Contester's Rate Sheet for March 26, 2003
*********************** Contester's Rate Sheet 26 March 2003 *********************** Edited by Ward Silver, N0AX SUMMARY o Coming up -- CQ WPX SSB and VHF Spring Sprints o A new vendor and a new modeling program o Sprint log turnaround tightens to 7 days o Lots of contest results -- FQP, CQP, CW Sweepstakes, CW Sprint o Mystery beads o Determining True North BULLETINS o None - I've been getting quite enough bulletins lately, thank you. BUSTED QSOS o A bug in the process of posting Contest Corral information to the ARRL Contest Calender Web site broke several URLs for contest information. These should be corrected shortly -- in the meantime, if you're having trouble with the Web address, try the address without "www" in front. For example, the Web site for the Georgia QSO Party is shown as http://www.gqp.contesting.com/, but the correct URL is just http://gqp.contesting.com. (Thanks, Bob W2SR) o The Spring QRP Homebrewer Sprint that ran from 0000Z-0400Z Mar 24 was mistakenly listed as "Monday in the US" -- it's actually Sunday evening local time. Sorry about that. (Thanks, Bill AB1AV) ANNOUNCEMENT & NOTICES FOR 26 MARCH TO 8 APRIL 2003 Logs are due for the following contests: o March 30 - UBA Spring Contest, CW, email to: on6kl@qsl.net, paper logs to: Lode Kenens, ON6KL, Oudestraat 8, B-3560 Lummen, Belgium o March 30 - SARL VHF/UHF Contest, email to: admin@sarl.org.za, paper logs to: SARL VHF/UHF Contest, PO Box 1721, Strubensvallei 1735, Republic of South Africa o March 31 - New Hampshire QSO Party, email to: NH-QSO@nhradio.org, paper logs to: NH-ARRL QSO Party, PO Box 119, Goffstown, NH 03045-0119, USA o March 31 - Dutch PACC Contest, email to: pa0adt@dutchpacc.com, paper logs to: Ad van Tilborg, PA0ADT, Schepenenveld 141, 7327 DB Apeldoorn, Netherlands o March 31 - CQ 160-Meter Contest, SSB, email to: cq160@kkn.net, paper logs to: CQ 160-Meter Contest, 25 Newbridge Road, Hicksville, NY 11801, USA o March 31 - AGCW VHF/UHF Contest, email to: vhf-uhf@agcw.de, paper logs to: Manfred Busch, DK7ZH, Carl-von-Ossietzky-Weg 6, D-63069 Offenbach/Main, Germany o April 1 - North Carolina QSO Party, email to: henry@summitschool.com, paper logs to: NC QSO Party, c/o Henry Heidtmann, 934 Franklin St, Winston-Salem, NC 27101, USA o April 1 - ARRL Inter. DX Contest, SSB, email to: DXPhone@arrl.org, paper logs to: DX Phone Contest, ARRL, 225 Main St, Newington, CT 06111, USA o April 1 - DARC 10-Meter Digital Contest, email to: df5bx@darc.de, paper logs to: Werner Ludwig, DF5BX, PO Box 1270, 49110 Georgsmarienhuette, Germany o April 2 - Open Ukraine RTTY Championship, email to: krs@model.poltava.ua, paper logs to: George Ignatov, UT1HT, PO Box 87, Kremenchug-21 39621, Ukraine o April 6 - High Speed Club CW Contest, email to: (none), paper logs to: Contest Manager Lutz Schroer. DL3BZZ, Am Niederfeld 6, D-35066 Frankenberg, Germany o April 7 - RSGB Commonwealth Contest, CW, email to: commonwealth.contest.logs@rsgbhfcc.org, paper logs to: RSGB-G3UFY, 77 Bensham Manor Road, Thornton Heath, Surrey CR7 7AF, England o April 7 - SOC Marathon Sprint, email to: n4bp@arrl.net, paper logs to: Bob Patten, N4BP, 2841 N.W. 112 Terrace, Plantation, FL 33323, USA o April 7 - North American Sprint, RTTY, email to: rttysprint@ncjweb.com, paper logs to: Douglas McDuff, W4OX, 10380 SW 112th Street, Miami, FL 33176, 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 HF CONTESTS CQ WW SSB WPX Contest--SSB--sponsored by CQ Magazine, from 0000Z Mar 29 - 2400Z Mar 30. Frequencies: 160 -- 10 meters. Categories: SOAB, SOSB, SO-Assisted, -HP, LP, and --QRP, MS (10-min rule), MM, SO-Rookie, SO-Tribander-and-Single-Wire, SO-Band-Restricted. SO operate 36 hours max with off times at least 60 min. Exchange: RS(T) + serial number. QSO Points: different continents--3pts (14 - 28 MHz) and 6 pts (1.8 - 7 MHz), with North America--2 pts (14 - 28 MHz) and 4 pts (1.8 - 7 MHz), with own country--1 pt. Score: QSO points x prefixes worked (ie, N8, KA1, HG73, JD1) counted only once. For more information--http://home.woh.rr.com/wpx/. Logs due May 1 to wpxssb@kkn.net. Missouri QSO Party--CW/SSB--sponsored by the Boeing Employees Amateur Radio Society of St. Louis (BEARS) from 1800Z Apr 5 - 0500Z Apr 6, and 1800Z - 2400Z Apr 6. Frequencies (MHz): CW--40 kHz from band edge and 1.810; Phone--1.850, 3.980, 7.280, 14.280, 21.380, 28.310, work MO stations once per band and mode. Categories: Fixed, MO Mobile, MO Rover. Exchange: RST, serial number, and MO county or SPC. QSO Points: CW--2 pts, Phone 1 pt. Score: MO stations--QSO Points x States + Provinces + MO counties + 1 for DX; non-MO stations--QSO Points x MO counties. Multipliers count only once. QSOs with W0MA count add'l 100 QSO points. For more information--http://www.qsl.net/w0ma. Logs due 30 days after the contest to n0aj@arrl.net or James L Kinser N0AJ, 2147 Encino Dr, Florissant, MO 63031-7627. Montana QSO Party--Phone/CW/Digital--sponsored by the Flathead Valley Amateur Radio Club from 2300Z Apr 5 - 2300Z Apr 6. Frequencies: 160 meters -- 70 cm, no categories, repeaters and IRLP are permitted. Exchange: RST and SPC or MT county. If a station changes counties, it can be worked again. Score: QSOs x SPC + MT counties (counted only once). Logs due May 10 to k7lyy@arrl.net or rosscons@digisys.net or FVARC, 117 Rainbow Drive, Kalispell, MT 59901. MARAC County Hunters Contest--SSB--sponsored by The Mobile Amateur Radio Awards Club from 0000Z Apr 5 - 2400Z Apr 6. Frequencies (MHz): 3.880, 7.240, 14.275, 21.340, 28.340, work fixed stations once/band and mobiles once for each county and band. Exchange: RST and county or SPC. County line QSOs count as one QSO but separate multipliers. QSO Points: Fixed stations in NA--1 point, Mobile/Portable--15 points, DX--5 pts, one station must be in a US county. Score: QSO Points x US counties (count only once). Mobile/Portables sum score from each state. For more information--http://www.countyhunter.com. Logs must be postmarked by May 10 to (US Logs) Duane Traver WV2B, 99 Oregon Hill Rd, Lisle, NY 13797-1002 or (Non-US Logs) Scott Nichols, VE1OP, 387 Rudderham Rd, Point Edward, NS B2A 4V6, Canada. EA RTTY Contest--sponsored by the Unión de Radioaficianados Españoles (URE.) from 1600Z Apr 5 - 1600Z Apr 6. Frequencies: 80 -- 10 meters, according to IARU band plan. Categories: SOAB, SOSB, MOAB, SWL. Exchange: RST and serial number or EA Province. QSO Points: 10 - 20 meters: own continent--1 pt, diff cont--2 pts; 40 and 80 meters: own cont--3 pts, diff cont--6 pts. Score is QSO points x DXCC entities + EA provinces + W/VE/JA/VK call areas counted once per band. If operating portable, sign /call area. Logs due May 10 to ea1mv@retemail.es as ASCII text or Cabrillo format or Antonio Alcolado EA1MV, PO Box 240, E-09400 Aranda de Duero, (Burgos) Spain 47th Annual QCWA QSO Party--CW/Digital/SSB--sponsored by the Quarter Century Wireless Association from 1900Z Apr 5 - 1900Z Apr 6. Frequencies (MHz): CW--1.910, 3.540, 7.035, 14.040, 21.050, 28.050; Phone--1.810, 3.890, 7.244, 14.262, 21.365, 28.325 plus all VHF/UHF bands, no crossband or repeater QSOs. 15 QSOs with each station maximum and only one QSO with stations in home QCWA chapter. Exchange: Last two digits of year licensed and QCWA chapter or SPC. QSO Points: Phone--1 pt, CW/Digital--2 pts. Score: QSO Points x QCWA chapters + SPC counted once per band. W2MM counts as a 3-point multiplier on each band. For more information--http:// http://www.qcwa.org/2003qso-party.htm. Send logs to W0HXL, Dick Newsome, 2924 North 48th Street, Omaha NE 68104-3726. SP DX Contest--CW/SSB--sponsored by the PZK Polish Amateur Radio Union and the SP DX Club from 1500Z Apr 5 - 1500Z Apr 6. Frequencies: 160 -- 10 meters, according to the IARU Region I band plan, no crossmode QSOs. Categories: SOAB and SOSB (CW, SSB, or Mixed), MS Mixed (incl. nets, packet, Internet), SWL Mixed. Exchange: RS(T) and serial number or Polish province abbreviation. QSO Points: 3 pts for each SP contact, SP stations count 3 pts outside EU, 1 pt for EU (no pts for SP-SP QSOs). Score is QSO points x provinces (counted once per band and mode) or DXCC entities (for Polish stations). For more information--http://www.qsl.net/la0fx or sp6cik@op.onet.pl. Logs due Apr 30 to spdxc-logs@pzk.org.pl (Cabrillo format preferred) or to Polski Zwiazek Krotkofalowcow, SPDX Contest Committee, PO Box 320, 00-950 Warszawa, Poland. VHF CONTESTS VHF Spring Sprints--144 MHz CW/SSB--sponsored by the Eastern Tennessee DX Association from 7 - 11 PM local time, 4 Apr; (222 MHz from 7-11 PM Apr 12 and 432 MHz from 7 - 11 PM Apr 19). Fixed and Rover categories. Exchange is Grid Square only, count 1 pt per QSO. Score is QSO Points x Grid Squares, score each sprint separately. Rovers and Microwave sprints total all points and all grids worked from each grid. For more information -- http://www.etdxa.org/vhf.htm. Logs must be emailed or postmarked within four weeks of the contest to springsprints@etdxa.org or Jeff J Baker, 8218 Foxworth Trail, Powell, TN 37849. NEWS & PRESS RELEASES The ARRL Contest Desk has been busy lately. Not the least of their accomplishment is the mailing of Clean Sweep mugs -- the W7LVI crew received our mugs last week and they look great! Talk about being made to feel inadequate...the cover feature of the latest National Contest Journal is K9DX's large 9-element circular 160-meter array (210 foot radius). N6LF pumps you right back up with a series of designs for single-support gain antennas for the low-bands. The issue also includes an inspiring article by K0AD on revitalizing the Minnesota Wireless Association contest club. There's a review of the K2/100 by N6XI and OH5DX's interview of K1ZM about the VY2ZM contest station. Column topics include the January VHF SS, reconfiguring from multi-op to single-op, two-radio (SO2R), RTTY Sprint results, info on budget computing, and the Contest Character Awards for 2002-2003. There is no truth to the rumor that the present and past NCJ editors have agreed to pose for an upcoming NCJ Swimsuit issue. On-line subscriptions to NCJ are available at http://www.ncjweb.com. (Thanks to NCJ Editor, Carl K9LA) We have a new vendor of ham radio stuff - Watts Unlimited. Their first amateur product is the PS-2500A high-voltage switching power supply for tube amplifiers using the 3-500Z, 8873, 3CX800A7, 3CX1200A7 and others. The design of this supply was originally described in QEX and it is now for sale as a commercial product. The PS-2500A provides 2500 VDC under full load of 1.1A or 3000 VDC at about 700mA. Input is 240 VAC 50/60Hz at 13A full load. It weighs only weighs ten pounds and measures 11.75 X 6 X 6 inches including the heatsink. It is available completely assembled for $698 or in kit form for $585. For full specs, visit http://www.wattsunlimited.com or contact Watts Unlimited, 886 Brandon Lane, Schwenksville, PA 19473. Tel: (610) 764-9514. E-mail: wattsunlimited@aol.com. (Thanks, Tim W9QQ) Dan AC6LA invites you to try the new MultiNEC 2.0 program. MultiNEC does both antenna modeling and propagation predictions. You can model your contest station antenna and then see the expected performance using MultiNEC's built-in and simplified interface to the powerful VOACAP propagation prediction engine. Propagation info can be generated in the form of area coverage maps and/or point to point plots, and the maps and plots can be animated to cover different conditions if desired. Visit http://www.qsl.net/ac6la/ for more details and a demo download. One of the largest and oldest US contest clubs, The Frankford Radio Club (FRC), announces its officers for 2003: President - Joe K3NM, Vice President - John W8FJ, Secretary -- John K3ZV, and Treasurer - Dan K2QM. (Thanks, Doug W3CF) In a move to speed up log checking and results publication, the NCJ Contest directors have agreed to shorten the log submission deadling to 7 days for the CW and SSB sprints starting in September. I believe that only one paper log was received for the February sprints, so this will be the first "major" contest to go completely electronic. (Thanks, Tree N6TR) RESULTS AND RECORDS Results for the 2002 ARRL CW Sweepstakes are now available to ARRL members at http://www.arrl.org/members-only/contests/results/2002/SS-CW/. Randy, K5ZD, is the author of the fine write-up -- thanks, Randy! Phone results should be available shortly. You might want to check http://www.arrl.org/contests/results/index.html#2002 to be sure that your logs have been received OK for the any of the 2003 ARRL contests. The CW Sprint Results have been posted to the NCJ web site at http://www.ncjweb.com. Click on the CONTESTS tab and then RESULTS under the Sprints section. Use the drop down menus to select the contest. The full writeup will be available as a PDF file as soon as the next NCJ is published. (Thanks, Tree N6TR) The California QSO Party 2002 results are also available at http://www.cqp.org/Results-2002.html. This year, a total of 597 logs were received, which is a whopping 21% increase over last year. The very first non-CA club plaque goes to the Tennessee Contest Group with 16 entries totaling 703,996 points! There is also a history of the CQP at The history of the CQP is at http://www.cqp.org/History.html. (Thanks, Marc W6ZZZ) The Florida Contest Group also announces that the results from the 2002 Florida QSO Party are now available on the Florida QSO Party Web site, http://www.qsl.net/fqp, including a detailed write up by FQP log checker and FCG President, Dan K1TO. All records have been updated. The next FQP is April 26 & 27. (Thanks, Ron WD4AHZ) TECHNICAL & TECHNIQUE Dink, N7WA reports that a large number of claimed-score reports from the ARRL DX contests CW and SSB where the stations are being entered into the 3830 score reporting Web page (http:// http://www.hornucopia.com/3830score/) with the wrong region. I.e. -- USA vs. DX. Even though you have to actually select the menu choice, it's still easy to goof. For you globetrotters out there, be sure to select the region you operated from, not your home location. Mistakes can be corrected by just resubmitting -- you'll be asked whether you wish to repost the score or simply update the database. Corrections are manully reviewed by N7WA or WA7BNM, so it may take a day or two to show. (Thanks, Dink N7WA) If you build or repair equipment and you've noticed that the parts and pieces are getting smaller and smaller with each passing year, getting a some kind of assistance for your eyes is a good idea. From the QRP reflector (http://qrp.lehigh.edu/lists/qrp-l/) several good sources for magnifiers were suggested, including the local hobby store or craft store, fabric store, sewing section of department stores, and on-line retailers such as American Science and Surplus. The "Mag Eyes" model was mentioned, as well as a caution to try them first because everyone's eyes are different. High-powered reading glasses (+3.5 diopter) may be suitable for smaller jobs. (pun accepted) Mystery ferrite cores and beads are often found surplus and at hamfests. If you've wondered about the characteristics of these materials, you might find the answers in the Fair-Rite catalog, which is downloadable from http://www.fair-rite.com/. Type 43 material is by far the most common. If you have access to an impedance meter, such as the Autek RX Vector Analyst, Model VA1, measure the complex impedance of a test winding of one, two, or five turns, depending on frequency. Match what you find against the characteristics given in the Fair-Rite catalog, which includes formulas for inductance and a lot of other useful information. (Thanks, Chuck W1HIS) Given the crazy state of the world today, being prepared for an emergency is a good idea. While contesters tend have good operating skills and stations, to make the most of your assets, you need to have some familiarity with procedures and the agency being served - and a willingness to put your ego on the back burner. The ARRL Emergency Communications on-line courses are a good start - EC-001 is often completely reimbursed. You can also participate in a local ARES or RACES group, or get a little experience with a traffic net by checking in on occasion. The ARRL emergency services URL is http://www.arrl.org/FandES/field/emergency/. CONVERSATION Since our gray matter is likely to be thinking about more weighty matters than lofty thoughts about contesting, a couple of marginal witticisms are in order. From the WPX RTTY Soapbox of the W6YX team -- "Delicious looking cream puffs were prepared for dessert. They were frozen, and we wanted to avoid a nuking mess in the microwave. How to solve this problem? Ahhhh, the amplifiers seemed to be warming the room quite nicely. Let's place them on top of the Alpha 78 and watch them transform into wonderful, lightly browned masterpieces. Marc was thereby ordered to keep up the rate for the sake of the cream puffs! No excessive CQing without answers, or the cream puffs would get too mushy. No S&P, because the cream puffs would never warm. A sustained run was required. One look at the log shows Marc played his cards perfectly, with a job well done on the radio and the cream puffs! With apologies to Mel Torme, it wasn't exactly Chestnuts Roasting on an Open Fire, but rather, Cream Puffs Thawing on an Amplifier!" (Thanks, Dean N6DE) Something we all need to know is an exact method for finding True North. Having observed several in-depth discussions on this topic, I believe that I have distilled the assembled wisdom of many emails into the following guaranteed 13-step process: 1 -- Stack all patio furniture in the garage. No particular reason, just do it. 2 -- Don your tower climbing belt, which must include two gorilla hooks and a positioning lanyard, lots of caribeeners, a Danforth anchor and a planetary gearhead. 3 -- Prepare some epoxy and obtain 200 meters of Thelman wire. 4 -- Use a slingshot, fishing rod, or potato gun to fling the Thelman wire through the top of the tower. Secure it to a convenient guy anchor with a caribeener and a Singapore Sling tied in a Four-In-Hand Knot. 5 -- Climb the tower. 6 -- Return down the tower to pick up the Plastic Owl. 7 -- Climb the tower. 8 -- Return down the tower to brief the ground crew and agree on hand signals. Name the Plastic Owl. 9 -- Go to the bathroom and climb the tower again in that order. 10 -- At the top of the tower, scare away the birds by securing the Plastic Owl to the wasp's nest using the Danforth anchor. Attach the planetary gearhead to the Thelman wire using the epoxy. 11 --Clip your positioning lanyard to the gearhead and spin around the tower twice saying, "There's no place like home, there's no place like home." 12 -- Yell down to the ground crew and have them point to True North. Take the average of the directions in which they point and compute the vector cross-product. You may ignore your estimated direction because you're a scalar. (Sorry, obscure math joke.) 13 - Mark a large "X" on the side of your tool bucket. This is True North and so shall it always be. 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/
