The team at the Rose-Hulman Institute of Technology W9NAA operating in the 2003 phone Collegiate Championship. Stanford University W6YX continues its domination of the collegiate Amateur Radio standings by winning its fifth consecutive Collegiate Championship. Old rival Caltech W6UE returned this year and beat Stanford in the CW competition, only to lose the combined mode title and settle for second place after Stanford won the phone competition. In third place, Cornell University W2CXM finished in the Top Three for the second year in a row, down just one spot from 2002. Logging accuracy continues to be an important factor in the final rankings. In the phone competition, the the University of Texas at Dallas K5UTD had the highest claimed score, but after log-checking, Stanford University W6YX had more good QSOs in the log, and edged out UTD by a score differential of just 2.5%. Other schools also benefited from accurate logging: W9NAA leaped over N5XU and W4ATC in the standings, and WF4DD leaped over W2SZ with more accurate logs. As the sunspot cycle winds down, the competition gets more intense. This was the first year in which none of the schools competing in the phone competition in categories other than School Radio Club won their section, won their division, or finished in the Top Ten of their category. Even the top-scoring stations like W6YX, W6UE, and W4ATC were beaten in their respective ARRL sections this year. This was also the first Collegiate Championship in which only one school managed to make a "clean sweep" in the phone competition. The University of Texas at Austin worked all 80 multipliers, but only finished in eighth place. Overall, activity in the contest was down for the second year in a row, with only 26 operations in both modes. This is eleven fewer operations than in 2001, and 23 fewer than the all-time high of 49 contest operations in 1997. CW operations continue to dwindle, with only seven teams competing in 2003, the lowest number since 1994, the first year the Collegiate Championship was held. In 1997, twenty colleges and universities entered the CW competition.

Operators

W6UE:   KA6SAR, N6AN, W4EF
W6YX:   N7MH, N6UK, AA6XV
W2CXM:  WO9S
W5AC:   NT5TU
W2SZ:   K2TJ
K7UAZ:  W4ES, KD7CNJ
NS4CC:  K0EJ

Other colleges and universities heard: W7UQ, W1AF

"Yes, the check sent was 12 -- Texas A&M Radio Club was first licensed in 1912. Gig 'em!" - NT5TU (@ Texas A&M W5AC)

"Although we didn't set the world on fire with our score, Mike and I did have a good time running rate on Saturday afternoon and choreographing the two-station S&P dance on Sunday. And aside from a few computer hiccups, which were probably due to my inability to master MS-DOS, the station hardware held up admirably well." - W4EF (@ Caltech W6UE)

"We had hoped to defend our Collegiate Championship titles this year, but our effort was reduced because several of our regulars were doing their best to help the Northern California Contest Club regain the ARRL November Sweepstakes Unlimited Club title from the Society of Midwest Contesters. Last year, W6YX had three operators at all times on CW and two or three on SSB, one running, one pouncing, and one searching. This year, we had only a single transceiver and single operator at all times for the W6YX operation." - N7MH (@ Stanford W6YX)

Operators

W6YX:    K6UFO, W6RQ, W6FEL
K5UTD:   K5AEA, KB5HWS, KD5QXH, KD5KRB
K7UAZ:   W4ES, N0UCV, KD7CNJ, KB7XL, KK7GP
W6UE:    KA6SAR
W2CXM:   KB2YER, N2YYZ, KB2ZWZ, KC1IAW, WO9S, KC2KCF, N2VR, Taneh, Michelle
W9NAA:   AG4ZP, KC9FAB, AB9IG, N9YES, KC9BWW, KC9AKS, KC9EYC, KC9EVR
W4ATC:   AD4L, WW4M
N5XU:    KM5TY, K5TWJ, AA5BT, K5PI
W0EEE:   KD9ARC, KC9UMR, KD5AMX, KI0PX, KI0QB, N4LO, KC0JEO
W7UQ:    KL9A, KC7RSO, KD7YBZ
W5YM:    KD5RTQ, N5YGR, K5FXB
WF4DD:   KG4CZU
W2SZ:    KB1DDC, KC2GVE, K2TJ, N2OY
W0YC:    K8GU, N0YNT, AG0I, KC0OIH
W1YK:    N3SX, KB1JLW, KB1JLY, KB1JMA, KB1KKU
W9UIH:   W0TPO
W8YX:    KC8KHL, N9WIV
WB4TOP:  KB4VTJ, W4FMN, KD4UYE, KQ4MS
WA5BU:   N5VHO

Other colleges and universities heard: W1AF, KB3KJI, KF4AU, WB4TOP, W9UIH, W9YT, VE3UOT

"A serious effort turned into a learning contest real fast. Bands were poor, we felt weak, but we had fun. A great way to introduce some new young guys to contesting. Even had pizza during the contest, not after I quit... :-)" - KL9A (@ Univ. of Idaho W7UQ)

"Work (again) limited my operation to the first five hours only. After a sluggish start, I quickly found myself in the zone. During that time, before I had to QRT, I felt I was in striking distance of the leaders. Maybe not. I bet I hold the record of the most times hearing `please copy...' in a five hour period." - KA6SAR (@ Caltech W6UE)

"This was going to be a serious effort until I stayed up with my girlfriend on Friday night much later than I intended, got up earlier than I intended, and then went to a semi-formal with her from midnight to 2:00 AM on Sunday. Needless to say, after about ten hours of sleep for the whole weekend, I scrapped Sunday afternoon in favor of some sleep." - KG4CZU (@ Wake Forest Univ. WF4DD)

"Thanks to KB5HWS and Bill for sticking it through Sunday during the hard times while I went home to get some sleep and studying done - midterms should not be scheduled the Monday after Sweepstakes." - K5AEA (@ Univ. of Texas - Dallas K5UTD)

"While we are a pretty old club, all of the current members are new to ham radio. This is actually the first large contest we have participated in." - AG4ZP (@ Rose-Hulman Inst. of Tech. W9NAA)

"For at least three of our six W6YX operators, this was their first ARRL November Sweepstakes contest. Hopefully, it's the first of many for each of them." - N7MH (@ Stanford W6YX)

Participation by Conference

Conference          CW    SSB    Total
----------          --    ---    -----
Pac 10               2     2       4
Big 12               1     2       3
SCIAC                1     1       2
Ivy                  1     1       2
UCAA                 1     1       2
ACC                  0     2       2
Big 10               0     1       1
SEC                  0     1       1
MIAA                 0     1       1
NEWMAC               0     1       1
Great Lakes Valley   0     1       1
Big West             0     1       1
American Southwest   0     1       1
SCAC                 0     1       1
Conference USA       0     1       1

N/A                  1     1       2
                    ---   ---     ---
                     7    19      26

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