Contester's Rate Sheet for October 20, 2004
*********************** Contester's Rate Sheet 20 October 2004 *********************** Edited by Ward Silver N0AX SUMMARY o CQ WW SSB - A Contest With A Flare For the Dramatic o QRP ARCI Fall QSO Party - The CQ WW of the QRP World o Chuck Reville K3FT - Silent Key (see Results and Records) o New CQ WW records and CTY files in time for CQ WW SSB o NCJ News by K9LA o MD-DC and MI QSO Party and Stew Perry Results Available o CQ WW Records and New CTY Files Published o Bandmaster Software by VE3NEA o So...BPL, Now What? BULLETINS o No bulletins this issue. BUSTED QSOS o Oops #1 - the battery charger circuit mentioned in the last issue doesn't use a UC3906. In fact, it mentions the drawbacks of UC3906-based chargers. That's what I get for being in a hurry with the cut-and-paste - decaf next time, I promise. (Thanks, Kirk N7UK) o Oops #2 - "Thank you" in Portuguese is "obrigado", not "obligado". (Obrigado, Paul K7CW) o Oops #3 - Perry K4PWO spotted a typo in the Web site for N3FJP's software - it's http://www.n3fjp.com/. ANNOUNCEMENTS & NOTICES FOR 20 OCTOBER TO 3 NOVEMBER 2004 Logs are due for the following contests: October 20 - Collegiate QSO Party, email to: qsoparty@collegiatehams.com, paper logs and diskettes logs to: CARA, PO Box 150232, Alexandria, VA 22315, USA October 21 - SARL 80m QSO Party, email to: admin@sarl.org.za, paper logs and diskettes logs to: The Contest Committee, PO Box 1721, Strubensvallei 1735, South Africa October 24 - UBA ON Contest, SSB, email to: on5wl@pandora.be, paper logs and diskettes logs to: Leon Welters, ON5WL, Borgstraat 80, B-2580 Beerzel, Belgium October 24 - EU Autumn Sprint, CW, email to: eusprint@kkn.net, paper logs and diskettes logs to: Karel Karmasin, OK2FD, Gen. Svobody 636, 674 01 Trebic, Czech Republic October 24 - Asia-Pacific Fall Sprint, CW, email to: apsprint@kkn.net, paper logs and diskettes logs to: (none) October 25 - Alabama QSO Party, email to: dxcc@dbtech.net, paper logs and diskettes logs to: Alabama QSO Party, 4525 Eastern Hills Lane, Cottondale, AL 35453, USA October 25 - 10-10 Int. 10-10 Day Sprint, email to: (none), paper logs and diskettes logs to: Steve Rasmussen, N0WY, 312 N. 6th Street, Plattsmouth, NE 68048, USA October 26 - Arkansas QSO Party, email to: k1ark@arrl.net, paper logs and diskettes logs to: Bill Smith, K1ARK, 3032 Strawberry Drive, Fayetteville, AR 72703, USA October 26 - 222 MHz Fall Sprint, email to: ottf@wbia.net, paper logs and diskettes logs to: Ottmar Fiebel W4WSR, PO Box 957, Hayesville, NC 28904, USA October 27 - International HELL-Contest, email to: dl9gs@darc.de, paper logs and diskettes logs to: A.Schlendermann, DL9GS, Postfach 102201, D-44807 Bochum, Germany October 27 - Fall QRP Homebrewer Sprint, email to: n2cq@arrl.net, paper logs and diskettes logs to: Ken Newman, N2CQ, 81 Holly Drive, Woodbury, NJ 08096, USA October 29 - CQ Worldwide DX Contest, RTTY, email to: rtty@cqww.com, paper logs and diskettes logs to: (none) October 30 - TARA PSK Rumble Contest, email to: (none), paper logs and diskettes logs to: (none) , October 31 - German Telegraphy Contest, email to: dtc@agcw.de, paper logs and diskettes logs to: Uwe Hiller, DK3WW, PF 390268, D-14092 Berlin , Germany October 31 - Scandinavian Activity Contest, SSB, email to: sac@ssa.se, paper logs and diskettes logs to: SACSSB, Jan-Eric Rehn, SM3CER, Lisataet 18, SE-863 32 Sundsbruk, Sweden October 31 - Texas QSO Party, email to: k5cx@arrl.net, paper logs and diskettes logs to: Texas QSO Party Committee, 16880 East Maglitto Circle, Tomball, TX 77377-8414, USA October 31 - Washington State Salmon Run and QSO Party, email to: salmonrun@wwdxc.org, paper logs and diskettes logs to: WA Salmon Run, Western Washington DX Club, PO Box 395, Mercer Island, WA 98040 USA October 31 - ALARA Contest, email to: alaracontest@wia.org.au, paper logs and diskettes logs to: Mrs. Marilyn Syme, VK3DMS, 99 Magnolia Avenue, Mildura 3500 VIC, Australia October 31 - All Asian DX Contest, Phone, email to: aaph@jarl.or.jp, paper logs and diskettes logs to: JARL, All Asian DX Contest, CW, 170-8073, Japan October 31 - Scandinavian Activity Contest, CW, email to: sac@ssa.se, paper logs and diskettes logs to: SACCW, Jan-Eric Rehn, SM3CER, Lisataet 18, SE-863 32 Sundsbruk, Sweden October 31 - UBA ON Contest, CW, email to: on5wl@pandora.be, paper logs and diskettes logs to: Leon Welters, ON5WL, Borgstraat 80, B-2580 Beerzel, Belgium The following contests are scheduled: Note that the following abbreviations are used to condense the contest rules summaries: SO - Single-Op; M2 - Multi-Op - 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 USI W/VE Islands QSO Party-- CW/Digital/SSB - sponsored by the US Islands Awards Program from 1600Z Oct 23 to 2359Z Oct 24. Frequencies: 160 -- 6 meters. Categories: W/VE-phone, W/VE-CW/Digital, as Non-Island, Island, or Island Rover, plus DX and SWL. Exchange: RS(T), island name and USI or CISA number (S/P/C for non-island stations). Non-island stations work island stations only. Work stations once per island per mode. QSO Points: island - 5 pts, non-island -- 1 pt. Score: QSO Points x states + provinces. For more information: http://www.eng.mu.edu/usislands/usvetest.html. Logs due Nov 30 to wa4ja@arrl.net or to WA4JA, John Almon, 105 Flintlock Drive, Franklin, TN 37064-2351. QRP ARCI Fall QSO Party--CW, sponsored by QRP ARC International, 1200Z Oct 23 - 2400Z Oct 24, operate 24 hrs max. Frequencies (MHz): 1.810, 3.560, 3.710, 7.040, 14.060, 21.060, 28.060. Categories: SOAB, SO-High Band (20-6), SO-Low Band (160-40). QSO Points: member QSOs--5 pts, non-member on same cont--2 pts, non-members on diff cont--4 pts. Score: QSO points x S/P/C x Power Multiplier (< 55 mW x 20, <250 mW ×15, <1 W ×10, <5 W output ×7, >5 W ×1). For more information: http://2hams.net/ARCI/index.htm. Submit entry form via contest Web site. Logs due 30 days after contest to wb5khc@2hams.net or QRP ARCI Contest Manager, Tom Owens WB5KHC, 1916 Addington Street, Irving, Texas 75062-3505. 4th Annual Fists Coast to Coast Contest--CW--sponsored by FISTS Northwest Club, K7FFF, 0000Z - 2400Z October 24. Frequencies: 80-10m. Categories: SOAB, MS, (QRP/QRO). Exchange: RST, name, state or DX prefix, and FISTS number or power. QSO Points and scoring depends on number of times club is worked, for more information: http://www.tomochka.com/k7fff/fnw_c2c04.html. No logs are required, just send total score and list of clubs contacted to FistsC2C@yahoo.com within 30 days of the contest. CQ Worldwide DX Contest--SSB, sponsored by CQ Magazine, 0000Z Oct 30 - 2400Z Oct 31. (CW is 0000Z Nov 27 - 2400Z Nov 28). Frequencies: 160-10 meters. Categories: SOAB and SOSB (HP >100W, LP, QRP <5W), MS, M2, MM. MS have 10 minute rule. Exchange RS(T) and CQ zone. QSO Points: same cont--1 pts (NA stations count 2 pts), diff cont--3 pts. Stations in the same country may be worked for zone credit only. Score: QSO points x CQ Zones + DXCC entities and WAE countries counted once per band. For more information: http://www.cqww.com/. Logs due Dec 1 to ssb@cqww.com or to CQ Magazine, 25 Newbridge Rd, Hicksville, NY 11801. 10-10 Int. CW/Digital Contest, 0001Z Oct 30 - 2400Z Oct 31. 10-meters only. Exchange: call, name, state and 10-10 number (if available). QSO Points: nonmembers--1 pt, members--2 pts. Total score: sum of QSO points. For more information: http://www.ten-ten.org/. Logs due Nov 15 to tentencontest@alltel.net or Steve Rasmussen N0WY, 312 N 6th Street, Plattsmouth, NE 68048-1302. VHF CONTESTS ARRL International EME Contest, 0000Z Oct 30 - 2400Z Oct 31. Frequencies: 2.3 GHz and higher (Dec 4 - 5 on 50 - 1296 MHz) Categories: SOAB, SOSB, MO, Commercial. Exchange: signal report. QSO Points: 100 pts/QSO. Score: QSO points x W/VE states/provinces + DXCC entities (counted once per band). For more information: http://www.arrl.org/contests/forms/. Logs due Jan 5, 2005 to emecontest@arrl.org or EME Contest, ARRL, 225 Main St, Newington, CT 06111. NEWS AND PRESS RELEASES The 2004 Field Day Web report is just about ready for release. Updated General Rules, HF Rules and VHF Rules, and the rules for Straight Key Night, RTTY Round-up, January VHF SS, and the ARRL DX Contest are now posted on the ARRL Contest Web site (http://www.arrl.org/contest). Printing of the 2004 DX Contest certificates has begun, as well. (Thanks, Dan N1ND) NCJ News by Carl K9LA (NCJ Editor) - The November/December NCJ should be in the mail within the next week or two. This issue has three IARU HF Championship features (IK2DZN by Claudio IK2DZN, SN0HQ by Tom SP5UAF, and PJ2HQ by Cindy, wife of Geoff W0CG), along with three technical articles (an anti-Murphy box for SO2R stations by Terry N4TZ, improved stack switching also by Terry N4TZ, and short loaded verticals by Al K3LC). Henry N4UH talks about his last maximum-effort contest due to age. Dink N7WA gives us some history and operational information on how your score gets posted to the 3830 reflector. John K3MD talks about food and the single op. Gary W5ZL tells of the Central Texas DX and Contest Club's 'Introduction to Contesting' forum at the Austin hamfest. Rounding out the November/December issue are regular columns by Gary W9XT, Paul K5AF, John WA9ALS, Jon N0JK, Bill NG3K, and Bruce WA7BNM. And the January 2004 NAQP CW and SSB results and the July 2004 NAQP RTTY results are in this issue. Experience once-in-a-lifetime amateur radio camaraderie by joining Finnish contesters and DX-ers in a maritime mobile adventure aboard the Viking Line "Gabriella" through OH-OH0-SM-OH0-OH. The trip from 21-23 Jan 2005 is being organized by Contest Club Finland http://www.qsl.net/ccf/ and the OH DX Foundation http://www.ohdxf.fi/. For more information, contact Pasi OH2IW/OH6UM at oh2iw@oh2u.com. Just in case you didn't know, this year marks the 100th anniversary of the invention of the "Fleming Valve" also known as the "Tube". In 1904 Sir Ambrose Fleming patented the Valve Diode and thus led us faster down the path of electronics. (Thanks, Gregg W9DHI) Want to get started in VHF+ contesting? For the last three years the Pacific Northwest VHF Society has held an annual "contest within a contest" on Straight Key Night. All SKN rules are followed, but contacts are made on 6, 2, 220, 432 and 1296. Participants making a contact on each of these bands are said to have made a "clean sweep". The PNWVHFS email reflector is used to post comments and progress during the contest and to poke fun at the other operators. Start now, so you're not putting up antennas on December 31st! (Thanks, Lynn N7CFO) With a big SSB contest on the way, we could learn to say "Five Nine" and our zone in Portuguese for all our PY QSOs, couldn't we? 0 - zero - ("ZEH-ru") 1 - um or uma - ("oong" or "U-ma") 2 - dois or duas - ("doysh" or "DU-ash") 3 - tres - ("tresh") 4 - quatro - ("KWAH-tru") 5 - cinco - ("SING-ku") 6 - seis - ("seysh") 7 - sete - ("SEH-t'") 8 - oito - ("OY-tu") 9 - nove - ("NOH-v'") Repeat after me - "You're cinco nove, OM!" RESULTS AND RECORDS Page WA3EOP reports that the results for the 2004 Maryland-DC QSO Party are now available at http://www.w3cwc.org/. Congratulations to Tom K3TW, Lawrence N2OCW, and Joe W7LPF who took the top SOAB, SOAB-QRP, and SOAB Out-of-State honors, respectively. It is appropriate to report here that Chuck Reville K3FT (who placed second in the SOAB category) became a Silent Key recently. Chuck was a staple of contesting in general and the Maryland-DC QSO Party in particular. Chuck was the only person on record to work all 50 states and all Maryland (MD) Multipliers in the 2004 QSO Party. Chuck was also a two-time past champion of the contest and will be missed by us all in future contests. The results for the 2003 Stew Perry Topband Distance Challenge have been posted to the Web at http://web.jzap.com/k7rat/stew.html. The next Stew Perry contest is December 18/19th. This year, the multiplier for working a QRP station (from whom a log is received) is being increased to 4. Now, you'll get as many points for working a QRP station as they do for working you. Plaques will be mailed in November and K1PX will be sending out the certificates. (Thanks, Tree N6TR) The results of the 2004 Michigan QSO Party are now posted at http://www.miqp.org/. Congrats to K8AO, N8NX, N8NM, K8AQM, K8MR/m, and the Adrian ARC as Michigan winners. Top out-of-state scores were turned in by K5YAA, K0RI, and WA3HAE. (Thanks, Mark NU8Z) Al AD6E has recovered from his character-building encounter with bees and posted the claimed CQP scores at http://www.cqp.org/results/2004/claimed_4.htm. These are now up to date with all emailed logs. Paper and diskette logs are still in the works. High claimed scores of the Worked All Europe DX Contest (both SSB and CW) have been published at http://www.darc.de/referate/dx/fedcw4s.htm and http://www.darc.de/referate/dx/fedcw4c.htm. Final results of the CW contest will be published on December 10 and SSB will follow on January 10, 2005. (Thanks, Ben DL6RAI) The CQ WW contest records at http://www.cqww.com/ have recently been updated to include the 2003 results. (Thanks, Steve N2IC) Also, CTY files from AD1C and current through 19 Oct are available at http://www.k1ea.com/cty. Please see the README.TXT file for installation instructions. (Thanks, Jim AD1C) The results of the DL-DX RTTY Contest 2004 are available on the Web at http://www.dl-dx.de/Results/Results/results04.htm. (Thanks, Walter DL4RCK) TECHNICAL What could be better than a new lunch box? How about a new lunch box that just happens to fit your favorite antenna analyzer? The term "lunch box" is somewhat loosely applied to what is essentially an insulated cloth bag. I stumbled onto the Meritline Lunch Box for $2.99 at Fry's Electronics last week and snapped one right up. (I really shouldn't be allowed to go there without adult supervision.) It holds the analyzer, coax jumper, an adapter or two and my rechargeable gel-cell battery. It has a sturdy carrying strap. It comes in several attractive colors - no cartoon theme characters, though. (I miss my old Quick-Draw McGraw tin box.) If I am successful in beseeching my XYL to add a snap clasp, it will be perfect. I'm sure something similar is available where you live. Mike W1MU reports working JR6AP in a recent contest, so there may be some exceptions to the JA call sign rules in the last issue. When in doubt, double-check the call! Alex VE3NEA has written a shareware program that downloads DX spots and displays them in different ways. One option is to plot the spots on a graphical band map. This allows you to identify the DX stations as you dial across the band. Band Master works with the programs DX Atlas and Ionoprobe to display the density of the selected ionospheric layer in real time on a world map. Band Master then plots the great circle path between the DX station and the spotting station on top of this ionosphere density map. Pretty neat and reasonably priced, too! Check out all of Alex's programs at http://www.dxatlas.com/BandMaster. (Thanks, Wes WZ7I) More in the software arena - Didier KO4BB has written a program called ADIFLookup that reads an ADIF file, queries QRZ.com for information and add the info from QRZ.com to the ADIF file. It is typically used when exporting a contest log into a general logging program. Get the program from http://www.ko4bb.com/. 24 and 28 V dc relays are plentiful on the surplus and commercial markets, but most ham shacks are set up for 12 V power. A separate power supply for the relays hardly seems worth the trouble, but you can also take advantage of the fact that the relays, once energized at full voltage, will hold their position with 12 V on the coil. Some circuits that switch the relays with a 12 V supply are shown at http://www.microwaves.thersgb.net/9cm.pdf and http://www.geocities.com/SiliconValley/Pines/5440/relay.html. (Thanks, Rick K1DS and the PackRATS "Cheesebits") Jon N0JK "encourages anyone and everyone who travels to a DX country for Amateur Radio (such as for CQ WW - Ed.) to consider giving 6 meters a try. Some do, and are pleasantly surprised by what they work, and give the rest of us the opportunity to work a "new one" on the Magic Band." You don't need to add another giant antenna to your jam-packed ski or golf bag. "A tri-bander will work OK on 6m. A 20m or 80m dipole can be effective and have a low SWR. M2 makes a small 3-ele 6m yagi that is lightweight and easy to pack (http://www.m2inc.com/index2.html). The Moxon rectangle is also an effective 2-ele antenna for 6m that is small and easy to pack. (http://www.parelectronics.com/stress_moxon.htm) At the other end of the DX-er's spectrum, "In case you haven't seen VE6WZ's propagation page, http://www.qsl.net/ve6wz/geomag.html, it has some nice stuff for 160/80m. At the bottom he's added some nice links to real-time lightning data, including Europe." (Thanks, Tom K1KI) Bill W4ZV reports that RadioShack stores are featuring a 50%-off sale on everything in the component drawers and that includes some very useful connectors, common transistors and ICs, and that sort of thing. They are NOT getting out the component business as is persistently rumored - it's just an inventory cleanup. There is also a buy-2-get-2-free sale on hearing aid batteries if you know someone that uses them. More cool software is available from Jim AD1C who has written a small program that converts county abbreviations in contest logs to a valid ADIF field. The program currently supports N1MM, NA, and WriteLog for the CA, TX, and PA QSO Parties. More will be added. The software is available at http://www.ad1c.com/dx4win/#County. Anthony WN6Q reports that his favorite reference for impedance matching networks is Motorola (now Freescale) Application Note AN-721. The AN is really about matching to RF transistors, but the formulas and information is valid for other things. AN-721 can be downloaded at http://www.freescale.com/files/rf_if/doc/app_note/AN721.pdf. Paul W0RW contributed another use for shorted stubs besides filtering. The dc short presented by the stub also serves to dissipate any static charge that builds up on your antenna or feedline system, protecting the radio's front end. Ladies and Gentlemen, bring your low band antennas to their full and upright position and prepare for the bottom of the solar cycle - http://science.nasa.gov/headlines/y2004/18oct_solarminimum.htm?list692738. It might be a little earlier than expected. (Thanks, Dick W7WKR) CONVERSATION So...BPL, Now What? While it was hardly surprising, given the sequence of recent pronouncements, last week's announcement of new BPL rules (http://www.arrl.org/news/stories/2004/10/14/1/?nc=1) is still disappointing. Nevertheless, we're going to have to soldier on in resisting this misuse of HF spectrum. First, the news was not all bad. What the ARRL has achieved in concert with other national players, and which is significant, is that sufficient regulatory constraints are now in place such that realistic expenses and risks must be accounted for when utilities consider whether to invest in BPL. Those expenses and risks were lowballed or ignored in the original rosy marketing projections. When real costs and risks are now evaluated against the potential return on investment, utility financial officers will find BPL much less attractive. Those that questioned the viability of the entire system, not just the technical aspects, will find themselves vindicated. Rather than just disputing BPL on its technical merits, we now need to help our utilities and lawmakers understand why BPL doesn't work as a viable service. A recent TechNewsWorld article (http://www.technewsworld.com/story/37378.html) is just one example of the business case against BPL. Present a suitable alternative for rural customers, such as the rapidly-growing WiMAX technologies. Here's an article that shows wireless broadband serving exactly the customer base BPL purports to target - http://seattlepi.nwsource.com/business/189699_vivato07.html. State utility regulatory commissions can be made aware that any investment in BPL by utilities is risky. Why should ratepayers (such as you and I) have to subsidize BPL? Letters making a reasonably intelligent argument from voting constituents have a way of attracting the attention of elected officials and legislators, too. Even though your utility may not have a BPL project on the books right now, that could change in a hurry and without public notice. If you were confronted with BPL interference, you would need to have documented evidence that it is harmful and to what degree. You can do just that by creating a baseline of measurements BEFORE the interference occurs. Without this baseline, you have a much harder time proving your case. Making a baseline set of measurements can be done with ordinary amateur equipment as long as you are careful and thorough. Ed Hare W1RFI at the ARRL has prepared some guidelines to help you make the necessary measurements - http://www.arrl.org/~ehare/bpl/measurements.html. For the simplest method, read the section "Measurements Using Amateur Station Receiver S-Meters". Appendix B contains a list of information required. There is also a nice form available at http://www.hcra.org/reporting_forms.htm. Send your results to Ed at w1rfi@arrl.org. Contesters have some of the best amateur stations in the world, so we have a lot to lose by not protecting our "clean air and water" from unlicensed spectrum pollution. It's worth the time it takes to document what we now enjoy. No doubt, you'll be giving your station a thorough checkout prior to the upcoming contests. Why not make part of that exercise a good set of noise baselines? 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
