The 2021 Marcos T. Yñiguez, Jr. (DU3MY) Memorial Contest was held as scheduled on August 21-22, 2021. The 30-hour contest was another step towards the aim of DX3H in providing DU hams with the best contesting experience. A welcome respite indeed for the participants, especially with the ravages of Covid-19 being felt everywhere in the country. 

LOTS OF CHANGES

The 2021 edition is also a year of changes for the 2021 DU3MY Memorial Contest, with the introduction of new rules aligned with that of popular Ham Radio contests worldwide. First, only Cabrillo logs were accepted for submission. No other formats, including the popular MS Excel log sheets, were accepted. There were still several participants who struggled with this requirement, but with a little prodding and help from fellow hams, most were able to comply.

Second, logs can only be submitted thru the Cabrillo Log Upload facility on the DX3H website. Participants are provided email confirmations if the log conforms with version 3.0 of the Cabrillo standard. If not, feedback is also provided so that the participant can rectify whatever issues their logs may have. We hope to improve this facility in the next contests so that email confirmations and feedback will be automated. 

Another major rule change introduced this year was the inclusion of penalties for QSOs with busted call signs and not-in-log (NIL) QSOs. In both cases, the penalty is the loss of QSO plus equivalent QSO point(s) for the band. Other log issues such as busted (miscopied) or missing exchange, missing or invalid QSO field values (date, time, or RS(T)) will only result in loss of QSO as in previous contests. The aim of this rule change is to encourage participants to pay special attention to the accuracy of their logs.

Club competition is another area of change as the number of logs counting towards the final aggregate score was limited only to the top six (6) scores per club. The aim of this rule change is to “level the playing field” and give the smaller clubs a fair chance of winning the club competition. To qualify for the competition, the minimum number of logs submitted per club remain at three (3) logs. A new special award was also introduced this year for the club with the highest number of logs submitted.

The Multi-op category was also re-activated for the 2021 DU3MY contest. Participants were encouraged to observe all health and safety protocols as a precaution against the spread of Covid-19. Multi-op stations were likewise required to include the call signs and/or names of all operators.

Later in July 2021, the committee decided to allow CW QSOs using FM mode in recognition of the growing interest in CW among DU hams that do not own a multi-mode radio. To be valid, these QSOs were required to be logged as CW-mode QSOs.

Sometime in early August 2021, the DU3MY Memorial Contest was included among the contests fully supported by N1MM Logger+, the world’s most popular FREE ham radio contest logging program. This was made possible by the collaboration with the Software Support team of N1MM Logger+ in creating the suitable User-Defined Contest (UDC) and Section List files. Based on feedback from some of the participants, using N1MM Logger+ in real-time greatly improved their contest logging experience.

Finally, also in August 2021, EIB Radio of Warren Uy, DU1EIB agreed to sponsor additional incentives, in the form of Ham Radio accessories, for the first-place National winners of each category. Another welcome change indeed!

LOG CHECKING

In the previous two years of the DU3MY Memorial Contest, we have seen a steady increase in the number of logs submitted. This year was no different, as a total of 186 logs were submitted (an all-time best). And as the number of logs increase, so does the challenge of adjudicating these logs and coming up with the results as early as possible. 

In anticipation of these challenges, the DU3MY Memorial Contest committee worked to identify a solution as early as February 2021 to help in the log checking process. Luckily, we were introduced to Ken Wolff, K1EA, author of the of the log checking software used by most major Ham Radio contests, such as the CQ WW, CQ WPX and Oceania DX contests. Ken worked tirelessly with the committee to fine tune his software to adapt the unique requirements of the DU3MY Memorial Contest. The result? Log checking is now a lot easier, and we are now able to come up with the results much earlier compared the previous years. We are also confident now that we can handle any further increase in the number of logs submitted in future contests. 

Log Data Analysis

Table 1 provides a year-on-year comparison of some log data. 

There were 186 logs submitted this year (a new contest record), which was more than two-and-a half times the number of logs submitted in 2019. As reported by the log checking software, there were a significant number of stations that had 10 or more QSOs and yet did not submit their logs. We hope that these stations will consider submitting a log in the future. Maybe we can breach 200 logs submitted next year? Fingers are crossed.

Table 1: Year-on-year comparison of log data

As stricter rules were applied this year, the number of total multipliers dipped this year compared to 2020.  There were 198 unique ZIP codes and 41 unique prefixes found in logs in 2021, down from 282 and 55, respectively, in 2020. Thirty-four (35) clubs were also represented by their members who submitted their logs for the club competition. Of these, 19 clubs submitted at least 3 logs, the minimum required to qualify for the club competition as per the rules.

Based on the submitted logs, 536 stations made at least one QSO during the 2021 DU3MY Memorial Contest, for a total of 6,037 QSOs, breaking the 2020 record of 5,681. Although no logs from DU8 were submitted, there were at least 3 QSOs made with hams from all nine DU radio districts. DU District 3 provided the biggest number of logs (51 logs, 27% of the total, see Table and Figure 1), while the bulk of QSOs came from the District 1A (CALABARZON+MIMAROPA region), with 2,508 QSOs representing 42% of the total. Kudos also go to DU5 and DU9 hams as this is the first time we received logs from these districts.

                                                                                                                      Table 2: Number of logs and QSOs per DU district                             Figure 1. Percentages of Logs and QSOs per DU district for 2021

This year also showed an increase in the number of entries per category. Single Op, Single Band 2M remained the most popular category, with 90 entrants (48.39% of total entries). The entries for Single Op, Single Band 2M QRP also increased by a factor of four and is the second most popular category.  And for the first time in the DU3MY Memorial Contest, we had entries for the Single Op, All Band QRP category!   A number of logs, however, were also re-classified to a different category due to either incomplete header information or due to license class limitations. Table 3 summarizes the number of entries per category.

                                                                                  

                 Table 3: Number of logs per contest category                                   Figure 2. Percentages of Logs per category for 2021

Log Errors

Log errors are common in every contest, and the 2021 DU3MY Memorial Contest is no different. Table 4 is our analysis of the different types of log errors found in the QSOs. Note that some QSOs may contain more than one error. 

Table 4: Number of QSOs per type of error identified

Overall, our participants committed less log errors, just 21.66% this year compared to roughly 25% from last year, despite the big increase in logs submitted and the number of QSOs analyzed. We hope this is a sign that our participants are maturing in their contest operating practices. 

During the log checking process, we identified several incomplete logs which caused a significant number not-in-log (NIL) errors for their QSO partners when compared with the number of QSOs listed in the log. The contest committee had to manually intervene to address this issue and prevent the unsuspecting QSO partners from being penalized with a NIL. 

Logging the correct QSO time remains a big issue in 2021 among the errors identified (9.84% of all QSOs). Most errors involved the wrong conversion of local time to UTC, while there are logs that used local time only. These types of errors could have been easily prevented if a logging software, like N1MM Logger+, is used in real-time, as the software will automatically log the QSO date and time for the operator. For some operators still doing manual logging, a little more familiarization with UTC might be in order. 

Another big contributor to the number of log errors are busted call signs (4.36% of all QSOs), which are miscopied call signs or have typos in it. This is significant because of the penalties applied to these errors. During the contest itself, do not hesitate to ask the other station to repeat their call signs if you did not get their call sign, until you get it correctly. Ensuring that you copied the other stations call sign correctly can also be vastly improved by constant practice, like listening to local nets and copying the call signs of those checking in. 

One final note on log errors: please check your logs multiple times before submission. Most of errors we identified could have been corrected if only the logs were reviewed thoroughly. Let us not throw away our QSO points because of log errors. Accuracy is of utmost importance in contest logs.

AND THE WINNERS ARE…

In just over a month since the log submission deadline, we are pleased to announce the winners of the 2021 Marcos T. Yñiguez, Jr. (DU3MY) Memorial Contest. This year’s competition produced four (4) new national records, and fourteen new (14) district records. Well done, participants!

Congratulations to our national category winners:

• DV1IIW (Multi-Op, All Band)

•    4I1XFZ (Single Op, All Band)

•  DW3JJS (Single Op, All Band QRP)

• DW1WGJ (Single Op, Single Band, 2 meters)

•    4G1LDE (Single Op, Single Band, 2 meters QRP)

•   DX1EVM (Club Competition)

THANK YOU!

As always, DX3H would like to express its heartfelt gratitude to all that made the 2021 Marcos T. Yñiguez, Jr. (DU3MY) Memorial Contest a resounding success: 

To the Yñiguez family, for their unwavering support for the contest in the last three years;

  To Ken Wolff, K1EA, who not only allowed us to use his log checking software FOR FREE, but also for making time to write program code that will make his software adapt to the uniqueness of the DU3MY Memorial Contest;

  To the N1MM Logger+ Support Team, especially Les Elliot, G4OGB, for helping us develop a working UDC and Section files for the N1MM Logger+;

  To EIB Radio and Warren Uy, DU1EIB, for providing the incentives for our national winners;   

  To Dei Teodoro, DW1ZCF, for providing the graphics we used for the announcements.

And of course, to all our participants, we say Thank You to you, too. You have been a big part of the success we have experienced through our three years of existence. We hope that you continue to participate in the coming editions of this contest. 

* * * * *

Notes:
        Entries highlighted in yellow are Category Winners, and will receive a plaque (courtesy of the Yñiguez family).
        Entries highlighted in light blue are District Winners for each category.
        An asterisk (*) after the score denotes a new national record for the category. 
        A caret (^) after the score denotes a new district record for the category.