Rules

Rules for ranking participants in HF radio amateur competitions on the Ranking List

(Rules to Ranking and advance in the Ranking List – RL)

The portal administrator offers and combines web links to the results of all major internationally established HF radio amateur competitions on the web portal “hamradiocontest.com”. Furthermore, it categorises all competitors in the Ranking List based on their competition results and uniform criteria. It enables you to filter the calculated data for specific countries, regions, and continents.

The Rank Points for all participants in the classification are calculated based on the results of the competitions published by the organisers of HF international radio amateur competitions for each competition category on this web portal, according to the methodology of these rules. These points are used to assign participants to a single global ranking in which all participants from around the world compete.

Data containing participant classifications must be collected, edited, formatted, and displayed in accordance with these rules.

Methodology for calculating Rank Points in the classification of Ranking List participants

According to this methodology, the administrator of the hamradiocontest.com web portal determines and records the competitive results of each competitor in the world using a web application.These outcomes are converted into ranking points, which are referred to as Rank Points in this context. The web portal application then merges and records data from all competitions in which the participant competed in order to rank the participant in the Ranking List. The system must be data transparent and equitable for all classification participants, regardless of location. The administrator, who bears personal moral and other responsibility, ensures that the organisers of international competitions use unchanged officially published data for participant classification in accordance with these rules. This is the basis for categorising all participants.

The administrator of the web portal hamradiocontest.com guarantees that the ranking system is independent of any external subjective and other factors, and that it is fair to all participants. In good faith and honesty, the data is calculated using a web application and displayed for everyone and anyone.

The radio amateur moral rule “Hamspirit” is unwaveringly followed and respected.

Basic Reference Calculation of Rank Points

Each year, the classification system includes more than 50 internationally established HF radio amateur competitions, forming a basic database of competitors and their successes. Based on this information, the web portal, with the assistance of the web application, classifies participants in the Ranking List. Rank Points serve as the classification’s foundation.

Rank Points are calculated in relation to the competitor’s best result achieved on the same continent in the same “competitive category.” Only official results of participants’ rankings published by international continental HF competition organisers – EU, NA, SA, AS, AF, OC (6) – will be considered.

The following methodology shall be used for the basic reference calculation :

Contest points scored in the competition

Rank Points of Competitor (RP)      =————-d-i-v-i-d-e————- (multiply) x 1000 (multiply) x Q1

Continental Winner Contest Points

Explanation:  In an individual competition, the basic Rank points of a competitor are determined by dividing the competition (contest) points achieved by the competitor by the competition (contest) points achieved by the continental winner of the corresponding (same) “competition category.”

To ensure transparency, the obtained result is multiplied by a thousand (1,000). The continental winner can earn up to 1,000 basic Rank Points.

Due to the complexity and difficulty of individual competitions, the Rank Points calculated in the basic reference calculation are multiplied by the HF competition’s complexity and difficulty factor, which is determined for each competition and is denoted by the code Factor Q1. The calculated result is rounded to the nearest whole number.

Example: in an imaginary competition in the category “one operator” and “one volume” (SOSB) High Power (HP), with difficulty factor Q1=1.15, a random competitor scored 750,000 contest points. The continental winner therefore scored 950,000 contest points.

Thus: 750,000 / 950,000 = 0.79 x 1,000 = 790 x 1.15 = 908.5 = 909 Rank points.

Explanation: The quantifiable criteria for the Q1 factor are primarily the number of competition logs, the average number of connections per time unit in different countries and continents, and the number of competition logs published by competition organisers for their competitions. For each competition, a computer calculates an average potential. On this web portal, a document containing the calculation methodology and explanation for Q1 will be presented separately. Other criteria may be added by the administrator based on a reasoned proposal from the participants, which he will describe and present on this website. Due to the stability, constancy, and predictability of the data, the Q1 coefficient for each competition is calculated on the basis of historical data. In advance, the unaltered one is used. However, it must be amended only if the underlying data differs significantly.

Additional increases or decreases in the Base Reference Calculation Rank Points:

To ensure fairness and balance, the administrator will multiply the calculated Rank Points using the web application by the Q2 or Q3 or Q4 factor  as follows:

1. The number of calculated Rank points from the previous calculation is multiplied by the factor Q2 for competitors in the category “One operator all ranges (SOAB).”

Current value Q2 = 1.10

NOTE: This does not apply to multi-operator groups “Multi op.” .

This means that these competitors’ basic Rank Points increase by 10% as a result of increased engagement in selecting the most favourable frequencies and more demanding competition tactics. In this way, the portal administrator encourages “MultiBand” activities.

The calculation shall be carried out according to the following methodology:

Contest points scored in the competition

Rank Points (RP)      = ————–d-i-v-i-d-e————- (multiply) x 1000 (multiply) x Q2

Continental Winner Contest Points

Example: in an imaginary competition in the category of “one operator” and “all ranges” SOAB High Power, a random competitor scored 750,000 competition points with a difficulty factor of Q1=1.15. The continental winner therefore scored 950,000 contest points. Both competitors competed in the “all ranges” category.

Calculation: 750,000 / 950,000 = 0.79 x 1,000 = 790 x1.15 = 908.5 x1.10 = 999 Rank Points (RP)

2. The number of calculated Rank Points from the basic reference calculation is multiplied by a factor of Q3 for active competitors in the Contest category  “Multiple operators,” such as Multi Op. – one TX, Multi Op. – two TX, and Multi Op. – Multi TX, and all active competitors in one Multi Op. station are equally divided into the corresponding Rank Points according to the following formula:

Team Achieved Contest Points

Participant Rank Points (RP) ——— d-i-v-i-d-e ——- (multiply) x 1000 (multiply) x Q1 (multiply) x Q3

continental Team Winner Contest Points

The number of officially registered active operators in the team determines the Q3 factor. The greater the number of competitors, the smaller the Q3, and thus the lower the Rank Points. Following the calculation, we obtain the Rank Points, which are distributed evenly among all competitors in the competition team (Multi Op), as follows:

When there are two (2) active operators in the “Multi Op” group,  Q3 = 0.98; when there are three (3) active operators,  Q3 = 0.95; when there are four (4) active operators, Q3 = 0.90; when there are five (5) active operators, Q3 = 0.82; and when there are six (6) or more active operators in the group, Q3 = 0.70.

Special features:

If the competition team in the category “Multiple operators” (Multi Op) does not report to the organiser of the competition the appropriate number of actively participating members of the competition team with their personal call signs, or they indicate only (their) one call sign, or use (example: xx3yyy & Friends), and the organiser of the competition does not indicate the competitors’ personal call signs in its officially published results, it will be counted as follows for the purposes of classifying the participants:

– if no personal call sign is listed in MOAB – it is not included in the Ranking List;

– if only one (personal) call sign is specified in MOAB, Q3 = 0,95 will be used for this sign;

– if only one call sign and friends (xx8yyy & Friends) are listed in the MOAB, it will be considered that

6 or more contestants participated;

– if other names (Maya, Jim, Tom, etc.) are

listed in addition to personal call signs, the web portal administrator will add up all people and determine the total number of operators that the web application will use to calculate Rank Points.

A further factor, Q4, has been identified to prevent unfair misstatement of the classification and participant speculation. This factor influences the calculation for those classification participants who achieve the continental winner score with fewer than 10 participants from the relevant category and continent. As a result, if it appears that there are fewer than 10 competitors in the same competition category in a continent, the determination is transferred to the global level (all continents). If at least 10 participants from the same competition category in terms of volume/s are not found in a global competition, the Rank Points will be calculated using the Q4 factor. By means of a web application, this rule shall be applied uniformly to all participants in each category of competition on the respective continent. The final Rank Points calculation will be multiplied by the factor Q4 as follows:

Q4 = 1 if there were 10 or more competitors in each competition category;

Q4 = 0.96 if there were 9 competitors in each competition category;

Q4 = 0.92 if there were 8 competitors in each competition category;

Q4 = 0.88 if there were 7 competitors in each competition category;

Q4 = 0.84 if there were 6 competitors in each competition category;

Q4 = 0.80 if there were 7 competitors in each competition category;

Q4 = 0.86 if there were 6 competitors in each competition category;

Q4 = 0.82 if there were 5 competitors in each competition category;

Q4 = 0.78 if there were 4 competitors in each competition category;

Q4 = 0.74 if there were 3 competitors in each competition category;

Q4 = 0.70 if there were 2 competitors in each competition category;

Q4 = 0.66 if there was only 1 competitor in each competition category;

Note:

1. For the Multi Op. competition category, the number of operators in the Multi Op. teams will also be counted before the application of the global allocation and the application of the Q4 factor. It will be considered that the criterion of 10 participants of each Multi Op. category is met if there are 10 or more operators in one or more Multi Op. teams.

NOTE: It has already been demonstrated that this criterion should be reduced from 10 to 5 of the same category on the continents of AF and OC, as there are usually insufficient competitors in the same Power category. Therefore, these competitors could be at a disadvantage.

The administrator of hamradiocontest.com reserves the right to change all of the “Q” coefficients specified in this policy in order to avoid speculation and possible unfair allocation and display of ranking results in the Ranking List.

Final classification of participants in the annual Ranking List

Depending on the purpose of using the filtered data, the Ranking List results are displayed in various formats and collections, depending on the area, time period, and “Power category.”

Ranking participants are ranked in the Ranking List by the number of calculated Rank Points, from the most to the least. “The best are always at the top.”

According to the published data, the  so-called Ranking List of the current year is created first during the year. This section only contains information for competitions that have already ended and for which official results have been published. The final annual Ranking is created after all results of all competitions for the previous year have been published. Supposedly in May or June of the following year.

The sum of the calculated Rank Points for the participant’s five (5) most successful competitions over a one-year period for each “power category” (HP, LP, QRP) will be considered the correct final annual ranking of the ranking competitors. “Power categories cannot be combined”.

Final classification of participants in the 5-year Ranking List

The 5-year Participant Ranking is the sum of the achieved Rank Points in five consecutive annual Rankings of the respective period (2016 – 2020; 2017 – 2021; 2018 – 2022; 2019 – 2023 etc.).

The 5-year Ranking List is also displayed in various formats and collections, depending on the purpose of use for the area, as well as on the “Power category” of classification of competitors.

Final provisions:

Because of the adoption of proposals for improving the Participant Ranking’s content display system and the additional development of the hamradiocontest.com web portal, this portal will operate experimentally from the first public announcement in November 2022 until December 31, 2023. During this time, the portal administrator will  collect errors and comments on the rules at info@gmail.com. He will organise thematic debate groups and handle matters transparently.

The administrator of the web portal hamradiocontest.com reserves the right to change these rules at any time by posting a new version on this website. Any changes to the Classification Rules for the following year may be made in the previous year. Amendments must be published at least  30 days (by December 1st of each year) before they become effective. The rules will be marked with the version’s serial number.

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EXPLANATION and additional notes

The hamradiocontest.com web portal generates a global annual Ranking List as well as a 5-year Ranking List. The most appropriate cross-comparison of classification participants is to compare participants from the same “Power” category for:

1. the territory of their own country;
2. the area of a given region; and
3. the area of their continent.

The sum of the calculated Rank Points for the participant’s five (5) most successful competitions over a one-year period for each “power category” (HP, LP, QRP) will be considered the correct final annual ranking. If a participant does not compete in at least five (5) competitions in a calendar year, they will be included in the Ranking List anyway. The number of competitions is indicated in the column #Contests#.

Example of marking:

• mark 5 of 14 means that the RL considers the 5 best of 14 competitions in one year;
• mark 5 of 5 means that the RL considers all 5 competitions out of the 5 completed;
• mark 3 of 3 means that the RL generally considers the 5 most favourable competitions, but in this case, the ranking participant has only done three (3) competitions, which makes them ranked but not comparable to other ranking participants.

The web portal administrator reserves the right to monitor, evaluate, and analyse the calculation criterion and, if necessary, change it due to the smaller or larger activity of competitors on individual continents.

NOTE: It has already been demonstrated that the continents of AF and OC, due to fewer competitors and lower activity, should have only 3 most favourable competitions instead of the 5 most favourable competitions. We’re on it!

If we discover in the official results of the competitions that someone competed in the same competition in two or more categories, the best result according to the competition organiser will be taken into account for classification in the Ranking List.

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The web portal displays unchanged calculated data from the basic and only Rank List in various derivatives. The annual or multi-year Ranking List is unique in that it includes multiple views of filtered content and dedicated data, as shown below:

1. Demonstration of RL by power of transmitters of competitors (high power, low power and minimum QRP power)
2. Demonstration of RL by generation time period (annual or multi-annual RL – for a maximum of 5 years)
3. Demonstration of RL by areas from which participants are competing (countries, certain regions or continent).

Ad-1.)

Depending on the transmitter’s power, the web portal creates three (3) separate and independent filtered data displays – HP, LP, QRP.

If the competition organiser does not determine the power of the transmitters (HP, LP, QRP), the web portal manager will determine the label “HLP,” which means that all categories of transmitter power can be included in the competition results. In these cases, the final Ranking will be considered as the High Power (HP) category for the purpose of classifying competitors.

Each of these three displays (HP, LP, and QRP) also defines the time period’s classification system.

Ad-2.)

The time period for which the data is collected and displayed, as well as the specific area, are separate and independently filtered data representations as follows:

1. Demonstration of filtered data for Ranking List – “HP ELITE”

• Demonstration of the RL of the current High Power incomplete year – unofficial data (*);
• Demonstration of the RL category High Power – annual for the territory of a country, region or continent;
• Demonstration of the RL category High Power – multiannual for the territory of a country, region or continent;

2. Demonstration of filtered data for Ranking List – “LP classic”

• Demonstration of the RL of the current Low Power incomplete year – unofficial data (*);
• Demonstration of the RL category Low Power – annual for the territory of a country, region or continent;
• Demonstration of the RL category Low Power – multiannual for the territory of a country, region or continent;

3. Demonstration of filtered data for Ranking List – (QRP Power) “QRP MINI”

• Demonstration of the RL of the current Low Power incomplete year – unofficial data (*);
• Demonstration of the QRP category Low Power – annual for the territory of a country, region or continent;
• Demonstration of the QRP category Low Power – multiannual for the territory of a country, region or continent;

Ad-3).

Filtered data Ranking lists are created, formed, and displayed for each individual continent, as well as each individual country in the world. The ranking can be created both internally and unofficially, and the filtered display can be created for the entire world. This website does not promote World Rankings because participants from all over the world do not have the same or even comparable conditions to earn World Ranking Points. As a result, the basic classification orientation is focused on the continent and country from which the classification participant competed.

Special features:

1. The web portal does not specifically define the data based on the work of the classification participants due to the unified approach and greater transparency in the design of the classification system (CW, Fone, Digi, Mixed). This information is used to group participants and calculate points, but it is not used or displayed to form a specific view of the filtered content.

2. Some of the information offered online by the organisers or their agents (WWROF) and formatted in (Excel, CSV, etc.) and thus in electronic files (for example: CQ WW CW, CQ WW SSB, WPX CW, WPX SSB, ARRL CW, ARRL SSB, and others) are imported into the system as unchanged imports. In these cases, due to automation, the web portal imports all categories. This includes “assisted” and “non-assisted” and takes into account participant grouping and scoring. Unfortunately, the competitive results, which do not have any data in electronic files, do not take this grouping system into account, as doing so would require the administrator to manually enter additional data into the data system, which would increase the risk of human error. This has no significant impact on data quality because most smaller competitions do not separate asissted / non-asissted groups. If data is shown in electronic files for other smaller competitions than those mentioned in this paragraph in the future, the web portal will consistently take these data into account and use them.

3. For the sake of transparency, the web application of this portal restricts the categories of competitors in certain competitions without harming the classification participants. This is true in all cases where individual categories have the same connection scoring (for example categories of competitors: portable-stationary; member – non member; etc.). Some competitions have more than 100 categories. Ranking competitors in 100 competition categories in one competition would make no sense and would be completely non-transparent. The classification participants were not disadvantaged by reducing the categories.

4. Due to the delay in the publication of official results, which the organisers of international competitions display only after reviewing all data, the administrator of this web portal will be late with the publication of unofficial filtered data (HP, LP, QRP *) for the current unfinished year.

5. The portal divides some areas into internal regional competitive units due to the diversity and specific area of individual countries, as well as increased competitive activity from individual countries. However, the administrator used a publicly available database for demarcation. However, in some cases, the regional delimitation was only reached by a number (also a letter) following the number in the Prefix of the classification participant’s personal call sign. This random case of ranking competitor grouping, and regionalisation is currently used in the following major or more competitively active countries around the world:

• W/K – United States countries – by internal countries, Canada, and the numbers following the prefix;
• BY – China, ;
• UA1, 3, 4, 6, 9, UA2 – European Russia;
• UA9-0 – Asiatic Russia, (east + west Siberia and Pacific coast);
• JA – Japan;
• PY – Brazil (also: PY0F, PY0S, PY0T)
• LU – Argentina;

We call this division for this portal “Region”

In addition to the general filtered data of the Continental Ranking, each of the aforementioned countries can display specific filtered data for the internal display of uniform and stand-alone Ranking Lists for each internal organisational regional competition unit of the country. It is also possible that the filtered content of the independent Ranking List for each identity is formed and established in the aforementioned countries. Using a web application, we can classify participants from some major countries, even within a country that we call a competitive region for our example. The portal’s greatest success has come from grouping American competitors by their countries.

All participants in the ranking are guided by their personal call signs for the purposes of this web portal (Personal CallSign).

6. The 5-year Ranking Lists are displayed in a variety of filtered data formats and databases, depending on the area and the “Power category.”

Participants in the 5-year Ranking List of filtered data by continent and basic “Power categories” (HP, LP, QRP) who achieve the most Rank Points in each category will appear on the hamradiocontest.com portal in a special folder “BEST AND FAMOUS CONTESTERS OF THE WORLD with an indication of the year, continent (6), and power category (3)” from 2022 onwards (2019-2023 and onwards). A total of 18 ranking participants each year. A person of the same classification can only be listed in the honours folder once. If a person achieves success on the 5-year Ranking List again, he or she is skipped and recorded among famous and deserving competitors in the ranking’s order of success.

7. National associations of radio amateur associations of individual countries and other radio amateur associations can honour the best competitors in their country by displaying them in an honorary place on their web portals, based on the published filtered data of the country/annual region’s and 5-year Ranking Lists. The list could also be published once a year in an internal radio amateur newspaper or other country-specific information. This would promote and encourage short-wave HF radio amateur competitions.

8. Following the implementation of this web portal, the administrator’s role will be limited to data entry and editing, with the organisational and technical management of the web portal being handled by a special committee comprised of experienced and established radio amateur competitors from various countries.

The Instructions, which will be published on this portal, contain even more information.