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What we have done has barely scratched the surface. It turns out that there is, in fact, unlimited juice in the lemon. The fact is that it's not about squeezing anything at all. It is about tapping an ocean of creativity, passion, and energy, which as far as we can see has no bottom, and has no shore.
Jack Welsh, former chairman of General Electric
Flavio, IK1YDB, doing some last minute antenna work just before another snow storm arrived by the start of the contest. |
Chuck, WS1L, hopes his feline companion doesn't mean he is now a multioperator entry. Don't worry Chuck... |
Gene, KB7Q, turned this year's contest into a mini-Dx-pedition to a cabin high in the mountains just north of Yellowstone Park now. The pay off was no AM broadcast stations, no power line noise, no neighbors, and all the room he needed for antennas. Note the five-foot helium balloon used to fly a 1/4 wave vertical over 60 ground radials. |
With over 20 years in the books working together, the K9CS Multi-S group celebrates another successful ARRL 160 Meter Contest operating from the WB9Z station. From left, Howard AK9F, Carl K9CS, Jerry WB9Z, Don K9NR, and Will K9FO. |
Although Jack's words are completely out-of-context, they certainly ring true regarding Topband during the first full weekend of December. A total of 1,022 logs were submitted in 2005, an increase of almost 6.4% over 2004. How many people can fit into roughly 100 KHz? I'd love to invite thousands more.
Each year that we add more players, we retire more records. This year, I count 2 Top-Ten records, 78 Section "firsts," 22 Divisional records, and 7 Regional all-time high scores. There are loads of records that remain intact from 1997 and 1998, the previous "bottom" of the cycle. As we approach this cycle's minimum, expect to see these old monuments fall to the pressures of greater participation.
Jeff, VY2ZM, managed to find 1,876 people in 132 mults this year, landing an all-time Single Operator High Power record. As you can see from Jeff's QSO total, we are starting to approach the 2K QSO mark. The ops at AA1K, edged out the gang at W2GD in the Multioperator category, as both stations beat the previous all-time category record. Jim, N0UR (@K0SF) managed the number one slot in Single Operator Low Power category with a great effort from the black hole of Minnesota, but left VY2PX's amazing 2004 score in place. Ivan, VE3DO, couldn't touch the SOQRP scores from 1997 and 1998, but did manage to land first place, the first Canadian to take top billing in Single Operator QRP category. Congratulations to all on their stellar performances.
Be sure to look at the Top-Ten, Division, Region, and DX scores provided in the tables. And make sure to analyze the expanded data on the ARRL Web. Many years of scores are compiled into spreadsheets that can be down loaded and sorted to see how an individual score stacks up to the history for the area. You will find there are sections with no records which equals no entries for that category from that section. For example, NNY shows no SOHP record. No amps in NNY? The cumulative records will allow you to compare your performance to the history of scores submitted from your area, whether you win the section or are setting a goal for next year's contest. I encourage you to download the spreadsheet and take a closer look at your area.
Hand in hand with the contest is the new opportunity from the ARRL "Logbook
of the World." You can now track the WAS (Worked All States) award as part of
LOTW, which will allow an easy way for you to confirm and earn your 160-Meter
WAS endorsement. LOTW is an easy, secure method for tracking ARRL awards.
Because of security policies contest participants must submit their digitally
signed logs directly to LOTW (as well as sending the logs to the contest email
address). Perhaps one day you will be able to complete a WAS during the
160-Meter contest, send your logs to the Contest Branch for scoring and a
digitally signed copy to LOTW and end up with a WAS certificate endorsed for
completing the award during that specific contest weekend. What a challenge!
Who's going to be first? Don't forget to post your logs to LOTW. Hopefully the
Topband operators can lead the way!
K1LT's daughter Sunni helps K8ND with a bit of cheerleading during the 2005 contest. |
Frank, EA7NW, used this G5RV-M at 40 feet. |
It has long been a desire of many participants to get more DX to come out and play for the weekend. There were 69 non-W/VE entries this year. That's up from 46 in 2004. The rules, being similar to Sweepstakes in many respects, do not allow DX to accumulate DX Qs and mults, only US/VE stations qualify as a QSO. While they don't compete directly with W/VE stations, they do receive certificates for Top Ten DX-side finishes and national wins. They come out to play their own mini-contest chasing sections and states, and of course staking a claim to being loudest in their area. DX can also gather confirmations thru Logbook of the World, which make the contest even more rewarding. I can't wait for some of the European clubs to start chasing this contest based on the WAS award program.
6Y0A's multioperator effort from Jamaica handed out 1343 QSOs to 77 Sections and landed the top non-W/VE score. Top score from Europe was John, ON4UN with 457 Qs and snaring 60 of the 80 sections. Several brave DX stations entered in the Single Operator QRP category. Lasse, OH3WD, managed 30 QSOs while Masaki, JH4UYB, managed 4 QRP Qs from Japan.
In the club competition, we see that participation has increased again this year. 510 logs were submitted with a score being associated with a club. This is up 6.7% from the 478 logs last year. While Society of Midwest Contesters established a commanding lead over the other unlimited clubs, the tiny difference between Potomac Valley Radio Club and the Minnesota Wireless Association for second place could be attributable to a single missing log or even a few busted Qs. In the Medium category, Frankford Radio Club triumphed over the Yankee Clipper Contest Club, even though they submitted 11 fewer logs. The Local category was led by the Medina 2 Meter group with an average log of nearly 83K points with the Low Country Contest Club of SC claiming second place.
Once again, we see an increase in all-time-records because participation increased. It is no surprise to anyone that you simply run out of Qs in this contest. Earning a score bigger than your neighbor means you have to find those ops that only play for 30 minutes or an hour. What's the best strategy? Be loud. Find opportunities to run a frequency. And sweep the band to find those part-time ops that can mean the difference between winning your local race, and just posting a score. See you next year on the first full weekend of December - one year closer to the solar minimum.
