[RTTY] Makrothen RTTY Contest - October 14 & 15, 2017

[Stu Phillips]

Makrothen RTTY Contest (Distance Based Scoring = More FUN!)
Pizza Lovers 259 – Woodside, California October 6th, 2017

Most contests use a scoring system based on the number of QSOs made together with the number of multipliers accumulated by each station during the contest.

Each QSO made during the contest is allocated a point score. Often the points depend on whether the station you contact is in the same country, a different country in the same continent, or a different country in a different continent.

Multipliers vary by contest but are often based on how many unique DX entities you work or the number of different CQ or IARU zones you contact.

A simple look at a world map shows that these kind of scoring systems favor stations located in particular locations.  For example, stations on the East Coast of the United States are closer to Europe with its many Hams and many different countries.  They can generate a higher average point score per QSO because they work stations in different countries and different continents.

The Makrothen RTTY Contest is different – it scores based on the distance between the two stations in a QSO with each station exchanging its 4-chracter grid locator.  In addition, there is a band factor applied recognizing that spanning greater distances on the lower frequency bands is more difficult due to differences in propagation, noise level and antenna efficiency.

The weekend of October 14th, 2017 brings the 2017 running of the Makrothen RTTY Contest.  The contest is held in three time periods (October 14th – 0000-0759Z, 1600-2359Z, October 15th – 0800-1559Z) and you may participate in all three periods.  Stations may be worked once per band for scoring credit.

Full rules may be found at: https://www.pl259.org/makrothen/makrothen-rules/.  All entrants can download a certificate showing their ranking in the contest and trophies are awards to the top three finishers in the World for each contest category which receives a minimum of 30 entries.

Makrothen (Makrovqen) is an ancient Greek word meaning “great distance” or “some distance away”.  The contest was conceived in 2004 by Waldemar Kebsch, DK3VN and is now sponsored by Pizza Lovers 259, a competitive contest club located in the heart of California’s Silicon Valley.

Distance Based Scoring provides a more equitable scoring system that minimizes the station location advantage that is so typical of most other HF contests.  This allows stations around the world to compete with one another on effectively the same terms making the contest more fun for all participants!  We hope to see you in the contest!