If you hang around MRRC long enough, you’ll eventually hear people refer to the “Club Circle” There seems to be a fair amount of confusion as to what the circle is (or isn’t) so we thought it would be a good idea to explain the whole thing.
The history of the club circle dates back to 1972, when the ARRL, in order to prevent the formation of huge, artificial contest clubs that only existed on paper, made a rule for clubs entering an ARRL Affiliated Club Competition in the Medium and Unlimited categories that all members contributing scores for that competition had to reside within a 175 mile diameter circle.
The effect of this rule is that for ARRL Club Competitions, a club such as MRRC has to identify a geographic club center and submit a roster to the ARRL showing all club members and stations that are located within 175 miles of the club center. The ARRL then will only count scores from members/stations from that roster when totaling MRRC’s club score.
MRRC’s original club center in 1972 was selected to be at Marion, OH, which is east of Lima and north of Columbus. This location was chosen to encompass the population of MRRC members, as it was at that time. Since then, the circle has been moved twice to reflect changes in the club’s demographics. In the early 90s the center was moved northwest to Findlay, to better cover the growing membership base in Michigan. The club center has remained at Findlay to this day.
The map below illustrates the current club circle, covering a 175 mile radius from Findlay, OH (EN81eb). The circle covers essentially all of Ohio except for a small area at the south. It also covers approximately one-third of Michigan’s lower peninsula. In the process, it also covers a large portion of Indiana, which is of no benefit to MRRC since we have no members there (and most contesters belong to the Society Of Midwest Contesters (SoMC)).
Some things to understand about the MRRC Club Circle:
- The club circle only applies to score submissions for ARRL Club Competitions such as SS, ARRL 160, ARRL 10 and ARRL DX. It does not apply for score submissions in contests sponsored by the NCJ, CQ Magazine, or others.
- The club circle has nothing to do with membership in MRRC. Everyone is welcome to join MRRC – you do not have to live or operate from within the club circle to be a member.
- As mentioned earlier, the club tries to position the circle to cover the maximum number of club members. We do not adjust the club circle from contest to contest. If you find yourself outside the circle, and you’d like to be inside, please contact club officers K8CC or K1LT to indicate your interest, and the club will look into a way to accommodate your request. Moving the club circle is considered official club business and requires a membership vote at an official club meeting (historically, this has been done at the Dayton meeting).
Hopefully, this information will clear up any misunderstanding about the MRRC Club Circle and what it applies to.