The testing phase for the WWW-KE7ADD Weekly Winlink Net and Contest is officially coming to an end—and for a first run, it was a great success!
The test period gave us a chance to evaluate the Winlink check-in process, automatic scoring, bingo bonuses, mode tracking, weekly participation totals, and leaderboard reporting under real-world conditions. We found a few things that needed improvement, made several adjustments, and ended up with a much stronger system for the official launch.
Our test participants completed check-ins using several different communications methods and helped confirm that the scoring and reporting system could successfully track:
- Total contest points
- Bingo bonuses
- Different operating modes
- Weekly participation
- Seasonal standings
The final test leaderboard was led by KJ7NUZ with 40 points, followed by KE7ADD with 26 points, KK7APK with 20 points, W7WVF with 19 points, and KF7RSF with 16 points.
That is an excellent level of participation for the first trial run, and it demonstrated that the overall concept works. More importantly, the testing identified the areas that needed to be simplified or clarified before the official contest begins.
I am going to wrap up testing, reset the scoreboard, and work on moving the updated system into production this evening. This version will serve as the official live version through the end of the year and will include improvements to the rules, scoring, check-in collection, and reporting.
The updated Winlink check-in template and official rules should be posted shortly.
A huge thank-you to everyone who participated, submitted test messages, found problems, offered suggestions, and helped make this first run so successful. Your participation made it possible to move the WWW-KE7ADD Net and Contest from an idea into a working system.
Now it is time to clear the test scores and get the official season underway!
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