Doug, KR2Q, posted a message to the cq-contest reflector asking about a situation that occurred in the WPX CW 2008 contest results.
Doug writes, “TI5N wins for the world (congrats) and get the WORLD trophy. I win for USA, but since TI5N got the WORLD trophy and now I’m 2nd place in N.A., I get the NA trophy. But I didn’t win NA, I won USA. So why would I get the NA trophy? And what ELSE do I see? Because I got the N.A. trophy, N7IR, who is 2nd place USA, (an amazing feat from AZ) wins the USA trophy. ”
Good question and one that comes up regularly. My response to the contest reflector below.
This is not an issue specific to the WPX Contest. I believe all CQ Contests (WW, RTTY, WPX, 160) follow this convention of only awarding one plaque per entry.
The goal of the plaque program is to motivate and provide recognition.
There are 3 “levels” of plaques (World, Continent, Country). If an entry was allowed to win multiple plaques, then one great effort from an advantaged location could take all 3 levels and leave other strong efforts unrecognized. Perhaps all the plaques should not say “Winner”, but again, that’s they way it has been done historically. The policy has been to always award an entry with the highest level plaque they were eligible for.
I am interested in hearing from the contest community if this policy should be changed (specifically for the WPX Contest).
What we have done for WPX in 2009 is change the definition of the North America plaques so that they only apply to stations outside the USA and Canada. This accomplishes two desirable results: 1) it encourages activity from North American stations outside USA/Canada, and 2) the winner of the USA or Canada for a category will always be the winner of the country plaque.
If you would like to provide feedback on this issue, please write to me at k5zd@cqwpx.com.