Category: Announcements

Randy Thompson K5ZD has announced his intention to step down as Director of the CQ WW Contest as soon as a replacement can be found. The decision was due to increasing responsibilities in his professional career. The Director of the CQ WW Contest is responsible for appointing the members of the CQ WW Contest Committee and organizing their work to develop the rules, log checking, and production of the contest results.

Thompson became Director of the CQ WPX Contest in 2008 where he served through the 2012 contest. He was appointed as Director of CQ WW in September 2012. Under his leadership, the CQ WPX and CQ WW contests have improved the log checking process and enforcement actions against rule violations. The Web sites for the two contests were enhanced to include a historical database of all time scores, records, results, and log submission tools.

According to Thompson, “I have enjoyed working on the CQ contests and hope to stay involved with the web sites and log checking. The demands of a new job are preventing me from dedicating the time that the role deserves. With WPX, WW, and WRTC2014 activities over the past 8 years, I am ready for a break. I am very proud of the work the Committee has done in enforcing the rules and feel that contesting results are now more accurate than ever. I look forward to working with the new Director.”

Randy Thompson, K5ZD, has been licensed and active in contesting since 1973 at age 13. He is an accomplished contester, having multiple single-operator wins in the ARRL Sweepstakes, CQ World Wide DX Contest, and the CQ WPX Contest, among others. Randy is a past editor of the “National Contest Journal” (a post he has held three separate times) and a co-founder of the eHam.net website. He is a member of the CQ Magazine Contest Hall of Fame. He has competed in five World Radiosport Team Championships and was a member of the organizing committee for WRTC2014. When not in front of a radio, Randy is in product management for a technology company involved in the Intenet of Things (IoT).

A description of the CQ WW Director role is listed below. Anyone interested in being considered for the job should apply at: https://cqww.com/contact. Questions may also be directed to CQ Amateur Radio publisher Dick Ross K2MGA at k2mga@cq-amateur-radio.com.

Job Description: CQ WW Director

The Director of the CQ WW DX Contest is responsible for the operation and results of the CQ WW DX Contest. The ideal candidate will be passionate about the CQ WW, a respected member of the contest community, and have demonstrated proficiency in contesting.

Responsibilities:

• Administration
  • Recruit volunteers with necessary skills to assist with the administration and operation of the contest
  • Appoint members to the CQ WW Contest Committee
  • Appoint leaders of internal working groups
  • Consult with CQWWCC to set policies, define rule changes
  • Manage the log checking process
  • Work with WWROF and others to fund needed infrastructure
  • Coordinate with CQ Magazine management and editorial staff
  • Uphold the ethical standards of the competition

• Communication
  • Serve as external spokesperson for the CQ WW Contest Committee
  • Manage email requests to questions@cwww.com (e.g., did you get my log? where is my plaque? rules questions? log formatting?)
  • Communicate the policies and decisions of the CQWWCC to entrants
  • Distribute announcements to the contest community by blog post and email
  • Make presentations about the CQ WW DX Contest (club meetings, webinars)
  • Review and provide content for the cqww.com web site

• Results
  • Publish raw scores
  • Notify entrants of disqualifications or category changes
  • Contest results article for each mode
  • Assemble final results package for CQ

• Other:
  • Presentation of CQ Contest Hall of Fame awards at Dayton
  • Conduct participant surveys

Required Skills:

• Organizational and leadership ability to work with a global team of volunteers
• Attention to detail and ability to work with data
• Connection with the international contest community
• Strong writing and presentation skills in English
• Ability to devote 10+ hours per week between September and March each year to answer questions, manage the log checking, and compile the results, plus additional time during the rest of the year to promote the contest

 

Several years ago, Valery R5GA created a web site where he displayed the highest 60-minute QSO rates found in the public logs for popular contests.  When he announced he was thinking of closing his site, we asked if he would share his code so we could use it for CQ WW logs.  I am very pleased to announce that he agreed to our request. The high QSO rates for CQ WW SSB/CW logs are now available at http://www.cqww.com/rates/ .

The QSO rates are calculated from the public logs (currently 2005-2015). We may include some earlier years as we get the logs out of the archive.  QSOs are counted before dupes and before log checking. We look for the highest QSO count within a 60 minute period in the log. While a log may have several high rate periods, only the highest one is shown in the results.

The QSO Rates page allows you to look at highest rates by category, by continent, and by country. A search function allows you to search for an operator or entry callsign and see the highest rates found for that call.

Please send any comments or questions at: https://cqww.com/contact.

Thanks to Valery Petrov R5GA for making this concept and code available to the CQ WW Contest Committee.

The ARRL HF operating guidelines provide a very clear definition of the term “self spotting.”

“Self-spotting is the practice of announcing your own call and run frequency on the spotting
network. ARRL contest rules specifically prohibit both self-spotting and requesting spotting by
other stations. It’s a form of CQing that does not take place on the amateur bands, just a step
away from making phone calls to solicit contacts.”

The CQ WW rules specifically prohibit self spotting:

IX. GENERAL RULES FOR ALL ENTRANTS:

4.  Self-spotting or asking to be spotted is not permitted.

Each year the rules enforcement working group of the CQ WW Contest Committee will identify areas where the rules are not being followed.  This year we have detected a very high number of stations that appear to be engaged in self-spotting.  In many cases, there is an attempt to hide this behind phantom callsigns or made to appear like the spots were from a local friend. This kind of activity is not permitted under the rules.

While no decisions have yet been made, there are likely to be disqualifications and warnings issued to some entrants of CQ WW Phone 2015.

We want everyone to be aware of the rule against self-spotting in advance of the upcoming  CQ WW CW event.  Please follow the rules so the contest is fair for everyone and you do not put your entry at the risk of disqualification.