Concepts for Team Use of Signal Point

Caribbean Contesting Consortium

Team Usage Concepts

C A R I B B E A N C O N T E S T I N G C O N S O R T I U M

Concepts for Team Use of Signal Point

When someone chooses to rent Signal Point and compete in a contest as a single operator, the logistics and accounting are simple: that person organizes everything and pays for everything. If the operator is a CCC Full Member, the $1100 weekly rent would be reduced to $800 if he/she has remaining credit on account. (Details of the rebate are in "What Is Full Membership....") If the operator is not a CCC Full Member the rental amount would be $1300. He/she would also pay a $450 station support fee.

Things are a bit more complex for team contesting.

For each team contest, someone must step forward and assume the role of Organizer for that contest operation. The Organizer is then responsible for paying the Signal Point rent, whatever amount it is after a possible rebate, for planning the radio aspects of the operation, for organizing transportation and lodging for everyone, for setting up food arrangements, for all accounting, for obtaining the license and preferred callsign for that contest, for arranging for Customs clearance of any additional equipment being brought in, and for overall coordination of the operation. While this sounds daunting, it is vastly simpler with a permanent station and QTH than it was when CCC was a nomadic group.

Here is what seems to have worked well for our past team efforts.

Lodging

Two bedrooms, each with two double beds and a full bath are available in the QTH. These are NOT luxurious. Additionally, sleeping space on sofas, and on chaise lounges outside on the patios will eventually be available for the tougher among us. Overflow lodging is available at Sunset Waters Beach Resort http://www.sunsetwaters.com (less than half a mile walk from the station) for about $99/person/per night, at Flamingo Park Apartments http://www.intac.an for about $80/person/night, and at many other locations on Curacao. It is the responsibility of the organizer to poll team members on their cost and comfort preferences for lodging, allocate spaces for them as appropriate, and collect any applicable costs from them. Each Organizer is free to set up lodging arrangements and cost recovery as he sees fit. The only constraint is that the Signal Point rent has to be covered somehow. What worked well in VP5 is to allocate half of the Hamlet rental ($500) as the shared cost of renting the station, and the other half ($500) as lodging rent paid by whomever was sleeping in the Hamlet's bedroom. Our friend and rental agent Korra Juliana, http://www.intac.an can assist Organizers in finding and booking lodging for each trip. You will be able to pay her for all lodging directly, for administrative simplicity.

Food

We have had good luck with assigning one or two people to shop and cook, and passing the hat informally to reimburse that person. Anyone who wishes not to participate in that food pool may opt out. (But only a fool would do so -- we eat very well when Cindy or Mary are on the team!)

Licensing

If the operation is a CCC operation, we will always use our contest callsign of PJ2T. The organizer must, however, apply approximately three months in advance for that call (forms and instructions are available at http://asgard.kent.edu/ccc/licensing.htm ) and pay the $61 fee to Bureau Telecommunicatie. It is then up to the Organizer to recover that licensing cost as part of the trip's shared expenses.

Bottom Line

Typically, the organizer keeps track of all shared expenses, divides that amount by the number of hams on the trip, and collects that amount to reimburse himself. Shared expenses will typically include: QSL cards for the operation, rental cost of Signal Point, the fee for the license, and costs of radio stuff particular to that trip.

Example

W9VA serves as Organizer of a team to operate ARRL CW. Six operators sign on, including four spouses. W9VA is a Full Member, so the Signal Point rental amount is $800.

Shared Expenses:

Signal Point Rental $800
License $61
Internet Connect Costs for Contest $144 (48 hours)
CCC Station Support Contribution (7 * 75 + $525)

TOTAL SHARED EXPENSES $1530 divided by 7 operators = $218.57 shared expenses per operator.