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Club Competition Update

: Last Updated on Sunday, 25 February 2018 23:29

160 Operators.....One club.......Three teams........Hundreds of thousands of QSO's.....

After competing since late September, it all comes down to the ARRL International DX Phone Contest to decide who will win the pizza! This has been a thrilling contest season and it's gonna come down to the final weekend!

We know only one thing: Team Hennepin cannot win the pizza. By not winning the ARRL DX CW Contest, their only hope is that the log checkers will uncover an error. Team Hennepin can play the role of spoiler though. A Team Hennepin win in ARRL DX Phone would hand the pizza to Team South.

Here are the results for ARRL DX CW:

Team South - 7,582,886 points (Up 5.31% over last year!)
Team Hennepin - 5,752,365 points (Down 1094% from last year)
Team North - 2,844,903 points (Down 38.93% from last year)

TOTAL MWA - 16,180,154 points (Down 11.67% from last year)

The full year results, heading into the final weekend:

Team South (4 Points) - CQWW CW, ARRL RTTY RU, MNQP & ARRL DX CW
Team North (4 Points) - SS CW, SS Phone, ARRL 10M & Combined 160M/10M
Team Hennepin (3 Points) - CQWW RTTY, CQWW Phone & ARRL 160M

Get the extra antennas in the air. Tune up the amplifiers. Get EVERYONE on the air! It all comes down to the final weekend! Every extra QSO and multiplier is going to count!

73,

Rich NØHJZ

MWA Friend Files

: Last Updated on Wednesday, 04 October 2017 19:02

The various friend files for the different contest software have been updated based on current MWA membership. There are two versions for each program, one has MWA flag in the file so when it comes up on the screen you see MWA along with name, etc. Some people like this and others don’t.

The zip file name with MWA.zip at the very end has the MWA flag in the file.

Each zip file also has instructions on how to install with the particular software.

A Few Points on Getting More Points

: Last Updated on Tuesday, 26 May 2015 18:19

Metal-in-air, butt-in-chair, submit your log.

That mantra goes a long way, but there is much more to learn and do to improve
your contest score. This guide has suggestions everyone can implement on any budget.
Contesting takes practice and patience. Start by making a few improvements here and
there, and over time it will add up to bigger scores for you and the club.

Bill Mitchell, AEØEE, provides some tips on improving your score in this article.

How To Win The Pizza - A New Way!

: Last Updated on Thursday, 08 October 2015 17:16

We've come up with a new way to "win the pizza" for this season! In an attempt to have some fun, increase MWA scores, and level the playing field between contests, the MWA Team Competition has a new method for the 2015/2016 contest season. This was announced at the MWA meeting but I wanted to get the word out to everyone in the area.

Previously we used the percentage gain for the entire year as the determining factor for the winning team. Whoever increased the most over the entire season won the pizza. Simple!

As we analyzed the results, we found that the DX contests really drove the season. Why operate the little contests when you can create a large score in CQWW or ARRL DX? We looked at a way to make ARRL 160 or MNQP mean as much as the CQWW events.

Here is the result:

Each of our 11 contests will be separate events. Each contest will be worth one point (11 points total). The team that improves their score percentage the most (year over year) in each event will be awarded one point. Sweepstakes Phone is now worth the same as CQWW DX CW or ARRL RTTY Round-Up! Eleven separate points will be awarded for our eleven contests.
Each year we will also give out a bonus point for a specific event or set of contests. This year the extra point will be awarded to the team that improves their scoring increase (year over year) for the combined Sweepstakes events. With this one bonus point, there are 12 points available throughout the entire contest season.
If teams are tied at the end of the season, the tie breaker will be the team that improved their score percentage (year over year) in the Minnesota QSO Party.

This new scoring method will hopefully get more stations active in more events. We'll see increased activity, more QSO's for each of us, and larger scores for MWA! I'll have the first results out soon. Let me know if you have any questions.

73 Rich NØHJZ

DuneStar Filters

: Last Updated on Monday, 03 December 2012 22:18

Some of our members are using switchable bandpass filters in their stations. In particular the fellows who operate SO2R or multi-op. The objective is to be able to listen or transmit on two separate bands with reduced interference between the radios on the two or more bands.

I bought two Dunestar filters from one of the MWA members. At the time we made the deal I had been advised that one or two of the bands did not seem to operate correctly. I accepted that condition as a part of the purchase.