Categories
Members

MWA Merchandise

MWA merchandise is available from the following vendors:

Name badge from
Tag-Me Engraving
651-460-6177

Name badge from
The Sign Man of Baton Rouge

Coffee mug from
The Sign Man of Baton Rouge

MWA logo clothing from
HamThreads
817-602-1834

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
Members

A Few Points on Getting More Points

Metal-in-air, butt-in-chair, submit your log.

That mantra goes a long way, but there is much more to learn and do to improve your contest score. This guide has suggestions everyone can implement on any budget.
Contesting takes practice and patience. Start by making a few improvements here and there, and over time it will add up to bigger scores for you and the club.

Bill Mitchell, AEØEE, provides some tips on improving your score in this article.

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