Ridgeland, Mississippi— May 21, 2020 — The second year of a contest has been announced that will level the competitive playing field between the Big Guns and the Little Pistols who operate a portable station. It’s called the Fox Mike Hotel Portable Operations Challenge. “The scoring metric is the distance-per-power metric with multipliers for portable operators and the difficulty of the transmission mode,” said Bill Lippert AC0W, a member of the Steering Committee for the POC. “We are using kilometers-per-watt as the score for a contact. But those using a more difficult transmission mode such as phone will get a higher multiplier than those using the more efficient modes of CW and digital. Being a portable station will receive an additional multiplier, especially when contacting another portable station.” The scoring system is based upon the golf metaphor of the handicap index used to equalize the opportunity for all players to win when they have unequal ability and play on courses with varying levels of difficulty. It reflects a formal theory for the radio sport competition, unlike most amateur radio contests. The Portable Ops Challenge is the brainchild of Frank Howell K4FMH who says his portable ops team was the inspiration. They consist of Mike N5DU, Thomas N5WDG and Mike K5XU. “I hear many operators who get outdoors and try to dip their hands in a conventional contest say two things. They enjoyed the competition. And it’s a shame that the Big Guns dominate the realistic chances of winning. That’s simply the way it is in the vast majority of contests but it made my portable ops team think: is there a way to level the playing field? I think the Steering Committee consisting of both veteran DX contest participants and some of the best portable operators in the world has come up with something worth giving a go,” Frank K4FMH said. “I’d say the question is, whether the Big Guns can actually win using the handicap system that the Steering Committee has produced. With this scoring metric, it’s more about radio sport than radio gear. The slogan for this year's contest is: Contester's: You've Been Challenged! Scheduled for September 4 and 5, 2021, the POC’s rules and other relevant documents are located at foxmikehotel.com/challenge.
I marked the calendar, would be a good chance to use the spiderbeam mast and the KX2, not sure what is going on that weekend but at the very least I could walk over and set-up at the localpark. Maybe I can work on my slingshot skills and get some antennas up in the trees. Sounds like a fun event, thanks for sharing!
If you haven't already, you might want to contact Bruce WA7BNM to get it announced on the Contest Calendar: https://contestcalendar.com/contestcal.html
Ryan, Thanks! It's been sent to Bruce now that the Rules document is complete and posted on the website. Feel free to use material from our PR page (https://foxmikehotel.com/pr-material/) to share via your social media and other contacts. 73, Frank K4FMH
