[CQ-Contest] Certificates for ARRL DX - a great motivator for new contesters

[Jim Stahl]

Printed certificates do matter to experienced contesters; they are a waste of the ARRL’s money. I’d rather have that money go to something more useful like spectrum defense or RFI mitigation, than spending over a dollar to send me a certificate saying I was the top low power all band section award winner in a VHF contest. (I think they even send those certificates to those who merely had the high score on a single band.)

ARRL ought to adopt support of the Cabrillo "CERTIFICATES: NO” tag.  I’ve suggested this to my division director, who seemed receptive. But apparently at the last Board meeting there was too much other stuff going on.


73  -  Jim   K8MR



> On Apr 4, 2018, at 10:21 AM, rjairam at gmail.com wrote:
> 
> I know that some contest sponsors have done away with printed
> certificates to cut costs, and this is understandable. I have no
> problem with keeping it sustainable.
> 
> But I would just like to point out that I have seen quite a few people
> on social media sharing unexpected ARRL DX certificates. These are
> usually single op, low power entrants who decided to sit at the radio
> and work the contest even though they have zero chance of winning one
> of the big prizes. Some are even encouraged to try even harder and get
> into contesting more.
> 
> I think if possible, at least for first time entries that contest
> sponsors should look to get the certificates to encourage these
> contesters. There is nothing like finding out that you did well enough
> to win *something* to encourage you into diving deeper into
> contesting. Online certifiicates are nice but there is nothing like
> opening the mailbox and finding a real certificate. This isn't really
> a participation trophy - these folks topped their section, or maybe
> earned a single band award. IARU also gives for 250 QSOs, which was my
> initial motivator for participating in the IARU contest and why it
> holds a special place for me.
> 
> For experienced contesters like myself and others, printed
> certificates really don't matter - we go for the big awards or even
> just our callsign in the results column. So for us we can mostly opt
> out. But I think for the newcomers it is important,
> 
> 73
> Ria, N2RJ
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