Author: NØHJZ

Categories
Scores

Club Competition Update

It was a funky weekend on the airwaves. The Sun kept conditions wavering. Signals on 10 meters from Scandinavia were full of auroral flutter and the low bands seemed depressed. Despite that, there were lots of countries active and LOTS of MWA stations on the air! Our club score will be down this year, but all clubs are feeling the impact of the mixed conditions. Congrats to everyone that kept operating and pushing our MWA score forward!

There was a nice showing of MWA stations working from the DX end.  The ZF5T team was positively impacted by the addition of Scott, NE9U, and Kees, WØAAE.  Chris, NØUK, operated as PJ7UK and Phil, KØCD, posted a great QRP score as FS/KØCD!  Great efforts guys!  It was great to hear you running the pile-ups!

The MWA Team Competition saw Team 3 pull off their first victory of the season! They’ve taken third place each week but grabbed the top score this past weekend! Congrats Team 3! Team 5 kept their streak alive. They’ve been in the top two teams each week. Here are the results:

  • Team 3 – 7,042,803 Points – 5 Pts -11 stations active (39% of the team)
  • Team 5 – 5,637,941 Points – 4 Pts – 15 stations active (56% of the team)
  • Team 4 – 5,262,887 Points – 3 Pts – 11 stations active (41% of the team)
  • Team 1 – 5,168,967 Points – 2 Pts – 9 stations active (32% of the team)
  • Team 2 – 4,304,037 Points – 1 Pt – 9 stations active (32% of the team)
  • TOTAL MWA – 27,416,635 Points (Down 41.56% from last year) – 55 stations active (40% of the club)

The yearlong Team Competition stands like last week:

  • Team 5 – 26 Points
  • Team 4 – 23 Points
  • Team 3 – 20 Points
  • Team 2 – 12 Points
  • Team 1 – 9 Points

We’ve got two contests before the Holiday Break.  This weekend is the ARRL 160 Meter Contest.  Get your team active for a couple of fun evenings on the air.  Next weekend is the ARRL 10 Meter Contest.  Who can get 100% of their team on the air?! 

So far this contest season, we’ve seen some great individual efforts, fun conditions, and great scores.  If you haven’t been on the air yet, what are you waiting for?  Join the fun!  If you need help to get on the air, let us know.

Congrats to everyone who was on the air last weekend! See you all on the air this weekend on 160M! Here is a Team List so you can check off each MWA member as you work them in the 160M contest.

73,
Rich NØHJZ

Categories
Members

How To Win The Pizza-A New Way

We’ve come up with a new way to “win the pizza” for this season! In an attempt to have some fun, increase MWA scores, and level the playing field between contests, the MWA Team Competition has a new method for the 2015/2016 contest season. This was announced at the MWA meeting but I wanted to get the word out to everyone in the area.

Previously we used the percentage gain for the entire year as the determining factor for the winning team. Whoever increased the most over the entire season won the pizza. Simple!

As we analyzed the results, we found that the DX contests really drove the season. Why operate the little contests when you can create a large score in CQWW or ARRL DX? We looked at a way to make ARRL 160 or MNQP mean as much as the CQWW events.

Here is the result:

  • Each of our 11 contests will be separate events. Each contest will be worth one point (11 points total). The team that improves their score percentage the most (year over year) in each event will be awarded one point. Sweepstakes Phone is now worth the same as CQWW DX CW or ARRL RTTY Round-Up! Eleven separate points will be awarded for our eleven contests.
  • Each year we will also give out a bonus point for a specific event or set of contests. With this one bonus point, there are 12 points available throughout the entire contest season.
  • If teams are tied at the end of the season, the tie breaker will be the team that improved their score percentage (year over year) in the Minnesota QSO Party.

This new scoring method will hopefully get more stations active in more events. We’ll see increased activity, more QSO’s for each of us, and larger scores for MWA! I’ll have the first results out soon. Let me know if you have any questions.

73 Rich NØHJZ

Categories
Scores

One Million Points

A few of you asked me to share how to get to a million points in the contest season. You need to make an effort to be active in all 11 contests in our contest season. I think that, with a minimal station, and some BIC time, everyone in MWA could do this. Here is the formula:

  • CQWW RTTY – 300 QSO’s x 75 mults (average QSO worth 2 pts) = 45,000 points
  • CQWW DX Phone – 400 QSO’s x 200 mults (average QSO worth 2.5 pts) = 200,000 points
  • Sweepstakes CW – 350 QSO’s x 75 mults (QSO’s worth 2 pts) = 52,500 points
  • Sweepstakes Phone – 350 QSO’s x 75 mults (QSO’s worth 2 pts) = 52,500 points
  • CQWW DX CW – 400 QSO’s x 200 mults (average QSO worth 2.5 pts) = 200,000 points
  • ARRL 160 Meter Contest – 250 QSO’s x 50 mults (QSO’s worth 2 pts) = 25,000 points
  • ARRL 10 Meter Contest – 300 QSO’s x 60 mults (average QSO worth 2.5 pts) = 45,000 points
  • ARRL RTTY Round-Up – 400 QSO’s x 50 mults (QSO’s worth 1 pt) = 20,000 points
  • Minnesota QSO Party – 400 QSO’s x 60 mults (QSO’s worth 2 pts) = 48,000 points
  • ARRL DX CW – 350 QSO’s x 150 mults (QSO’s worth 3 pts) = 157,500 points
  • ARRL DX Phone – 350 QSO’s x 150 mults (QSO’s worth 3 pts) = 157,500 points

FULL YEAR TOTAL = 1,003,000 points

You’ll need to work all three modes. You can go with low power or high power. You can run assisted to add to your multiplier count. You just need to get on the air and spend some time making QSO’s! If anyone needs more help getting their station ready for the contest season, let me know.

I hope this helps more stations earn their certificates at next years meeting and enjoy the contest season more!

73, Rich NØHJZ