       
        Below you will find the results of the 2024 Maidenhead Mayhem March Sprint. Below the "Results", there is a thoughts & commentary from the Contest Director. Please Read Those Directors Comments RESULTS S = Single Op
SU = Single Op Unlimited V = Veteran R = Rookie L = Low Power Q = QRP
Comments,
Thoughts, From the Contest Director.
The Full 2024 Maidenhead Mayhem, July 20th till the 28th Is Canceled!
Reasons Are Here Below.
As in the description on the HOME page, this contest has been in development for over 40+ years. Keeping thoughts from contesters for years and years and years. This contest was born from the desires of actual Contesters. We wanted this contest to be ... Since this site went on-line on Nov 22, 2022, I had only one person comment how they did not like the Old Novice Roundup Time format. The format was chosen for all the reasons explained on the RULES Page. It is indeed a like no other existing contest. But it IS a format that worked, and worked very well in the past as explained in the 2023 Sprint RESULTS Page. In last years July Contest it was proved that this format can work when someone made more than 500 contacts! Even tho he had the same comment, he couldn't find anyone that was also in the contest to contact. So he just worked anyone willing to give him a contact. So for this years sprint I did the same thing. I first got on Saturday morning when there was a GIANT great opening to Japan and ran and ran and ran a frequency till it closed! Then I went up to Ten meters and did the same except for Europeans! It was AWESOME! That's when I hit the 155 QSO's per Hour on the rate meter. I just CQ TEST on CW and worked anybody. When Running slowed down, I had the bandmap being populated from the RBN system, and just kept working every station CQing I could find. That's how I worked 321 QSO's. So the old Novice Roundup format can work even if you can't find anyone else actually in the contest to contact! As in the Rules Description, This contest will reward those that think WHEN is the best time to be on and try to make contacts. And it surely did for me with those two openings! And the only other negative comment was from one contest club thinking this is not legit and a scam. I honestly do not see how this could work as a "SCAM"... How could it benefit the "Scammer"? People can be sooo negative towards anything "Different" I received dozens of comments every single day. Most were of how they LOVE all the parts of the contest. And comments like how a contest like this should have happened years if not decades ago! Yet For the first year, between when the website went on line on November 22, 2022, and the week before the Contest start, March 10, 2023. There were over two thousand visits to the site. And half of the visitors, over a thousand of them, were serious enough about doing the contest that they downloaded the special loggers to do the contest! So Interest seemed really high for a new Contest! Other than those two negative comments, Nothing but Good was heard from the outside world. Then the March 2023 Sprint happened. Even tho well over one thousand bothered to get the needed loggers, only twelve actually did the contest and sent in a log! We hoped the main contest in July with the Prizes would have a Better Turnout. Sadly, it was better, but not by much only twenty six sent in a Log! Every entrant got a Prize! That was a very popular topic also. But with the prize sponsors ONLY!! The Contesting community said NOTHING about a contest with prizes! I thought this was going to be a super controversial thing! I had my Flame suit ready! Many Prize sponsors wondered why prizes were never offered in any other contest before! AND it was super popular with the three sponsors. When I contacted them, described what we wanted to do, They Immediately and without hesitation said Absolutely they want to donate to the Prize Package! In no time, In Like two days! The prize package was already over $1800.00 dollars worth of prizes! So I stopped looking for any more sponsors. BUT.... That did not stop others from contacting ME! Offering MORE stuff to add to the prizes! The Manufacturing world Loved this idea of Prizes. I was getting offers all the way up to the final week before the Start of the sprint. I told them to hang on and lets see how this sprint goes, and maybe we can add more for the main contest in July. Well as said above the turnout for the main contest in July was terrible. I felt so bad for the Prize Sponsors! $1800.00+ In prizes for only 26 participants! The Prizes were awarded as promised, and I apologized to the sponsors for the terrible turnout. BUT..... And there always is a "BUT" isn't there? When I contacted them two of the three wanted to try it AGAIN! The one that never replied to my E-Mails was Bob Heil from Heil Sound. And I figured he was just not interested because of the lack of participation. Of course I learned later why the no Replies, as most of you know why. Well here we are, Shortly after the 2024 Spring Sprint. On January 1 2024, I reset the web page counters. I was excited to see the level of interest! In the three months before the Sprint was to happen, a day before the contest, there has been over TEN THOUSAND Visits to the contest website! YES! Lots of Interest! YES! And about 2400, downloads of the loggers! So then if you add in the 1200 or so that downloaded the loggers for the 2023 contests, that makes almost 3600 times the loggers were downloaded! This LOOKS GREAT! Well as described above and shown by the logs that were sent in, it is fairly clear, that while verbally by E-Mails, and other messages, this is a super popular contest. But when it comes to the contest itself, that is a different story. There seems to be little to no interest at all in actually doing this contest. That is very obvious after three tries. As again described above it has gotten almost 100% praise and love. But Participation is None. Well almost None. So, I can not with a good conscience have these great sponsors of prizes offer thousands of dollars in values of prizes to so few people. That's just not right! They took a chance thinking that this contest would be a great thing to get in on the ground floor with, just like all the messages say how great it is. But like in 2023, there were actually MORE Prizes than entrants!!! And again that's not right and good for them and their generosity. So, as soon as I UP-Load this to the website, I will be letting the prize sponsors that I am letting them off the hook, and that the Contest is now canceled. We tried to do something totally new and different, But due to lack of support from the Amateur Community, it is just not gonna live on. For those that tried, Thank You, But it was just not enough. Joe WB9SBD |