KT9M
Multi-multi team for
CQ WPX
Sponsored
by the Indianapolis Radio League..
What: A multi-multi
effort for the WPX phone contest.
When: The weekend of
March 25-27.
Where: The
Indianapolis Radio League Comm Center near 34th and Keystone
Who: Contesters from
a cross-section of local clubs
Why: Fun, fellowship
and the thrill of a record-breaking challenge.
Schedule for the KT9M multi-multi WPX contest for the
weekend of March 26-27th, 2005
(starting Friday Night at 7P and ending Sunday
night at 7P) Indy times..
Bands: 160 through 10 meters Phone.
GOAL
Break the existing 9-land multi-multi record of 5,417,178
points, set in 1980 by W9ZRX.
Although we can’t know exactly how many QSOs and
multipliers we’ll need (because QSO
points vary according to the QTH), an
easy-to-remember target is “3,000-1,000”—3,000 QSOs,
1,000 multipliers. But the
best estimate is that we’ll need something on the order of 2,700 QSOs and 800
multipliers.
Team Members:
Mike-W9SU, Brian -W9IND, Bill-WY9T, Gavin-W9EYE, David -N9QVO,
Steve-W9TN, Heather-KB9ZLB ,
Ed-N9IZN, Mike Mallory, Tom-K9XV, Mike-KE9YA, Jim-K9RU,
Kurt-KT9M, Bob-W9PSE, Mike-KE9YA
Dave-N9KZJ, Bob-W9ETA, Trevor-N9YM & Josh, Jeff-KF9UP,Dave-N9KT, Tim-N9LF & Chuck-W9IH.
Why WPX?
The WPX phone
contest would be a good place to start, since it
offers us an
interesting challenge: rewriting Americas oldest WPX phone
record on the books. The current multi-multi
record of 5.4 million points
was set by W9ZRX in 1980 a quarter century
ago.
Since then, much has
changed in WPX. American stations now count a point apiece,
making this an everybody-works-everybody
contest. And of course, the number of U.S.
prefixes has increased
exponentially, enabling multi-multi teams to achieve scores as high as 29
million points.
Challenges:
We're dealing with
an approaching 11-year sunspot minimum,
among other
variables such as Weather & Band
conditions.
RULES AND STRATEGY
The WPX exchange is RS(T), plus the QSO number, starting
with 001 (“Five-nine, zero-zero-one,” etc.).
Each band keeps its own running
QSO count.
A WPX score is based on the number of unique prefixes
multiplied times the number of contact (QSO) points.
So our concerns are: (1)
unique prefixes, (2) QSOs, and (3) contact (QSO) points. Let’s review
what each
of these actually means, as defined by the WPX rulebook.
Unique prefixes:
In the case of a multi-multi effort, “unique” means that a particular prefix
can
count on our score only once, whether we work it on one band or six. (But
the QSOs still count,
so work the station on six bands anyway.)
QSOs: Sounds
straightforward, and it is—mostly. But unlike, say, CQWW and ARRL DX,
you’re
not limited to DX stations. Every station—whether it’s in Greenland or
Greenwood—counts
at least 1 point. So, it’s an everybody-works-everybody
contest.
Contact Points: This
is the area we need to be most aware of, because it can mean that some
QSOs are
worth 18 times as many points as other QSOs. This chart explains how the WPX
scoring varies according to which band you’re on and where the other station is
located.
Communications Center setup:
All amateur bands were available throughout the entire
contest,(160-10 meters).
Each station had high gain antennas plus 1-1.5KW power
capabilities. Each Station operated with
W1MM logging software and CAT radio
interfaced PC's plus linked to the Packet cluster or
telnet for additional
contact spotting. For some of the team members this was the their first time to
use this very capable software.
Follow up: will be at later date once all the logs have been compiled and the results are in.
Special thanks to Mike-W9SU for hosting this team event;
to Brian-W9IND &
Bill-WY9T for their outstanding organizational skills and
to all participants for their
incredible comment of time to the effort.
Qs by Band by Hour PDF file
Qs by Point by Hour PDF file
Article from Brian D. Smith, W9IND (ex-WO9I, KA9OIH, WN9ICB)
Stats by Dave- N9KT
PIX By: Ed Conder- N9IZN