[CQ-Contest] CQ Magazine Contest Resources on the Web

[David Siddall]

It occurred to me that listing the web resources for CQ contests might be
helpful for others.  I am not associated with CQ Magazine, but have been a
satisfied contest participant for many years.  The below applies for the
English edition -- CQ also publishes a Spanish edition that contains both
articles translated from the English edition and original articles from
Spanish speakers.

1.  Contest summaries, but not line scores, are published in CQ magazine
for each CQ contest.  Seems to be targeted at ~6 months after month in
which contest was held.  This is a new schedule with 5-day submission
deadlines and quicker contest editor turn-arounds.

2. The last week of a month the next month's edition generally shows up on
the main website, http://www.cq-amateur-radio.com,  The magazine posts next
month's cover, index, editorial, and a brief description of several items.
The line scores are linked in their totality for any contest covered in the
next month's edition, but are not published in the magazine. The
descriptive article that is published in the magazine is posted a few weeks
later.

3. Around the same time that next month's magazine is posted on the main CQ
site, "expanded information" is posted on the subsite devoted to the
contest.  "Expanded information" varies by contest, but usually includes
the line scores, operators at multi-operator stations, and participants'
comments.  Additional pictures and tables are sometimes added. The contest
subsites are found by clicking on the "CQ Contests" link on the left hand
side of the main page (referenced above).

4.  About mid-month the article that was published in the magazine seems to
be added to the subsite.

5.  A gold mine of more detailed and historical information is located on
the website dedicated to the contest itself.  For example, CQWW is at:
http://www.cqww.com/  Information there is very extensive: see the rules,
download a certificate if you earned one (since 2012), review logs and
LCRs, statistics & records, research past participation by any call
(curreny back to 1994, but this is being worked on to go further back),
study logs of all participants back to 2010, etc.  WRT records, while the
database is being expanded to include past years one must take 2 steps:
view the record you want using the interactive database, then check the
"old records".  Under "old records" you may find that the category in which
you are interested has a pre-1994 record -- there are still a few!  The
websites vary some, for example, for WPX the database goes back to the
beginning of the contest -- everything is there!

6.  Finally, CQ Magazine itself is available in electronic format since its
1945 first issue throoes back to the beginning ough 2011 at hamcall.net/cq.
2012-forward issues are available from CQ and its contractor for monthly
digital deliveries, "Zinio".

7. Digital copies of the current CQ issue are delivered on the 1st or
second of the month through Zinio.  Paper copies come in the mail
"whenever", but CQ says that recent mailing delays have been recitified for
the September-forward issues.

I found the in-depth information available on each of the CQ contests'
specific sites to be outstanding. If you haven't checked them out recently,
you might wish to do so for your favorite contests.

Thanks to all at CQ Magazine, the contest editors, and the volunteers who
have worked so hard to make all of these resources available to us.

73, Dave K3ZJ