The WRTC2014 Organizing Committee conducted a capability and training test for the WRTC stations and volunteers during the July 2013 running of the IARU HF Championship (1200z July 13 – 1159z July 14). The goals of the 2013 Station Test were to:
- Expand the pool of experienced teams for station set up
- Evaluate proposed site locations for radio quietness and equality
- Confirm logistics and procedures to set up and tear down a large number of stations
- Gather log data under competition conditions to share with WRTC 2014 competitors
The WRTC test stations were active in the contest on 80, 40, 20, 15, and 10 meters both CW and SSB. Many of the stations followed the equipment configuration and scoring rules that will be used for WRTC 2014. Conditions were not the best, but these operations will provide valuable log and propagation information to the WRTC 2014 competitors.
We were able to construct, operate, and take down 25 complete stations over the 3 day test period. Valuable experience was gained by the organizers and the 100+ volunteers that made it all possible.
Ken, K1RAX, put together this video of the “KB1H Beam Team” in action building one of their two sites. Watch all the way to the end for a unique perspective of antenna raising! The team included KB1H, W1UJ, N1WK, K1ZE, K1EBY, NR1X, NB1U, and K1RAX.
A beta test of the real-time score board system was also successfully conducted. Ten of the test stations were reporting their scores on a near QSO-by-QSO basis. Others were texting their scores by SMS. The real-time score board will be an exciting way for friends and family to follow the competition as it unfolds.
Stories and Photos
The WRTC Station Test was featured in one of the local newspapers – the Lowell Sun.
You can get a feel for the effort that went into the station test by viewing some of the photo albums.
K6ND Friday Equipment Loading and Station Building
K6ND Saturday Station Operation
K5ZD Station Tour
KM3T Station Tour
K1TH Fly Over Tour
N1UEC Photos of Mansfield Airport Stations
K1ZO Photos of AD1T Site Construction and Operation
N1NS Photos of “Equestrian Site” Setup
K1DG Video of Tower Raising – Part 2
WB1Z – Aerial drone video
More stories and follow up here.
Results – WRTC Test Stations
Scores were calculated using the WRTC2014 scoring rules. Band breakdowns show QSOs/HQ/Countries.
| CALLSIGN | SCORE | QSOs | HQ | DX | 80M | 40M | 20M | 15M | 10M |
| W1UE | 2,169,035 | 1959 | 157 | 192 | 255/22/25 | 454/38/41 | 754/48/71 | 401/37/45 | 95/12/10 |
| N2NT | 2,115,954 | 2032 | 150 | 192 | 269/25/21 | 446/35/44 | 757/45/69 | 400/31/48 | 160/14/10 |
| AK1W | 1,538,226 | 1708 | 125 | 166 | 259/19/20 | 378/32/38 | 714/36/64 | 284/30/37 | 73/ 8/ 7 |
| W1SJ | 1,370,958 | 1929 | 99 | 147 | 286/14/25 | 373/32/31 | 778/30/57 | 443/20/31 | 49/ 3/ 3 |
| K1BG | 1,308,528 | 1332 | 136 | 176 | 106/18/15 | 369/36/45 | 579/45/70 | 239/33/40 | 39/ 4/ 6 |
| K1ZD | 1,302,125 | 1528 | 121 | 154 | 219/20/21 | 490/29/39 | 534/39/61 | 230/22/25 | 55/11/ 8 |
| K6ND | 1,228,568 | 1632 | 110 | 143 | 191/16/10 | 443/30/34 | 668/37/63 | 300/22/31 | 30/ 5/ 5 |
| K1GQ | 1,172,888 | 1449 | 121 | 150 | 246/19/15 | 373/32/39 | 472/39/52 | 294/24/37 | 64/ 7/ 7 |
| W1UJ | 1,169,805 | 1406 | 129 | 144 | 195/19/13 | 328/31/32 | 611/44/63 | 224/29/31 | 48/ 6/ 5 |
| N3AD | 1,130,002 | 1536 | 109 | 142 | 217/17/15 | 415/30/38 | 606/36/55 | 260/23/29 | 38/ 3/ 5 |
| KE1J | 1,029,436 | 1399 | 100 | 144 | 189/16/19 | 407/31/39 | 538/34/60 | 225/16/21 | 40/ 3/ 5 |
| K1RX* | 1,010,786 | 1355 | 93 | 145 | 190/16/21 | 285/23/34 | 623/36/62 | 219/17/25 | 38/ 1/ 3 |
| N1SV | 982,146 | 1419 | 122 | 131 | 178/18/18 | 338/34/35 | 494/35/41 | 349/28/33 | 60/ 7/ 4 |
| AD1T | 946,080 | 1459 | 86 | 130 | 222/13/16 | 380/25/29 | 556/24/51 | 267/20/32 | 34/ 4/ 2 |
| W1EQ | 918,537 | 1432 | 97 | 126 | 185/12/ 9 | 375/21/27 | 564/36/52 | 278/26/34 | 30/ 2/ 4 |
| NJ1F | 911,212 | 1519 | 90 | 124 | 220/13/18 | 354/24/31 | 538/30/43 | 310/17/23 | 97/ 6/ 9 |
| K9ES | 837,536 | 1323 | 103 | 121 | 241/17/19 | 349/30/29 | 444/34/46 | 259/20/24 | 30/ 2/ 3 |
| NI1L | 703,120 | 1079 | 101 | 119 | 148/15/ 8 | 294/30/30 | 360/30/49 | 248/20/30 | 29/ 6/ 2 |
| W1MA | 671,008 | 1081 | 95 | 113 | 160/19/10 | 277/24/27 | 372/30/45 | 215/15/23 | 57/ 7/ 8 |
| NB1N | 653,045 | 1103 | 96 | 115 | 211/16/17 | 344/27/36 | 298/31/31 | 184/17/26 | 66/ 5/ 5 |
| WB1Z | 617,874 | 1064 | 89 | 112 | 191/ 8/ 9 | 257/24/26 | 388/34/41 | 207/21/33 | 21/ 2/ 3 |
| AA3K | 403,684 | 830 | 74 | 98 | 101/14/ 8 | 228/25/28 | 363/22/42 | 112/13/17 | 26/ 0/ 3 |
| W1CLA* | 294,038 | 639 | 67 | 91 | 43/ 4/ 6 | 142/18/23 | 246/31/41 | 198/14/18 | 10/ 0/ 3 |
| W1HH* | 163,149 | 493 | 51 | 68 | 80/ 5/ 8 | 204/13/22 | 179/24/30 | 30/ 9/ 8 | 0/ 0/ 0 |
| N1JD* | 134,691 | 328 | 68 | 71 | 38/ 6/ 2 | 102/23/18 | 116/23/31 | 57/12/18 | 15/ 4/ 2 |
* Used only one radio.
Operators:
| W1UE | W1UE W1KM |
| N2NT | N2NT N2NC |
| AK1W | VA2WA VE2TZT |
| W1SJ | W1SJ K1LI |
| K1BG | K1BG NM1C KB1YJI NR1G |
| K1ZD | K1ZZ K1CC K0TG |
| K6ND | K3JO K6ND K1VR NB1U K6NDV |
| K1GQ | K1GQ W2RU W2CS K1AR WA1Z |
| W1UJ | KB1H W1UJ K1RAX K1EBY N1WK K1ZE NR1X NB1U |
| N3AD | N3AD W1GD |
| KE1J | KE1J W1VE |
| K1RX | K1RX W1CU |
| N1SV | N1SV KM1P N2KW |
| AD1T | AE1P K1QX K1ZO N1KWF W1WWW |
| W1EQ | W1EQ K1ZE N3XF K1RAX |
| NJ1F | NJ1F K1RQ WC2L K1EP KB1W WA1ZAM |
| K9ES | K9ES AD4ES K1ST |
| NI1L | NI1L N2MG K3ZJ |
| W1MA | W1MA N2MM |
| NB1N | NB1N K9HI K1IB N2JFS |
| WB1Z | AA1YW KK1W W1EQO W1MSW W3SM N1SR NV1Q |
| AA3K | AA3K K3FT WI3Y |
| W1CLA | K1MBO K1VR K5ZD KB1REQ N1QD |
| W1HH | W1STT WO1N WC1M KB1ST |
| N1JD | N1JD N1OXA |
Note: The WRTC2014 Board has voted unanimously that anyone who operated from one of the 2013 Station Test sites will not be eligible to be a competitor in 2014. This is intended to prevent 2014 competitors from gaining any advantage.
Station Test Hunters
The WRTC2014 organizers offered awards to encourage people to work the test stations.
- A WRTC T-shirt will be awarded to the 5 callsigns (outside W1) that work the WRTC test stations on the most band-modes.
- A WRTC T-shirt will be awarded to the 3 callsigns outside North America that work the WRTC test stations on the most band-modes.
- Everyone who works the WRTC test stations on 5 or more band-modes will be entered into a drawing to win a WRTC mouse pad or hat. Five winners will be drawn.
Top 5 Outside W1
WK5T 132 VY2ZM 110 DJ2YA 105 K4BAI 101 WW4LL 97 VE3EJ 95 NK7U 95
Top 3 Outside USA
DJ2YA 105 LZ0M 63 P3N 55 S50A 53 ED3X 50 OK2PAY 49 IR4X 48 OQ5M 47 EF8S 47
Drawing Winners
N5AN R7MM W4SJT VE3OI DL8SCG
Stations that worked all 25 Test Stations (no award, just good feelings)
WK5T K2SX W9RE NF4A K5KG K4RO N4BP WA2VYA W3UA W0EWD W4SVO N4UU W5WMU K5TR K6XX
Test Station Logs
Logs of the top scorers are provided to help 2014 competitors study the propagation they can expect.
W1UE
N2NT
AK1W
W1SJ
K1BG
K1ZD
K6ND
K1GQ
W1UJ
W1SJ
W1UE
W1UJ
WB1Z
All Logs in zip file
Audio
W1UE/W1KM recorded their operation and have shared it with competitors preparing for 2014. The audio is available in a single zip file containing 48 mp3 files, 24 for each station, each 1 hour long. Each file is about 14Mb. Dennis, W1UE, reports, “Station 1 was used on 80/20/10m, Station 2 was used on 40/15m. The audio on Station 1 is very good, but the audio input on Station 2 was too high and there is some distortion on it.”
W1UE_audio_2013.zip (640Mb)