Sunday, January 1, 2012

2012 Prognostications


2012 New Year’s Predictions

New Year’s resolutions never work out well. Let’s face it, we’ll never lose that 20 lbs until we can give up the Dayton kielbasa (and neither will our heartburn stop). So instead of making a lot of promises we’ll never keep, we present our predictions for 2012. They’re about as likely as any resolutions we’d make.

1. In an unexpected or explainable development, sunspots will begin to roar across the surface of the sun. The solar flux index will hit 250 for weeks at a time. Trans-Atlantic and Trans-Pacific F2 contacts on 6m will be daily occurrences.

2. Washington DC will finally count as a separate multiplier in all contests. Except those sponsored by the ARRL or CQ magazine.

3. New North Korean Supreme Leader Kim Jong Un will take an interest in ham radio and will open up North Korea for any and all DXpeditions. The only stipulation is that all DXpeditions must be willing to transport small, heavy rods encased in lead lined containers. By the end of the year P5 will have fallen to #200 on the Most Wanted List just ahead of Italy.

4. In a twist on the Occupy movement, a group of DX’ers will attempt to Occupy Scarborough Reef to protest the ludicrousness of it counting as a separate entity. Unfortunately, since the reef is only able to accommodate at most five people at any one time, their protest will be overlooked.

5. In reaction to years of complaints that the CQ DX contests are just callsign copying contests, the CQ DX Contest Committee will change the rules and adopt a Sweepstakes style exchange. High error rates reduce top scores by one-half.

6. The topic of cut numbers will still be debated on the CQ-Contest email reflector. No consensus will be reached.

7. In a stunning development, there will be a universally accepted definition of “assisted” for contest categories. In an unrelated development, reports of airborne porcine will appear from around the world.

8. During a major phone contest, a net will vacate their frequency to allow a contester to establish a run frequency after admitting that they really didn’t have anything important to talk about.

9. The Reverse Beacon Network (RBN) will gain sentience and turn itself off during a major DX contest with a final spot of “Find the DX yourself, you lazy lids!”

10. The Lost Island DX Society will surpass the ARRL in membership.

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