This SARA meeting will be held at the Alplaus Fire House and will also be available via Webex
7:00—8:30 PM ………….Speaker Presentation
(Link to be sent out separately prior to the meeting)
DX Marathon, The Fastest Growing DX Program in the World Today
Speaker: Mark Wohlschlegel, WC3W
Abstract:
The DX Marathon Program is a year-long program that begins January 1st and ends December 31st. There is no sign up needed….participants simply log their DX contact entities and zones in their logging program all year. The program is extremely simple in that there are no confirmations of Q’s required, no multipliers, and submission is quite simple.
Mark will explain the basic rules and how participation is fun, rewarding, and allows you to either compete or simply use the program as a self-evaluation metric from year to year to see how you are doing in pursuing DX. The program is best described with three words – fun, simple, and global. Approximately two thirds of the participants are outside of North America with the balance are in the US and Canada. The rules established attempt to place the participants in a level playing field so you are comparing yourself against hams around the world with similar equipment setups. There are opportunities to enter in single bands, or single modes, or all bands and all modes. The frequencies range from 160 to 6 meters including the WARC bands. Participation in your favorite contests is also possible, recording any contact Q’s there as DX worked in the DX Marathon Program.
Lots of recognition occurs in the program for achievements in many areas. Plaques and certificates are issued each year. The rules can be found on the DXMarathon website.
The greatest challenge that Mark has discovered in expanding the DX Marathon Program is that so many hams do not know that it exists. He has spent a huge amount of time doing Zoom meetings in the last 15 months, almost 70 to clubs. The year over year growth in participation has been +46% between 2021 and 2022 and +50% between 2022 and 2023! Mark attributes this to making more hams aware of this wonderful program that is fun, global, and refreshing/relaxing.
About our speaker:
Mark currently lives in Palm Beach Gardens, Florida. He operates a remote station in Yeehaw Valley, FL about 80 miles north of his home QTH.
Mark is a graduate of Bradley University in Peoria, IL (where he was born). He majored in electrical engineering. He followed his undergraduate degree with a BS in Industrial Engineering/MBA at Bradley, finishing his dissertation at the North Carolina State University.
Note: The meeting location is 309 Alplaus Ave, Alplaus, NY, and the building is at the corner of Alplaus Avenue and Bruce Drive. Please park in the paved lot adjacent to this building. Do not park in the restricted area in front of the building that houses the fire trucks. We will meet in the Multipurpose Room (entrance is on the North side of this building).