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"Good luck to all in this weekend's CQ WW SSB, the first WRTC-2014 qualifying event!" wrote Dan Street K1TO, one of the organizers for the competition that will be held in New England in July of 2014.
For those not familiar with the WRTC qualifying process, this is the first of over two years of contests where competitors can gain points to qualify for the 2014 event.
As it was in the qualifying for WRTC 2010 in Russia, the CQ WW SSB & CW contests are worth the most points of any test in this process. This time, it's a full 1,000 points. The rules allow you to post six scores from CQ WW - three from the CQ WW CW and three from CQ WW SSB in 2011, 2012 and 2013.
If you were able to knock off six 1,000 point efforts, you might find yourself in the driver's seat when it comes to WRTC qualifying.
While competitors will certainly strive for the best possible score in this year's CQ WW contests, your WRTC points will be determined by matching your score against the top scores in your region - not against the entire world.
That means even though stations on the East Coast of the United States are likely to score higher than those West of the Mississippi River, it's still important to squeeze out as many points as possible, no matter your location.
There are some important differences in the geographical makeup of the WRTC 2014 qualifying regions which could make a difference in the CQ WW SSB scores.
For example, the US qualifying gets very local, with one team leader qualifying from W1, W2, W3, W5, W8, W9 and W0.
W4 is split into two groups, North & South Carolina plus Virginia, while the other W4 grouping includes Alabama, Florida, Georgia, Kentucky and Tennessee.
Out West, NA #6 combines Arizona, Nevada and Utah with California, while other W7's, Idaho, Montana, Oregon, Washington and Wyoming will make up the NA #7 qualifying region.
A full review of the rules and qualifying schedule is available on the WRTC2014.org website.
You can also get some of the basics about the 2014 qualifying process on the right sidebar of this story.
To "be penalized with 40% reduction of available WRTC 2014 tickets does not at all feel stimulating!" said Mats Strandberg SM6LRR, who urged the organizing committee to reconsider.
"We do out best from this region despite northern locations and much worse conditions that south and western Europe to contribute to the activity on the bands," Strandberg added.
Those complaints have registered at WRTC 2014 HQ, as organizers announced this week that one extra Team Leader slot will be added for EU #3, giving them four.
"After careful consideration, we are adding one TL slot to the EU #3 Selection Area, bringing the total for EU #3 to 4. The overall number of teams is increased by one to 59," wrote K1TO, who is the WRTC 2014 Team Selection Director.
K1TO also issued newly-clarified rules on how to determine the home country of a possible WRTC competitor, an issue that had sparked a vigorous debate on the WRTC 2014 reflector in recent weeks.
"I think we all get the points you are trying to make regarding how an operator's home selection area should be defined," wrote organizer Randy Thompson K5ZD about the Team Leader (TL) debate.
Thompson then urged his fellow hams to get off the computer and turn on the radio.
"Get on the air and enjoy some of the improving conditions we are experiencing. Residency doesn't matter if you don' t have the scores!"
There are 55 events overall - but not for everyone in each geographic area.
US and Canadian hams have 49 events; North America 43, 38 for the Pacific ARRL Section, 32 for the rest of Oceania, 30 for Europe and 28 for all other qualifying regions.
For those wondering about the weighting of WRTC points, that list is very important, because it determines how scores are "normalized" and who gains the most points from each contest:
