For MOCA2024, we’ve decided to go truly ‘back to the r00t’ and activate a ‘special event station’.
For those unfamiliar, a ‘diploma’ or award in the world of amateur radio is a competition that involves making connections with ‘special’ stations. These stations are located in unique places, such as specific geographical areas or significant historical sites. A typical example is the ‘diploma’ awarded to those who manage to connect with stations located near castles or lighthouses.
In amateur radio parlance, those who participate from home are called ‘hunters’, while those who ‘activate’ a specific location or use a special callsign, like our II6MOCA, are called ‘activators’.
Recently, we were contacted to participate in the first-ever Linux award, organized by a group from Salento. This event is scheduled to coincide with the anniversary of the release of the first version of the Linux kernel on 17 September.
Awards can have a limited duration or be permanent. For instance, awards dedicated to castles, of which there are thousands, are ‘eternal’. This Linux award, however, lasts two weeks, from 9 to 22 September, and our MOCA falls right in the middle of it!
A key element of these awards is the ‘Jolly station’. These are particularly special stations that allow you to accumulate more points, thus accelerating the achievement of the minimum score required to obtain the ‘diploma’. Similar to Olympic medals, participants can earn a bronze, silver, or gold award, depending on their score. However, there is no limit to the number of awards: everyone who reaches the threshold for silver, for example, will receive their silver ‘diploma’.
Participants can download their ‘diploma’ directly from the official event website, which also provides a detailed breakdown of their accumulated points. Each activator uploads their connection logs to a dedicated platform, which calculates the scores for all participants.
And you? Will you be hunting for radio stations to win your gold?
