It is just a few days until WPX CW 2012. A few tips to help you enjoy the contest.<\/p>\n
Before the Contest<\/strong><\/p>\n Spend a few minutes to get all of your software set up before the contest. Once the clock starts at 0000z on May 26, you want to spend your time working stations – not working on software!<\/p>\n Make sure your rig and antennas are working properly too. And that you have your CW messages set up correctly.<\/p>\n Take a few minutes to download the latest country files from\u00a0www.country-files.com\/cty\/<\/a>. This will help your logging software show you the correct score. \u00a0If you use the\u00a0super check partial function, be sure to download the latest files from www.supercheckpartial.com<\/a>.<\/p>\n Visit NG3K’s contest site<\/a> to see all the planned operations that will be active for WPX CW 2012.<\/p>\n Read the WPX Contest rules<\/a>! \u00a0Things do change and it never hurts to remind yourself about the different categories, scoring, and operating time limits. \u00a0The rules are available in 13 languages.<\/p>\n During the Contest<\/strong><\/p>\n If you can’t do a full time effort, operate as much as you can. \u00a0Every point you earn could move you higher in the standings. \u00a0Focus on periods when rate is best into the high population areas of Europe and USA.<\/p>\n Double points for DX contacts on the low bands. \u00a0All band entrants can really help their score by spending some time among the static crashes. \u00a0The dedicated low band specialists on 80 and 160 meters would really appreciate a QSO.<\/p>\n Multi-operator stations should watch the band change rules. \u00a0Both multi-single and multi-two have a limit on the number of band changes per hour. \u00a0Make too many band changes and valuable QSOs could be removed from your log.<\/p>\n Watch the dots. \u00a0Some of the most common callsign copying errors on CW are for calls with lots of dots. This includes calls with the letters S, H, and 5, but also with B, V, 4, and 6. Don’t let KH6MB become K5BMB or confuse S57DX with SH7DX. \u00a0These errors will cost you points during the log checking!<\/p>\n Use the WPX Contest online database<\/a> to track your progress during the contest. Set the filters to only show scores from your country and category. \u00a0Then make it your goal to keep moving up the list of previous scores. \u00a0It can provide some extra motivation as you pass your old scores or those of your local competition.<\/p>\n Set up your logging software to post to the\u00a0getscores.org<\/a> or cqcontest.ru<\/a> live score servers. Nothing is more fun than racing other competitors in near real-time.<\/p>\n After the Contest<\/strong><\/p>\n Submit your log right away! \u00a0There really is no reason to wait.<\/p>\n Logs should be in Cabrillo format<\/a>. \u00a0Most logging software can output this format. Take a moment to open the file in a text editor (such as Notepad or Wordpad) and look it over. Any question, see the\u00a0 Cabrillo format page<\/a>.<\/p>\n Don’t worry if your logging software calculated the score perfectly. \u00a0All logs are rescored during the checking process.<\/p>\n Do take a moment to see that all QSOs are logged at the right time and on the right band. \u00a0You would be suprised how many people lose QSO points because their log is off by 1 hour or they logged a series of QSOs on the wrong band.<\/p>\n PLEASE CHECK YOUR ENTRY CATEGORY! \u00a0If you were single op and used the DX Cluster you must enter the Assisted category. \u00a0If you enter the Rookie overlay category, please show the date you received your first license in the SOAPBOX.<\/p>\n Upload your log at\u00a0http:\/\/www.cqwpx.com\/logcheck\/<\/a>. \u00a0The logcheck page will give you immediate feedback if everything is formatted correctly and then offer to submit the log for you. \u00a0It couldn’t be easier.<\/p>\n If you use a general purpose logger that can’t output Cabrillo, see if it can export your log in ADIF format. \u00a0Then use the converter at http:\/\/www.cqwpx.com\/adif\/<\/a> to convert the log to Cabrillo. \u00a0Be sure to export the sent and received serial numbers if you logged them.<\/p>\n After your log is submitted, post your score to 3830 at\u00a0http:\/\/www.hornucopia.com\/3830score\/<\/a>. \u00a0Give some commentary about your experience in the contest. \u00a0We use these reports when we create the contest writeups for CQ Magazine.<\/p>\n The log deadline is June 20, 2012. \u00a0All logs are welcome and help us with the log checking.<\/p>\n Good luck to everyone in WPX CW 2012. \u00a0Wishing you good conditions, high rates, and lots of prefix multipliers!<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" It is just a few days until WPX CW 2012. A few tips to help you enjoy the contest. Before the Contest Spend a few minutes to get all of your software set up before the contest. Once the clock starts at 0000z on May 26, you want to spend your time working stations – … Continue reading Operating WPX CW<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":false,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[20],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-103","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-commentary","no-featured-image"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p7uaXG-1F","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/cqwpx.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/103","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/cqwpx.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/cqwpx.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cqwpx.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cqwpx.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=103"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/cqwpx.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/103\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":419,"href":"https:\/\/cqwpx.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/103\/revisions\/419"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/cqwpx.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=103"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cqwpx.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=103"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cqwpx.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=103"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}