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The 2010 CQ-WE Contest

Coming the weekend of November 13-14  --  51 years and still going strong!

CQ-WE stands for CQ - Western Electric, the company whose ham employees originated the contest. The annual CQ-WE Contest is open to all Radio Amateurs. The objective is to contact as many Bell System Radio Amateurs as possible via ham radio. A Bell System amateur is any ham who is a current or former employee of any part of the pre-divestiture Bell System -- that is, any company that was spun off from or shares a part of its heritage with the original AT&T Corporation. Examples include the current-day AT&T, Bell Labs, Western Electric, the Baby Bells, Bellcore, NCR, Alcatel-Lucent, Avaya, Agere, as well as other companies that have sprung from them. Normally held the second full weekend in November, the contest combines a spirit of competitive contesting with the chance to relax, have fun, and renew acquaintances with old friends and colleagues while fostering friendships with new ones.

2009 Contest Results: We'd like to congratulate our 2009 CQ-WE contest winners. (You can see the full results here.) 
High Total Score       W4BXI    113252
  2nd Place            K8LJ     112110
  3rd Place            W8MET     98729
High Phone             K8RSP     90256
High Active Employee   W2EQ      85516
High CW               KV8Q       70252
High QRP Score         K4OCE     67184
High Non-Bell Score    W2MN      63883
High Digital Score     N5KGN       282
Kudos is due John Drum/W4BXI for taking High Total Score in this closely fought contest. (I don't believe we've ever had as close a finish among those vying for top honors as we had last year; both W4BXI and K8LJ deserve praise for their outstanding performances.) And congrats to the Columbus Works crew (location CB) for once again taking the top location honors. In terms of demographics, it was all good news: Participation (submitted logs) was up 20% over last year, breaking a four year downtrend; the sum of all scores was up 40% and the average score was 15% higher than last year's; the number of locations represented was up 15% as well.

Thanks to all who took part in last year's CQ-WE contest. We wish you a stellar 2010, and we look forward to working you once again this November, if not before.

Have a specific question about CQ-WE? Email the National Coordinator. Interested in discussing the contest or just want to keep in touch? Feel free to join Ma-Bell-Hams, a Yahoo E-mail Group where such discussions are welcome: Just enter your email address in the space below and click "Join Now!".
2010-2012 Host Locations Selected: Your CQ-WE National Committee has been busy this summer. We are pleased to announce that we have lined up the host locations, not only for 2010, but for the next three contest years. Congrats and thanks are due the following entities and individuals for stepping forward and agreeing to serve in this capacity: 
Host Year  Location      Host Coordinator
---------  --------  ------------------------
  2010       LJ        N4DLR  George Foy
  2011       QV/GC     K4OCE  Bob Rosier
  2012       MH       WA2UBK  Shel Darack &
                       K2KYF  Mary McGuinness
The role of Contest Host is an important part of the contest, and we appreciate the fact that there is still so much interest in highlighting the past and present hallmarks of the locations that once comprised the great Bell System.
Those 2009 Certs: As is the norm, we've been getting questions about when the 2009 certificates will be issued. Of course, it's always nice when the host location jumps into action and completes the Certs as soon as possible after the contest results are issued, but we only ask that the host do so within the year. I understand the 2009 Host, the CRES Amateur Radio Club, is busily working on the 2009 Certs and expects to get them into your mailbox (electronic or otherwise) before this year's contest in November. And that's their prerogative. We understand that a good certificate takes time to design and produce and we appreciate the fine job our host locations do with them.

CQ-WE Contest Information    Prior-Year Scores
   
 
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