2023 Rules

“I made a game effort to argue but two things were against me: the umpires and the rules.” – Hall of Fame Manager Leo Durocher

Objective: Receive as many stations broadcasting a major league baseball game as possible during the 2023 Major League Baseball (MLB) regular season.

Duration: Occurs during the entire 2023 MLB regular season (March 30 – October 1, 2023). No Spring Training or post-season games count for this challenge.

STATION DEFINITIONS

A: TABLETOP: Tabletop radio with internal antenna.

This would be for most portable radio receivers or basic, AM/FM consumer-grade home radios. Antenna must be the stock internal antenna the portable came with; no external or passively-coupled external antennas are permitted in this category.

B: CONVENTIONAL: Conventional radio with external antenna

A conventional, NON-SDR radio receiver using any external antenna that is not the stock internal antenna. Includes tabletop radios, specialty communications receivers, SWL receivers, general coverage receivers in amateur radio transceivers, etc). No distinction is made between an indoor or outdoor external antenna.

C: SDR: A software-defined radio (SDR) receiver with external antenna

SDR-based receivers (AirSpy, Pegasus, etc) with any external antenna. No distinction is made between indoor or outdoor external antennas.

All registered users must declare a single station type for the duration of the Challenge before submitting their first logged station.

To facilitate portable operating, all entry categories are permitted to log stations using the receiver in their automobile, provided the stock internal antenna is used and the automobile is within the 25-mile radius of the participant’s home station.

ENTRY CATEGORIES

Entry categories are a combination of the type of radio used and the bands monitored for the Challenge. Choose only one of the following nine entry categories:

All registered users must declare a single entry category for the duration of the Challenge before submitting their first logged station.

SCORING

Participants compete only with other stations in the same entry category.

Stations may be logged only once per band. No duplicate logs are permitted.
1 point for every unique station received.

5 points for every unique flagship station received. English and Spanish flagship stations for the same team may be logged for credit.

Multiply total points by the total number of different teams received + unique states/provinces heard.

SCORING EXAMPLE: You hear 45 AM stations and 30 FM stations. 4 of those stations are flagship stations. The stations you log are affiliates for 9 teams in 11 states and 1 Canadian province.

45 + 30 = 75 stations total.

71 regular stations [1 point] + 4 flagships stations [5 points] = 91 points.

9 teams heard + 11 states + 1 Canadian province = 21 multipliers

91 x 21 = 1911 total points

MISCELLANEOUS:

1)      Stations logged for the Challenge must be received during a live game broadcast. Pre-game and post-game segments from the network level are acceptable; local-level discussion of the team before or after a game that does not originate from the team’s network does not count.

2)      Stations logged must be an MLB team network affiliate to qualify. No national-level broadcast (ESPN, CBS, Fox sports, etc.) count for this challenge.

3)      The official 2023 radio affiliates list for each team on the team’s official MLB website will be the sole source of determining station eligibility in this Challenge.

4)      Participants must designate an entry category and type of radio being used for this challenge before submitting their first logged station. Only one entry category per participant is permitted. Once you log a station, you cannot change entry categories and must use the same type of station/antenna you declared in your registration process. Changing entry categories after logging your first station is not permitted.

5)      All stations received for point must be received within 25 miles of the participant’s home station. Only one “home station” may be defined per participant.

6)      The use of remote receivers is not permitted; stations logged for points must be received using the participant’s own gear located at their designated home station.

7)      The use of local recording devices in the participant’s home location to review stations captured is permitted for all entry categories.

8)      All logged stations must be submitted by 2359 UTC on Monday, October 2, 2023 to be considered for the Challenge. No log submissions will be permitted after the submission deadline.

9)      All stations logged must be uploaded to the Grand Slam DX Challenge web site to count toward a participant’s score. No  submissions by email, text, letter or any other form of communication outside the website will be counted toward a participant’s score.

FAIR PLAY and SPORTSMANSHIP

The Grand Slam DX Challenge is being conducted on the honor system. We have no way of asking you to confirm whether you have heard a station you log. We expect Challenge participants to be ethical in logging stations they can confirm in good faith, and to abide by those standards. We suggest participants use the general rule outlined by the International Radio Club of America’s awards program: “WOULD MY VERIFICATION CONVINCE A VISITOR THAT I DID INDEED HEAR THE STATION CLAIMED”?”

Remember: This is for fun. There are no big cash prizes, and you are competing for little more than a certificate and a small gift. Stay in your chosen entry category for the entire season, be ethical in the stations you submit for points, and be respectful and helpful towards other participants. 

DIVISIONS

To help facilitate regional competition among areas with similar propagation, we’ve broken the US up into 11 different divisions. We will eventually have the Leader Board show scores by state and division for each entry category. This is a work in progress.