CONTESTING

A mateur radio contesters keep careful track of their scores as they compete with other hams worldwide in contests every weekend. Contesters also carefully look at their own scores improving over time to measure improvements in their stations and skills. Let’s use these detailed contesting statistics to measure the increase in on-air activity that we’ve seen in the past two years as hams responded to the Covid-19 pandemic and restrictions. Some of these changes — especially those due to travel restrictions — may be temporary. Others, related to a shift to telecommuting in many workplaces, may be more permanent.

In the first week of March 2020, any quarantines and travel restrictions were still regional and it was not yet obvious there was a global pandemic, nor what the effects on amateur radio contesting would be. Discussions at the time on the WRTC2022 (World Radiosport Team Championship) mailing list spoke of regional travel restrictions in Italy and their effects on multi-operator contesting in the February and early March ARRL DX contests. Luca Babolin, IK2PFL, wrote, “In Italy, everyone is stuck at home by law, most likely until the beginning of April,” and started a discussion of the effect that Covid-19 lockdowns would have on contesting. Ken Widelitz, K6LA/VY2TT, on March 14 made the astute prediction: “Should be A LOT of additional activity from all the housebound.” Jeff Clarke,