K5ZD Announcements

2013 Rules Preview – Second Draft

On May 31 the CQ WW DX Contest Committee released a preliminary draft of the 2013 contest rules and asked for public review and comment. We are very happy with the interest and feedback that we have received.

We have made enough changes based on the feedback that we want to release a second draft in order for review.

Click here to download the draft rules in Adobe pdf format: cqww_rules_2013_public_draft_17Jun2013 (217Kb)

All changes are marked in red.

  • Notable items include:
  • Additional definition of “one radio” for new Classic overlay
  • Separation of Club competition into USA and International. International club members can now come from within the same country plus within a 275 Km radius circle.
  • Added a new section for definition of key terms.
  • Removed rule about call sign must indicate country.
  • Removed rule about CQ WW observer program

Click here to download the draft rules in Adobe pdf format: cqww_rules_2013_public_draft_17Jun2013 (217Kb)

Please send any comments or feedback to questions@cqww.com by June 25, 2013. The final version of the rules will be released in early July.

Randy Thompson

Director – CQ WW DX Contest

 

K5ZD Announcements

Results: 2013 CQ WW Participant Survey

In March 2013 the CQ WW Committee conducted a survey of CQ WW DX Contest participants. The purpose of the survey was to gather feedback about the contest and opinions of operators from around the world.

An invitation to take the survey was sent to 10,000 email addresses (highest scores from the 13,000 log submissions). The survey was also announced on the cq-contest reflector and was forwarded among contest operators and clubs.

At the close of the survey on March 29, 2013 there were 6402 responses with at least 1 question answered.  4801 were able to complete all of the questions.  Even though this was a non-scientific survey, we are comfortable that the high response rate provides a representative sample of the CQ WW participant population.

In addition to the statistics generated from the responses it was the additional comments that were most interesting. They provide a deeper understanding of how CQ WW participants see the rules, the state of the contest, and of each other. The result was 222 pages of complaints, comments, suggestions and other feedback. This input had a direct influence on the new rules that are currently under review.

As a service to the contest community we are pleased to share the results of the survey. You can download a file with the results and comments at the link below.

2013_CQWWDX_Contest_Survey_27Apr2013.pdf (2.45Mb)

Please direct any questions about the survey to questions@cqww.com.

Thank you to everyone who responded to the survey.

K5ZD Announcements, Rules

Preview of 2013 CQ WW Contest Rules

The CQ WW DX Contest rules have evolved over the years to respond to technology and other changes in contesting. The wording was not always consistent and this would lead to misunderstandings about the rules. We knew it was time to do something when the volunteers that were translating the rules into other languages could not find the right words!

The CQ WW DX Contest Committee has conducted a complete review of the rules. The goals of the project were to make the rules easier to read, easier to understand, to remove less popular items, and to add some new opportunities for competition.

The Committee is making a draft of the 2013 rules available for public preview. We ask all contesters to read the new rules and let us know if you have questions or comments. We will use this feedback to improve the words or to add to the frequently asked questions on the web site.

Click here to download the draft rules in Adobe pdf format: cqww_rules_2013_public_draft_31May2013 (130Kb)

The review period closes on June 25, 2013. Please send any comments to questions@cqww.com. The official rules for CQ WW DX Contest 2013 will be announced by July 2, 2013.

Highlights of the changes are listed below:

Enhancements

  • Improved organization of rules puts all necessary scoring and category information near the top where it is easier to find
  • New “Classic” overlay category for single operator, one radio, no QSO alerting assistance, 24 hours of operation
  • New “Rookie” overlay category for amateurs licensed less than 3 years
  • Certificates offered for each Russia call area
  • Club competition rules simplified, minimum of 4 logs required
  • Call sign must indicate DXCC country of operation
  • Wide signals are now considered unsportsmanlike conduct
  • Log checking penalties are defined (NIL and busted call penalty reduced)

Removed

  • Team contesting
  • Xtreme category
  • Red and Yellow cards

No changes to

  • Scoring
  • Single Operator and Single Operator Assisted categories

 

Click here to download the draft rules in Adobe pdf format: cqww_rules_2013_public_draft_31May2013 (130Kb)

Please send any feedback to questions@cqww.com before June 25, 2013.  Thanks to everyone for their participation and support of the CQ WW DX Contest!

 

Randy Thompson, K5ZD

Director – CQ WW DX Contest

K5ZD Announcements, Presentations

CQWW Presentation at Dayton Contest Forum

On May 18, CQ WW Director Randy Thompson, K5ZD, gave a presentation on the CQ WW DX Contest at the Contest Forum of the 2013 Dayton Hamvention®. The presentation covered:

  • Continuing growth of the CQ WW contest entries
  • A visual look at the activity for 2012
  • Recent CQ WW Committee actions to improve log checking
  • CQ WW Contest web site and new log submission tool
  • Selected results of the 2013 CQ WW participant survey

You can download the presentation in Adobe pdf format (1.7Mb): CQ WW for Dayton Contest Forum 2013

Send questions to k5zd@cqww.com.