Contester's Rate Sheet for June 5, 2002
*********************** Contester's Rate Sheet 5 June 2002 *********************** Edited by Ward Silver, N0AX SUMMARY o South American QSO Party changed to June 8-9 o June VHF QSO Party is this weekend. Considering the state of the solar cycle, this is not one to miss! o Two special contests are also scheduled: RSBG Jubilee Contest - RSGB from 1000Z, Jun 8 - 1000Z, Jun 9 Kid's Day Operating Event - from 1800 to 2400Z Jun 15 o Comments due on FCC NPRM for 136 kHz, 5 MHz, and 2400-2402 MHz bands o New and improved NCJ web site on-line! BULLETINS o In case you were wondering where all the South Americans were last weekend, the South American CW contest has been moved to the 8th and 9th of June. The rules are the same as previously published with the dates moved up one week. The web site has also been changed to http://www.labre.org/wwsareg.htm. CQ SA! (Thanks Ari, PT2BW) o It was just discovered that the Indiana QSO Party web page (http://www.hdxcc.org/inqp) and mail address are not available due to a domain registration problem. While the registration issue is being resolved, you may send your INQP logs directly to n9lf@yahoo.com (Thanks, Tim N9LF) BUSTED QSOS o In the last issue, I mentioned a CT-to-ADIF utility by KA5WSS, but the CT web site also has an ADIF conversion utility written specifically for CT. The utility is available at http://www.k1ea.com. Follow the ADIF link on the left. (Thanks, Jim AD1C) o There was a misprint in the June Contest Corral in QST for the New England QSO Party. The multiplier limit for New England stations is 20 countries, not 20 counties. o On the subject of QRP multi-multi's, K2KW points out that, "In CQ WW 2001, Team Vertical ran 6 single band QRP efforts from 6Y - essentially M/M QRP - racking up over 8000 QSOs that weekend. I challenge any QRP M/M entry to beat those numbers in any contest, any mode!" ANNOUNCEMENT & NOTICES FOR 5 JUNE TO 18 JUNE 2002 Logs are due for the following contests: o June 5, 2002 ARI International DX Contest -- email to: aricontest@ari.it, paper logs to: ARI Contest Manager, Fabio Schettino, I4UFH, PO Box 1677, I-40100 Bologna, Italy o June 7, 2002 MARAC County Hunter Contest, CW -- email to: w3dya@juno.com, paper logs to: Norm Beavers, W3DYA, 3320 McMillan Dr., Tyler, TX 75701-8239 USA o June 8, 2002 50 MHz Spring Sprint, email to: springsprints@etdxa.org, paper logs to: 50 MHz Spring Sprint, ETDXA/KG4ENR Jeff J. Baker, 8218 Foxworth Trail, Powell, TN 37849 USA o June 10, 2002 Oregon QSO Party, email to: k4xu@arrl.net, paper logs to: Oregon QSO Party, c/o CODXC 19821 Ponderosa St., Bend, OR 97702 USA o June 10, 2002 FISTS Spring Sprint, email to: W8PIG@yahoo.com, paper logs to: Dan Shepherd, N8IE, 1900 Pittsfield St., Kettering, OH 45420 USA o June 14, 2002 Indiana QSO Party. Email to: inqp@hdxcc.org, paper logs to: HDXCC, c/o Mike Goode, N9NS, 10340 Broadway, Indianapolis, IN 46280-1344 USA o June 15, 2002 Nevada QSO Party, email to: nw7o@anv.net, paper logs to: Jim Frye, NW7O, 4120 Oakhill Ave., Las Vegas, NV 89121-6319 USA The following contests are scheduled: ARRL June VHF QSO Party - 1800Z Jun 8 - 0300Z Jun 10. See http://www.arrl.org/contests/rules/2002/June-VHF.pdf for the complete rules. WW South America CW Contest -- sponsored by the Confederacao Brasileira de Radioamadorismo (LABRE) from 0000Z Jun 1 to 1600Z Jun 2. Frequencies: 80 -- 10 meters. Categories: SOAB, SOSB, MOAB. Exchange: RST and continent. QSO Points: South America entrants -- own country -- 1 pt, different country -- 3 pts, diff. continent -- 10 pts; non-SA entrants -- own country -- 1 pt, diff. country -- 3 pts, diff. cont. -- 5 pts, SA -- 10 pts. Score is QSO points x prefixes (WPX rules). For more information -- http:// http://www.labre.org/wwsareg.htm. Logs due by 31 July to labre@labre.org or to LABRE - WWSA Contest Committee, PO Box 00004, 70359-970 Brasilia DF, Brazil. ANARTS WW RTTY / Digital Contest - sponsored by Austalian National Amateur Radio Teleprinter Society (ANARTS) from 0000Z, Jun 8 to 2400Z, Jun 9. Frequencies: 80 - 10 meters. Categories: SO, MS, and SWL, SO and SWL only operate 30 hours. Exchange RST, CQ zone and Time (UTC). QSO Points are determined by an exchange table available from ANARTS. Score is QSO points x DXCC entities + VK, JA, VE, and W call districts + continents (counted only once). For more information -- http://www.qsl.net/anarts/. Logs are due by Sept 1 to ctdavies@bigpond.com or to Contest Manager, VK2BQS, Jim Swan, PO Box 93, Toongabbie, N.S.W. 2146, Australia RSGB Jubilee Contest -- CW/SSB -- sponsored by the RSGB from 1000Z, Jun 8 - 1000Z, Jun 9. Frequencies: 80 -- 10 meters according to IARU band plan. Categories: SOAB (Assisted and Unassisted), MS, all categories may be Phone, CW, or mixed mode. Exchange: RS(T) and serial number. QSO Points: 5 pts/QSO. Score: QSO Points x Commonwealth call districts (count once per band). For more information - http://www.rsgbhfcc.org. Logs are due by 6 Jul to hf.contests@rsgb.org.uk or to RSGB HF Contests Committee, c/o S V Knowles G3UFY, 77 Bensham Manor Road, Thornton Heath, Surrey CR7 7AF, UK. Asia-Pacific Sprint -- SSB - sponsored by the AP Sprint Contest Committee from 1100Z to 1300Z, Jun 8. Frequencies: 20 and 40-meters, NA stations work Asia-Pacific countries only. SO category only, 150W max. power. Exchange RST and serial number. Score is total QSOs x WPX prefixes (counted once). For more information - http://jsfc.org/apsprint/aprule.txt. Logs must be emailed (no paper logs) within 7 days following the contest to apsprint@kkn.net. All-Asian DX Contest -- CW - sponsored by the Japan Amateur Radio League from 0000Z Jun 15 to 2400Z Jun 16. (SSB - Sep 7-8). Frequencies: 160 - 10 meters, incl. 10-min. band change rule. Categories: SOAB, SOSB, MO, Low Power (Asian stations only), Junior (JA stations <20 years), Senior (JA stations >70 years). Exchange: RS(T) and a two digit number denoting the operator's age. YL stations may send 00. QSO Points for non-Asian stations: 40 -- 15 meters - 1 pt, 80 and 10 meters -- 2 pts, 160 meters -- 3 pts. Score: QSO pts × Asian prefixes (WPX rules). For more information and Asian station QSO points - http://www.jarl.or.jp/English/4_Library/A-4-3_Contests/2002AA_Rule.htm. Logs due by Jul 31 (Oct 30 for phone) to aacw@jarl.or.jp (SSB logs to aaph@jarl.or.jp) or JARL, All Asian DX Contest, 170-8073, Japan. SMIRK QSO Party -- 6 Meters only - sponsored by the Six Meter International Radio Klub, from 0000Z Jun 15 to 2400Z Jun 16. Frequencies: phone QSOs within the lower 48 states and Canada above 50.150 MHz; only DX QSO's between 50.100 and 50.150 MHz. SO category only. No repeater QSOs. Exchange: SMIRK number and grid square. QSO Points: SMIRK member = 2 pts, non-member - 1 pt. Score: QSO points x grid squares. For more information - http://www.smirk.org. Logs due by August 1 to contest@smirk.org or to Pat Rose, W5OZI, PO Box 393, Junction, TX 76849. West Virginia QSO Party -- CW/SSB - sponsored by the West Virginia State Amateur Radio Council from 1600Z Jun 15 to 0200Z Jun 16. Frequencies: 80 -- 10 meters, CW - 35 kHz from band edge, Phone - 35 kHz from General Class band edge and Novice/Tech 10-meter segment. Categories: SO, MS, MM and Mobile, all categories may be HP, LP (<100W), QRP (<5W), Phone, CW, or mixed mode. Work stations once per band/mode and WV stations from each county (WV mobiles keep separate log for each county). Exchange: RS(T) and WV county or SPC. QSO Points: Fixed stations: CW - 2 pts, SSB - 1 pt; Mobiles: CW - 5 pts, SSB - 3 pts; Bonus - 100 pts for QSOs with W8WVA once per band/mode, WV mobiles add 100 points per county activated with minimum of 15 QSO's. Score: QSO points x WV counties (+ SPC for WV stations), add bonus to final score, multipliers count only once. For more information - http://www.qsl.net/wvarrl. Logs due by Jul 15 to WA8WV@aol.com or to Dave Ellis WA8WV, 610 Hillsdale Drive, Charleston, WV 25302. Kid's Day Operating Event - from 1800 to 2400Z Jun 15. See http://www.arrl.org/FandES/ead/kd-rules.html for the complete information. NEWS & PRESS RELEASES The list of Logs Received for the 2002 ARRL International DX Phone Contest has been posted at http://www.arrl.org/contests/claimed/. If you find an error in your listing, please have your Cabrillo log file and receipt number available when you contact Dan Henderson N1ND at 860-594-0232 or by email at contests@arrl.org. If your entry is missing, please contact Dan at the above numbers. The FCC has recently released a Notice of Proposed Rulemaking (NPRM) in which it is proposed to create new US-only bands at 136 kHz and 5 MHz and change the amateur status to primary from 2400-2402 MHz bands. The comment period expires at the end of June. If you are considering making a comment, please read the announcement at http://www.arrl.org/announce/regulatory/et02-98/. Comments may be made on-line by opening http://gullfoss2.fcc.gov/prod/ecfs/comsrch_v2.cgi, entering 02-98 in Box 1 and clicking Retreive Document List. The "new and improved" NCJ web site is now up and running at http://www.ncjweb.com (thanks to Bruce WA7BNM for all the work). Contest results for the Feb 2002 SSB Sprint, the Feb 2002 CW Sprint, and the Mar 2002 RTTY Sprint have been recently posted. The official results of the NCJ-sponsored contests available through the NCJ Results Database on the web as soon as results are available from the contest managers. The full-blown contest results (including commentary by the contest manager, soap box comments, etc) will continue to be published in NCJ in the next issue after the results are available. It's a work-in-progress, so be sure to check it on a regular basis to see the results of the NCJ-sponsored contests and the upcoming WRTC2002 reports from Finland in July from our roving reporters. (Thanks, Carl K9LA) For those of you entering the VHF QSO Party this weekend the ARRL Contest Branch is redesigning the plaques and certificates. Be the first to get one! (Thanks, ARRL) The WRTC-2002 committee is requesting that competitors in the IARU-HF contest send their logs in electronic format to the committee immediately following the contest to help with the log scoring. If you plan on sending your log, the committee prefers Cabrillo, CT.ALL and TR.DAT. (Thanks, Timo OH1NOA) TECHNICAL & TECHNIQUE If someone was to ask, "What is the most important part of a contester's body," we all know the answer. It's not the head. It's not the heart. It's not the hands or stomach. It's the butt. If your most important part is hurting during the contest, the rest of the parts won't be doing their best either. Jim Idelson, K1IR contributed this link to a nifty web page on station chair ergonomics: http://www.tifaq.com/furniture/archive/chairs-apr96-brooks.txt. Very informative! (Thanks, Jim K1IR) As long as we're on the subject of station ergonomics, a recent exchange on CQ-Contest generated this unqualified endorsement of the Linemaster Model Gem-V2 from Dennis, N6KI: "This is the best constructed and ergonomically perfect switch I haveever seen in my 39 years of operating and contesting! It's circular - easy to hit from all angles. It has perfect touch - you can lightly rest your foot on edge of it and not false trigger but then a light additional amount of additional pressure keys it with no "cramped" or "tired" foot as the hours pass. Its weight and non-skid corrugated base mean it will stay in position. It also has a nice appearance with a chrome-ringed edge and circular top target area. It is available with and without a cable, although the supplied cable is industrial weight. The Gem-V2 costs just under $30 including shipping/handling, although LineMaster has a $100 minimum order. Linemaster's web site is http://www.linemaster.com or they can be reached at 860 974-1000." (Thanks, Dennis N6KI) CONVERSATION I was surprised to see the following definition of my favorite sport in the Miriam-Webster Word of the Day mailing list for May 21: contestation \kahn-tess-TAY-shun\ (noun): controversy, debate Example sentence: After months of contestation, the negotiators believed they had finally arrived at an agreement that would satisfy all parties. If you guessed that "contestation" is somehow connected to "contest," you're right. They're linked both through meaning and through etymology. "Contest" can be a verb meaning "to dispute," and "contestation" essentially means "an act, instance, or state of contesting." Both words can be traced to the Latin verb "contestari," meaning "to call to witness." "Contestari" itself comes from "testis," a Latin noun meaning "witness," which is also the source of our "attest" ("to bear witness to"), "testify" ("to bear witness"), and "testimony" ("a declaration made by a witness"), among others. (c) 2002 by Merriam-Webster, Incorporated I've gotten a lot of enjoyment out of this free everyday email service. To subscribe to Word of the Day via the Web point your browser at http://www.Merriam-Webster.com/service/subinst.htm The column in the 22 May issue on packet use spawned a couple of perfectly reasonable questions from a ham new to contesting. I thought I'd pass them along with my answers: "Okay, fairly new ham question here: What's "busting a callsign?" Also, from what read, is it against the rules to use a DX cluster monitor (such as DXMon) to look for stations during DX contests when you enter as a single op? I personally find it much quicker to just tune around randomly and find them myself than to keep looking at the monitor, but always thought it was legal... Is single op assisted where it's okay to use a cluster monitor?" "Busting a callsign" is what happens when you mis-copy a call and then send it to the packet cluster. This causes problems. Not only have you logged the call wrong, but others see the call, rush to the frequency and either dupe the guy (if they've worked him before) or log a bad call. Then others feel obligated to correct the bad call on the cluster, thus multiplying traffic worldwide by a factor of three or four for a particular spot. It also causes remarks like "BUSTED". Packet is particularly prone to this kind of mass hysteria. Some operators just seem to regularly bust callsigns, as well - they're just not accurate. The point was not to chastise the "Frequent Busters" publicly on the cluster, but rather send a private note or talk mano-a-mano about it off the air. I think we all like to be known as good ops and will take well-intended, polite criticism well. In this case, it will also help our score. Regarding cluster monitors, ANY use of spotting networks - whether logged in or just monitoring - is not allowed in Single Op categories. (An exception is the WAE contests where packet is allowed for all categories - unless they change it this year.) Not only is spotting assistance verboten, but asking others to spot you or for information about other stations is also out of bounds. If you enter in the single op category, it's supposed to be strictly "do it yourself". 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/ Miriam-Webster's Word of the Day -- http://www.Merriam-Webster.com
