Contester's Rate Sheet for May 21, 2003

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Contester's Rate Sheet
21 May 2003
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Edited by Ward Silver, N0AX

SUMMARY
o CQ WPX's Code Weekend is coming up!
o Logbook of the World is QRV for Beta Test
o Telephone RFI, Electric Fences, and Key Clicks...Oh, My!
o W7YRV's V-Beam Array
o PDA Logging Software
o The Flip Side

BULLETINS
o No bulletins in this issue

BUSTED QSOS
o There were several errors in the rules for the West Virgina QSO
Party rules published in June QST's "Contest Corral" this past week.
QSO points for mobiles are CW - 3 pts, SSB - 2 pts, and 100 bonus pts
for QSOs with W8WVA once per band and mode. WV mobiles add 100 points
per county activated with minimum of 1 QSO. The correct Web URL is
also http://www.qsl.net/wvarrl/wvqp2003.html.  The ARRL Web site has
been corrected. (Thanks, Clark W8TN)
o The Baltic Contest (May 17 and 18) Web site is
http://www.lrsf.lt/BContest/index.htm.  The CQ WPX Web URL contained a
typo and is actually http://home.woh.rr.com/wpx/. (Thanks, Bob W2SR)

ANNOUNCEMENT & NOTICES FOR 21 MAY TO 3 JUNE 2003

Logs are due for the following contests:

o May 21 - Low Power Spring Sprint, email to: om3kfv@zoznam.sk, paper
logs to: Radioclub OM3KFV, PO Box 129, 036 01 Martin 1, Slovakia  

o May 24 - Harry Angel Memorial Sprint, email to: (none), paper logs
to: Harry Angel Sprint, WIA Federal, PO Box 2175, Caulfield Junction
3161, Australia  
 
o May 27 - SP DX RTTY Contest, email to: spdxcry@pkrvg.z.pl, paper
logs to: SPDX RTTY Contest Manager, Christopher Ulatowski, Box 253,
81-963 Gdynia 1, Poland  
 
o May 27 - Florida QSO Party, email to: FLQSOParty@aol.com, paper logs
to: Florida QSO Party, c/o Ron Wetjen, WD4AHZ, 5362 Castleman Dr,
Sarasota, FL 34232, USA  
 
o May 28 - Helvetia Contest, email to: contest@uska.ch, paper logs to:
Hermann Stein, HB9CRV, Bruelmatten 13, 4410 Liestal BL, Switzerland  
 
o May 31 - JIDX CW Contest, email to: jidx-cw@jidx.org, paper logs to:
JIDX CW Contest, c/o Five-Nine Magazine, PO Box 59, Kamata, Tokyo
144-8691, Japan  
 
o May 31 - Holyland DX Contest, email to: 4z4kx@iarc.org, paper logs
to: Contest Manager 4Z4KX, Israel Amateur Radio Club, Box 17600, Tel
Aviv 61176, Israel  
 
o May 31 - Ontario QSO Party, email to: ve3sre@rac.ca, paper logs to:
Ontario QSO Party, Ontario DX Association, PO Box 161, Station "A",
Willowdale, Ontario M2N 5S8, Canada  

o May 31 - Nebraska QSO Party, email to: hdxa@qsl.net, paper logs to:
Nebraska QSO Party, PO Box 375, Elkhorn, NE 68022-0375, USA  

o May 31 - AGCW QRP/QRP Party, email to: qrp-party@agcw.de, paper logs
to: Manager, Carsten Steinhoefel, DL1EFD, Puetzstrasse 9, D-45144
Essen, Germany  

o May 31 - Microwave Spring Sprint, email to: springsprints@etdxa.org,
paper logs to: Microwave Spring Sprint, ETDXA/WU4O, Jeff J. Baker,
8218 Foxworth Trail, Powell, TN 37849, USA  
 
o June 1 - QRP to the Field, email to: n0qt@arrl.net, paper logs to:
Jan Medley, N0QT, QRPTTF 2003, PO Box 1768, Socorro, NM 87801, USA  

o June 1 - GACW CW DX Contest, email to: uranito@infovia.com.ar, paper
logs to: GACW DX Contest, PO Box 9, B1875ZAA Wilde, Buenos Aires,
Argentina  

o June 2 - IPA Contest, CW/SSB, email to: n2pig@arrl.net, paper logs
to: Alex Dutkewych, N2PIG, PO Box 211, Pulteney, NY 14874-0211, USA  

o June 3 - New England QSO Party, email to: logs@neqp.org, paper logs
to: NEQP, PO Box 3005, Framingham, MA 01705-3005, 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

Baltic Contest - CW/SSB - sponsored by the Lithuanian Radio Sports
Federation from 2100Z May 17 - 0200Z May 18. Frequencies (MHz): CW
3.510-3.600, SSB 3.600-3.650 and 3.700-3.750. Categories:
SO-CW/SSB/Mixed, MS, SWL. Exchange: RS(T) and serial number. QSO
Points: Baltic (YL/ES/LY) stations count EU - 1 pt and non-EU - 2 pts,
EU stations count Baltic - 10 pts, non-Baltic - 1 pt; non-EU stations
count Baltic - 20 pts, non-Baltic - 1 pt. Score: total QSO points. For
more information - http://www.lrsf.lt/BContest/index2.htm. Logs due
July 1 to lrsf@lrsf.lt or PO Box 210, LT-3000 Kaunas, Lithuania.

His Majesty King of Spain Contest - CW - sponsored by the Union de
Radioaficionados Españoles (URE) from 1800Z May 17 - 1800Z May 18 (SSB
is June 21-22). Frequencies: 160-10 meters using IARU Region 1 band
plan. Categories: SOAB, SOSB, and MS. Exchange: RST and serial number
or EA province. QSO Points: 1 pt/QSO. Score: QSO points x EA provinces
counted once per band. For more information, send email to ure@ure.es.
Logs due 25 June (SSB by 30 July) to ure@ure.es or ea5al@ure.es or
Vocalia Concursos URE, Apartado Postal 87, 12200 Onda, Castellon,
Spain.

US Counties QSO Party - SSB - sponsored by The Mobile Amateur Radio
Awards Club from 0000Z May 17 - 2400Z May 18. 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. Categories: Mobile, Fixed.
Exchange: RST and county or S/P/C. County line QSOs count as one QSO
but separate multipliers. QSO Points: US fixed stations - 1 point, US
mobile - 15 points, all others - 5 pts, one station must be in a US
county. Score is QSO Points × US counties (counted only once). Mobiles
sum score from each state. For more information -
http://www.stpaulisland.net/countycontest.html. Logs due June 18 to
(US logs) d.e.traver@worldnet.att.net or Duane Traver, WV2B, 99 Oregon
Hill Rd, Lisle, NY 13797-1002, non-US logs to snichols@mvosprey.com or
Scott Nichols, VE1OP, 387 Rudderham Rd, Point Edward, NS B2A 4V6,
Canada.

CQ WW WPX Contest - CW - sponsored by CQ Magazine from 0000Z May 24 -
2400Z May 25. 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: RST + 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 Jul 1 to wpxcw@kkn.net.

QRP ARCI Hootowl Sprint - CW - sponsored by the QRP ARC International
from 2000  - 2400 local May 25. Frequencies (MHz): 1.810, 3.560,
3.710, 7.040, 7.110, 14.060, 21.060, 21.110, 28.060, 28.110 kHz.
Categories: SOAB, SOSB, SO20-10, SO160-40, MOAB, DX stations are SOAB
only. Exchange: RST, SPC, and Power or QRP ARCI number. QSO Points:
members - 5 pts, non-members/different continent - 4 pts,
non-members/same cont - 2 pts. Score: QSO points x SPC (counted once
per band) x Power multiplier (<250mW x 15, 250mW - 1W x 10, 1 - 5W x7,
>5W x 1). For more information --
http://personal.palouse.net/rfoltz/arci/holispr.htm. Logs due 30 days
after the contest to rfoltz@turbonet.com or Randy Foltz, K7TQ, Attn:
Holiday Spirits Sprint, 809 Leith St, Moscow, ID 83843.

MI QRP Memorial Day CW Sprint - sponsored by the MI QRP Club from
2300Z May 26 - 0300Z May 27. Frequencies: 160 - 6-meters. Categories:
SOAB with classes A (<250 mW), B (<1 W), C (<5 W), D (>5W). Exchange:
RST, SPC, and MI-QRP number or power output. QSO Points: MI-QRP
members - 5 pts, non-member W/VE - 2 pts, DX - 4 pts. Score: QSO
points x SPC counted once per band. If homebrew RX or TX, multiply by
1.25. If both RX and TX are homebrew, multiply by 1.5. For information
-- http://www.qsl.net/miqrpclub. Logs to n8cqa@att.net or L. T.
Switzer, N8CQA, 427 Jeffrey Ave., Royal Oak, MI 48073-2521, USA.

Great Lakes QSO Party - Phone/CW/RTTY/PSK31 - sponsored by the
Michigan DX Association from 0000Z May 31 -- 2359 June 1, SO stations
work 36 hours max. Frequencies (MHz): 160 -- 2 meters, no repeater or
satellite, CW - 3.560, 3.720, 7.090, 7.135, 14.075, Phone - 3.870,
7.260, 14.270, 21.370, 28.450. Categories: A (>100 W), B (5 -- 100 W),
C (<5 W), D (Club & MO), E (CW only), F (Mobile), G (Digital, one of
RTTY or PSK31). Great Lakes are MI, IL, IN, WI, MN, OH, PA, NY, VE2,
VE3. Exchange: Name, S/P/C, Great Lakes stations also send county. QSO
Points: Phone - 1 pt, CW/Digital - 2 pts, QRP or mobile - 3 pts.
Score: QSO Points x Great Lakes counties (counted only once). Bonus
points: 500 pts for QSO with W8DXI (once only), mobiles add 100 pts
for each county with at least 10 QSOs. For more information - 
http://www.mdxa1.org/1aglqp.html. Logs to bripaw@yahoo.com (Cabrillo
format) or Brian Pawloski W8BRI, PO Box 140012, Grand Rapids MI
49514-0012.

VHF CONTESTS

Six Club WW Contest - sponsored by the Six Club from 2300Z May 30 --
0200Z June 2. Frequencies: 6 meters. Exchange: 4-digit Grid Square and
Six Club member number if available. QSO Points: own country - 1 pt,
other country - 2 pts, add 1 pt if QSO with Six Club member. Score:
QSO points x grids. For more information - 
http://6mt.com/contest.htm. Logs due June 30 to w4wrl@aol.com or Wayne
Lewis W4WRL, Contest Director, 3338 South Cashua Dr, Florence, SC
29501-6306.

NEWS & PRESS RELEASES

While there were many big stories coming out of the Dayton Hamvention,
for contesters one of the biggest was the ARRL announcing that the
Logbook of the World (LOTW) program was going live for beta test. 
There is a sixty-day period for us to practice submitting log data and
to give feedback to the developers at ARRL.  The complete release
story can be found at
http://www.arrl.org/news/stories/2003/05/15/102/?nc=1 and the complete
instructions for participating in the testing are on the LOTW Web
site, http://www.arrl.org/lotw/#top.  Speaking from my own personal
history with software development, your remarks and observations will
have the greatest usefulness if you take careful notes, save copies of
any submitted data, log any and all messages received from the LOTW
system, and are precise in your description of any problem or
suggested change.  This is just a test phase and all submitted data
will be discarded before the system goes truly live.

Look for some new products observed at the Dayton Hamvention in the
next issue!  Your editor had a great time, despite a little rain on
Saturday.  Attendance seemed a little dampened, but the lines at the
major vendors seemed pretty intense.  I saw a Florida voting machine
in the flea market, as well.

"For those who are planning to comment in the FCC inquiry about BPL,
you may find it useful to read the five articles in the 2003 May issue
of "IEEE Communications Magazine"." (Thanks, Eric K3NA)

RESULTS AND RECORDS

The results article for the 2002 10 Meter Contest has been completed
and the Web version, including numerous tables and graphics is nearly
ready for release.  The 2003 RTTY Roundup package is also nearly ready
for July QST. (Thanks, Dan N1ND)

We're a little light in this section.  Contest managers -- please put
the Rate Sheet on your mailing lists to notify when your contest
results are ready or any other significant public release of
information occurs.  Thanks!

TECHNICAL & TECHNIQUE

Do you have persistent telephone interference problems?  The problem
is often the phone. "Try the RadioShack ET-296 series phones (e.g.
43-874, white, $14.99). If this type of phone receives interference,
try unplugging all other phones in the house, including modems,
answering machines, satellite TV receivers, etc. One of these could be
generating AUDIO interference and putting it out onto the phone line.
If so, an RFI filter on the offending unit should solve that problem.
RadioShack carries a telephone RFI filter (part number 43-150) and you
can also use the K-Com RF-1."  DSL filters may also work.  (Thanks,
Dave K6LL)

If you're interested in another big amateur wire antenna array, Brian
Short K7ON has posted photos of Roy W7YRV's big vee-beam array. "It
operates on 160 -- 10-meters, with best results believed to be on
20-meters and has significant gain and directivity.  The array
consists of 18 towers each 65 high feet around a common center tower
where the feedpoint is. These towers support 18 wires coming from the
common center. Relays select which combinations of the wires are
utilized at a particular time." The photos can be seen at
http://www.k7on.com/w7yrv/index.htm. I wonder if Roy's call has
anything to do with the fact that you can pronounce it, "Dubya Seven
Wire Vee"?  (Thanks, Brian K7ON) 

Larry W1GOR contributes a couple of cable lubrication recommendations
just in time for the summer tower maintenance season. "Gearope is made
by Kano Labs - http://www.kanolabs.com/. Gearope Gear and Cable
Lubricant is sold in liquid form, and in spray cans.  A gallon can
could be divided and put into small containers for a club."  Larry
soaks a cellulose sponge in the lubricant and then slides it along the
cable.  "Another product is PreLube 6 Cable Lubricant sold by Champion
Radio at http://www.championradio.com/misc.html."  Both products are
available as sprays and Gearope is also available as a liquid.

Summer is also electric fence noise-finding season.  There are several
common sources of noise; the charger, foliage on the fence, and poor
fence connections.  Walking the fence line with a portable radio (use
VHF AM, if possible) will quickly identify poor connections or an arc
to nearby plants.  The former should be repaired (use a lineman's
splice of several turns) and the latter should be cleared as a fire
hazard.  If neither are in evidence, check the charger by
disconnecting the fence and listening right at the charger.  These are
rarely repairable and usually need to be replaced if noisy.  Ask the
store clerk to fire up a new charger for you  before buying another
one.

There has been a lot of discussion about key clicks in recent months. 
Some of the top rigs have been exhibiting wider-than-necessary signals
due to sharp rise and fall times of their CW output.  Without getting
into the details here of what creates the bandwidth of a CW signal,
I'm pleased to recommend a good article on the subject: An
enlightening article titled "On the Occupied Bandwidth of CW
Emissions", written by Doug Smith, KF6DX (the chief designer of the
Ten-Tec Orion) is available at
http://www.doug-smith.net/cwbandwidth1.htm. Additional information is
available at Tom W8JI's home page, http://www.w8ji.com/keyclicks.htm.
(Thanks, Earl K6SE)

If you're into very portable operation, Dave NK0E has written a field
contest logger for Palm PDA's. It's freeware, called GOLog. Along with
the software, he has a little keying interface that GOLog can use to
key your rig. It's called the Serial CW Sender, and the New Jersey QRP
Club currently offers it as a kit.  You can find GOLog at
http://home.earthlink.net/~golog, and the Serial CW Sender at
http://www.njqrp.org/palmserialsender/.  The May/June 2003 issue of
QEX also has an interesting article by Paul W1GHZ on a PDA logging
program for VHF-UHF contest rovers called BD.  The software is
available for downloading at http://www.w1ghz.org.

CONVERSATION

The Flip Side

A couple of issues back (9 April) we heard one side of the "Identify
Yourself" issue from an acknowledged contest master, Dick Norton N6AA.
 Dick made several good points as to why not giving your call with
every QSO can improve your rate and help manage a pileup.  Not
surprisingly, other opinions were heard.  My editorial this time deals
with some of those counter-points -- thanks to several readers that
contributed their ideas.

In general, I do not dispute the notion that the station running the
pileup can maximize his or her rate (and those of the callers) by
judiciously skipping the occasional identification.  The key word here
is "judicious".  There is clearly a threshold for not ID-ing beyond
which everyone's rate and error count begin to suffer.

One reader writes "While I agree it isn't necessary to sign your call
after every QSO, going more than a minute or so in a contest is, in my
opinion, discourteous and selfish on the part of the pileup runner by
maximizing his rate at the expense of others."  I agree, and I think
Dick would agree.  Extended periods without an ID just cause problems
for everyone, plus they may be in violation of the local rules for
identifying.  

I don't believe that Dick is advocating not identifying yourself over
a long period of time.  If you read his editorial carefully, he is
simply stating that short-term enhancements -- on the level of a few
QSOs -- are available when the station running the pileup senses that
it is an appropriate time to reduce the frequency of identification. 
I have observed at extremely close range an experienced operator
surfing a wave of incoming callers very, very quickly and with a very
high reliability on both ends.  This was done repeatedly, but only at
certain times when the density, savvy, and signal strength of callers
indicated that there was some low-hanging fruit to be picked.  The
truncated sequences of QSOs generally consumed less than fifteen
seconds but resulted in more than doubling our rate over that period.

Another interesting consideration is the widespread use of packet and
Internet spotting and the effect of too-infrequent ID-ing.  By not
ID-ing, the chances of having one's call mis-spotted are increased. 
In addition, it encourages people to make the QSO and "assume" the
call.  This leads to all manner of trouble on both ends of the log
with penalties assessed for Not-In-Log (NIL) QSOs.  With spots
travelling world-wide in minutes, I would think that a high rate of
identifying oneself would be a useful prophylactic against logging
penalties. 

If you overdo the "incognito" act, some folks will become sufficiently
irritated that they will start to retaliate by working and not logging
the perceived offender.  This often results in an NIL penalty.  I can
attest that I may spin the dial and tune away if more than a few QSOs
go by without an ID.  Even if this doesn't result in a NIL QSO, my
call still remains out of your log.

To be fair -- how many of us are using the poor, "Last Two" technique
during a contest?  This style of operating was created for DX nets,
not high-speed contests.  It's demonstrably less efficient for caller
and callee than giving your full call because of the extra
back-and-forth to get the caller's complete call.  If you think not
ID-ing is frustrating for the station trying to get through the
pileup, "last two" is just as frustrating on the other end, if not
worse.

People are not shy about asking "What's your call?" these days. 
Dealing with these callers can cause more disruption than ID-ing at
frequent intervals.  If the caller has to work the station to find out
the call, the chances of the QSO being a dupe (and wasted time) are
increased on both ends -- not very efficient for anyone.  At the
least, the rhythm of the pileup are disrupted by the caller injecting
the question into the QSO.  Personally, I have found that a consistent
rhythm is helpful in controlling a large pileup because everyone knows
what you're going to do and when.

Finally, some of the top operators, such as N5TJ and OH2BH, have
effectively demonstrated that giving the call nearly every single time
does not automatically disqualify you from making a big score and
winning.

This coming weekend in the WPX CW contest, with exotic prefixes in
abundance, we will all find our accuracy taxed to the limit.  If you
are fortunate enough to be on the right end of such a pileup, be sure
to send your callsign frequently enough to keep it correct in all of
our logs.  When in doubt, send the call out.

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/