If you are interested in qualifying for the 2014 World Radiosport Team Championship, don’t let the date fool you, as the qualifying schedule starts in just a few weeks, and for much of the world will end well over a year for before the actual WRTC contest, which is run during the 2014 IARU HF Championship.

For those outside of North America, the last qualifying contest will be the 2013 ARRL DX Contests, but based on the 800 WRTC points offered for ARRL DX, it could be that test will have little impact on the final qualifying standings.

That’s because the 1,000 points offered for CQ WW DX, along with the 950 for CQ WPX, and the 900 for IARU and Russian DX could easily provide top finishers with their best 12 contest scores needed to qualify for the 2014 WRTC.

And when you look even more closely and see that the CQ WPX contests are not counted in 2013 for WRTC points, that may mean much of the world battle for WRTC qualifying will end in 2012 with the CQ WW DX Contests, well over a year and a half before the 2014 WRTC.

In North America, the qualifying schedule is a bit different than that for the rest of the world, even as it also wraps up with the 2013 ARRL DX contests.

But like the scenario envisioned above with the ARRL DX contest for those outside of North America, the 800 points offered for the NAQP contests and the NA Sprint CW may not be enough to change the outcome of WRTC qualifying at that point.

That makes the 2013 ARRL DX Contests the last showdown for qualifiers, since it is worth 900 points for stations in North America (800 for those outside NA.)

When you boil down the 2014 WRTC rules, the quickest way to qualify for those outside of North America would be this:

• 3 top finishes in CQ WW DX SSB (1,000 points max)
• 3 top finishes in CQ WW DX CW (1,000 max)
• 2 top finishes in CQ WPX SSB (950 max)
• 2 top finishes in CQ WPX CW (950 max)
• 2 top finishes in IARU or Russian DX (900 max)

Take the top 12 WRTC scores from those contests, and that would give you 11,500 points, the maximum qualifying score possible.

For stations in North America, the playing field is a bit larger in terms of extra contests. You would start with similar goals to get the most points possible in these contests:

• 3 top finishes in CQ WW DX SSB (1,000 points max)
• 3 top finishes in CQ WW DX CW (1,000 max)
• 2 top finishes in CQ WPX SSB (950 max)
• 2 top finishes in CQ WPX CW (950 max)

Then, the goal would be to lock down two more scores from the following contests:

• IARU – 900 points max
• Russian DX – 900 max
• ARRL DX SSB – 900 max
• ARRL DX CW – 900 max
• Nov SS CW – 900 max
• Nov SS SSB- 900 max

That setup may mean a wild WRTC shootout for American and Canadian contesters, especially in 2011 and 2012.

While those are the best contests to focus on, what category would be the best?

Because of some changes by the 2014 WRTC committee, Single Op High Power and the Multi-Single category will give you the best chance at maximum points, as both use a weight of “1″ for those efforts. (See more at right.)

Single Op Low Power now gets a weight of 0.9, up from 0.7 in the 2010 WRTC process, which many felt was a punishment for going low power.

All of the qualifying details are now available on the web siteof the WRTC 2014 committee.

The format is much like that used by Russian organizers for the 2010 competition, but differs in a number of specific ways, as certain contests were added, and qualifying regions were reconfigured.

For those wondering about scores made outside of your home region, up to 6 of your top 12 qualifying scores may be from different locations.

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!