K5ZD rules

Rule changes for 2009

We are just putting the finishing touches on the rule changes for the 2009 contest.  Many of the changes are minor and are intended to modernize the rules, make things simpler, or to be more in alignment with other CQ contests.

Before the rules are completely final, I wanted to mention a few of the major changes and solicit your input.

1. Skimmer.  The WPX Contest will follow the lead of the CQWW Contest regarding use of Skimmer technology by single operators.  The rule will be identical to the CQWW Contest:

“QSO alerting assistance of any kind (this includes, but is not limited to, packet, local or remote Skimmer and/or Skimmer-like technology, Internet) places the entrant in the Single Operator Assisted category.”

2. Multi Operator Single Transmitter rules clarified.  The new rule will be: 

(a) Single-Transmitter (MULTI-ONE): Only one transmitter and one band permitted during any 10-minute period. Exception: One—and only one—other band may be used during any 10-minute period if—and only if—the station worked is a new multiplier. Ten-minute periods are defined as starting with the first logged QSO on a band. Logs with excessive violations of the 10-minute rule will automatically be reclassified as multi-multi. The log must indicate which transmitter (run or multiplier) made each QSO. Use a separate serial number sequence for each band.

More words, but also more clarity on exactly how the band changes are counted.

3. Club Competition.  The club competition rules are now identical to the CQ WW Contest except that a secretary letter listing all eligible club members is not required.  The new rule will be:

XI. Club Competition: A plaque will be awarded each year to the club that has the highest aggregate score from logs submitted by members. The club must be a local group and not a national organization (e.g., ARRL or DARC). Participation is limited to members operating from a local geographic area defined as within a 275 Km (radius) from center of club area (except for DXpeditions specially organized for operation in the contest). Club contributions of multi-operator and DXpedition scores are allocated as a percentage of the number of club members participating in the operation. Indicate your club affiliation on the summary sheet or in the CABRILLO file. Please spell out the full club name. To be listed in the results, a minimum of three logs must be received from a club. 

4. Single-band entries must submit all QSOs made.  We have a lot of single band entrants that make QSOs on other bands during the contest.  We just want them to log and submit all QSOs so that the other entrants are not penalized for Not In Log QSOs that result from the missing log entries. 

(e) Single band entrants must include all contacts made during the contest period, even if on other bands. Indicate the single band information in the Cabrillo header and only those contacts made on the single band will be included in the scoring.

5. Disqualification.  The rules for disqualification now match those for the CQWW Contest.  We hope we don’t have to use them. 

6. Rookie category.  The final open issue on the rules is whether to change the name of the Rookie category.  This category is for anyone who has been licensed for less than 3 years at the time of the contest.  The Rookie category enjoys mixed popularity and it is felt that the name may not be fully understood by non-English speakers.  Please suggest other words or names that could make the category more clear and help encourage more participation.

I welcome your feedback to k5zd@cqwpx.com.

K5ZD commentary

Checking multi-single logs

My challenge for the past several weeks has been to check the band changes for multi-single entries.  The rules specify “One other band may be used during any 10-minute period if the station worked is a new multiplier.”  The multi-single rule is one of the most complicated in the contest.  It requires people to make decisions on stations to work in real time.  For example, is this XY100ZZZ a new mult or not?  It’s expected that there will be mistakes.  Thus the reason we check the logs!

Unfortunately, the WPX contest rules for 2008 did not require entries to indicate which QSOs were made on the “run” band and which were on the “mult” band.  K1EA (with help from KR2Q) did a great job in the log checking software of having the computer determine a best guess for which QSOs are run or mult.  Even so, there are cases where it requires human judgment to determine what was actually going on.  That has been my job.  I probably spent 80 hours just on confirming or helping the log checking software do the right thing.

The problem for computers is that they require a very specific definition of what 10 minutes means.  E.g., when the clock starts, which QSOs are being checked by which clock, and so on.  Our log checking this year assumed the clock started when a QSO was made on a new band.

For the 2009 contest, we will be changing the rules to follow those of the CQ WW contest.  We may even add a few additional words to make the band change definitions more specific.  We know this will help us with the log checking, but we also expect it to make the competition more fair since there will be less room for interpretation by each operating team.

 

K5ZD commentary

Typing in paper logs

We still receive quite a few paper logs for both modes of the contest. We are happy to receive them! It is a little frustrating to receive a paper version of a printed out computer log. Would have saved us some time if the entrant just sent it by email rather than by post.

All paper logs received are typed in by a group of volunteers. This allows us to use these logs as part of our new log checking process, which helps improve the contest results. There is no difference in the way electronic and paper logs are processed (except paper logs have a higher possiblity of errors being introduced during the typing process).

Special thanks to the following for giving up their time (and in some cases their eyesight) to type in the paper logs and convert them to Cabrillo format: W4AU, K1ZE, WA1Z, K2BB, NJ1F, W1UE, WO1N, WC2L, N8RA, WB1DX, W1TO, N1NK, W2JU, W1KQ, KM1P, W1KM, and W1ZT. Some of these guys are amazingly quick at typing in logs and getting them back to me!