The World Radiosport Team Championship Wrap-Up.
By Steve Morris, K7LXC
The first ever World Radiosport Team Championship can only be described
as one of the most exciting and most significant events to ever
take place in Amateur Radio contesting. The gathering of 44 of the
worlds top contesters yielded not only world-class competition,
but also immeasurable international goodwill and enduring friendships.
After we worked for nearly two years to get them here, the arrival
of the Soviet delegation on the Tuesday before the contest was very
emotional. To make it even more special, we obtained official permission
from the FCC for the UA, LZ, HA and OK teams to operate (despite
the lack of reciprocal operating agreements) just five days before
their arrival.The contest itself was preceded by several days of
get-acquainted activities. Although the Soviets were very focused
on preparation and the contest itself, they found themselves in
the middle of a social whirl that exceeded Dayton or Visalia in
magnitude. N2AA and UW9AF were unflagging in their dedication to
keeping the festivities going no matter how long it took or what
the hour was. When the WRTC Committee decided to sponsor its own
contest, it was like throwing a party and not knowing if anyone
would show up. With the winning team making over 1400 QSOs and with
more than 2000
call signs in the contest data base, the participation can be summarized
as fantastic!
Propagation was poor for several hours before the contest started,
but conditions
kept getting better and the rates never let up. The only atmospheric
disappointment
was the virtual RF wall to Asia. Normally high rates
into Japan never materialized,
with several teams working only one or two JAs.
Despite the Asian curtain, the contest exceeded everyones
expectations. Not only
was the activity level high, but US and DX stations reported high
numbers of QSOS
and many interesting counters (mults). All of the logs
were put into a computerized
format that could be used by the Judging and Scoring Committee.
Headed by Rusty,
W6OAT, and Martti, OH2BH, the Committee put in more than 100 hours
analyzing and
scoring the logs (they missed the entire DX Convention while holed
up in a hotel room
checking logs!). There was a requirement that all teams submit an
audio cassette
humors from the WRTC of their effort. Well never know just
how many times the Committee listened to the same contest on different
tapes! With the top three scores winding up within 3o/0 of each
other and with national pride at stake, close scrutiny was mandatory.
The final analysis was a unique + 1 analysis. With the
increase of computerized logging, it is hoped that this effort will
be a prototype for future contest log-checking programs. The final
scores put Kl AR and Kl DG as the gold medal winners, with the K7JA
and W9RE team as silver medalists and KQ2M and KR0Y as the bronze-
medal-winning team. Different strategies were employed by the different
teams.
The winning team stuck to its proven East Coast plan of running
them and letting
the mults come to them. This resulted in a low counter total
for John, KlAR, and
Doug, KlDG, but their well-oiled team pulled out the win aided by
a winning
CW effort. Chip, K7JA, and Mike, W9RE. used their SSB skills to
win the SSB title
and points, but again finished down in the pack for counters. Unable
to produce the
rates of some of the other teams, especially on SSB, Bob, KQ2M,
and Jeff, KR0Y, found
counters that no one else worked and walked away with the top honors
for
counters. At the conclusion of the contest, many teams were already
making strategy
plans for next time. All stations were deemed to be
approximately
equal in terms of antennas, location and overall station performance.
The great
equalizer of station dominance was achieved through a random drawing
of teams and
stations. No one team or station combination had a clear advantage
over the other
teams, and since this was supposed to be a test of operator skill
and not station
performance, it turned out to be the close horse race that everyone
wanted to see. The
final results are:
Team Points
KlAR/KlDG 263.35
K7JA/W9RE 255.39
KQ2M/KR0Y 254.30
VE7CC/VE7SV 247.44
DL5XX/DJ6QT 247.11
LZlMS/LZ2PO 244.86
G3YDV/G4BUO 239.21
EA5BRA/EA9EO 237.56
UA9AM/UW9AR 236.45
AA4NC/W7EJ 235.12
UAlDZ/RB5IM 232.78
I2UIY/IK2DVG 229.06
OH1XX/OH8PF 228.06
OK1RI/OK2FD 225.38
YUlRL/YT3AA 220.55
HA6NY/HA0MM 219.85
UW3AA/UA9SA 209.91
UW0CA/UW0CN 209.59
JElCKA/JElJKL 195.64
PY4OD/PY5EG 193.06
FDl NYQ/F2CW 177.43
JJ3UHS/JM3JOW 172.45
The morning after the contest (with little or no sleep), everyone
traveled to Portland
Wllly, UW9AR, and George, UA9AM. for the annual Pacific Northwest
DX Convention,
where the competitors were the honored guests. With over 300 hams
in attendance,
the convention offered even more hospitality for the competitors.
Monday evening was the Awards Banquet, emceed by K7SS, with talks
by UV3BW and W6EJJ. After bestowing honors on the competitors, the
results were declared official and medals were awarded.
Seeing the 44 participants assembled together on the stage made
you realize the tremendous contribution that these operators have
made to radio contesting by meeting and competing for World Radiosport
Team Championship honors. As many of the radio sportsmen and guests
talked together about the future of radiosport contesting, two things
became clear. One, that this event should take place again. Whether
there is some kind of special event (like the Olympics, Goodwill
Games, expos, etc) shouldnt be the deciding
factor, but it may offer a stage or backdrop for the competition.
This event was too
important not to happen again and the Committee hopes that another
group will pick up the baton for the second WRTC. We will offer
all of our expertise and experience to make ths happen again, anywhere!
The second significant outcome was discussion of a permanent organization
that will help to establish new standards for judging, scoring and
contest coordination throughout the world. The World Radiosport
Team Championship
would not have been possible without the tremendous financial support
of our
sponsors. First and foremost was ICOM America and Evelyn Garrison,
WS7A, who
shared the vision and helped us launch this world-class event. Our
grateful thanks
also go to Bob Ferrero, W6RJ, of Ham Radio Outlet and US Tower;
Martin Jue,
K5FLU, of MFJ and Ameritron; the Northern California DX Foundation
and Joe
Mullan, W3RLR. Special thanks to Dick Ross, K2MGA, of CO, Atilano
(Oms) de
Oms, PY5EG, for helping us with financial support from Brazil, and
Barry Merrill,
W5GN, for their generous donations. Led by Danny, K7SS, WRTC Committee
members include Steve, K7LXC; Don, W7NG; Jean, KM7E: Pat, KS7L;
Karen,
KA7VMP; Ron, NV6Zi7; John, KE7V; Ward, N0AX; Mary, W7QGP; Adam,
N7MJZ; Chip, K7LR; Marina, N7LSL; Dave, N7MYO; Dick, N7NKG; and
Mike, KF7YB.
Team Zebra (in the black-and-white striped referee shirts) included
W6OAT, K3EST,
OH2BH, N6AA, OH2MM, N6ZZ, K6NA, UZ3AU and UW3AX.
Thanks to everyone for all your support and well see you on
the air!
YouTube VIDEO: WRTC'90
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