Contester's Rate Sheet for September 24, 2003
*********************** Contester's Rate Sheet 24 September 2003 *********************** Edited by Ward Silver, N0AX SUMMARY o California Dreamin' - California QSO Party this weekend! o New series of VHF Fall Sprints announced o Most Wanted Survey - tell DX-peditioners where to go o Lots of Web links o Knowing the Value of Everything BULLETINS o "Logbook of the World" (LoTW)--the long-awaited QSL-cardless ARRL awards and contact credit system--has officially opened for business. This has the potential to save contesters a fair amount of postage expense. Complete details are in the October issue of QST and at http://www.arrl.org/lotw/. o European hams should be aware of another PLC/BPL inquiry with a very close deadline for comments. Check out http://europa.eu.int/information_society/topics/telecoms/regulatory/publiconsult/powerline_communications/text_en.htm for complete information. Thanks, Brendan EI6IZ. BUSTED QSOS o The ARRL EME contest is star-crossed. The date of the contest was erroneously reported the Contest Corral column as Oct 25-26 when it is actually Oct 18-19. (Thanks, Mark W7MEM) ANNOUNCEMENT & NOTICES FOR 24 SEPTEMBER TO 7 OCTOBER 2003 Logs are due for the following contests: September 30 - Keyman's Club of Japan Contest, email to: ja1dd@jarl.com, paper logs to: Yasuo Taneda, JA1DD, 279-233 Mori, Sambu-town, Sambu, Chiba 289-1214, Japan September 30 - SEANET Contest, email to: g3nom@rast.or.th, paper logs to: Ray Gerrard, HS0ZDZ, PO Box 69, Bangkok Airport Post Office 10212, Thailand September 30 - Hawaii QSO Party, email to: kh6j@karc.us, paper logs to: Hawaii QSO Party, PO Box 8960788, Wahiawa, HI 96786-0788, USA October 1 - MI QRP Club Labor Day CW Sprint, email to: n8cqa@att.net, paper logs to: L.T. Switzer, N8CQA, 427 Jeffrey Avenue, Royal Oak, MI 48073-2521, USA October 5 - DARC 10-Meter Digital Contest, email to: df5bx@darc.de, paper logs to: Werner Ludwig, DF5BX, PO Box 1270, 49110 Georgsmarienhuette, Germany 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/RJ Worldwide RTTY DX Contest--sponsored by CQ Magazine from 0000Z Sep 27 - 2400Z Sep 28. Frequencies: 80 - 10 meters. Categories: SOAB (LP, HP>150W), SOSB, Assisted (AB only), MS (LP, HP), M2, MM. Exchange: RST + CQ Zone (W/VE stations also send state/province). QSO Points: own country--1 pt, different country, same continent--2pts, diff. cont.--3pts. Score: QSO points x S/P/C (incl. WAE countries) + CQ Zones counted once per band. For more information: http://www.cq-amateur-radio.com/. Logs due 31 Oct in Cabrillo format to rtty@cqww.com. Scandinavian Activity Contest--SSB--1200Z Sep 27 - 1200Z Sep 28. Frequencies: 80 - 10 meters. Categories: SOAB (QRP <5W, LP <100W, HP), MS, SWL. Exchange: RS(T) + serial number. QSO Points: EU stations - 1 pt, Non-EU - 1 pt on 20 - 10, 3 pts on 80 - 40. Finals score is QSO pts × Scandinavian call areas counted once per band. For more information: http://www.sk3bg.se/contest/text/sacnsc.txt. Logs due Oct 31 to sac@contesting.com or to SACCW or SACSSB, SRAL, PL 44, FIN-00441, Helsinki, Finland. Arkansas QSO Party--CW/SSB/PSK31--sponsored by K1ARK, 0000Z - 0600Z Sep 28, and 1400Z Sep 28 - 0100Z Sep 29. Frequencies (MHz): CW--3.550, 7.050, 14.050, 21.050, 28.050; Phone--3.980, 7.260, 14.260, 21.360, 28.360, 145-147; PSK--3.580, 7.070; 14.070; 21.080; 28.120. Categories: SO, MS, Mobile, (HP >150W, LP, QRP <5W) PSK (QRP and non-QRP). Exchange: RST, state or province, DX stations send "DX." (Arkansas stations send county.) QSO Points: PSK--3 pts, CW--2 pts, SSB--1 pt. Score: QSO points × AR counties (AR station count states, provinces and AR counties) counted once per band. Work mobile stations again when they change counties. Bonus stations: W5YM (25 pts per band/mode), Arkansas ARRL affiliated club station (10 pts). For more information: http://www.arkan.us/. Logs due 30 days after the contest to k1ark@arrl.net or to Bill Smith, K1ARK, 2164 Magnolia Drive, Fayetteville, AR, 72703. Texas QSO Party--CW/Phone/Digital--sponsored by Northwest Amateur Radio Society (NARS), 1400Z Sep 27 - 0200Z Sep 28 and 1400Z - 2000Z Sep 28. Frequencies: CW--40 to 60 kHz above bottom of band, Phone--25 kHz above edge of General segments and 28.300 - 28.500, VHF--50.2, 144.2 MHz. Categories: SO, SO-QRP (<5W CW, <10W Phone), SO-CW Only, MO, Texas SO, Texas MO. Exchange: RST + S/P/C or MM region, TX stations send RST + TX county. QSO Points: Phone--2 pts, CW/Digital--3 pts. Score: non-TX stations--QSO points x TX counties, TX stations--QSO points x TX counties+S/P/C. Multipliers counted once only. For each TX Mobile worked in 5 counties, add 500 points to final score plus 500 points for each 5 additional counties. Add one thousand (1000) points to your final score for every county covered with at least five different contacts. For more information: http://www.txqp.org/. Logs due 31 Oct to k5cx@arrl.net or Texas QSO Party Committee, 16880 East Maglitto Cir, Tomball, TX 77377-8414. Alabama QSO Party--CW/Phone--sponsored by the Central Alabama HF/VHF Contesting Club, 1800Z - 2400Z Sep 27. Frequencies: 160 - 70 cm, SSB, CW, and FM contacts count separately. Categories: SO, MS, Rover, QRP(< 5W), LP (< 200 W), HP. Exchange: RST and S/P/C. Work Rover stations in each county. QSO Points: 1 pt/QSO. Scoring: AL stations--QSOs x states + AL counties + DXCC entities counted once per band. Non-AL stations--QSOs x AL counties counted once per band. For more information: http://web.dbtech.net/~dxcc/page0004.htm. (Note - this is an address change.) Logs due 30 days after the contest to dxcc@dbtech.net or Alabama QSO Party, 4525 Eastern Hills Lane, Cottondale, AL 35453. Rattletap Contest--CW--sponsored by College Amateur Radio Association (CARA), 2100Z Sep 27 - 0100Z Sep 28. Frequencies: all amateur bands, use a bug to make QSOs or work stations using bugs. Categories: SO. Exchange: send "BUG" in place of "RST" during the QSO. Submit a list of stations worked, the type and model of bug you used in the event, your vote for best bug operator you worked, soapbox and photographs. For more information: http://www.qth.com/collegiate/rattletap.htm. Logs due Oct 16 to rattletap@collegiatehams.com or RattleTap, PO Box 150232, Alexandria, Virginia 22315. PSK Rumble (The Fall Classic)--sponsored by Troy ARA, 0000z - 2400z Oct 4. 80-6 meters. Exchange: name and S/P/C. Categories: Normal (>100 W), Great (<20 W), Super (<5 W), Novice, SWL. Score: QSO's x (W/VE/JA/VK call areas + DXCC entities counted once per band). For more information: http://www.n2ty.org/seasons/tara_rumble_rules.html. Logs due Nov 1 via online score submission form at www.n2ty.org/seasons/tara_rumble_score.html. Oceania DX Contest--Phone, supported by the Wireless Institute of Australia (WIA) and New Zealand Association of Radio Transmitters (NZART), 0800Z Oct 4 - 0800Z Oct 5. Frequencies: 160-10 meters, work VK/ZL/Oceania stations only. Categories: SOAB, SOSB, MS, MM, SWL. Exchange: RS(T) and serial number. QSO Points: 160--20 pts, 80--10 pts, 40--5 pts, 20--1 pt, 15--2 pts, 10--3 pts. Score: QSO points × WPX prefixes counted once per band. For more information: http://www.oceaniadxcontest.com/. Logs due Nov 16 in Cabrillo format (preferred) to phoctest@oceaniadxcontest.com or Oceania DX Contest, c/o Wellington Amateur Radio Club Inc., PO Box 6464, Wellington 6030, New Zealand EU Autumn Sprint--SSB, sponsored by the EU Sprint Gang, 1500Z - 1859Z Oct 4 (CW is 1500Z - 1859Z Oct 11). Frequencies: 80-20 meters, work EU stations only. SOAB category only. Exchange: your call, serial number, name, other station's call. Special QSY rule--see Web site. Score is number of QSOs. For more information: http://www.qsl.net/eusprint. Logs due 15 days after the contest to eusprint@kkn.net or Paolo Cortese, I2UIY, PO Box 14, I-27043 Broni (PV), Italy (CW logs to Karel Karmasin, OK2FD, Gen Svobody 636, CZ-674 01 Trebic, Czech Republic). California QSO Party--CW/SSB, sponsored by the Northern California Contest Club, 1600Z Oct 4 - 2200Z Oct 5. Frequencies: 160-2 meters. Categories: SOAB (HP >200W, LP, QRP <5W), MS, MM, CA County Expedition, Mobile, Novice/Tech, Club, School. SO work 24 hours only. New 10-minute rule for MS allows unlimited band changes. CW QSOs in CW subbands, except 160. Work CA stations in each county. County lines count for 1 QSO but multiple counties. Exchange: serial number and S/P/C or CA county. QSO Points: CW--3 pts, Phone--2 pts. Score: QSO points × CA counties (max 58) or CA stations multiply by states and VE call areas (max 58). For more information: http://www.cqp.org/. Logs due by Nov 15 to cqp@contesting.com or to Alan Maenchen, AD6E, 3330 Farthing Way, San Jose, CA 95132. QCWA QSO Party--CW/Phone, 1800Z Oct 4 - 1800Z Oct 5. 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://qcwa.org/2003-qso-party-rules.htm. Send logs to W0HXL, Dick Newsome, 2924 North 48th Street, Omaha NE 68104-3726. RSGB 21/28 MHz Contest--SSB, sponsored by the RSGB, 0700Z - 1900Z Oct 5. Frequencies: 15 and 10 meters (see Web site for band plan). Categories: UK and DX SO or MS (Open, Restricted, QRP <10W) and SWL (Open and Restricted). Exchange: serial number and UK district. QSO Points: 3 pts/QSO. Score QSO points x UK districts (UK stations use DXCC entities plus JA, W, VE, VK, ZL and ZS call areas) counted once per band. For more information: http://www.rsgbhfcc.org/. Logs due Nov 17 to 2128ssb.logs@rsgbhfcc.org or to RSGB--G3UFY, 77 Bensham Manor Road, Thornton Heath, Surrey CR7 7AF, England. International Hellschreiber Contest--sponsored by DARC, from 1400Z - 1600Z Oct 4 (80-meters), 0900Z-1100Z Oct 5 (40-meters), 1800Z-2000Z Oct 9 (144 and 440 MHz). Categories: SO and SWL. Exchange: RST and serial number (add grid square on VHF). QSO Points: 1 pt/QSO on HF and 1 pt/km on VHF. QTC similar to WAE contest also available. Total score: QSO Points x DXCC and WAE entities + JA/W/VE call areas + grid squares. For more information: http://www.darc.de/distrikte/g/T_ATV/DARC-Hell.txt. Logs due 4 weeks after the contest to Werner Ludwid DF5BX, PO Box 1270, D 49110 Georgsmarienhuette, Germany. VHF CONTESTS A new series of Fall Sprints is being sponsored by the Southeastern VHF Society. The rules for all of them are the same and are available at: http://www.svhfs.org/fall_sprint_rules.htm. Put these on your calendar for next year! 144 MHz Fall Sprint - Sep 22 (Monday) - 7 PM to 11 PM local time 222 MHz Fall Sprint - Sep 30 (Tuesday) - 7 PM to 11 PM local time 432 MHz Fall Sprint - Oct 8 - 7 PM to 11 PM local time Microwave (902 MHz and above) Fall Sprint - October 18 - 6 AM to 1 PM local time (Choose any 5 hours, in one hour increments) 50 MHz Fall Sprint - 2300Z Oct 25 - 0300Z Oct 26 Exchange: Call sign and 2x1 degree grid-square locator. Signal report optional. QSO Points: 1 pt/QSO. Total score: QSO points x grid squares. For rovers, count grid squares separately from each new grid square activated and submit separate logs from each grid square. Logs due 4 weeks from the end of the contest in ARRL VHF contest format. 144 MHz Sprint logs to: Ottmar Fiebel W4WSR , PO Box 957, Hayesville, NC 28904 or to ottf@webworkz.com 222 MHz Sprint logs to: Bob Lear K4SZ, PO Box 1269, Dahlonega, GA 30533 or to k4sz@arrl.net 432 MHz Sprint logs to: Jim Worsham W4KXY, 1915 Oak Wind Lane, Buford, GA 30519-6766 or to w4kxy@arrl.net Microwave Sprint logs to: Greg Robinson KB4NVD, 208 Dogwood Acres Rd, Hampton, TN 37658-3348 or to Rover@wireco.net 50 MHz Sprint logs to: Ray Rector WA4NJP, 3493 Holly Springs Rd, Gillsville, GA 30534 or to wa4njp@bellsouth.net NEWS & PRESS RELEASES Rule changes for ARRL contests. (1) Effective Nov 1 (which includes Sweepstakes) in any contest that requires off-time, claimed off-time periods must be at least 30 minutes long. Listening time counts as operating time when calculating off-time. (2) For contests that use the ARRL and Radio Amateurs of Canada (RAC) section as part of the exchange, the Northwest Territories (NWT) multiplier has been renamed "Northern Territories" with the abbreviation "NT". The territories of VE8, VY1 and VY0 (Northwest Territories, Yukon and Nunavut) are now grouped together as a multiplier in the ARRL November Sweepstakes and the ARRL 160-Meter Contests. (3) In contests using geopolitical entities as multipliers - the ARRL RTTY Roundup, the ARRL International DX Contest and the ARRL 10-Meter Contest - the official abbreviation for Northwest Territories is NWT. ARRL encourages contest participants to update the necessary files for their logging software. (Thanks, Dan N1ND) Please contribute to QRZ DX's "Most Wanted" survey. Carl N4AA collects information from DXers around the world and publishes the results broken down by continent and time zone. Your editor's club (Western Washington DX Club) uses the survey's Pacific Time Zone breakdown to determine what expeditions we should support. DX-peditioners around the world use it to determine what countries are needed and who needs them. By voting (and it only takes a couple of minutes) you can let DX travelers know where you need them to go! Point your browser at http://www.dxpub.com/ and click on "Most Wanted Survey". If you're getting ready for the California QSO Party - the nation's largest - here is some handy information. The all-time CQP records are dutifully recorded and waiting to be broken at http://www.cqp.org/Records.html. If you want to know who will be where in California, check out the county plan at http://www.cqp.org/Counties-Plan-2003.html. And to get your juices flowing for this year, the CQP 2002 results can be found at http://www.cqp.org/results/2002/results.pdf. (Thanks, Marc W6ZZZ) Time is short for those young ops interested in a FREE trip to VP5 during the CQWW CW. Response has been disappointing so far with very few entries, so go to http://www.vp5x.com/ for more details. (Thanks, Kyle WA4PGM) RESULTS AND RECORDS The list of Logs Received for 2003 Field Day has been posted at http://www.arrl.org/contests/claimed. Anyone finding an error in their listing needs to contact ARRL by September 30. Logs listed as a checklog are missing required information for reporting and must also contact us by that date. Send your information to contests@arrl.org or phone 860-594-0295. IARU HF Championship logs received are also posted at http://www.arrl.org/contests/results/. January VHF certificates have also been mailed out. (Thanks, Dan N1ND) Truly raising the bar for contest log checking, the validated results for NA CW Sprint are already available at http://www.ncjweb.com/. Because so many logs were submitted electronically, the submission deadline was move to one week after the contest. Once all of the logs were in, N6TR's software crunched away and produced the results. Well over 90% of all QSOs were checked. This is quite an achievement. I hope that other contests with a high proportion of electronic log submissions can follow this lead. Congratulations to contest manager Tree N6TR and the NCJ. The results of the 7th running of the Stew Perry Top Band Distance Challenge have just been published on the web at http://web.jzap.com/k7rat/stew.html. The contest will run this year on December 27-28. (Thanks, Tree N6TR) Detailed results and analysis for the 2003 DL-DX RTTY Contest GROUP (DRCG) are available at http://dl-dx.de/html/statistics.html. (Thanks, Goetz, DJ3IW) If you emailed in an NA SSB Sprint log by Sep 22, you should have received an e-mail confirmation from contest manager Jim, K4MA. You can also check this Web site http://www.ncjweb.com/ssbsprintlogs.php. If you haven't gotten the confirmation or don't see your call on the Web page, please re-send the log. (Thanks, Jim K4MA) TECHNICAL & TECHNIQUE This issue features a big list of Web links to neat stuff...enjoy! I'm sure that those of you on the East Coast are sick of hurricanes, but anyone that wants to know more may find the NASA Earth Observatory site (http://earthobservatory.nasa.gov/Library/Hurricanes/) and the Hurricane Watch Net site (http://www.hwn.org/) interesting. Need a Smith Chart in HTML or PDF format? Here they are: http://www.ee.surrey.ac.uk/Personal/D.Jefferies/rcsmith.pdf and http://www.ee.surrey.ac.uk/Personal/D.Jefferies/smithc.html. Smith charts make interesting and novel place settings! A popular VHF/UHF yagi construction technique is to use insulated shoulder washer and "keeper" nuts. You can't find these at any of the regular hardware stores, but you can get them at reasonable cost from C3i Antennas (http://www.c3iusa.com/partkits.phtml), Byers Chassis Kits (http://www.flash.net/~k3iwk/), Downeast Microwave (http://www.downeastmicrowave.com/), and Directive Systems (http://www.directivesystems.com/pricelst.htm). (Thanks, Jim W7DHC) John, K9DX has posted some results from measurements made this summer on vertical versus sloping feeds for Beverage antennas at http://nidxa.org/memberWWW/k9dx_home.htm. This will be of interest to low-band enthusiasts. Thinking of changing calls to a vanity call? Tony K8ZT wrote an interesting article on making the right choice. "Choosing Your Ideal Vanity Call Sign" is available at http://www.qsl.net/k8zt/vanity_callsign.htm with an accompanying spreadsheet. After a few notes on lubricants and such, Sid AL7KP sent me an interesting catalog from AMSOil. AMS makes a number of synthetic oils, greases, filters, and related products. You can find more information on all of their products at http://www.amsoil.com/. We're all familiar with the Bud and Premier snap-together and project-sized aluminum enclosures. I've also been using some enclosures from Sescom (http://www.sescom.com/) that are more modular, providing additional design flexibility. Sescom also has a line of chassis punches and some interesting audio equipment. This is a good source to have in your workshop bag of tricks. Need a cool standing wave demo for Elmer-ing? http://lightning.qrp.com/~wd9eyb/standing/ is a neat way to show how the waves are created. (Thanks, Jim WD9EYB) The article "Getting Started with Digital Sound Card Modes with the Yaesu FT-817" is available at http://www.waypoint.com/users/~discobay/amateur_radio.htm. It describes the steps taken to interface the FT-817 to a computer sound card system to operate one of the digital modes such as BPSK31, QPSK31, BPSK63, MFSK16, RTTY, CW, Helleschreiber, SSTV, MT63, Throb, Packet and others. Some of the information is specific to the FT-817, but a lot of it will be applicable to other rigs. (Thanks, Clint KK7UQ) If you use Anderson Power-Pole (tm) connectors, putting the terminals on the wires and getting them into the connectors is a little confusing at first. The following Web page has a nice set of instructions and photos to guide you through the first time. http://www.slkelectronics.com/battery/APP.htm CONVERSATION Knowing the Value of Everything Well, if you can't know everything, you can try to measure it at least. To that end, I've come up with three handy new metrics. These will be popular, I'm sure, as we try to judge the state of the world as it pertains to ham radio in general and contesting in particular. Index #1: Attention Span Index - the ASI measures how well the contest sponsors do in publishing results based on the delay and the average QSO rates during the contest. ASI = 1 / [ (Published Date - Contest date in days)*(Avg. QSO Rate/hour * 24 hrs/day ) ] Bigger values are better, complying with the N2AA Prime Directive that "Loud is Good". Higher rates for a constant publishing delay reduce the index. Longer publishing delays for a constant rate reduce the index. A fast contest with short publishing delays is good. A slow contest with long publishing delays is also good. Well, not good, but tolerable, or at least expected. Since ASI is a dimensionless quantity, not unlike nepers, we get to choose our own units. I suggest the "kudo," which has a value of 0.000001. The recently completed NA CW Sprint is the obvious winner with an ASI estimated at 85.03 kudo = 1 / ( 7 * 70 * 24). The recently published Stew Perry TBDC results come in at 1 / (265 * 10 * 24) = 15.72 kudos. Index #2: Used Tower Section Cost - There is a sizeable traffic in used tower sections among hams. Much like the gold standard, used tower sections serve as a valuable unit of currency. Here's how to calculate how much each is worth in dollars. Start with: Price When You Bought It * Number of Decades Ago That Was Subtract: - the Number of Times It Has Fallen Down - the Number of 5# Sledge Whacks to Get Sections to Fit Together - the Number of Inches Your Waist Size Has Increased Since It Was Last Climbed - the Number of Z-braces You Cut To Get a Big Rotator In There Add: + 5 * Number of Famous Hams that Owned It Previously + 1 if Your Call Has Appeared In the Top Ten of Any Recent Contest Analyzing one of my own cosmetically-impaired Rohn 25 sections, it should be about $13. Hmmm. Index #3: Couchy's Function - This is an estimate of the number of nights that you will spend on the couch, in the doghouse, or the local equivalent after competing in the next weekend-long contest. Fc = C + [ A * F / (1 + W) ] C - Cost of any new equipment purchased for the contest divided by the cost of a night out in your town. W - Number of weeks prior to the contest that the contest was written on the calendar F - Number of family events written on the calendar during the same Fri, Sat, Sun A - Number of home entertainment appliances with which you will interfere during the contest For example, if I buy $400 worth of gear and a night out costs $80, C is 5. If I don't write the contest on our calendar until two weeks before, interfere with two phones and one TV, and miss a soccer game, a movie, and a visit to the neighbors: Fc = 400/80 + [ 3 * 3 / (1 + 2) ] = 5 + [ 3 * 1 ] = 8 days of penance. I'm sure you can all see the value in applying these useful formulas to our contesting enterprises. Going into contest season, we can use all the help we can get! 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/
