Founded, January 2006
10,686 members strong
(as of 5/8/2013)
Weekend Sprintathon Themes and Results
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Themes for 2013
For April 2013 -- a Ragin' Cajun Celebration
This month marks the 210th anniversary of the Louisiana Purchase. With the stroke of a pen and cool $15 million to Napoleon Bonaparte (in 1803 dollars), the size of a young US virtually doubled. Nice going, Tom!
To mark the anniversary, the green-eyeshade types at WES headquarters decided to award bonus points for QSOs with members from 15 states that grew -- whole or in part -- from that real-estate deal will be worth bonus points. QSOs with members in France, Alberta, and Saskatchewan also will earn you bonus points.
One QSO with any member in any of the 15 states...
Louisiana, Texas, North Dakota, Arkansas, Oklahoma, New Mexico, Missouri, Kansas, Colorado, Iowa, Wyoming, Minnesota, Nebraska, South Dakota, Montana
...will be worth 10 points apiece per band. But only one QSO with that state. As for France and the two Canadian provinces, you can earn another 10 points per band for a contact each of these three entities.
That's 180 possible Louisiana Purchase bonus points per band, propagation willing. And note the word "members." We welcome non-members as participants in the event. But you may claim a Louisiana Purchase bonus points only for QSOs with members.
Finally, if you pull off a sweep of all 18 entities, give yourself a 180-point sweep bonus.
The event runs from 12:00 UTC April 13 to 23:59 UTC April 14.
Laissez les bons temps rouler!
P.S. A tip of the shrimp etouffee bowl to Rick, N5RB, for the idea!
March - QRP
You're invited to throttle back the power for March's Weekend Sprintathon, coming up March 9. And this month, it looks like New England is in the clear for blizzards for next weekend (insert sound of knuckles rapping on wood here). So W1AW will be the event's special bonus station.
This month, the bonus scheme works thusly:
W1AW is worth a one-time bonus of 500 points. [Clarified] Anyone operating QRP or QRPp throughout the event also is worth bonus points to all participants: 5 points per QSO per band for anyone contacting a station running 5 watts or less (QRP); 10 points per band per QSO for working anyone contacting a station running 1 watt or less (QRPp).
If you operate at QRP or QRPp levels, please use a /QRP or /QRPp at the end of your call on the air. And include the power level you are using after you send your SKCC number. The meat of your exchange should look something like this:
559 Pete MA 4853T 5w (or 500mw in a QRPp example)
If you are taking part in one of these Sprintathons for the first time and are not a member, replace the SKCC number (4853T in the example above) with the word none.
Note: When you submit your scores, you needn't use /QRP or /QRPp as part of your call on the submission form. You will automatically be listed in the QRP or QRPp section on the results page when you enter the power level you used.
Again, the event runs from 1200 UTC March 9 to 23:59 UTC March 10. During that period, you may operate for no more than 24 hours.
Let the Peanut Whistle chorus begin!
February - '...A Jug of Wine, a Loaf of Bread -- and Thou'
With Valentine's Day coming up, let's tip our caps to romance during February's Weekend Sprintathon, which will run from 1200 UTC Feb. 9 through 23:59 UTC Feb. 10.
Whether you are of the XY or YY chromosome set, when you send your name during the normal exchange, follow it with a / and the number of years you have been married or have enjoyed the companionship of your current main squeeze. Use 1 for a year or less. Your bonus total is the sum of the years you gather up during your QSOs. You may use a member's year designation only once for bonus points, even though you contact that member on several bands for QSO points.
In addition, fully spell out Valentines Day with the letters from the call signs you gather in your log for an additional 50 points.
Oh, yes: No flowers or candy were harmed in producing this event.
January - Toasting the Ts and K3Ys
With January's Weekend Sprintathon coming up next week, let's toast the Ts, with an additional tip of the hat to K3Y stations operating during the Sprintathon.
For non-K3Y stations, Ts you work are worth bonus points, in addition to the usual multipliers you receive for working Cs and Ts. The point system is based on the Tx# endorsement a Tribune has.
As part of the QSO exchange, Tribunes are asked to add T# as a separate part of the usual exchange, using the numerical value assigned to the endorsement on their basic T award -- do not use band endorsements.
For instance, if KA8OOM has a Tx5 endorsement on his or her basic award, the usual exchange should end with SKCC number, 20000T, and T5, for the endorsement.
If you are a Tribune but haven't snagged any endorsements yet, you are still worth a bonus point, T1.
All participants' bonus totals equal the sum of all the T numbers. Note: As with the use of Cs or Ts as part of your basic WES scores, you may claim a member's endorsement number only once during the event.
A tap of the straight key to Randy, KX1NH, for the idea.
For K3Y stations operating during the Sprintathon, you may take credit for S/P/Cs you collect as K3Y/# and for the ones you collect as a "civilian" station -- even if some are duplicates. For instance, if you work MA as a "civilian" operator during WES, then again as K3Y/8, you may count both MAs toward your S/P/C total. If you contact more than one MA as K3Y/#, you may include only one of them. You also may claim the Tx# bonus points you collect, following the approach that applies to the rest of the participants -- no duplicates.
That twist was based on a suggestion from Drew, AF2Z.
During the Sprintathon, you may contact a K3Y/# station more than once and count it toward your Cs and Ts -- as long as each QSO is with a different SKCC member using that call. So keep track of SKCC numbers. That's your key to telling one K3Y/5 from another.
To recap: For all participants, the bonus is the sum of the T endorsement numbers you collect from each unique Tribune. For K3Y stations, you are entitled to take the T bonus, plus the unique S/P/Cs you collect when operating as K3Y.
Between K3Y, WES, and the North American QSO Party CW event this weekend, the bands should be singing with dits and dahs!
Finally, (will this ever end??) response to extending the window for participating in the Weekend Sprintathons was overwhelmingly positive, based on comments in last month's results-page comment section as well as here on the list. But that could have been a fluke. So we'll try it again to see if the enthusiasm holds. You may operate for up to 24 hours of your choosing within a 36-hour window beginning at 1200 UTC Jan. 12.
For earlier themes, please click here.