[RTTY] WPX Tips and Tricks Needed

[Ed Muns]

A key distinction of WPX is double points for low-band QSOs.  If you can
maintain at least half the rate on 80 and 40 that you can get on the high
bands, then that's where you should be.  It all depends on station
capability and location, but WPX is significantly a low-band contest,
especially at this point in the cycle.  So, be sure to operate as much as
you can when 80 and 40 are open for you.  In your Goals table below you will
make 2/3 of your points on 80 and 40.  The high bands are still very
important, both for mults and QSOs.  Just keep in mind the 2x difference in
points/QSO between the low bands and high bands as you plan your off-time.
For example, stay on 80 and 40 at night until your rate drops off below half
what you think you can sustain on the high bands the next day.  Don't count
on a lot from 10 meters, but if it happens to open up, there can be a lot of
new mults as well as QSOs.

The other aspect of WPX is that, while it is a DX contest, US stations can
work each other for points so there is lots of activity no matter how modest
your station/location.  A million points is very feasible by most all
stations that stay in the chair for 30 hours.   

73,
Ed - W0YK

 

Jeffrey Demers wrote on Sunday, 06 February, 2011 00:14z:

> I'm planning a serious effort for WPX RTTY this coming weekend.  
> 
> I'm still an extreme newbie to RTTY contesting - but boy has 
> it been fun so far. I was hoping the veteran RTTY contesters 
> could provide some tips on score maximization and on 
> operating this contest in general.  I also see that the max 
> operating time is 30 hours (instead of 36 max in other WPX 
> contests) - this seems like a mixed blessing and I'm curious 
> how serious WPXers deal with it with their off times.
> 
> I've attached some of initial goals below.  They seem fairly 
> realistic - a projected rate of 36 qsos per hour over 30 
> hours.   This seems very doable based on my current station 
> capabilties and the growing participation in this event.
> 
> Thanks in advance.
> 
> 73! Jeff, N1SNB
> 
> 
> 2011 CQ WW WPX RTTY Goals
> 
> 80/200
> 40/300
> 20/400
> 15/175
> 10/25
> 
> Total QSOs:  1100 / with 600 prefixes for around 1.1 million