2012 NAQP CW | WRTC2014 Qualifier Event

Good morning from inside the shackadelic zone with a cup of DxCoffee inside an authentic Dashtoons mug while DX World supplies vital signal launching information for my Diamond DXCC award pursuit.

The North American QSO Party (NAQP) CW event will launch radio frequency signals into the ionosphere later this morning. It is a World Radiosport Team Championship (WRTC) qualifying event for those interested in improving their standings. Additionally, one can download a regional Excel formatted spreadsheet in order to determine where one stands in the current qualification matrix.

I use OpenOffice and converted the .xls format to an .ods without any problem. The same can be said about the Diamond DXCC award tracking spreadsheet as well. 

On the other hand, I'm looking forward to seeing if anyone changes leader board positions in 6-land after this evening. We repaired faulty wiring on the old tower at SL's QTH yesterday afternoon after the rotor failed during the ARRL 10m event. The 5L monobander froze in position beaming toward Asia.

We were willing to operate NAQP CW with the East Coast off to the side of the 5L 10m and 3L 40m monobanders. I figured it would be in the spirit of RadioSport although our electrical fix made the difference.

As a reminder, today's WRTC2014 qualifying event has a maximum power output of 100 watts and 10 out 12 hours of operating time allowed. It's a great opportunity for low and vapor power stations to have a lot of ham radio fun without sacrificing an entire weekend.

• 2012 NAQP CW Rules
• WRTC2014 Qualifying Events
• WRTC2014 How To Contribute

Contest on!

World Radiosport Team Championship | 2006

Single Operator 2 Radio (SO2R) | In Practice

The final feature of Randy Thompson, K5ZD operating SO2R at peak efficiency. As mentioned in the fundamentals video, if one has enough time to carry a conversation or watch television, then consider implementing a second radio in the RadioSport shack.

Thank you Yankee Clipper Contest Club for sponsoring an introductory series on single operator 2 radio!

Contest on.

DXCC

Good morning from inside shackadelic zone where ham radio is a lot fun. My first 100 entities are confirmed and my application was filed this morning. I applied for mixed first 100 and CW first 100 for a total debit of $56.40 from the ledger. This is a milestone success because I never fully completed the process until now.

I'd like to comment on the cost of my milestone and float an idea into the ham radio blog conversation.

Would local clubs be willing to scholarship there youngest participants and help offset the cost of award applications like DXCC or WAS? The idea is offset most of the financial burden for those striving to achieve awards for operator proficiency and station engineering. I can't imagine how many of our youth can pony up the dollars needed without taking dollars away from somewhere else.

Perhaps, local clubs could split the cost, I can't envision Newington reducing the price of entry into DXCC however we may consider cost sharing at the local level once an applicant files a scholarship. The scholarship application premise is a commitment to complete the award, if so, then a club would share fifty percent or more of the award application fee.

The benefit of a cost sharing at the local level potentially demonstrates a willingness to ensure the longevity of our hobby. It is an intangible, perhaps even, an investment in the future of DXing and RadioSport.

73s from the shackadelic on the beach.