[SOC] Fw: [CQ-Contest] You can win a contest!

[Michael Coslo]

On May 13, 2011, at 12:52 PM, Tom Osborne wrote:

> Hi Mike
> 
> 'Leveling the playng field' is something contesters have talked and 
> complained about for years.  But, the WRTC is about the closest thing you 
> can get to that.
> 
> Last year in Russia, all of the stations were set up FD style in the same 
> field with the same height towers and the same antennas, exactly.  Only 
> variables were the radios the participants used.  They even had a device to 
> monitor output power that will give them away if they go to too much power. 
> It is as close to being 'level' as you will ever get.  Operator skill is 
> what it takes to win that one, not location.  73

Sure - sorta. I trust that emissions were measured and that the towers were placed over the exact same type of terrain? Having identical equipment is a start, but location is a surprisingly big factor.

Just for the sake of illustration, let's have a 20 meter contest. A shootout between two operators who are consensus "best American operators". The goal is to contact as many EU operators as possible. We'll use a 756 pro III and 100 foot towers with a tribander on top of each. One will be installed in the Upper peninsula of Michigan, and the other in say Maryland. If the stations were set up identically and the RF emissions were set up exactly the same, is the station in Michigan going to be equal to the one in Maryland? The only difference the operator skill and the score differential proving who is the better operator? From Michigan, working worldwide is probably still a tough proposition, contest wise.

I don't want to belabor the list with semi-serious stuff, but the level playing field is tilting at windmills.

- 73 de Mike N3LI -