Last month, after a grueling selection process, the organizers of the 2010 World Radiosport Team Championships (WRTC) selected the 44 team leaders who will compete in the event next year. These 44 team leaders, representing all six continents, have each chosen a partner. The rules state that while the leader's partner may be from a different call sign area, they must be from the country as the leader. WRTC, held every few years, takes place during the IARU HF World Championships, July 10-11. In 2010, WRTC will be held just outside Moscow.

Eleven Teams will come from North America, 21 teams will come from Europe, six from Asia, one from Africa, one from Central America, two from Oceania and two from South America. Another six teams -- the WRTC 2006 Champions (John Sluymer, VE3EJ, and James Roberts, VE7ZO), a host team and four sponsored teams -- will bring the total to 50 teams. The host and sponsored teams will be announced at a later date.

The 11 North American teams are as follows:

• Area 1 (W1, W2, W3 and the VA, NC, SC, FL and GA portions of W4): Randy Thompson, K5ZD, and Tom Georgens, W2SC; Jeff Briggs, K1ZM, and Krassy Petkov, K1LZ; Andy Blank, N2NT, and Tim Duffy, K3LR.
• Area 2 (the KY, TN and AL portions of W4 and W8 and W9): Terry Zivney, N4TZ, and Marvin Bloomquist, N5AW; Scott Robbins, W4PA, and Ken Widelitz, K6LA,
• Area 3 (W5, W0): Steve London, N2IC, Bob Wilson, N6TV; Kevin Stockton, N5DX, and Stan Stockton, K5GO.
• Area 4 (W6, W7, KL7): Daniel Craig, N6MJ, and Chris Hurlbut, KL9A; Mitch Mason, K7RL, and Kevin Lahaie, K7ZS.
• Area 5 (VE1, VE2, VE3, VE4, VE9, VY2 and VO2): Yuri Onipko, VE3DZ, and Yury Romanov, VE3XB.
• Area 6 (VE5, VE6, VE7 and VE8): Lee Sawkins, VE7CC, and Dale Green, VE7SV.

Michael Gibson, KH6ND, and John Hillyer, KH6SH, make up one of the two teams representing Oceania.

The 2010 WRTC will be held outside, "Field Day-style." According to organizers, the fields upon which WRTC will take place are located in a flat area about 35 kilometers south of Moscow in the Domodedovo district. Competitors will be located in clusters of 15-20 teams each in a total area encompassing about 40×30 kilometers. Height differences between teams will be no greater than 40 meters and each team will be separated by at least 500 meters. In order to prepare for this style of operation, organizers operated from these fields for the 2009 running of the Russian Radiosport Team Championship.

Each team will have antennas and power monitors supplied, along with a tent, generator (and gasoline), tables, chairs and water. To avoid team members spending time refilling the generator, organizers will have a person dedicated at each location to help keep it up and running during the contest period.

WRTC began in 1990 under the auspices of the Goodwill Games, the brainchild of Ted Turner of CNN fame. The first Games were organized in Seattle, Washington, and focused on areas of cultural exchange, arts and other unique subjects -- one of these being Amateur Radio and WRTC. Radio amateurs from around the world gathered in an Olympic-style event, joining in competition and camaraderie. In 1996, WRTC moved to San Francisco, then Slovenia in 2000, Finland in 2002 and Brazil in 2006. WRTC 2010 is supported by the Moscow Regional Government and the Northern California DX Foundation (NCDXF).