The Official SOTA 12m Challenge (12MC)
12m is not a popular band in SOTA at present. There are 936 activator QSOs recorded out of a total activator QSO tally of 1788210. So 12m makes up 0.05% of the QSOs. It’s a band, that when open, is capable of great DX, yet will also support short skip QSOs. Antennas are compact for this band and easy to make at home. It seems to me the reason this band is neglected is because it’s not a busy band normally and hence people ignore it.
The aim of the challenge is to promote use of the 12m band for SOTA QSOs. At the end of the challenge period, certificates will be available for the highest activator score and highest chaser score. The database will keep track of scores and you will be able to see your 12m Challenge score in much the same way as you can see S2S and SOTA Complete scores separately from your normal activator and chaser scores. Scoring of 12m QSOs is independent of any other scores you have.
The challenge will run from June 1st 2013 to May 31st 2014. This should include a major part of the 2013 Es season, the solar maximum, the Autumn(Fall) DX period and the start of the 2014 Es season.
Chasers
Score 1 point for each summit you chase on 12m.
Score 1 multiplier for each unique summit chased on 12m during the challenge.
Score = #QSOs * #multipiers
Activators
Score 1 point for each activator QSO you have on 12m.
Score 1 multiplier for each unique summit activated on 12m during the challenge.
Score = #QSOs * #multipiers
Normal SOTA validity rules apply for activators and chasers.
As the scoring of the challenge is independent of other awards then it’s possible to activate the same summit many times and claim points.
e.g.
M1EYP activates SP-004 1st Jan 2013:
Tom can claim activator and bonus points.
M1EYP activates SP-004 1st Mar 2013 and has an S2S QSO amongst his contacts.
Tom can claim S2S activator points but cannot claim activator points as these are claimed for 2013.
M1EYP activates SP-004 1st Jun 2013 and has a QSO on 12m and an S2S QSO amongst his contacts.
Tom can claim 12MC activator QSO points and 12MC activator multiplier points but cannot claim any S2S or activator points for 2013 as these are claimed for 2013.
M1EYP activates SP-004 1st Aug 2013 and has a QSO on 12m and an S2S QSO amongst his contacts.
Tom can claim 12MC activator QSO points but cannot claim 12MC multiplier points as he has activated this summit on 12m during the challenge and cannot claim any S2S or activator points for 2013 as these are claimed for 2013.
The important difference between this and other activation awards is that you can score for multiple activations of the same summit but only for 12m contacts. Chasers can chase the same summit twice on the same day, once on 12m and once on any other band and score points.
We have designed the scoring so that every 12m QSO will count. However, the key to gaining a significant score is to activate or chase as many unique summits as possible.
The database features will be rolled out with the S2S CSV upload feature before the challenge starts. In the meantime there’s time for chaser and activators to prepare themselves for the start of the challenge.
Andy, MM0FMF
obo SOTA MT
