Whether by rule, law, decree, or “strong suggestion,” gathering as a group has been essentially banned as part of the measures to control the COVID-19 pandemic. This means the halt of traditional multi-operator efforts, where radio operators travel to gather at a single location for a weekend of contesting. For the foreseeable future, traditional multi-multi stations may have to change to a focus on single-operator efforts.
Disruption forces adaptation, and with that comes opportunity to change methods and practices. Last weekend’s CQ WW WPX Phone contest might be exemplary. As of this writing, NR6O and WW2DX are the only stations reporting multi-multi efforts on 3830scores, and they did so by operating remotely. What’s more, WW2DX may have captured a new record in the CQ WW WPX event with over 7,600 contacts and over 32 million points claimed.
WW2DX’s all-remote effort is especially noteworthy. Reading their “soapbox” comments on 3830, we see that the team solved a number of hardware issues and, in the days before the contest, built a full-featured web-based contest logging program that worked well enough to support their operations for the entire weekend. None of their operators needed to travel to the location of the transmitters, yet they were able to work as a cohesive team.
Until restrictions on gatherings are relaxed, this is a winning model for multi-multi efforts. Perhaps this is also the model of future big-gun multi-multi stations.
One of the most important station requirements is a good, quiet location. Other components include big towers, many antennas, great radios, and impeccable engineering to get it to all play together. For the traditional major contests in the US, a Maine location near saltwater is a big advantage, but many of those areas are so remote as to be impractical for weekend on-site gatherings.
Those radio-friendly locations with limited access are made accessible via remote, last weekend a further confirmation that the contest operators don’t need to be on-site to win and set new records. There isn’t a need for an on-site building for humans, which means resources normally devoted to human habitation can instead go toward building the station. Without humans to feed, it’s not so important that the nearest town isn’t that near.
The cost and time commitment for operators to participate in a multi-multi contest weekend is reduced because travel to the station location is no longer necessary. The pool of potential operators is larger for that same reason. WW2DX had three teenagers remotely participating from North Carolina and Virginia, and they were virtually working alongside seasoned operators. Collectively, we’re always looking for a way to get more young people into contesting — this leveled-up playing field for multi-multi favors younger contesters, because they’re already used to doing everything via the internet.
That’s all for this time. Remember to send contesting related stories, book reviews, tips, techniques, press releases, errata, schematics, club information, pictures, stories, blog links, and predictions to contest-update@arrl.org
73, Brian N9ADG