2010 WRTC Drives CQ WW CW In All Four Qualifying Regions; N2IC Solidifies Lead in NA #3

By Jamie Dupree NS3T  radio-sport.net 
Posted December 3, 2008

It didn't matter that no one West of the Mississippi River was going to win the US Single Operator title in the 2008 CQ WW CW Contest. For many ops, this year's test was all about qualifying for the 2010 World Radiosport Team Championships in Russia.

"Knowing that Kevin N5DX (@K5GO) would be putting in a serious effort provided extra motivation," said NA #3 region leader Steve London N2IC.

"Everytime I thought about taking micronaps during slow runs, I pushed myself to tune the second radio on an even slower band," said London.

"That really paid off with good multiplier numbers."

Now only did it give London good mult numbers, but it also gave him a higher score than Kevin Stockton N5DX, who has been mounting a late charge to qualify from NA #3, as N2IC bested N5DX 4.42 to 3.9 million.

"I should have done a better job on multipliers," Stockton told radio-sport.net. "There were a lot out there."

If the difference holds, N2IC will get 950 WRTC points, while Stockton would claim 836 points.

Also factoring into the WRTC scores from NA #3 was the Multi-Single score of Team K5NA, where both Richard King K5NA and Jim George N3BB are trying to qualify as well for WRTC.

K5NA posted 5.65 million points, which means that while King and George will lose ground to N2IC, they would pick up about 19 WRTC points on N5DX, points that could be crucial as the final qualifying scores come in.

Back East in NA #1, the WRTC battle was also the USA SOAB HP battle in CQ WW CW, as Krassy Petkov K1LZ leads Randy Thompson K5ZD in claimed scores. Both are locked in a tight battle for three qualifying spots.

"I haven't analyzed all the numbers, but I feel like I must have enough to get a spot," said Thompson K5ZD, who currently leads NA #1 and won't have his chances damaged seriously if he does finish second to K1LZ.

"The subtext of the WRTC qualifying has really been fun to follow," he added.

Also adding points will be Andy Blank N2NT, who was at V47NT again in Zone 8, where he claimed 11.1 million points.

His last two visits to V4 for CQ WW CW have earned him 950 WRTC points, and he will grab those again if he can do better than Tom Georgens W2SC, who operated 8P5A. It could even vault Blank over K5ZD in the chase for three qualifying spots in the East.

In NA #2, Mike Wetzel W9RE put in a strong finish, claiming 4.2 million points.

"In the first hour I told my wife that I would probably quit or not operate much because conditions on 40 were so bad," Wetzel wrote on 3830. "Then I discovered 80 meters."

He ended up making 704 Q's on 80 on his way to 3,022 contacts overall.

But while Wetzel did well in his WRTC region, he did not have the highest score in US CQ Zone 4.

"Congrats to N2IC on a great score from out West!" said Wetzel.

"It's possible that I won USA Zone 4," said London. "That was a totally unexpected result."

Further out West in NA #4, Dan Craig N6MJ did CQ WW CW solo for the first time, claiming 3.56 million points as he tries to catch K7RL and K6XX in the chase for two WRTC qualifying slots.

"Low band conditions were great from southern California. I worked about 100 EU on 80m, and even worked a few on 160," Craig wrote in his 3830.

After doing well in the November Sweepstakes, which were also WRTC qualifying events, Mitch Mason K7RL didn't go all out in CQ WW.

"The low bands were terrific," said Mason, who claimed 2.3 million. "160m was full of EU signals both nights, and my total represents the most countries ever worked on top band in any contest."

Also at 2.3 million was Bob Wolbert K6XX, who is second in the NA #4 WRTC standings. That means, unless N6MJ has a log checking collapse, he will get 950 points, placing him dangerously close to K6XX in the WRTC standings.

There is only one qualifying event left, that's the 2009 Russian DX Contest in March, which is worth 910 WRTC points.

In all four US qualifying regions, Russian DX could well determine who gains a coveted WRTC team leader slot.

"Earning the full 910 points for that contest will certainly help," said NA #3 leader N2IC.

"I'll have to study your spreadsheet carefully to see how critical the 2009 RDXC will be to my final qualifying points."

Steve N2IC is referring to the spreadsheets produced by radio-sport.net for the entire world in qualifying for the 2010 WRTC. Follow the links on the right to see where you stand!