Phil N3NGG operating at Georgia Tech W4AQL during the 1999 Collegiate Championship, phone. Stanford University W6YX becomes the fifth different university club to win the combined category of the Collegiate Championship in the six years in which it has been held! W6YX was most impressive in CW, with one of only two "clean sweeps" made on that mode, and the only QSO total over 1,000. In second place, defending champion Caltech W6UE continues to be a formidable challenger. Caltech has finished in the top three spots for four years in a row. Third place this year went to the University of Arkansas W5YM, up from a sixth-place combined finish in the 1998 contest. W5YM had an outstanding CW effort that helped push them into the top ranks for the first time. Participation amongst all competitors in the ARRL November Sweepstakes dropped for the second year in a row. Participation by college and university clubs also been falling from an activity peak in 1997. This year, there were only 35 Collegiate Championship entries, compared to 32 for 1998, 50 for 1997, and 44 for 1996. Some contestants felt that improved sunspot numbers mean more hams are interested in DXing than contesting, and others blamed the ARRL rules changes and the controversy surrounding them for the lower turnout amongst college clubs. "I didn't realize you were holding the Collegiate Championship as a separate (from ARRL) event. I thought the ARRL had killed this fun part of the SS by eliminating alumni from participation. This is the reason W6YL (San Jose State Univ.) was inactive this year." Robert K5PI and Johanna W5JLP operating at the University of Texas N5XU during the 1999 Collegiate Championship, CW. This was the second year that all submitted contest logs underwent significant checking for errors. The mean reduction in score after the log checking was about 10% for CW and 8% for phone. Some schools fared better than others, and some actually moved up in the CW and phone ranks because of their cleaner logs. This did not affect the combined rankings when all was said and done, however. It is unlikely that more rigorous log-checking has contributed to the decline in activity - none of the participating schools in 1998 knew that the logs would be checked so strenuously before the logs had been submitted, and the participation in 1999 is only very slightly better than 1998. Many schools won their ARRL sections and even divisions in the ARRL November Sweepstakes this year. Had they entered the School Radio Club category, many of these college and university clubs would never receive recognition for outstanding performances that make them competitive with other local, non-college stations. The best performances were by Stanford W6YX and Caltech W6UE in the phone competition; W6YX finished #5 overall in the multi-operator category, and W6UE finished #6 overall! This is the first year that two Collegiate Championship entrants have finished in the Sweepstakes Top Ten! There were some regional battles as well. While not winning their divisions, the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee WB9JBF and Michigan State W8SH finished in the third and fifth spot, respectively, in the Central Region in the Phone contest. North Carolina State W4ATC and Georgia Tech W4AQL (conference rivals as well!) finished in the third and fourth spots, respectively, in the Southeast Region, also on phone. These were all fantastic contest efforts!

Operators

W6YX:   W6KNS, W6LD, N7MH
W5YM:   KB5ZYC, N5DX
W6UE:   N6VI, W6GRV, W6EJJ, W1EEL, VU2DXC, KF6KKO, N5OT, W4EF, KA6SAR
W8EDU:  AF8A, W8RZ, W8WTS
W1AF:   KO1O
W4ATC:  KO4PY, NA4G, KF4ARS
N5XU:   K5PI, KT5I, AA5BT, W5JLP, KM5FA
W4AQL:  KU4WJ, W4ATL
N9UC:   WO9S
W0EEE:  KC9UMR, KI0QB, KI0PX, KI0MI, KB0QQF
WA5BU:  KC5QYO, KC5LQE, Travis Burnett
W1KBN:  NK1L, N1RFA
W7UNR:  WA2FDK

Other colleges and universities heard: KB1CAJ, W1YK, W2CXM, W6BAB, W7UQ, K3CR*

"Not a bad little contest from here at GA Tech. We've just got to train a few more CW ops. And we got the clean sweep so it's time to buy a new mug. Hopefully they'll be a nicer color than last year. There were some unusual "rare" ones this contest (NE, WY, EWA, WWA) in addition to the ever-present VI and NWT..." - KE4QLI (@ Georgia Tech W4AQL)

"High point was outlasting the pileup for VY1JA. Our first use of the University of Chicago club call, N9UC, for a contest. Worked a number of other clubs, including W1AF, W1YK, W2CXM, W4ATC, N5XU, W5YM, W6BAB, W6UE, W6YX, and W8EDU." - WO9S (@ University of Chicago N9UC)

"Best tongue-in-cheek quote in SS: 'Let's work'em off the back of the dipole!'" - KI0MI (@ Univ. of Missouri-Rolla W0EEE)

"We had more operators in this year's CW Sweepstakes than any since 1989. At one point Saturday night, nine people were in our shack at once, and it was crowded!" - KM5FA (@ Univ. of Texas N5XU)

Operators

W6YX:    N6DE, W6LD, N7MH
W6UE:    W4EZ, N6VI, N7UE, 4Z9GHI, KA6SAR, KN6JU, VU2DXC
N5XU:    KB5LBN, KM5FA, KT5I, W5JLP 
W4ATC:   N3QYE, KF4ARS
WB9JBF:  N9FH, N9SD, WB9UAI, N9VA, W9CJK, KC0ARF, KA9WXN
W4AQL:   KU4WJ, N3NGG, KE4QLI
W0EEE:   KB0VLG, KC9UMR, KI0QB, KI0PX, KB0QQF, KI0MI, KA0MEK
W8SH:    KB8LUV, KB8ZGL, KB8RWQ, K8MAS, KB8ZQZ
W7ASU:   KC7EFP, KC7MOC, KC7WJE, KC7MOD, KC7RZR
W5YM:    KB5ZYC, KJ5YD, AH2AK, K5GOE, KD5IHH, KC5LDC, KC5ATF
W1MX:    KT1D, W1GSL, KB1CGZ
W1YK:    N2YHK
W7ISU:   N7LQY, N7LB, KD7FHK, KD7CMT, KD7BZO
W1AF:    K1XQ, N1EXQ, N1QZY
W5GB:    AC5RI, KC5QNX
WA5BU:   KC5AMA, KC5QYO, KD5IMS, KC5LQE, N5VHO
W9UIH:   W0TPO
W9YT:    KB0IAD, WO9U, WB9YHB
WB4TOP:  W4FMN
W7UNR:   KC7RLV, KK7HE, K7VY, W7PW
W9PU:    KB9MWE, N9VHM, KE9R
W3AJ:    AC3V, AA2KV, KB3DDV
W5CBC:   KB1AHR, KC0DKL, KB9NIQ

Other colleges and universities heard: K4KDJ, W8KW, VA3MCM, W9YT, K3CR*

"The check of 09 really slowed things down. At the beginning, it was a guaranteed fill. Throughout the contest, the answer to any question was "09 09." What is so strange about being first licensed in 1909?" - KT1D (@ MIT W1MX)

"Lost quite a bit of sleep, and had a midnight antenna install (what contest would be without one?) Overall, a fun experience." -KE4QLI (@ Georgia Tech W4AQL)

"I was dreaming last night that I was in South Dakota, climbing orange trees, and not getting any points for it." - KT5I (@ Univ. of Texas N5XU)

"A few of our number insist on trying to rotate those wire dipoles. :-) We'll get them retrained eventually." - KB8ZQZ (@ Michigan State W8SH)

"As I keyed the mic at 4:01PM to make the first QSO, the power went out in the entire city of Worcester. Apparently, a mylar balloon hit a substation supply line and knocked everything out!" - N2YHK (@ Worcester Polytech W1YK)

"Stiff competition from our collegiate brethren up north. Looks like we will need to get serious." - W4EF (@ Caltech W6UE)

Participation by Conference

Conference          CW    SSB    Total
----------          --    ---    -----
ACC                  2     2       4
Big 12               2     2       4
Pac 10               1     2       3
Big West             1     2       3
UAA                  2     0       2
Big 10               0     2       2
SEC                  1     1       2
SCIAC                1     1       2
Ivy                  1     1       2
MIAA                 1     1       2
AEC                  1     0       1
NEFC                 0     1       1
NEWMAC               0     1       1
Big Sky              0     1       1
Great Lakes Valley   0     1       1
Mid-Continent        0     1       1
Centennial           0     1       1

N/A                  0     2       1
                    ---   ---     ---
                    13    22      35

The Won column lists the ARRL award the station won. (S=Section, D=Division, T=Top Ten)

* The K3CR callsign was used by a single-operator at an off-campus location when an on-campus club station exists, and was therefore ineligible for the Collegiate Championship.