CONTESTING

Single-op entrants in the six 2022 North American QSO Parties have, for the first time, the choice of entering the Assisted category. In previous years, assisted NAQP single ops had their scores listed with the multi-operator M/2 entrants. The 100-watt power limit and friendly exchange of name and state make the NAQPs popular with beginning contesters. Advanced contesters looking for high rates and an opportunity to exercise their SO2R skills compete hard in the NAQPs as well. With the addition of a separate assisted category, the NAQP now becomes a prime training ground for learning how to use spots to chase both multipliers and QSOs.

In every respect, the NAQP contests were late in adding an official assisted category. In the January 2021 NAQP CW results, 168 stations are listed in the M/2 scores. Only 18 of them are true multi-ops, the other 150 are assisted single operators. The ARRL RTTY Roundup was also late in adding the assisted category, back in 2014. In 2013, the last year when single-op assisted entrants were listed under the multi-operator scores in the ARRL RTTY Roundup, 373 of the 460 multi-op scores were assisted single-ops.

Why were these two contests so slow in adopting an assisted single-op category? Part of it reflects the “boy and his radio” mindset of old-school contesters who aren’t fans of assisted contesting. I also note that both the NAQP and ARRL RTTY contests have large domestic components, and domestic contests have been slow to adopt a separate category for assisted single-ops. Contrast this with the large DX contests which emphasize working other countries for points and multipliers, and