I have no idea why anyone would want to contest. The whole deal to me is stupid..ask some guy his call and state 10 times and then exchange 59 signal report is bs. Yes those guys can afford it. Butvon qrz they are the ones crying the most for some reason.If you can afford $10,000+ for a radio and antenna just so you can sit there saying "CQ contest, you are 59" all day, $50 / 10 yrs = $5 per year. If thats a problem, i dont know what to tell you...
My most expensive radio is a 7300 lol. And my loop antenna was made with free wire. I paid $600 for my sb220.
I dont care about the fee. I took all my tests a while ago
Im also pretty sure if you fail they dont usually give you your $ back. And even if they do this is a deterrent for nervous new hams.
Many hams donate their time free. So fuck the fcc. They dont do shit