Experimental Contest Day Needs A Sponsor
Content and inspiration courtesy of ARRL Contest Update edited by Ward Silver, N0AX.
I'm surprised, given the scholarly examination of RadioSport rules, that Experimental Contest Day did not receive its appropriate level of examination. I have not read a scant word. Ward submitted the following questions, "[W]hat if multipliers "evaporated" over the course of a contest. [W]hat if the idea was to sustain "coverage" of a multiplier?"
His concept is based on the board game, Go, known for its rich strategic complexity despite simple rules. Ward proposed a variation on the board game wherein grid fields (CN, EM, FN and so forth) are covered for a discrete amount of time. Furthermore, when the grid field decays, an operator must re-cover the multiplier. Hypothetically, at any given moment, an operator's grid field is a needed multiplier while an operator must sustain his/her concurrent grid field.
One may consider, if the grid field is allowed to decay, then an operator cannot re-cover the multiplier? Points are awarded for active grid fields at the end of the event.
Ward further proposed covering most if not the entire spectrum of allocated frequencies. His concept is the upper most reach for ham radio related activity. The appeal of such an event slices through clustered interests and turns on the power button for the entire community at all levels.
Proposed Benefits.
- Increase understanding of propagation properties in relationship to ionospheric functions.
- Foster operator skill development.
- Promote station engineering across all levels to meet event demands.
- Performance measurements relating to skill development and decision making processes.
73 from the shackadelic.
