Wednesday, August 1, 2012

CQ TO REVAMP PUBLICATION SCHEDULE FOR CONTEST RESULTS; MAJOR RESULTS TO APPEAR FOUR MONTHS EARLIER


      (Hicksville, NY August 1, 2012) -- CQ magazine will embark on a major reorganization of its editorial content in order to publish contest results significantly sooner, Editor Rich Moseson, W2VU, announced today. On average, contest results will appear four months sooner than at present. The new schedule will be phased in over the course of 2013 and will be fully in place by 2014.
      "The phase-in is necessary because of new and old dates overlapping," Moseson explained, "as well as scheduling needs for non-contest articles including our special focus issues and Dayton new product reports. As a result, some contest results will be temporarily relocated in 2013 and some specials will be rearranged as well.
      "In addition, there will be two sets of CQ WPX Contest results published in 2013 -- the 2012 scores in January (SSB) and February (CW), followed by the 2013 results in September (SSB) and November (CW). The CQ World Wide DX Contest results, which currently appear in the August (SSB) and September (CW) issues, will be published as of 2013 in the April and May issues, respectively. For one year only (2013), the CQ World Wide VHF Contest results will be published in CQ VHF magazine, and will return to CQ as of 2014, appearing in the January issue."
      This schedule change has been made possible by the fact that the vast majority of contest entrants submit their logs online, as well as advancements in technology for log-checking, earlier log submission deadlines announced last month and advances in publishing technology.
      "For years, both participants and contest directors have been asking us to publish the results sooner," Moseson explained, "and at last, all of the pieces have fallen into place to make it possible. The new schedule represents the minimum amount of time needed to not only collect and process the logs, but to resolve issues with problem logs and take the necessary steps to assure the ongoing integrity of our contest results."
      A complete calendar of contest results issues for 2013 and 2014 will be posted on the CQ website at <www.cq-amateur-radio.com>.