radio-sport.net - Your home for ham radio contest news

1. Will the Sun Shine on 2012 ARRL DX CW?
   Just as fast as sunspot numbers went up in the latter part of 2011, now they've gone down to lower levels in February, sparking questions about whether this solar cycle has peaked already. One thing is for sure - if the sun can perk back up, the ARRL DX CW Contest may bring a focus again on new records, as we saw last year.
2. Open High Bands Mean More Strategy Choices in NAQP CW
   The story is a familiar one now for the January running of the North American QSO Party, with plenty of active sunspots fueling the bands - but with more open bands also come more decisions on how best to maximize your score in this contest that counts multipliers on every band from 160 to 10 meters.
3. New Year Kicks Off With ARRL RTTY Roundup
   After a 2010 contest that saw a number of individual country and W/VE section records set by RTTY contesters, much improved band conditions may spur even more action in this year's first big contest, the ARRL RTTY Roundup.
4. Fingers Crossed For "Amazing" Conditions in ARRL 10 Meter Test
   After suffering through years of ARRL 10 Meter Contests where conditions sounded more like a somewhat dead 6 meter band, the 2011 version could turn out to be a record breaking affair, as contesters are hoping for what some predict will be "amazing" conditions this coming weekend.
5. High Bands Wide Open As Records Fall in CQ WW CW 2011
   With high sunspot numbers for the first time in eight years, the 2011 CQ WW CW Contest lived up to the hype, as wide open high bands brought huge numbers of contacts on 10 meters, helping to boost scores around the world and likely re-writing a chunk of the CQ WW record book in the process.
6. Big Strategy Choices Loom For ARRL Sweepstakes SSB
   With the high bands active and sunspot numbers still high, the question is how will wide open bands on 10 and 15 meters impact this year's ARRL November Sweepstakes SSB Contest? Like other contests, it's been a number of years since more than a handful of operators went down 10 meters to make a few QSO's.
7. Time To Start Focusing On 2011 CQ WW CW
   With sunspot numbers still high, radio-sport.net starts the preview of this year's CQ WW CW contest, which if the bands are anything like they were in CQ WW SSB, then 10 and 15 meters will have more than enough DX activity to keep everyone interested for the last weekend in November.
8. Open Bands Spur Hope For Good Conditions in CQ WW CW
   From the big contest multi-ops to the little guy hunting for a few new countries, the return of 10 meters in the 2011 CQ WW SSB Contest was a welcome change from years of sluggish high band conditions - and it left many hoping for a repeat later this month in the 2011 CQ WW CW Contest.
9. After Dead Heat in 2010, ARRL SS CW Looks For One Winner
   With some of the best contest conditions in years and new low power category offerings this year, contesters kick off the ARRL Sweepstakes for 2011 with one thing certain - it will be difficult to repeat the "dead heat" that resulted in a tie last year between Pat Barkey N9RV and Mark Obermann AG9A. Also, don't forget there are new low power sections inside the Assisted and Multi-Op categories for the first time this year.
10. High Bands Plentiful as 10 Meters Blows Wide Open in CQ WW SSB
    After years of slogging through difficult conditions on the high HF contest bands, the 2011 CQ WW SSB Contest produced especially big numbers on 10 meters in a weekend that thrilled contesters around the world. "Conditions were incredible," said one top American contester just minutes after the contest ended.