Category: announcements

Contesting is a social game.  There are real people behind the callsigns in our log. Sometimes they give us joy, and sometimes a headache.  It is all part of the experience.

The social message site Twitter (www.twitter.com) provides a global real-time feed for sharing and communicating short messages with each other. Each Tweet is limited to 140 characters, but it is amazing how much fun you can share in that small form.

Twitter has a feature known as hash tags. They are a way of tagging your message for a specific audience or subject.  We are suggesting to use the hash tag #cqwpx for any messages related to the CQ WPX Contest. There is a new widget on the home page at www.cqwpx.com that will display any Tweet that contains the hash tag #cqwpx.

We would like to see participants use the Twitter #cqwpx hash tag to report their experiences during the upcoming CQ WPX SSB contest. Simply post a Tweet with #cqwpx and it will appear on the CQ WPX home page. Twitter also gives us a historical record to review later when preparing the contest writeup.  Please comment on unusual band openings, great rates, or epic DX contacts.

Examples using #cqwpx:

• 15 meters is wide open today #cqwpx
• Just worked P29 long path on 10 meters in #cqwpx

We also want to conduct an experiment in social feedback.  Use Twitter with #cqwpx to report stations that are not showing good sportsmanship on the bands. Include the call, time, and observation in your Tweet. This real-time feedback will create a public warning and will give us a log of what we may need to investigate.

Examples:

• #cqwpx XX1XX out band on 14349.9 at 1923z
• #cqwpx XX2ZZ very wide splatter 21233 at 1144z

You can post Tweets right from the CQ WPX home page.  You will need to have a Twitter account before you can post a tweet.  Accounts are free and very easy to set up.

Please do not use Twitter as a chat room for making QSOs.

This is all for fun so please be nice.

• Looking forward to seeing everyone in #cqwpx Mar 30-31

The WWROF continues its series of free Webinars with one focused on the upcoming CQ WPX Contest. CQ Contest Director Randy K5ZD will provide an overview of the rule changes for CQ WPX 2013 and will answer questions from the audience about the contest.

Date: March 24, 2013

Time: 1900 UTC (3pm EDST)

Registration Link:  https://www2.gotomeeting.com/register/499861946

The World Wide Radio Operators Foundation (WWROF) is dedicated to improving the skills of amateur radio operators around the world, utilizing education, competition, advancement of technology and scientific research, promoting international friendship and goodwill, and preparing them to better serve society in times of communication need.  More information at www.wwrof.org.

The log checking process for the 2012 CQ WPX CW Contest is now complete. A few statistics from the log checking software.

    4,323 logs total
2,835,247 qso total
   16,889 different calls credited
      180 different countries
   22,102 ( 0.8%) qso with unique calls
   18,512 (83.8%) unique calls busted
   20,134 ( 0.7%) dupes
      498 ( 0.0%) Cabrillo format errors
2,423,444 (85.5%) qso checked against another log
2,314,449 (95.5%) qso checked good when checked against another log
   40,693 ( 1.7%) busted calls
    2,776 ( 0.1%) busted reverse log calls
   59,709 ( 2.5%) busted exchange
   11,369 ( 0.5%) not in log

The final results article will appear in the February 2013 issue of CQ Magazine.

Everyone who submitted a log should have received an email with a link to their log checking report.  If you did not receive yours please contact director@cqwpx.com.