[RMVHF] playing with the numbers

[James Duffey]

Phil - The articles by W9GKA at the W9SMC site are very interesting.  
He analyzes the activity in VHF contests since their inception:

<http://www.w9smc.com/SMC%20VHF/smc%20vhf%20page.htm>

Interestingly enough VHF contest activity peaked in the early 60s! The  
next highest peak was in the mid 90s. These peaks are not so much the  
result of contest rules as we would perceive, but rather of outside  
influences. The accessibility to 6M and up by technicians and novice  
phone privileges was important to the early 60s activity and the no  
code license was important to the activity peak in the mid 90s.

Overall contest entries correlate very well to club entries, so that  
may be one area to look to to improve activity. Perhaps the ARRL could  
modify the rules to allow one to enter a log in all three club  
categories. This would encourage entries by local clubs whose really  
active members may belong to other contest clubs.

Look at that article, there is lots of food for thought there. For one  
thing, my perceptions of why things are the way they are in VHF  
contesting was shown to be incorrect. - Duffey

--
KK6MC
James Duffey
Cedar Crest NM