[CQ-Contest] [wrtc2014] WRTC-2014 Selection Areas

Sun Oct 20 12:50:08 EDT 2013

 Thanks, Martin.

While the Assisted categories continue to gain in popularity, the point-and-shoot skill is not what WRTC seeks to emphasize.  Yes, there is cheating out there.  Unfortunately, rabid competitors cheat in other ways, too -- excessive power, extra operator(s), etc.  The CQ WW Committee and other sponsors have come a long way in IDing those cheaters.  

Assisted scores were given a 0.7 "multiplier" in WRTC2010 qualifying, so we improved the chances of an Assisted op for 2014 at the 0.8 factor.  

And while there may be a few exceptions, most MS ops who claimed a winning score did more than just show up part-time.  Remember that only 2 ops from a MS could use that particular score, so it's not that 10 ops suddenly get rewarded for the work of a few.  And also remember that ops had to have at least half of their scores as SO, so nobody qualified solely on the basis of making coffee at their local MS.

Category hopping is certainly not something we can control.  Some would view it as smart gaming.  

Can you give me an example of someone who failed to qualify who you think should have qualified, but was prevented from doing so by the selection criteria?  

73, Dan, K1TO

-----Original Message-----
From: Martin , LU5DX <lu5dx at lucg.com.ar>
To: Dan Street <danstreet599 at gmail.com>
Cc: CQ-Contest post <cq-contest at contesting.com>; wrtc2014 <wrtc2014 at lists.wrtc2014.org>
Sent: Sun, Oct 20, 2013 12:46 am
Subject: Re: [wrtc2014] [CQ-Contest] WRTC-2014 Selection Areas

This is a great and solid explanation and I truly believe it is the foundation for the overall great quality of operators (both TLs and TMs) for WRTC 2014.
I think there is a very positive trend in the outlining of WRTC rules: the best from the preceding event seems to be included in the rules of the upcoming ones.
For instance, in Russia, all the stations were identically equipped in terms of aerials and terrain profile. It was amazing to monitor the stations and see that signal levels were almost identical.
The selection criteria has been improved in several aspects.
To me  the only exception being the distinction between SOAB and SOAB(A) in detriment of SOAB(A) against not only SOAB but also MS, SOAB LP, and equaling it to MS LP, M2 and even MM!!
It seems as though WRTC considers SOAB and MS ops with better qualities than SOAB. Even a part time SOAB with a third or even a quarter of the score can beat a SOAB(A) who stuck his a** to the chair for 48 hours straight and even beat some MSs in terms of score.
Not to mention this distinction, considering it's a race for something so valuable as a spot among the selected operators for the Olympics of Amateur Radio, only makes more room for cheaters to cheat.
Hopefully this was not the case, but I dare anyone to solidly prove it. No one can.
So for the sake of the true spirit of WRTC, lets be innovative and creative. Just don't stick to the "Just a boy and his radio approach" because that simply is something retrogressive in essence. And here we are not talking about a simple contest. We are talking about the OLYMPICS of AMATEUR RADIO.

Another really bad thing that happened, was category hopping from competitors to avoid fighting in the same entry class as their competitors at their convenience. It was really sad to see that.

WRTCers must be selected by their individual skills, so it's really hard to understand how a member of an  MS, or a part timer can score more than a full all out, 5 days off the job, months training to stay away effort. I simply don't get it.

You tried to explain that to me Dan, but if you have a better explanation that whan you said to me over a year ago, I would be more than willing to know.

Best regards to all and I'm sure we all have a blast in WRTC 2014.

Vy 73.

Martin, LU5DX

On Sat, Oct 19, 2013 at 8:54 PM, Dan Street <danstreet599 at gmail.com> wrote:

Given the recent flurry of postings, I want to present some additional
facts...

1)  This is the first WRTC that divided the geographical lines so finely as
to allow W0s to compete with only other W0s.  In the past, W0s have
competed with at least the W5s (and guess who emerged on top).  So we
thought we were doing something that W0s would appreciate.  Same for
southern OC, SE AF, and countless other examples.  It's a lot of extra work
to do so, thus future WRTC organizers might not be so precise.

2)  The activity generated by such clubs as the MWA and Grand Mesa led to
enough logs being submitted in major contests that we thought W0 deserved a
Team Leader slot at all.  Clubs are a great catalyst to boosting contest
activity.

3)  In WRTC-2010, one Team Leader was unable to find a Team Mate in his own
Selection Area and had to drop out as a result.  We chose to open up the
selection to anyone anywhere in order to prevent such a scenario for 2014.
Only a handful of TLs chose a TM outside their Selection Area, despite the
much deeper pool of possible TMs that they could have chosen from.

4)  Specifically, Alex, KU1CW did well to honor his NA-10 group by first
choosing another W0.  However, when that individual declined the
invitation, Alex expanded his search.  Can you fault him for selecting his
cousin, a guy who almost qualified for a TL slot in EU1?  It's easy to
criticize someone without knowing the facts.

5)  Just to clarify for the casual reader, entrants in major contests had
their scores only compared against scores in their own Selection Area.  So,
making the Top Ten World is completely irrelevant to the calculation.
Dividing the world into more Selection Areas than ever before gave more
operators a chance than ever before.

We have a very strong field of competitors for 2014, so the selection
criteria must have worked to some small degree.  If the criteria weren't
perfect, then we wish the next organizers well in getting closer to
perfection.

73, Dan, K1TO
Director, WRTC-2014
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