[CQ-Contest] WRTC 2018 Official Competition Rules Released

[Michael Hoeding, DL6MHW]

(Jessen/Wittenberg -  07 November 2016)

WRTC 2018 e.V., host of the 2018 World Radiosport Team Championship, 
announced that the official competition rules have been published at 
http://wrtc2018.de/index.php/en/competition.

These are the rules that will be relevant for all WRTC 2018 competitors. 
"Thanks to everyone who has provided feedback during the rules review 
process," said Uwe Koenneker , DL8OBF, Director of the WRTC 2018 Rules 
Committee. "We have discussed the rules with potential competitors by 
e-mail as well as with the WRTC Sanctioning Committee. Publishing the 
rules about 20 months before the event gives potential competitors the 
chance to practice according to these rules."

"Based on the fabulous job done by the WRTC 2014 Committee in Boston, we 
have adopted the concept of Two-Operator Two-Transmitter competition," 
continued Koenneker. "Both stations will be permitted to transmit at any 
time to maximize their scoring and the fun of the world wide WRTC 
community."

Significant changes address the use of modern contest technology such as 
Software Defined Radio. For instance - whereas waterfall displays were 
not allowed in WRTC 2014 - nowadays this technology is standard and 
provided by most top transceivers. Therefore displaying waterfall, 
spectrum and peakhold will be part of the game in WRTC 2018. However, 
focusing on operator skill any decoding assistance, e.g. by CW skimmer, 
is strictly forbidden.

Furthermore, some minor amendments are implemented in the rules. E.g. 
the WRTC 2014 has shown that the interface between station audio and 
referee headphone can cause time consuming issues. Therefore the teams 
may provide a headphone for the referee to avoid this problem.

Any questions concerning the rules should be addressed to 
competition at wrtc2018.de or to the WRTC 2018 Mailing List 
(http://www.wrtc2018.de/index.php/en/ueber-uns-2/mailinglisten-2).

About WRTC 2018
The World Radiosport Team Championships (WRTC) are held every four years 
and assemble more than 60 two-operator-teams of the world’s best radio 
contesters on a level playing field. Quite different from their usual 
contesting they must use identical equipment in the same geographical 
region eliminating all variables except their personal skills. Previous 
WRTCs were held in Seattle/USA (1990), San Francisco/USA (1996), 
Slovenia (2000), Finland (2002) Brazil (2006) Russia (2010) and New 
England/USA (2014).
-- 

Michael Höding, DL6MHW
Vice-President, Fundraising, PR
Phone: +49 39201 20779
E-Mail: dl6mhw at wrtc2018.de
http://www.wrtc2018.de