Worldwide Qualifying For 2014 WRTC Starts Immediately With 2010 CQ WW SSB & CW Contests

By Jamie Dupree NS3T  radio-sport.net 
Posted September 12, 2010

Just a few days after being awarded the rights to organize the 2014 World Radiosport Team Championship in the United States, organizers announced that the first qualifying event would be next month, with the running of the 2010 CQ WW SSB Contest.

"CQWW is the biggest contest, with the most participation and the most competition," said organizers Doug Grant K1DG and Randy Thompson K5ZD on their new web site wrtc2014.com.

"It will carry the same level of importance in team selection as it did for WRTC2010."

It was not immediately clear how much of the rules would be published by the time of this year's CQ WW SSB test, which is the last weekend of October, but the WRTC 2014 qualifying will seemingly be much like that which was used for the 2010 WRTC in Russia.

"The scoring formula will probably end up very similar to the WRTC2010 rules," the 2014 WRTC web site states. "We will announce them as soon as they are finalized."

This is the third time that the United States will play host to the World Cup of ham radio contesting, which was first run in Seattle in 1990, and four years later in San Francisco, making it the first time that the East Coast of the US would be central to the competition.

The selection of New England as the host was announced last week by WRTC Sanctioning Committee chairman Tine Brajnik, as the US bid won out over a group from Bulgaria.

"Making the decision to award the organization of WRTC 2014 was very difficult," Brajnik said in a statement posted on the UK-Contest, CQ-Contest and 2010 WRTC reflectors.

"All members of the WRTC SC were convinced that either group would provide competent and trustworthy sponsorship," Brajnik added.

As of now, the US organizers officially include only K1DG and K5ZD, though they admit many more people will be brought on board in the weeks, months and years until WRTC 2014.

"The New England WRTC2014 Organizing Committee is a newly-formed independent organization, and not part of any existing organization, national society, or club," K1DG wrote on the 2014 WRTC web site.

"We are counting on a lot of volunteers to help us with their talents and resources, primarily in the New England region (W1 call area, including Connecticut, Maine, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, Rhode Island, and Vermont).

"We welcome financial support from contesters and clubs worldwide, and have some interesting sponsorship programs planned," he added.

The group not only includes K1DG and K5ZD, but also some very familiar names and calls from the ranks of ham radio contesting.

Other directors include:

John Dorr K1AR

Tom Frenaye K1KI

Mark Pride K1RX

Dan Street K1TO

Dick Green WC1M

Andy Blank N2NT

Dave Pascoe KM3T

Larry Tyree N6TR

As for how the qualifying rules should change, K5ZD sent this email out on Sunday, looking for input from the contest community:

"We are interested in comments or suggestions from WRTC2010 participants on any changes that we should consider.

"Was the geographic distribution of teams about right?

"Were the qualifying contests and weight OK?

"Were the category factors (e.g., low power, multi-op entries) OK?

"Should we include more or less scores in the calculation?"

Stick with radio-sport.net for the latest on the 2014 WRTC. We documented the road to Moscow, and now radio-sport.net will follow the road to New England!