Contester's Rate Sheet for July 14, 2004
*********************** Contester's Rate Sheet 14 July 2004 *********************** Edited by Ward Silver N0AX SUMMARY o RSGB IOTA and CQ WW VHF Contests o Hashafisti Scratchi and Sarasota TV Field Day Story o WAEDC Super Bowl o The Adventures of Zack and Max Comic Book o Solving a Prop-Pitch Puzzle o What's My Excuse? BULLETINS o No bulletins this issue. BUSTED QSOS o The NCCC Practice Sprints run from 0340Z - 0400Z, not 0300-0400Z as reported in the previous issue. (Thanks, Scott KA9FOX and others) o Peter N5UWY/9 caught my mislabeling of Nunavut (VY0) as a province. It's a territory, just like the Northwest Territories from which it was carved, and Yukon Territory. ANNOUNCEMENTS & NOTICES FOR 14 JULY TO 27 JULY 2004 Logs are due for the following contests: July 14 - ARRL June VHF QSO Party, email to: JuneVHF@arrl.org, paper logs and diskettes to: June VHF, ARRL, 225 Main St, Newington, CT 06111, USA July 15 - West Virginia QSO Party, email to: WA8WV@aol.com, paper logs and diskettes to: Dave Ellis, WA8WV, 610 Hillsdale Drive, Charleston, WV 25302, USA July 19 - Kid's Day Contest, no logs are required, but a certificate may be obtained by sending a 9 X 12 SASE to: Boring Amateur Radio Club, PO Box 1357, Boring, OR 97009. Comments can be posted on the Kids email list at http://lists.contesting.com/pipermail/kids/. July 26 - UK DX Contest, CW, email to: srars@srars.org, paper logs and diskettes to: UK DX Contest, CW, Scottish-Russian ARS, PO Box 7469, Glasgow G42 0YD, Scotland, UK July 27 - Ukrainian DX DIGI Contest, email only to: orionua@izmail.uptel.net. July 27 - Marconi Memorial HF Contest, email to: ik6ptj@qsl.net, paper logs and diskettes to: ARI sez.di Fano, PO Box 35, 61032 FANO (PS), Italy July 27 - ARRL Field Day, email to: fieldday@arrl.org, paper logs and diskettes to: Field Day Entries, 225 Main St., Newington, CT 06111, USA July 27 - ARCI Milliwatt Field Day, email to: wb5khc@2hams.net, paper logs and diskettes to: Tom Owens, WB5KHC, Attn: Milliwatt Field Day, 1916 Addington St., Irving, TX 75062-3505, 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 North American RTTY QSO Party - sponsored by the National Contest Journal from 1800Z Jul 17 - 0600Z Jul 18. Frequencies: 80--10 meters, 100 watt max. power. Categories SOAB and M2, SO stations operate 10 hours max. with off times of at least 30 min.. Exchange: Name and S/P/C. QSO Points: 1 pt/QSO. Score is QSO Points x S/P/C (NA entities only) counted once per band. DX QSOs count for QSO points, but not as multipliers. For more information: http://www.ncjweb.com/. Logs due 14 days after the contest to rttynaqp@ncjweb.com or Wayne Matlock, K7WM, Rt 2 Box 102, Cibola, AZ 85328. CQC Great Colorado Gold Rush - CW - sponsored by the Colorado QRP Club, from 2000Z - 2200Z Jul 18. Frequencies: 20-meters only. Categories: Wire, Vertical, Beam, or Portable. Exchange: RST + S/P/C + Category + CQC member number or power output. Work stations up to three times during the contest, with at least 30 min. between QSOs. QSO Points: 1st QSO - 3 pts, 2nd QSO - 2 pts, 3rd QSO - 1pt. Score: QSO Points x S/P/C + CQC members. For more information: http://www.cqc.org/contests. Logs due 30 days after the contest to contest@cqc.org or Colorado QRP Club, PO Box 17174, Golden, CO 80402-6019. RSGB Islands-On-The-Air Contest - CW/SSB - sponsored by the RSGB from 1200Z Jul 24 - 1200Z Jul 25. Frequencies: 80-10 meters. Categories: SOAB (SSB/CW/Mixed), SOAB-Limited (SSB/CW/Mixed, 12 hours max.), MS. All categories Island or World (non-Island). Exchange: RS(T) and serial number, Island stations add IOTA reference number. QSO Points: Contacts with own IOTA - 3 pts, with other IOTA - 15 pts, non-island - 3 pts. Score: QSO points x IOTA refs, counted once per band and mode. For more information: http://www.contesting.co.uk/hfcc/iota.shtml or iotacontest@rsgbhfcc.org. Logs due Sep 1 to iota.logs@rsgb.org or RSGB IOTA Contest, PO Box 9, Potters Bar, Herts EN6 3RH, England. Russian RTTY WW Contest, sponsored by Radio from 0000Z Jul 24 - 2400Z Jul 25. Frequencies: 80 - 10 meters. Categories: SOAB, SOSB, MO, SWL. Exchange: RST + CQ Zone number + Russian oblast. QSO Points: 5 pts - own continent, 10 pts - diff cont. Total Score: QSO Points x DXCC entities and oblasts counted once per band. For more information: http://www.radio.ru/. (This site is in Russian only) Logs due 1 Sep to contest@radio.ru or Russian RTTY WW Contest, Radio Magazine, Seliverstov per 10, Moscow 107045, Russia. Flight of the Bumblebees - CW - sponsored by the Adventure Radio Society, 1700Z - 2100Z Jul 25. Bumblebees are low power portable stations that walk, bike, or boat to their sites and sign "/BB" after their calls. Frequencies (MHz): 7.040, 14.060, 21.060, 28.060. Exchange: RST, S/P/C, and Bumblebee Number or power (5 watts maximum). Score: QSOs x number of different Bumblebees contacted x 3. For more information - http://www.arsqrp.com/ars/pages/bumblebees/bb_rules.html. Logs due 14 days after the contest via the ARS Web site. VHF CONTESTS World-Wide Mid-Summer Six Club Contest, sponsored by the Six Club from 2300Z Jul 16 - 0300Z Jul 18. Frequencies: 50 MHz only. Categories: SO only. Exchange: Grid Square. QSO Points: own country - 1 pt, diff. country (incl. KH6 and KL7) - 2 pts. Score: QSO Points x grid squares (counted only once). For more information: http://6mt.com/contest.htm. Logs due 30 days after the contest to w4wrl@aol.com or to Wayne Lewis Sr, Six Club Contest Director, 3338 S. Cashua Dr, Florence SC 29501-6306. CQ WW VHF Contest - all modes - sponsored by CQ Magazine from 1800Z Jul 17 - 2100Z Jul 18. Frequencies: 50 and 144 MHz bands, except 146.52 MHz (and other national simplex calling frequencies) and repeater frequencies. Please avoid the DX windows and international calling frequencies. Categories: SOAB, SOSB, MM, Rover, QRP (<10W). Exchange: Call sign and four-digit Maidenhead grid. Work Rover stations in each grid. QSO Points: 50 MHz - 1 pt, 144 MHz - 2 pts. Score: QSO Points x grids counted once per band (Rovers count grids from each activated grid). For more information: http://www.cq-amateur-radio.com/. Logs in Cabrillo format due 1 Sep to cqvhf@cqww.com or CQ VHF Contest, 25 Newbridge Rd., Hicksville, NY 11801. NEWS AND PRESS RELEASES The new Field Day on-line submission form is working quite well - more than 450 entries have been received this way so far. Give it a try at http://www.b4h.net/cabforms/. While you're at it, be sure to upload your Field Day stories and photos to the on-line Soapbox page at http://www.arrl.org/contests/soapbox/. Look for the 2004 ARRL DX article to be opened to ARRL members this week. 2003 Sweepstakes and 160-Meter Contest certificates have all been sent and the Sweepstakes plaques are hitting the mail, as well. (Thanks, Dan N1ND) Have you checked out the July issue of National Geographic? It contains a great article on the sun, including a lot of discussion about flares, CMEs, magnetic fields and other wonderful things that hams pay a lot of attention to. The photography is also tip-top and you'll enjoy just looking at the graphics. Ellen W1YL wrote to note that CQ's Hashafisti Scratchi was the original presenter of the "Innate Perversity of Inanimate Objects (IPOIO)" to the Amateur Radio press. She also included this link to a very nice Sarasota Field Day TV story - http://scg.co.sarasota.fl.us/videos/20040625radio7.asx. You'll need a streaming audio player to listen. ICOM has just published a great new comic book about ham radio. Aimed squarely at pre-teens and teens, "The Adventures of Zack and Max, The Odyssey Begins" is an easy read with the up-to-date Japanese comic style popular today. For younger kids, there is a coloring book version. The story for the comic was created by the fourth-grade class of Dave KI7YP and has that "rings true" feel without adult condescension. They did a great job! Both books can be downloaded at no cost from http://www.icomamerica.com/amateur/comic_book/ and there is a preview feature. Craig K1QX of Radioware and the Radio Bookstore wrote to let Rate Sheet readers know that he stocks the Dare electric fence insulators, including a standoff model. You can find them at http://www.radio-ware.com/products/blstd.htm. Bob W2SR modestly points to Ed K9EW, Harvey W4TG, and Jim WD4AIR as those who found the products originally. NZART, the New Zealand organization for Amateur Radio has adapted the standard Region 3 band plan for 160 meters. The ZL band plan is now narrow-band modes from 1.800 to 1.840 MHz, and other modes from 1.840 to 1.950 MHz. (Thanks, Greg ZL3IX) Ken K6TA invites contesters to join the Northern California Contest Club at their annual meeting in Jackson, CA. (NE California) You can find all the details at http://www.nccc.cc/meetings.html. The Worked All Europe contest is featuring a "Super Bowl" this year. By entering the contest and making a checked score of 10,000 points or more, you become eligible for one of 50 prizes, ranging from T-shirts to a Jupiter Ten-Tec transceiver. See http://www.darc.de/referate/dx/xedcws.htm for complete details and rules. You might want to set aside the WAEDC weekends this year! (Thanks, Ben DL6RAI) If you think VHF contesting is all about dinky antennas, look at this elephant gun and reconsider - http://www.qsl.net/n7epd/images/june2004/6m%20beam.jpg (it may load slowly). This is from the K7CW June VHF QSO Party expedition to Table Mountain, WA northwest of Ellensburg. The boom is 50-feet long. Not bad for a portable operation! RESULTS AND RECORDS The log-checking and results are done for the 2004 Mid-Atlantic QSO Party. They will be found under 'RESULTS' section on the Web at http://www.qsl.net/maqso/index.html. Awards are being made ready for printing and should be distributed quite soon. (Thanks, Chuck K3FT) The results of the 2004 Missouri QSO Party are now available on-line at http://www.qsl.net/w0ma/mo_qso_party_results_2004.htm. Certificate winners are shown in red. Pretty fast work! Participation in this year's WRTC-Style Challenge during the IARU HF Championship was down, but the results can be found, nonetheless, at http://www.wwdxc.org/. Good conditions helped our repeating teams make major improvements over last year's scores. While you're there, you can take a peek at the WARC-Speed QRP Challenge results, too. There are some pretty amazing QRP totals for a year's effort. TECHNICAL 75-ohm hardline is a common surplus item from CATV companies. If the 1.5:1 VSWR in a 50-ohm ham world gives you heartburn, you can make a simple single-band match by using two 1/12-wavelength pieces of cable. At the 50-ohm point, connect a 1/12-wavelength piece of the 75-ohm cable, followed by a 1/12-wavelength piece of the 50-ohm cable, which is then connected to the 75-ohm cable. This will only work on a single band, but if you are feeding a monoband antenna, the method will work well. (Thanks, Jukka OH6LI) Ed, AC5DC contributes a link to an interesting article about the different types of rechargeable batteries and their charging requirements. Start at http://www.portabledesign.com/ and click 'In This Issue', "Features", "Cover Feature." The title of the article is "Avoid pitfalls when recharging batteries to ensure long life." The Single-Op, Two-Radio Web site maintained by Jeff K8ND is undergoing a major facelift this summer. Check out the progress at http://home.columbus.rr.com/jmaass/Radio/K8ND_SO2R.htm. What started out as a simple reference page has outgrown its current format. Jeff encourages you to send him photos of your SO2R setup at the address on the Web site. In trying to find out how to connect unlabeled prop-pitch motor wiring, K1TTT contributed the following useful procedure. The prop pitch consists of a large motor and a three-phase synchro position sensor with an excitation coil. By exciting the synchro coils, a companion indicator in the shack will rotate to match the orientation of the three coils in the motor. I'll let Dave tell it..."For normal wiring you should see two fat wires which are power to the motor and five other wires for the synchro and excitation coil. First, apply power to the fat wires and see which way the motor rotates, reverse if needed. For the remaining five wires, measure resistance from each wire to every other wire. You should find two of them with continuity to each other and none of the other three - this is the excitation coil. The other three should have continuity to each other. Connect the indicator to these three wires in any combination and apply voltage to the excitation coil. Rotate the antenna, and if the indicator turns the wrong way, reverse any two of the three wires. If the indicator is 120 degrees off, shift all three indicator connections to the adjacent terminal and try again." Got it? It's easier than disassembling the prop pitch, that's for sure! CONVERSATION What's My Excuse? You would think that after promoting the WRTC-Style Challenge I would be on a team myself, but no. Events conspired against my putting in a big effort this year. To be specific, plumbing events. Homeowners everywhere immediately begin to cringe at the thought and right they are to do so. Just the word strikes fear deep in their hearts, conjuring up visions of multiple trips to the hardware store in dirty clothes to purchase unusual and bizarre items with names like "Closet Flange." They know that it is rare that the plumbing repair will confine itself just to the plumbing. Oh, no! You will find yourself working with insulation, linoleum, drywall, paint and crawling into unusual places around the house that an adult human was not intended to work in without debilitating pain. The only good thing about plumbing problems is relating them to others or hearing about someone else's. Read on. So...I discover a wet spot on the wall of my office above my workbench, then, horrors, mold behind a parts cabinet a foot higher! A leak! But no mold or dampness in the remaining four feet to the ceiling or on the ceiling. Hmmm. Well, that's where the water lines go to the upstairs bathroom and the waste line comes downstairs. Looks like some drywall is coming out - if you've seen my office/workshop/ham shack, you know this is going to be a mess because of the amount of stuff packed in there. OK. I cut out the moldy and wet drywall (a 1' x 3' section, or 30 cm x 90 cm for our international readers) and, sure enough, a little stream of water has been and is trickling down the outside of the waste line. A coupling is touching the inside of the drywall at the moldy spot and that's why the higher areas are dry. OK. I can fix the drywall IF the leak can be stopped. It's gotta be the toilet. Off comes the toilet. No obvious flaws, but the wax ring seal looks ugly (duh) - that's probably it. I replace the wax seal and deal with all the toilet stuff (it's amazingly un-smelly, actually) and put it all back together. Still leaking. Remove toilet...again. No obvious flaws, but I wreck the wax ring in the process, so that will have to be re-replaced. Where's the leak? I re-cement the flange/pipe junction, wait for a while, and pour water down the hole. It still leaks. The cat (yes, probably the same cat implicated in the Field Day Cooler Caper) contributes her own leak on the floor as some kind of twisted endorsement of the whole process. I make a note to replace the cat. I get a Brilliant Idea - the leak must be lower in the pipe! I don't really want this to be the answer because it implies a bad junction deep in the bowels (so to speak) of the plumbing. How to find out? Ah - the plastic hose I bought on a whim, just for stuff like this. Out comes the hose - it gets taped to the sink faucet and shoved into the waste line about four feet. Water runs - no leak. Pull out 6" (15 cm). No leak. Pull out another 6" - it leaks. What? 3' down the line? Oh, um, poop! Back to the office and remove another shelf. The last shelf, actually. My entire workshop is now piled on the floor. I cut out a 1' square of drywall just below the ceiling. The waste line is bone dry there. I smell victory (well, not exactly victory) and cut out the remaining two feet of drywall (now having opened a much larger 1' x 6' hole) and...there...it...is. Right behind a little hole in the drywall I mistakenly drilled for a shelf bracket about 14 years ago is a 3/32" hole PRECISELY in the middle of the plastic waste water pipe with a water track coming out of it. Isn't that special? I recall PERFECTLY the sequence of events involving the ultrasonic stud finder and being puzzled in finding no stud where one was indicated. Ah well, 6" to the right was the real stud and the shelves were happily installed. One tiny bit of putty and a smidgen of plastic pipe cement and my leak is over. If only it were that simple. As homeowners know, the fun was just beginning since the drywall had to be replaced, patched, and painted. The upstairs bathroom was still torn asunder. I had to re-install the toilet and also replace all of the now-leaky hardware that collapsed on being removed. Oh, and did I mention that the downstairs toilet decided to join in the fun, requiring a new flapper valve and float assembly? True! Three days later, order had been restored, both toilets in the house had been placated, and the IARU starts in the morning at 5 AM. Not! Just thought you'd like to hear the tale...now where's that cat? 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
