[PaQSO] How rare is that county? Or for that matter, how common?

[MORSENUT at aol.com]

Hello Fellow PAQPers, 

I've been having some fun with KD8MQ's PAQP website.

It's a wealth of information about PAQP and you should stop by it some time 
for a look.

Many thanks to John for a great website!

One of the things that always interests me is how rare a given county is or 
conversely, how common is it?  

What does the "average" county contribute to the overall points awarded?  
(Yeah, I am a geek, LOL.)

Using the information on John's website, I took a five year average (the last 
five PAQPs) of the percentage of the overall point totals awarded by a given 
country.

I added the percentages  each county contributed to the overall score of each 
of the last five PAQPs and divided by 67 (the total # of counties) to arrive 
at "an average" contribution" over the last five years.

That  average number turned out to be:  1.44%.

So an average contribution in points awarded by a given county is 1.44% of 
the total points awarded in a given PAQP.

Now, some of this will come as no surprise to experienced PAQPers, but I 
think some it may also make you say "I never would have thought that," and for 
those operators who will participate in their first PAQP, it will give you an 
overall view of what to expect on the air come October while knowing what to 
really look hard for regarding multipliers.


>From the most common to the least, here is an average point contribution 
breakdown for all PAQP counties over the last five contests:  (Full spelling of 
the county names to aid newcomers.  Please see the abbreviation list though!)


COUNTY                                   Percentage of points given averaged 
over 5 contests


Luzerne                                   10.57                       
Berks                                          7.3
Erie                                            5.0
Allegheny                                  4.33
NorthAmpton                             3.87                         "Very 
Common"
Lehigh                                       3.24
Centre                                        2.86
Bucks                                         2.74
Montgomery                              2.41
Monroe                                      2.32
Carbon                                      2.17

______________________________________________________________________________
Adams                                       1.84
Schuykill                                   1.82
Beaver                                       1.79
Lebanon                                    1.75
Butler                                        1.63                          
Columbia                                   1.60                             
"Moderately Common"
Warren                                      1.59
York                                           1.59 (Tie)
Lacawanna                                1.52
Westmoreland                            1.50
McKean                                      1.47
Cambria                                     1.45
_____________________________________________________________________________


Pike                                            1.25
Washington                                 1.24                            
Mifflin                                          1.20
Lycoming                                    1.15                             
"Moderately Rare"
Wyoming                                     1.13
Chester                                        1.10
Clearfield                                     1.04
Fulton                                          1.00
Huntingdon                                  1.00
_____________________________________________________________________________

Blair                                             .97
Venango                                      .96
Philadelphia                                .96
Green                                           .94
Dauphin                                       .93
Sullivan                                       .91                            
  "Rare"
Tioga                                           .85
Delaware                                     .83
Indiana                                        .83
Bradford                                      .81
Somerset                                     .80
Montour                                       .80
Potter                                           .79
Franklin                                       .79
Mercer                                         .78
Lawerence                                  .76
______________________________________________________________________________

Crawford                                     .72
Clarion                                        .65
Susquehanna                              .64
Jefferson                                     .63
Juniata                                        .61
Wayne                                        .60
Perry                                           .56                        
("Very Rare")
Lancaster                                    .56
Cumberland                                .53                          
Defined as half or less of
Union                                          .52                           
1.44 % average point
Northumberland                          .51                           
contribution)
Clinton                                        .50
______________________________________________________________________________

Cameron                                     .49
Forrest                                         .42
Elk                                               .41                         
  ("Extremely Rare")
Fayette                                        .40
Bedford                                       .36
Armstrong                                   .35
Snyder                                        .31
______________________________________________________________________________

So SNY is the rarest county over the last five years based on this average.

I would not have thought that.  Somehow, my impression would have led me to 
regard POT or maybe ELK as having that distinction.

(See Part Two)