Gary Breed, K9AY

Contesting and the Low Bands -- You Need Them to Win!:  Antennas, propagation and noise combine to make the low bands a challenge for HF contesting. Often, low band performance is the clear difference for a winning effort. The talk will look at 40, 80 and 160 meters from three perspectives: transmitting antennas, receiving antennas and band knowledge. This information will help you make better choices for hardware and operating strategy that lead to higher scores (and more fun!).

Doug Grant, K1DG

WRTC 2014:  WRTC, often called the "Olympics of Ham Radio", is returning to the United States next year for the first time since 1996. Doug Grant, K1DG, Chairman of WRTC2014, Inc. and a 5-time WRTC competitor himself, will give us some insight into the preparations underway for next July.

Gary Sutcliffe, W9XT

Radio Contesting: Moving to the Next Level:  You have been contesting for a few years or maybe more. Now you want to start moving up in the standings. What improvements can you make to your station and operating techniques to make this happen?  Hint: This talk is not about bigger towers and amplifiers.

Integrating Station Hardware and Software:  How do you score better? Number one is to be able to stay in your operating position for a long time. You need to set up your station to be comfortable and easy to operate. This talk will give you some ideas to simplify your operation, lessen errors and reduce fatigue using existing software and hardware readily available.