Contester's Rate Sheet for January 29, 2003

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Contester's Rate Sheet
29 January 2003
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Edited by Ward Silver, N0AX

SUMMARY
o We resume the normal, cram-jammed contest schedule!
o Article on TV and FM broadcasters recovering from 9/11
o WAE results posted on the Web
o 160-meter filters
o Propagation tools and aids
o Categorically Speaking...

BULLETINS
o The Dutch PACC Contest on Feb 8th and 9th was omitted from Contest
Corral in QST.  See the rules and web site below!
o The Jan/Feb issue of National Contest Journal lists the 2002 dates
for the NA Sprints. The correct dates are SSB - Feb 2, CW - Feb 9,
RTTY - Mar 9 (Thanks, Carl K9LA)

BUSTED QSOS
o A Golden Issue last time

ANNOUNCEMENT & NOTICES FOR 29 JANUARY TO 11 FEBRUARY 2003

Logs are due for the following contests:
 
o January 15 - CQ Worldwide DX Contest, CW - email to: cw@cqww.com,
paper logs to: CQWW CW, CQ Magazine, 25 Newbridge Road, Hicksville, NY
11801, USA  

o January 31 - TOPS Activity 80-Meter Contest, email to:
helmut.klein@chello.at, paper logs to: Helmut Klein, OE1TKW,
Nauseagasse 24/26, A-1160 Wien, Austria

o January 31 - 28 MHz SWL Contest, email to: nl10175@amsat.org, paper
logs to: Lambert Wijshake, NL-10175, Kattedoorn 6, 8265 MJ Kampen,
Netherlands

o January 31 - RAC Winter Contest, email to: ve7cfd@rac.ca, paper logs
to: Radio Amateurs of Canada, 720 Belfast Road, Suite 217, Ottawa,
Ontario K1G 0Z5, Canada  

o January 31 - Stew Perry Topband Challenge, email to:
tbdc@contesting.com, paper logs to: Boring Amateur Radio Club, 15125
SE Bartell Rd., Boring, OR 97009, USA  

o January 31 - Original QRP Contest, email to: dl9oe@darc.de, paper
logs to: Dr. Hartmut Weber, DJ7ST, Schlesierweg 13, D-38228
Salzgitter, Germany  

o January 31 - SARTG New Year RTTY Contest, email to:
sm7bhm@kristianstad.mail.telia.com, paper logs to: SARTG Contest
Manager, Ewe Hakansson, SM7BHM, Pilspetsvagen 4, S-291 66
Kristianstad, Sweden  

o January 31 - AGCW Happy New Year Contest, email to: hnyc@agcw.de,
paper logs to: Uwe Neumann, DH9YAT, Kiefernweg 8, D-32049 Herford,
Germany  

o January 31 - NRAU-Baltic Contest, CW/SSB, email to:
sm7ndx@svessa.se, paper logs to: Jan Eliasson, SM7NDX, Klevavagen 3 C,
SE-560 27 Tenhult, Sweden  

o January 31 - DARC 10-Meter Contest, email to: 10m-contest@darc.de,
paper logs to: Frank Steinke, DL8WAA, PO Box 1188, D-56238 Selters,
Germany 

o February 4 - ARRL RTTY Roundup,  E-mail: RTTYRU@arrl.org, paper logs
to: RTTY Roundup, ARRL, 225 Main St, Newington, CT 06111, USA  

o February 8 - EUCW 160m Contest, email to: jacar@club-internet.fr,
paper logs to: Jacques Carrier, F5YJ, 12, rue Henri Delaunay, F-93110
Rosny-sous-Bois, France  

o February 10 - AGCW QRP Winter Contest, email to: qrp-test@agcw.de,
paper logs to: Lutz Noack, DL4DRA, Hochschulstrasse 30/702, D-01069
Dresden, Germany  

o February 11 - North American QSO Party, CW, email to:
cwnaqp@ncjweb.com, paper logs to: Bruce Horn, WA7BNM, 4225 Farmdale
Avenue, Studio City, CA 91604, USA  

o The date is not specified, but it's been thirty days since the 
Kid's Day Contest, email to: kids@contesting.com, paper logs to:
Boring Amateur Radio Club, PO Box 1357, Boring, OR 97009, USA

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

Vermont QSO Party - CW/Phone - sponsored by the Central Vermont
Amateur Radio Club, 0000Z Feb 1 - 2400Z Feb 2. Frequencies: 160-10
meters and VHF/UHF, CW - 40 kHz up from band edge (20 kHz Novice/Tech
bands), Phone - lowest 25 kHz of the General privileges and entire
Novice/Tech 10-meter band, VHF SSB - 50.200 and 144.200 MHz, FM -
146.49 and 146.69 MHz. Categories: SOAB, MO, Club, and Rover.
Exchange: RST and SPC, Vermont stations send RST and county abbr. QSO
Points: CW or digital - 2 pts, phone - 1 pt, work each station once
per mode. Score: QSO points x total counties in VT/NH/ME + SPC +
Vermont club stations, multipliers count only once. For more
information and list of club stations -
http://www.ranv.org/vtqso.html. Logs due Mar 1 to Bob DeForge K1HKI
QSO Party Coordinator, Vermont QSO Party, Central Vermont Amateur
Radio Club, 1607 East St, Brookfield, VT 05036.

New Hampshire QSO Party - CW/Phone - sponsored by the ARRL of New
Hampshire, 0000Z Feb 1 - 2400Z Feb 2. Operate 24 hours max. with off
times of at least 15 minutes marked in log. Frequencies (MHz): CW -
1.810, 3.535, 7.035, 14.035, 21.035, 28.035, Phone -  1.875, 3.935,
3.950, 7.235, 14.280, 21.380, 28.390 and VHF. SOAB and MM-QRP (<5W),
-LP (<150W), -HP. Exchange: RST and NH county or SPC (DX stations send
RST and serial number). QSO Points: CW or digital - 2 pts, phone - 1
pt. Score: QSO Points x NH counties (NH stations add SPC, only 1 DX
mult allowed). For more information and NH-QSO Party software -
http://www.nhradio.org/nh-qso. Logs due Mar 31 to nhqso@nhradio.org or
NH-ARRL, PO Box 119, Goffstown, NH 03045-0119.

Minnesota QSO Party - CW/Phone - co-sponsored by several groups, 1400
- 2359Z Feb 1. Frequencies (MHz): CW -  1.810, 3.550, 7.050, 14.050,
21.050, 28.050, SSB--1.870, 3.890, 7.230, 14.290, 21.390, 28.420.
Categories: QRP, SOLP, SOHP, VHF and MN stations add Mobile/Portable
and MS. Exchange: Name and MN county or SPC. QSO Points: SSB - 1 pt,
CW - 2 pts. Score: QSO points x MN counties (87 max, MN stns add
States and Provinces, count all only once). For more information and
MN QSO Party software - http://www.w0aa.org. Logs due Mar 15 to
WA0MHJ@arrl.net or MNQP, 4745-170th Lane NE, Ham Lake, MN 55304-5233.

Ten-Ten International Winter Phone QSO Party - sponsored by Ten-Ten,
International, from 0000Z Feb 1 until 2400Z Feb 2, 10-meters only.
Exchange: call/name/state and 10-10 number (if a member). QSO Points:
nonmembers - 1 pt, members - 2 pts. Score: total points. For more
information - http://www.ten-ten.org. Logs due Feb 17 to Steve
Rasmussen, N0WY, #68684, 312 N. 6th Street, Plattsmouth, NE 68048.

North American Sprint - Phone - sponsored by the National Contest
Journal, from 0000Z - 0400Z, Feb 2. (CW is Feb. 9) Frequencies (MHz) -
3.850, 7.225, 14.275, work stations once per band. North American
stations work everyone, others work NA stations only. Exchange: other
station's call, your call, serial number, name, SPC. QSY rule:
Stations calling CQ, QRZ, etc, may only work one station in response
to that call, they must then move at least 1 kHz before working
another station or 5 kHz before soliciting another call. Once you are
required to QSY, you may not make a new QSO on the previous frequency
until you have made a contact at least 1 or 5 kHz (as required) away.
(see http://www.contesting.com/articles/198 for beginner's guide) 
Score: QSOs X SPC (count each only once). For more information -
http://www.ncjweb.com. Logs due 30 days after the contest to
ssbsprint@ncjweb.com or Jim Stevens, K4MA, 6609 Vardon Ct,
Fuquay-Varina, NC 27526.

XE International RTTY Contest, sponsored by FMRE, from 1800Z Feb 1 to
2400Z Feb 2. Frequencies: 80 -- 10 meters. Categories: SOAB only.
Exchange: RST and serial number or XE state/district. QSO Points:
within own country - 2 pts, DX - 3 pts, XE stations - 4 pts. Score:
QSO points x XE states + DXCC entities from each band. For more
information - http://www.fmre.org.mx. Logs due 30 days after the
contest to xe1j@ucol.mx or Jose Levy XE1J, Dirección de Concursos
FMRE, Clavel 333, Colima, Col 28030, Mexico.

Delaware QSO Party - CW/Phone/Digital/RTTY - sponsored by the First
State ARC (FSARC), 1700Z Feb 1 to 0500Z Feb 2 and 1300Z Feb 2 to 0100Z
Feb 3. Frequencies (MHz): CW - 1.825, 3.550, 7.050, 14.050, 21.050,
28.050, Phone - 1.860, 3.960, 7.260, 14.260, 21.360, 28.360, Novice &
Technician - 25 kHz above the sub-band edge. One class for all
entries, no time limit. CW/Digital/RTTY count as separate modes.
Exchange: RST and SPC, Delaware stations send RST and county. QSO
Points: CW/RTTY/digital - 2 points, phone - 1 pt, work each station
once per band and mode (CW/RTTY/digital are separate modes). Score:
total of QSO points (no multiplier). For more information -
http://www.fsarc.org. Logs due Mar 11 to QSOparty@fsarc.org or Contest
Chairman - FSARC, Inc., PO Box 1050, Newark, DE 19715.

Classic Exchange - CW/Phone - from 2000Z Feb 2 to 0600Z Feb 3.
Frequencies (MHz): CW--1.810, 3.545, 7.045, 14.045, 21.135, 28.180,
Phone--1.890, 3.880, 7.290, 14.280, 21.380, 28.320, 29.000. Exchange:
Name, RST, SPC, and mfr/model of transmitter and receiver. Work
stations again with different radios. Score is determined by the age
of your equipment. For complete information -- qsl.asti.com/CX. Send
logs and comments to WQ8U@arrl.net or J.D. "Mac" MacAulay, WQ8U, 6235
Wooden Shoe Lane, Centerville, OH 45459.

Spartan Sprint--CW--sponsored by the Adventure Radio Society, 0200Z --
0400Z Feb 4 (Monday). Frequencies (MHz): 3.560, 7.040, 14.060, 21.060.
Categories: SOSB, SOAB. Exchange: RST, SPC, and power output. For more
information--http://www.natworld.com/ars/. Logs due Wednesday
afternoon to russ@natworld.com or via automated scoring system on ARS
Web site.

North American Sprint--CW--from 0000Z - 0400Z, Feb 9 (see Feb 2).
Frequencies (MHz): 3.540, 7.040, 14.040. Logs due 30 days after the
contest to cwsprint@ncjweb.com or Boring ARC, 15125 Bartell Road,
Boring, OR 97009.

RSGB 1.8 MHz Contest - CW - sponsored by RSGB, 2100Z Feb 8 to 0100Z
Feb 9. Frequencies (MHz): 1.820 -- 1.870. Categories: SO only.
Exchange: RST + serial number and UK district. QSO Points: 3pts/QSO +
5 pts for first QSO with a UK district. Score: QSO points. For more
information - http://www.rsgbhfcc.org. Logs due 16 days after the
contest to 1st160.logs@rsgbhfcc.org or RSGB-G3UFY, 77 Bensham Manor
Road, Thorton Heath, Surrey, CR7 7AF, England.

Asia-Pacific Sprint - CW - sponsored by the AP Sprint Contest
Committee, 1100Z - 1300Z Feb 8. Frequencies: 20 and 40-meters, NA
stations work Asia-Pacific countries only. Categories: SO only, 150
watts max.. Exchange: RST and serial number. Score: total QSOs x WPX
prefixes (counted once). For more information --
http://jsfc.org/apsprint/aprule.txt. Logs due 7 days after the contest
to apsprint@kkn.net (no paper logs).

FISTS CW Winter Sprint - CW - sponsored by FISTS International CW
Club, 1700Z until 2100Z Feb 8. Frequencies: 80 - 10 meters, work US/VE
stations. Categories: SOAB-QRP (<5W), SOAB-QRO, Club. Exchange: Name,
RST, SPC, members send FISTS number, nonmembers send power output. QSO
Points: FISTS members - 5 pts, nonmembers - 2 pts. Score: QSO points ×
SPC (count each only once). For more information -
http://www.FISTS.org. Logs due 30 days after the contest to
W8PIG@yahoo.com or Dan Shepherd N8IE, 1900 Pittsfield St, Kettering,
Oh 45420. 

QRP ARCI Winter Fireside SSB Sprint, sponsored by the QRP ARCI, 2000Z
- 2400Z, Feb 9. Frequencies (MHz): 3.865, 7.285, 14.285, 21.385,
28.385. (See Dec QST, p 93 for QRP ARCI Sprint information)

Winter 6-Meter Contest - CW/Phone - sponsored by the Six Club, from
2300Z Feb 8 to 0300Z Feb 10. Exchange: RST and grid square. QSO
Points: 1 pt in same country, DX (incl. KL7 and KH6) - 2 pts. Score:
QSO points x grid squares. For more information --
http://6mt.com/contest.htm. Logs due Mar 15 to W4WRL@aol.com or Wayne
Lewis W4WRL, Six Club Contest Director, 3338 S Cashua Dr, Florence, SC
29501-6306.

OMISS QSO Party - SSB - Sponsored by the Old Man International
Sideband Society,  1700Z Feb 8 - 0500Z Feb 9. Frequencies (MHz):
3.9405, 7.2635, 14.290, 21.360, 28.665. Categories: SOAB only.
Exchange: RST, SPC and OMISS # (DX stations send "DX"). QSO Points:
OMISS members--2pts, non-members--1 pt. Score: QSO points x States +
Provinces + 1 DXCC entity, counted only once. For more information -
http://www.omiss.net. Logs due Mar 15 to Don Banta, K5DB, 3407 Diana
St, Springdale AR 72764.

Dutch PACC Contest--CW/SSB--sponsored by the Vereniging voor
Experimenteel Radio Onderzoek in Nederland (VERON) from 1200Z Feb 8 --
1200Z Feb 9. Frequencies: 160 -- 10 meters according to IARU band
plan, no SSB on 160, work stations only once per band.  Categories:
SO, SO-QRP, MO, SWL. Exchange: RS(T) + serial number (Dutch stations
send province). QSO Points: 1 pt/QSO. Score: QSO points x Provinces
(counted once per band).  For more
information--http://www.dutchpacc.com.  Logs due March 31 to
pa0adt@dutchpacc.com or Ad van Tilborg, PA0ADT, Schepenenveld 141,
7327 DB Apeldoorn, Netherlands

NEWS & PRESS RELEASES

The list of Logs Received for the 2002 ARRL International EME Contest
and 160-Meter contest has been posted at
www.arrl.org/contests/claimed. If you find an error in your listing or
if your entry is not reported please contact me at 860-594-0232 or
n1nd@arrl.org. A downloadable tab-delimited version of the 2002 IARU
HF Database has been posted to be available to the general public.
Revisions to the IARU results PDF were processed and posted to the
ARRL Contest Web site http://www.arrl.org/contests. (Thanks, Dan
N1ND)

An interesting article at  http://www.fybush.com/wtc-recovery.html
gives an account of what went on amongst NYC TV and FM broadcasters in
the days following 9/11.  It covers the use of Maj. Armstrong's
Alpine, NY tower, the troubles with limited real estate on top of the
Empire State Bldg. and WCBS TV's recall of a retired engineer from
Florida to operate their old Harris vacuum tube transmitter on top of
the Empire State Building, among other things.  (Thanks, Rob K5UJ)

RESULTS AND RECORDS

Results of the WAE DX Contest CW and SSB 2002 are now available on the
DARC Web Site, http://www.waedc.de - and follow the links to the
detailed results. The CW and SSB results will also be published in
print in CQDL 2/2003 and 3/2003. RTTY results are to be expected on
the Web site in March and will be published in CQDL 5/2003. Awards and
Plaques for the WAEDC 2002 will be mailed in May. UBN reports are
available for all participants - if you are interested in your
personal report, drop me a line at dl6rai@darc.de (Thanks, Ben
DL6RAI)

EU HF Championship and SCC RTTY Championship 2002 results are
available on:
http://lea.hamradio.si/~scc/. (Thanks, Franc S59AA)

TECHNICAL & TECHNIQUE

Did last weekend's 160-meter contest leave you scratching your head
over interference from BC station overload?  Here's several references
to useful filters: 
- John Webb, W1ETC, "High-Pass Filters for Receiving Applications",
QST, Oct 1983
- Ed Wetherhold W3NQN, "Bandstop Filters for Attenuating High-Level
Broadcast-Band Signals", QEX, Nov 1995
- ARRL Handbook, "A BC-Band Energy Rejection Filter", 2003 edition, p
16-36 (and in several recent editions)
Note that it may not be necessary to make the station go away entirely
-- just attenuate it enough so that your receiver is not overloaded by
the signal.  Tom, W8JI also recommends that for attenuating stations
close to the top end of the band that a regular filter be combined
with a tuned series trap across the filter.  (Thanks, Don K5AQ, Eric
K3NA, and Tom W8JI)

If you're REALLY into packet and would like to be connected to 50 DX
clusters worldwide (thus achieving total distraction), visit
http://www.on5oo.com. Marc ON4MA provides a TELNET client program
written by Jack ON5OO. You can download a trial version for
evaluation.

Working the elusive "Grey Line" openings that occur around local
sunsets and sunrises requires good timing. The Web site
http://www.sunrisesunset.com produces lists of sunrise and sunset
times at selected locations around the world.  A few visits to the
site makes it easy to create a couple of single-page calendar months
for your QTH showing sunrise and sunset, twilight at dawn and dusk,
plus moonrise and set times for you EME mavens. More detailed listing
are also available at
http://aa.usno.navy.mil/data/docs/RS_OneYear.html with a coordinate
look-up reference at http://gnpswww.nima.mil/geonames/GNS/index.jsp
(Thanks, Gene AD3F, and Bill, W4ZV) 

This seems to be a frequently-needed tip -- to search through the list
of archived messages from various email reflectors on the
contesting.com Web site, "Go to the List Search menu window on the
left of the http://www.contesting.com homepage. Type in <listname
keyword> (such as <towertalk safety>) and that'll get you what you
need. If you don't type in a specific list name the search engine will
look through all of the email lists." (Thanks, Steve K7LXC)

From the ARRL Propagation Bulletin - Jim Tabor, KU5S sends along an
offer to try a neat new program called "Geo-Alert Wizard" he's written
for Windows. The program automatically checks current solar flux,
sunspot, A index and K index numbers over the internet and displays
them along with one-word summaries of solar and geomagnetic activity
over the past 24 hours and the next 24 hours in a little window on
your PC desktop. It is available for free trial with a license that
expires May 20. You can download it at http://www.taborsoft.com . Jim
also has other software tools on the site.  His personal site is at
http://www.wtrt.net/~ku5s/. (Thanks, Tad K7VVV)

Making a nice segue into the Conversation section's topic for this
issue is a pointer to a nifty SO2R (Single-Op/2-Radio) resource site
on the Web at http://home.columbus.rr.com/jmaass/Radio/K8ND_SO2R.htm.
It includes photos and links to Web pages about SO2R stations and
links to other SO2R resources on the Web. (Thanks, Jeff K8ND)

CONVERSATION

Categorically Speaking...

Two radios, one in each ear,
Is the hottest of topics this year.
It sure can get hairy,
Is it fun? Very!
But to learn it's a pain in the rear.

The hot topics that seem to pop up with great regularity lately are
(a) the many definitions of Single-Op and (b) whether using a second
radio (SO2R) warrants a separate category.  Does a guest op have it
easier or harder?  What if your spouse brings you lunch? Is the second
radio as much a difference as high versus low power? Does packet help
or hurt? A lot of thunder and lightning have been expended, with no
clear conclusion. Such questions may be an indication that we are
pushing up against an unacknowledged boundary.

Consider that the structures of contests are remarkably consistent. 
Editing QST's "Contest Corral" every month, I have observed that most
are essentially the same.  Each contact, using a fixed exchange,
counts for a certain number of points and may have attributes that
count separately (i.e. -- multipliers).  Total score is points time
mults - throw in the occasional bonus and there you have 99% of
contests.

Guest op R. Johnson McGee
Won prizes with both mike and key.
Creamed chicken on toast
Spoon-fed by his host
Kept John fresh and his butt in the seat.

Some contests are thinking "outside the box".  The NA/EU/AP Sprint
format eliminates running on a single frequency in favor of continual
QSY requirements.  The Stew Perry and Gridloc contests use distance as
a scoring tool.  The Internet Sprint passes names between QSOs as a
token.  Worked All Europe has long featured the QTC option.

The intense focus on very fine-grained aspects of definitions and
rules indicates that we are reaching a point of diminishing returns in
contest categories and rules.  I'm not saying that contests are
lacking in challenges, but it seems to me that the existing format is
becoming a little stagnant.

Aren't there other forms of contesting that make sense?  The current
dominant format is very simple and straightforward -- call or be
called. Of the existing rules that make contesting what it is, which
could be changed?  Certainly there are other constructive ways to
compete with radios.  What other kinds of rules reward copying
ability, stamina, and savvy?

What about the single-QTH rule for team contesting?  How about a
distributed multi-multi with participants on every continent?  Whole
new layers of strategy would open up for band changes and multiplier
passing.  How about single-operator/multi-QTH?

Cooperation between competitors is already a unique feature of
radiosport.  What if a contest gave extra points for cooperation
between more than two competitors?  Imagine trying to create a conga
line on 20-meters with each new participant adding 50% to the total
score!

We are making extraordinarily poor use of the newest communications
channel -- the Internet -- in contesting.  What kind of hybrid between
radios and the Internet would make sense for competitive events?  Not
just in the administration and observing, but in the operating?

I'm sure there are quite a number of other interesting ideas floating
around out there.  Maybe it's time for the major contests to offer an
"Experimental" class -- do something cool, but write it up and tell us
about it. Contesting is absolutely ripe for some new ideas.  Can you
think of some?

New rules for scoring a ton
Opens new paths to contesting fun.
Band swaps by the score
Makes your thinker get sore.
It sure beats just pushing F1.

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/