As of January 2021, Winlink Wednesday will change the way that participation statistics are reported.
In 2016, Winlink Wednesday started small. There were 16 participants the first week, and the net was focused on amateurs in Virginia. Not only has the net grown in Virginia, but there is increased participation by out-of-state stations. By December 2020, nearly 17 percent of the messages received were from outside of Virginia.
This growth has added to the time it takes for me to process statistics using the methods that worked just fine four years ago. Consequently, beginning with the net on January 6, 2021, I will primarily report the total number of messages received and the total number of unique stations participating, including out-of-state stations. I will still account for weather reports on first Wednesdays and note ICS-213 attachments on third Wednesdays.
What does this mean for participants? Almost nothing. You are still free to check in from multiple locations, or using multiple modes. All messages will be included on the roster, but I will no longer be performing the analysis that resulted in most of the symbols preceding check-in data on the Net Report and Roster. Denoting P2P check-ins with an asterisk will remain, as will denoting out-of-state check-ins with a lower case "o." Each participant will continue to be credited with one week of participation, regardless of the number of messages sent.
Expect to see a Net Report that notes "x" number of total messages from "y" number of unique participants. Hopefully, this will allow you to see the published report earlier in the day on Thursday, and allow me more time for other interesting retirement activities. Thanks to everyone for helping to create this challenge. I love every minute of it.
de KW6GB
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