Strategy Insights for CQ WPX CW

By Jamie Dupree NS3T 

When ham radio contesters start thinking about how to run up a big score, it all seems pretty simple: make lots of QSO's and get lots of mults. But WPX presents some different strategy considerations.

For example, since mults (prefixes) are counted only once and not per band, there isn't the pressure to hunt for mults from 160 to 10 meters.

"It is one of the last contests where you don't need to perform (well) on all bands" said Patrick Destrem, F6IRF, who won the World Low Power WPX CW title in 2006 from CN2WW.

"For example, in the CQWW, it is impossible to be competitive, without having a second radio and a decent setup on 160 meters." Destrem won last year in WPX without either of those.

"(WPX) is a much easier contest due to the off time and limited use of 80 and 160" says Tom Georgens, W2SC, who often operates from Barbados. "I do not put up any special lowband antennas for this contest."

"Running Europe on 40 is key since they are 6 points each....However, the contest is not only about QSO points" Georgens added.

"Multipliers are a direct derivative of QSO's. Even though running the US on the high bands is the lowest QSO point strategy, it is essential to getting a high multiplier total."

Some ops like Ken Widelitz, VY2TT/K6LA feel that WPX is fairly straightforward: "WPX is a rate contest. The mults come to you."

But Widelitz was quick to add that you must take time to search for new prefixes.

"I have a spreadsheet I did a few years ago for WPX that shows the final score given various levels of mults and average points per QSO. It shows it always makes sense to work a mult on the 2nd radio, even at the cost of rate."

Two other rules make for interesting choices in WPX - the 36 hour limit for single ops and the extra points for contacts on 40, 80 and 160 meters.

"In WPX the double QSO points on the low bands are very instrumental" says Pertti Simovaara, OH2PM, who finished 9th in World Single Op High Power in 2006 as CU2A.

While that's true, 80 and 160 meters don't necessarily see the same level of activity that other bands enjoy, which transforms 40 meters into an important battleground.

"As a summer contest, WPX CW is primarily a 40/20/15m affair" says 2006 champ Dick Green, WC1M.

"But I had 72 contacts on 80 meters last year, which I would attribute to being near the bottom of the sunspot cycle." Green told radio-sport.net that he expects to make even more on 80 this year.

Simovaara, OH2PM, says the right strategy means a combination of knowing your propagation and the other ops that you are trying to beat.

"After breaking your competitors scores into bits and pieces you can start building your own band by band plan based on the best opening hours to volume areas."

For contesters in the Eastern US and Canada, that means only one main goal - work as many Europeans as possible.

"Like I said, I work EU, EU, EU" says Green, WC1M. Last year, "I did not turn the antennas on the US at all -- worked 'em off the back of the beam."

What about those competing against you? Most top operators said it wasn't something that concerned them.

"I don't worry about who is entering the contest but I am VERY aware of who is doing what during the contest" said Ed Sawyer, N1UR, who won US low power last year as NV1N.

Sawyer says once the contest is underway, he notes "who's running successfully....who is beating me in pile-ups, etc."

Also important to North American ops is an opening to Japan, which for Ken Widelitz VY2TT can provide an important scoring boost.

"I want to be on for the peak to JA both days, even if the rate is a little below my goal because JA has so many mults and the path from PEI to JA is short at the sunspot minimum."