What I Think about WAE

The WAE (Worked All Europe)radiosport GiG are, to me, an interesting conundrum. 
The Cw/Ssb variants of this contest remind me of an ARRL/CQ Dx contest (however ONLY
with European stations), with the addition of passing what are known as QTC messages. 
The RTTY variant of the WAE contest (in November) is more akin to February's WPX RTTY
contest, as we are allowed to work any RTTY station anywhere (for any reason); altho QTC
messages can ONLY be sent to stations on another continent.

Point-wise in WAE, instead of QSOs being worth 2-points (as in Dx/WPX contests), each contact
is worth only 1-point.  The 2nd-point is earned by sending a QTC message about this contact to
an EU station - unsent QTC's are points LOST, which is why there are desperate QTC solicitations during the final hours of the WAE contest.  I've often joked that there is more QTC traffic sent in the last 2-hours than actual QSOs made.

Contest-wise, WAE is relatively new to me.  Most SF East Bay QTH's I have operated from experience relatively weak signals from Europe.  For WQ6X, WAE as a possibility wasn't really possible until I discovered the November WAE RTTY contest.  

Were it not for the CTRL-Z invoked QTC message passing facility built-in to the N1MM+
contest software, I probably would NoT give WAE RTTY a consideration.  However, CTRL-Z
automates the traffic exchange beautifully, requiring only an intelligent use of the mouse for each "book" of messages sent.  Essentially, a QTC message is a message to another amateur station
(on another continent) detailing a QSO exchange made earlier in the contest; in other words, a QSO message describing a QSO message.

In recent years, I have found RTTY contests to be more attractive because I can save my voice
and I don't have to copy Morse code in my head.  Running the Yaesu FT-2000 (and previously the
FT-1000mp), these transceivers are robust enough to run at a full-duty 100-watt power-level; unlike most other radios which are recommended to be run at 1/2 of their full-power capability.

In my opinion, the November Sweepstakes (SS) and Worked All Europe (WAE) contests are excellent traffic handling training exercises.  While there is no longer a RTTY Sweepstakes contest per se', its replacement is more-or-less the RTTY Roundup (RTTY RU) event, the 1st radiosport GiG held in January of each year.

With the current military conflict happening with Ukraine, any European-based contest is tricky
at best.  Because of the conflict, several EU contests have been cancelled (or severely modified) throughout 2022 contest year.   In my mind, this is further reason to support the WAE events - letting the Europeans know that we support their radiosport efforts, regardless of anything "political" that may be going on.

What about YOU?
Do you support European contests in general and the WAE in particular?

Show your support by telling me about it.