______________________________________________________________A DXAC meeting was held this past Sunday. It was well attended. These were the items put forth for discussion:
1) 4U1A county status
2) Balleny & Scott Island county status
3) VADXCC petition to suspend inactive countries
(with possible consideration to reconsider honor roll threshold)
4) Return of RTTY only DXCC Award
5) Additional DXCC Award suggestions
6) Field "Card Checker" guidelines, rules adjustments considerations
7) Thoughts on DXCC 2025Regarding 1) and 2), under current DXCC rules, neither qualify for country status.
Regarding 3) It was generally agreed that this was a bad idea. BS7 was discussed but it was pointed out that it was declared a DXCC country under rules that existed at that time. If we recommended that it be dropped, where does it end?
Regarding 4) There didn't seem to be much enthusiasm for a separate RTTY award. Currently, RTTY is combined with the rest of the digital modes. Personally, I would not be against this, a Q on RTTY takes a lot more effort than an FT8 Q.
Regarding 5) There are over 20 DXCC awards. It wasn't felt that adding additional awards would increase participation, cause an increase in membership or retention.
Regarding 6) We didn't touch that one. I personally don't see a problem in my area with getting cards checked. In any event, it isn't up to the DXAC to make changes to this program.
Regarding 7) The last review and changes to the DXCC program was DXCC 2000. Is there need for a reevaluation of DXCC 2000? Is the DXCC program healthy? Can it be updated? Are changes even needed? We agreed further discussion was warranted.
One member suggested that countries that had not been active for a period of years be put into suspended status to give newer operators a chance at the Honor Roll. It was the ultimate feeling of the DXAC that the DXCC program should be not be diminished due to a minority of operators inability to achieve it.
FT8 was also discussed. It was pointed out that new, young hams are more interested in communicating via data than Phone or CW, the latter of which isn't even required for an amateur license anymore.
I've tried to make this as brief as possible. The meeting was 1.5 hours long and it would be impossible to recount all comments.
If you have any questions or suggestions, please contact me. And feel free to pass this along to any ops in Delta who are interested and might not be DXAC members.
Steve Rutledge, N4JQQ, DXAC, Delta
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