The ARRL Contest Update Newsletter
News and Techniques for the Active Operator
(Formerly the Contester's Rate Sheet)
Contester's Rate Sheet for August 13, 2003
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Contester's Rate Sheet
13 August 2003
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Edited by Ward Silver, N0AX
SUMMARY
o NAQP CW, New Jersey, Ohio, and Hawaii QSO Parties
o Don't Miss the Perseids and the Perseids QSO Party!
o AR User program by VE7CC
o New Goodies from Nan-Tenna and Array Solutions
o Book of the Week - "Wirebook IV"
o It Keeps you Going
BULLETINS
o No bulletins in this issue.
BUSTED QSOS
o I goofed up the ending time for the 10-10 Summer QSO Party, which
should have been 2400Z and not 0400Z. Hope nobody went home early!
(Thanks, Steve N0WY)
ANNOUNCEMENT & NOTICES FOR 13 AUGUST TO 26 AUGUST 2003
Logs are due for the following contests:
August 16 - Pacific 160m Contest, e-mail to: vk3js@vkham.com, paper
logs to: Ian Godsil, VK3VP, 363 Nepean Highway, Chelsea 3196,
Australia
August 17 - SARL HF SSB Contest, e-mail to: admin@sarl.org.za, paper
logs to: SARL HF SSB Contest Committee, PO Box 1721, Strubensvallei
1735, South Africa
August 18 - 10-10 Int. Summer Contest, SSB, e-mail to: (none), paper
logs to: Steve Rasmussen, N0WY, 312 N. 6th Street, Plattsmouth, NE
68048, USA
August 19 - North American QSO Party, RTTY, e-mail to:
rttynaqp@ncjweb.com, paper logs to: Wayne Matlock, K7WM, Rt 2 Box 102,
Cibola, AZ 85328, USA
August 21 - DIE Contest, e-mail to: ea5aen@ea5ol.net, paper logs to:
EA5AEN, PO Box 11055, Valencia, Spain
The following contests are scheduled:
Note that the following abbreviations are used to condense the contest
rules summaries:
SO - Single-Op; M2 - Multiop - 2 Transmitters; MO - Multi-Op; MS -
Multi-Op, Single Transmitter; MM - Multi-Op, Multiple Transmitters; AB
- All Band; SB - Single Band; S/P/C - State/Province/DXCC Entity; HP -
High Power; LP - Low Power; Entity - DXCC Entity
HF CONTESTS
North American QSO Party--SSB--sponsored by the National Contest
Journal, 1800Z Aug 16-0600Z Aug 17. Frequencies: 160 - 10-meters.
Categories: SOAB and M2, 100 W power limit, operate a maximum of 10
hours (off times must be at least 30 min and M2 entries may operate
the entire contest). Exchange: Name and SPC. Score: QSOs X States +
Province + NA DXCC countries (count each once per band). For
information - http://www.ncjweb.com/naqprules.php. Logs due 30 days
after the contest to ssbnaqp@ncjweb.com or Bruce Horn, WA7BNM, 4225
Farmdale Avenue, Studio City, CA 91604. The same mailing address will
be used for both modes of this contest.
SARTG WW RTTY Contest, sponsored by the Scandinavian Amateur Radio
Teleprinter Society, 0000Z-0800Z and 1600Z-2400Z Aug 16 and
0800Z-1600Z Aug 17. Frequencies: 80-10 meters. Categories: SOSB,
SOAB, MS, SWL. Exchange: RST and serial number. QSO Points: own
country--5 pts, different country on same continent--10 pts, diff.
cont.--15 pts. Score: QSO points x DXCC entities + W/VE/VK/JA call
districts. For more information--http://www.sartg.com/. Logs due Oct
10 to sm7bhm@svessa.se or to SARTG Contest Manager, Ewe Håkansson,
SM7BHM, Pilspetsvägen 4, SE-291 66 Kristianstad, Sweden.
Keymen's Club of Japan Contest--CW--sponsored by the Keymen's Club of
Japan, 1200Z Aug 16-1200Z Aug 17. Frequencies: 160-6 meters (JA
allocations on 160 are 1.810- 1.825, 1.908-1.912 MHz). Categories:
SOAB, SOSB (JA only), SWL. Exchange: RST and JA prefecture/district
or continent. QSO Points: 1 pt/QSO (JA count JA/JA--1 pt and JA/DX--5
pts). Score: QSO points x JA pref/dist from each band (JA also count
continents). For more information--http://www.jarl.com/kcj. Logs due
30 Sep to ja1dd@jarl.com or Yasuo Taneda JA1DD, 279-233 Mori,
Sambu-town, Sambu-gun, Chiba 289-1214, Japan.
New Jersey QSO Party--CW/Phone--sponsored by Englewood ARA, 2000Z Aug
16-0700Z Aug 17 and 1300Z Aug 17-0200Z Aug 18. Frequencies (MHz):
1.810, 3.535, 7.035, 14.035, 21.100, 28.100, SSB -- 3.950, 7.235,
14.285, 21.355, 28.400, VHF/UHF 50-50.5 and 144-146 MHz. Exchange:
QSO number and SPC or NJ county. QSO points: 3 pts/QSO. Score: QSO
points x NJ counties. NJ stations use NJ counties + states (except
NJ) + provinces, max. 83. For more
information--http://www.qsl.net/w2rj. Logs due Sep 13 to Englewood
Amateur Radio Association, Inc., PO Box 528, Englewood, New Jersey
07631-0528.
SEANET Contest--CW/SSB/Digital--sponsored by the SEANET Convention,
1200Z Aug 16-1200Z Aug 17. Frequencies (MHz): CW -- 3.525, 7.025,
14.025, 21.025, 28.025, SSB -- 7.090, 14.320, 21.320, 28.320.
Categories: SO, MS, AB, SB, Mixed and Single Mode combinations.
Exchange: RS(T) and serial number. QSO Points: SEANET-SEANET--10 pts
(5 pts if same country), SEANET--World -- 10pts. Score: QSO points x
DXCC entities for SEANET entrants, QSO points x SEANET entities for
non-SEANET entrants, counted once per band and mode. For more
information and list of SEANET
countries--http://www.seanet2003.com/contest.htm. Logs due Oct 31 to
g3nom@rast.or.th or Ray Gerrard HS0ZDZ, PO Box 69, Bangkok Airport PO,
Bangkok 10212, Thailand.
Ohio QSO Party--CW/SSB--sponsored by the Mad River Radio Club, 1600Z
Aug 23-0400Z Aug 24. Frequencies (MHz): CW -- 3.545, 7.045, 14.045,
21.045, 28.045; SSB -- 3.850, 7.225, 14.250, 21.300, and 28.450.
Categories: SO, MM, and Mobile. Exchange: Serial Number and Ohio
county, state or province, DX stations send "DX". QSO Points: CW--2
pts, SSB--1 pt. Score: QSO points x OH counties (OH station count
states, provinces, and OH counties) counted once per mode. For more
information--http://www.mrrc.net/oqp. Logs due 30 days after the
contest to oqplogs@mrrc.net
or to Ohio QSO Party c/o Jim Stahl K8MR, 30499 Jackson Road, Chagrin
Falls, OH 44022-1730.
NRRL 75th Anniversary Contest--CW/SSB--sponsored by the Norwegian
Radio Relay League (NRRL) from 1200Z Aug 23 -- 1200Z Aug 24.
Frequencies: 80 -- 10 meters, work stations in LA/JW/JX once per band
and mode. Categories: SOAB (spotting networks allowed), MS. Exchange:
serial number (LA stations also send county abbr.). QSO Points: 3
pts/QSO. Total score: QSO Points x LA counties + JW/JX counted once
per band and mode. Logs due 15 Sep to la9hw@arrl.net (ASCII text) or
Jan Almedal, LA9HW, Odinsgt 7, NO-4631 Kristiansand, Norway.
TOEC WW Grid Contest--CW--sponsored by the Top of Europe Contesters
(TOEC), 1200Z Aug 23-1200Z Aug 24. Frequencies: 160-10 meters.
Categories: SO (no packet) -AB, -SB, Low Power (<100W, AB only), MS
(10 min band change rule), MM, Mobile (SOAB) -- work mobiles from each
grid field (i.e. -- JP, KO, EM). Exchange: RST + grid square,
i.e.--JP73 (log must show all grid fields activated). QSO Points: own
continent -- 1 pt, other cont--3 pts, QSOs with mobiles--3 pts.
Score: QSO points × two-letter grid fields. For more
info--http://www.qsl.net/toec/contest.htm. Logs due 30 days after the
contest to TOEC.contest@pobox.com or to TOEC, Box 178, SE-83122
Ostersund, Sweden.
SCC RTTY Championship, sponsored by the Slovenian Contest Club, 1200Z
Aug 24-1159Z Aug 25. Frequencies: 80-10 meters. Categories: SOAB-HP,
SOAB-LP, MS-HP, MS-LP. Exchange: RST and 4-digit year first licensed.
QSO Points: own country--1 pt, different country same continent and
between W, VE, VK, ZL, ZS, JA, PY call areas, LU provinces, and UA9/0
oblasts--2 pts, different continent--3 pts. Score: QSO points x
different years from all bands. For more
information--http://lea.hamradio.si/~scc/rtty/htmlrules.htm. Logs due
Sep 15 to rtty@hamradio.si (Cabrillo format preferred) or on diskette
to Slovenia Contest Club, Saveljska 50, 1113 Ljubljana, Slovenia.
CQC Summer QSO Party--CW/SSB--sponsored by the Colorado QRP Club,
1800Z-2359Z Aug 24. Frequencies (MHz): CW -- 1.825, 3.560, 3.710,
7.040, 7.110, 14.060, 21.060, 21.110, 28.060, 28.110, SSB -- 1.910,
3.985, 7.285, 14.285, 21.385, 28.385. Categories: SOSB, SOAB,
Portable. Exchange: RS(T), SPC, first name, and CQC number or power
(5 watts max.). QSO Points: CW- CQC member 6 pts, non-member 4 pts,
SSB--CQC member 3 pts, non-member 2 pts. Score: QSO points x SPC
counted once per band x total different names. Add 1000 points to
score for working W0CQC. For more
information--http://www.cqc.org/contests/summer03.htm. Logs due 30
days after contest to contest@cqc.org (ASCII only) or to Colorado QRP
Club, Box 371883, Denver, CO 80237-1883.
Hawaii QSO Party--CW/Phone/RTTY/PSK31--sponsored by the Koolau ARC,
0700Z Aug 23-2200Z Aug 24. Frequencies: 160-10 meters. Categories:
SOAB and MS (single or mixed-mode), MM (mixed-mode only). Spotting
nets and packet allowed in all classes. Exchange: RS(T) and SPC,
maritime region (1-3), or HI county. QSO Points: 20-15-10 meters,
Phone--1 pt, CW/Digital--2 pts; 40 meters, Phone--2 pts, CW/Digital 4
pts; 80 meters, Phone--4 pts, CW/Digital--8 pts; 160 meters, Phone 8
pts, CW/Digital 16 pts. Score is total points plus 150 pts for QSO
with KH6J. For more information--http://www.karc.us/HiQSOP. Logs due
30 days after contest to ah6oz@hawaii.rr.com or Hawaii QSO Party, PO
Box 8960788, Wahiawa, HI 96786-0788.
VHF CONTESTS
ARRL 10 GHz Cumulative Contest, 0600 local-2000 local Aug 16 - 2000
local Aug 17 Categories: 10 GHz only and 10 GHz and up. Exchange:
Six-digit Maidenhead Locator. Distance Points equals distance in km
between stations. QSO Points: 100 pts for each unique call worked.
Score: Distance points + QSO points. For more information -
http://www.arrl.org/contests/rules/2003/10-ghz.html. Logs due Oct 21
to 10GHz@arrl.org or ARRL Contest Branch, 225 Main St., Newington, CT,
06111, USA.
Perseids Meteor Shower Contest-CW/SSB/WSJT-sponsored by the Six Meter
World Wide Club from 2300Z Aug 12 - 2300Z Aug 14. Frequencies:
6-meters. Categories: CW/SSB or WSJT-only. Exchange: callsign and
grid. QSO Points: own country--1 pt, otherwise 2 pts (KH6 and KL7 are
considered separate countries). Total score: QSO points x total grids
(counted once only). For more information--http://6mt.com/. Logs due
Sep 14 to w4wrl@aol.com or Wayne Lewis W4WRL, Contest Director, 3338 S
Cashua Dr, Florence, SC 29501-6306.
NEWS & PRESS RELEASES
Certificates for the 2002 10-Meter contest, 10-GHz contest and special
order plaques have been mailed. To date, 140 logs for the 2003 IARU HF
World Championships have been received at HQ that required conversion,
corrections or manual processing by HQ staff. (Thanks, Dan N1ND)
At the Pacific NW DX Convention in mid-July (nicely hosted by the
British Columbia DX Club in beautiful Vancouver, Canada - thanks,
guys!) Lee VE7CC was running his new packet manager program, AR User.
Lee is a well-known packet system administrator and has pulled out all
the stops to put every conceivable feature in the program, all nicely
managed by a system of "folder tabs". It's pretty amazing software
and available for download with lots of demo info at
http://www.bcdxc.org/ve7cc/default.htm.
Nan-Tenna (http://www.nantenna.com/) has announced a couple of
Top-Tenna add-ons for Hustler 4BTV, 5BTV, and 6BTV verticals to add
160-meter coverage or improve the bandwidth of the 80-meter antenna.
The Top-Tenna model 160MA installs on the whip above an RM-80-S
resonator. To restore 80-meter coverage, a Hustler VP-1 adapter and a
second Hustler RM-80-S resonator are required. The model 80MA is used
to increase the bandwidth on 80-meters. The 4-spoke capacitance hats
consist of machined aluminum hubs with four 6061-T6 aluminum rods, and
feature stainless steel hardware. (Thanks, Joe AA1GW)
ZS4TX has just completed an upgrade to his "Super Contest Keyer"
(available from Array Solutions, http://www.arraysolutions.com/, in
September). The SCK is a powerful package, combining a voice and CW
keyer, audio processing, dual-rig control, PC interface, and more.
The upgrade adds PC control via a COM port, "Early PTT" to prevent amp
hot-switching, beacon functions, and RTTY using a PC soundcard. All
this at a considerable savings over standalone devices to accomplish
the same set of functions. For that first hour of Sweepstakes, you can
even crank up the keyer to 990 wpm! The complete manual is available
at http://www.zs4tx.co.za/sck.
Tim K3LR sent me this Web link for a nice story about fellow contester
Ted N9NB in this week's Wireless Week -
http://www.wirelessweek.com/index.asp?layout=article&articleid=CA314151&spacedesc=Departments&stt=000.
The Worldwide Young Contester's Club has been busy, releasing a new
newsletter. This group is very active in trying to spread the word
and make things happen on the radio! Definitely worth a visit. The
newsletter can be downloaded from the left-hand toolbar on
http://www.wwyc.net/. There are high and low-resolution versions.
(Thanks, Greg KE9R)
RESULTS AND RECORDS
The 2003 ARRL DX CW results for the Web are now available at
http://www.arrl.org/contests/results. The 2003 DX Phone results by
your faithful editor should be available shortly.
The results for the Spring EU SSB Sprint are available at
http://www.qsl.net/eusprint
There was a good turnout, with high scores and plenty of log entries.
The very strong record of wins from Lithuania continues, this time
Roli LY2FY leads by a comfortable margin over Rob RK3AWL and Ton
ES5TV. (Thanks, Paolo I2UIY)
TECHNICAL & TECHNIQUE
Mark Connelly WA1ION has published a new on-line technical article
"Broadband Receiving Antenna Matching". The PDF version of the article
can be accessed at
http://www.qsl.net/wa1ion/bev/bb_antenna_matching.pdf or as a zipped
Word document at
http://www.qsl.net/wa1ion/bev/bb_antenna_matching_doc.zip. Mark's RF
circuits page is worth a look, too -
http://www.qsl.net/wa1ion/index.html. Good stuff!
Book of the Week - "Wirebook IV" by Press Jones N8UG (a.k.a. The
Wireman, https://www.cahaba.net/~thewirem/products.html). Those of
you that have been around a good, long while may remember an orange
pamphlet - the "73 Coax Handbook". I have had one of these seemingly
forever because it combined in one volume information on coaxial cable
types, connectors, and other miscellaneous items of interest. I'm
pleased to report that I have been able to get a more recent reference
in Press' 224-page book. With a Wireman product listing at the back,
the front chapters cover coaxial cable, connectors, cable usage,
grounding, antenna wire and antennas. It's a mighty handy shack
reference and highly recommended.
Dennis K7BV forwarded an interesting summary from the Yankee Clipper
Contest Club reflector on the use of a pair of coaxial lines in place
of open-wire line. While losses will be higher than for open-wire,
several correspondents reported that the shielded lines resulted in
lower received noise. The cable shields are connected together at
both ends of the line, with the connection at the shack end grounded
and the connection at the antenna floating. This results in a
transmission line with characteristic impedance twice that of the coax
used and losses of about one-half that of a single run of coax. The
chief benefit appears to be the reduction in noise pickup by the line
- interesting.
CONVERSATION
It Keeps you Going
Since we can't all win those FABULOUS prizes that everyone knows the
Big Guns get year after year, I guess there must be something else
that pulls us into the shack on those gorgeous fall weekends. Yes, I
know, we covered "crazy" in the last issue. I don't suppose every
contester is nuts, so there must be something else.
I think Jim Neiger N6TJ, generator of audio profundo from ZD8Z,
contributed some wisdom on the subject in a recent post on "The
Secrets of Contesting, Chapter 10".
"Above all other things, a contester is ENTHUSIASTIC. From year to
year, from contest to contest, he strives to enter contests, as many
as his life (or wife?) may allow, with ENTHUSIASM. He (or she, of
course) may not always know the why of it, but maybe participates
merely because he always has, or maybe because his club has set a
goal, or maybe he had so much fun last year that he enters this year
with a renewed spirit. Or maybe he had fun on a contest DXpedition ten
years ago, and wouldn't it be nice to combine a nice family vacation
to the Caribbean with a modest contest operation around CQ WW time of
the year?"
Ah...that's it. No matter if the A index is headed for triple digits
and the solar flux in the opposite direction. Once the nice man (or
lady, of course) on WWV says, "Go!" my enthusiasm glands just
naturally kick in and I'm off and running. We're all in it together
and you can't be regaling the audience with your fishing stories at
the next club meeting if you sit around and pout all weekend.
Not only do we have our own enthusiasm to maintain, we are duty-bound
to spread it and shovel it over the widest possible audience. Why did
you get into contesting? Think back to what caught your interest.
Either a picture in a magazine or the sound of blazing QSOs on the air
was attractive enough to make you give it a try. Maybe a friend
invited you to join a multi-op. Whatever - somebody passed you the
contesting bug, which feeds on enthusiasm.
I don't care what your hobby is, if you don't have enough Vitamin
E(nthusiasm), it will shrivel up and die. A sure tonic for flagging
levels of enthusiasm is Vitamin D(ifference). If you're just not
getting the same kicks as before, then try something different.
Something completely different! If you're a phone guy, dust off the
keyer, or vice versa. Won everything in your district for the past
two solar cycles? Move up to VHF or down to HF. Invite in three
freshly minted Techs and Generals and have a Contest College during
Phone Sweepstakes. I guarantee that you will have your vitamin levels
back to normal in a big hurry.
At the risk of inciting more witticisms of the rhythmic persuasion,
here are a pair of CW-related limericks from Dave W9LYA, whose day job
status is unknown.
A dentist who practiced in Billings
Inserted electronic fillings
His patients' recourse
Was copying Morse
Or submitting to extensive drillings
A telegrapher from Klamath
Almost became psychopath
His problem, of course,
Dyslexical Morse
(He always sent "What wrought doG hath")
What can I say - it's the doggerel days of August I guess!
73, Ward N0AX
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
The Contester's Rate Sheet wishes to acknowledge information from the
following sources:
WA7BNM's Contest Calendar Web page -
http://www.hornucopia.com/contestcal/ ARRL Contest page -
http://www.arrl.org/contests/
SM3CER's Web site - http://www.sk3bg.se/contest/
Page last modified: 04:29 AM, 06 Dec 2008 ET
Page author: rate-sheet@arrl.org
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