........but if we want to make the Pa QSO Party attractive
to a wider audience, it's up to us Pa statioins to get things rolling. And
nothing will happen over night......but if we can do something to get more
Pa stations to spend more time on those bands, more out-of-staters will,
eventually, participate and we'll all have more fun.

But that's the point,,,,,"IF WE WANT TO MAKE THE PA QSO PARTY ATTRACTIVE TO
A WIDER AUDIENCE......." And I'm about convinced it is just not a "hot
button" with the vast majority.

If I remember correctly there were about 450 Pa stations submitting logs
last year. I wonder how many of those stations did not even take a listen
on 10/15/20, or, at the most, spent 5 or 10 minutes there. Am I expecting
all 450 Pa stations to start on 20 meters Saturday an 1600z? Of course not.
But  if there were about 150 or so of us calling CQ on 20 at the start, the
"buzz" would attract more stations and then more Pa stations would join in
and it would just feed on itself. It won't happen in one year, but if
something was done (bonus points or, better yet,  K3YD's suggestion of more
points per QSO), in 5 years the Pa QSO Party would have much wider appeal
across the country.

Well, 'nuff said by me on the topic for this year. I bring it up each year,
and will probably continue to do so because I believe it is one of the
areas, if not the main area, where something can be done to enhance
participation. But, as stated above, that does not seem to be of much
importance to most of us.

To AD8J and W7LPF, even though we disagree, thanks for sharing your
opinion.

Ok.....that's it.....I gotta get back to 40 phone......

Ed/WA3SES