This Weekend In RadioSport | IARU HF World Championship

My antenna system is deployed and I'm listening to 40m this evening before the big planetary RadioSport event. The IARU HF World Championship scoring model allows everyone to work everyone for at least 1-point. I like that because it is an opportunity at calling CQ when search and pounce (SP) rate begins falling.

The IARU HF World Championship is like a national with an international flare. DX contacts are 5-points that is different continent, different ITU zone. The value of DX weighs in favor of an SP tactic and an overall CQ strategy. For example, I can sweep a band, work available points and multipliers, then resume CQ.

My selected CQ frequency is important. Is it strategically important to call at the low or high end of any given band? Where are the loudest S-meter signals and will signal drafting work as a tactic? My goal is a test of my questions.

What about my bandmap? Multiplier decay is a consideration however sustaining a robust CQ rate is an unreasonable expectation, at least for my engineered station. Perhaps, given the time constraint of 24-hours, the significance of an accurate band map is not important? It maybe a distraction during the ebb and flow of this contest.

My overall goal is a lot of ham radio fun this weekend. I like the DailyDX IARU HQ checklist as additional fun and the ITU zone map. Furthermore, I want to add DXCC entities and zones in pursuit of my on-going award goal. I'm entering Single Operator All Band (SOAB) without assistance and it is time to hit the rack.

Contest on!