I had some time this weekend, and thought I would work some PSK31. I realized that an RTTY contest was in progress, it was the DARC Worked-All-Europe (WAE) DX RTTY Contest. So, I thought I would make a few RTTY contacts since there were so many people on the bands. I was sucked into the fun. However, I found myself with the question: "Do you have/need QTCs?" I politely said no. It bugged me, what are QTCs? Finally, I checked it out in the Contest Rules. I learned QTCs are reports of QSOs that took place earlier in contest, and were being sent back to a European Station or different continent. You copy the report down, and insert them into your contest log submission. You get additional points for these exchanges. So, I learned something new about the WAE DX RTTY Contest. Next time, I will be ready.
I had fun working the contest. I finished up with 96 QSOs, 0 QTCs, and several new countries worked.
Also, I found a good reason for always submiting your logs to DARC contests. The
Deutscher Amateur-Radio-Club e.V. (DARC) has a DARC Contest Logbook to which the submitted contest logs are deposited. These QSO are cross check with other logs, and once QSOs are confirmed, they can be used to apply for DARC Awards (Worked All Europe(WAE), Europe Award, & Europe DX Award) without needing a supporting QSL card.
-- Peter (KB5HPL)