Contester's Rate Sheet for February 9, 2005
*********************** Contester's Rate Sheet 9 February 2005 *********************** Edited by Ward Silver N0AX SUMMARY o Digital Domination - NA CW Sprint, ARRL CW DX, and CQ WW RTTY WPX o LA and BC QSO Parties o NCJ News and the Dayton Contest Dinner o New VHF Contesting Articles by the SMC o ARRL September VHF QSO Party and 2004 Spring VHF+ Sprint Results o Mobile Radio Installation Guides o Shure's Audio Education Web Site o We Know How to Do This! BULLETINS o No bulletins in this issue. BUSTED QSOS o Sorry about leaving out all those contest announcements from the last issue! ANNOUNCEMENTS & NOTICES FOR 9 FEBRUARY TO 22 FEBRUARY 2005 Logs are due for the following contests: February 12 - North American Sprint, SSB, email logs to: ssbsprint@ncjweb.com, Web submission at: http://www.ncjweb.com/sprintlogsubmit.php, diskettes and paper logs to: Jim Stevens, K4MA, 6609 Vardon Ct., Fuquay-Varina, NC 27526, USA February 14 - LZ Open Contest, email logs to: lz1fw@yahoo.com, diskettes and paper logs to: LZ Open Contest, P.O. Box 830, Sofia 1000, Bulgaria February 15 - MI QRP January CW Contest, email logs to: n8cqa@arrl.net, diskettes and paper logs to: L.T. Switzer, N8CQA, 427 Jeffrey Avenue, Royal Oak, MI 48073-2521, USA February 15 - Hungarian DX Contest, email logs to: contest@enternet.hu, diskettes and paper logs to: MTTOSZ Gyor Varosi Radioklub, P.O. Box 79, 9002 Gyor, Hungary February 16 - 070 Club PSKFest, email logs to: PSKFest@podxs.com, diskettes and paper logs to: Steve Dominguez, N6YIH, 11700 Fairlarn CT, Boise, ID 83709, USA February 22 - ARRL January VHF Sweepstakes, email logs to: JanuaryVHF@arrl.org, diskettes and paper logs to: January VHF, ARRL, 225 Main St., Newington, CT 06111, USA 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 North American Sprint--CW, sponsored by the National Contest Journal, from 0000Z - 0400Z, Feb 13. Frequencies (MHz): 3.540, 7.040, 14.040, work stations once per band. North American stations work everyone, others work NA stations only. Exchange: other station's call, your call, serial number, name, S/P/C. QSY rule: Stations calling CQ, QRZ, etc, may only work one station in response to that call, they must then move at least 1 kHz before working another station or 5 kHz before soliciting another call. Once you are required to QSY, you may not make a new QSO on the previous frequency until you have made a contact at least 1 or 5 kHz (as required) away. (see http://www.contesting.com/articles/198 for beginner's guide) Score: QSOs x S/P/C (count each only once). For more information: http://www.ncjweb.com/. Logs due 7 days after the contest to cwsprint@ncjweb.com or Boring ARC, 15125 Bartell Road, Boring, OR 97009. Louisiana QSO Party - CW/Phone, sponsored by W5YL, Thibodaux ARC from 1500Z Feb 12 - 0300Z Feb 13. Frequencies (MHz): CW 1.840, 3.540, 7.040, 14.040, 21.040, 28.040; Phone 1.865, 3.865, 7.265, 14.265, 21.365, 28.465, VHF - 50.095, 50.135, 144.050, 144.210. Operating categories. SOAB (Phone, CW, Mixed) and Rover (LA stations only). Exchange: Call, RST, and S/P/C or LA Parish. QSO Points: Phone - 2 pts, CW - 4 pts. Total Score: QSO points x LA parishes or S/P/C counted once per mode. Rovers add 50 point bonus for each parish activated. Add 100 points for QSO with W5YL. For more information: http://laqso.w5yl.org/. Logs due 15 Mar to laqso@W5YL.org or LA QSO Party, 508 Hache St, Houma, LA 70364. British Columbia QSO Challenge - CW/SSB/Digital, sponsored by the Delta Amateur Radio Society from 1800 Feb 12 - 1800 Feb 13. Categories: SOAB, SOSB, M/S, Mobile (SSB, CW, Digital, Mixed and QRP <5W/LP/HP >100W) Frequencies (MHz): CW 1.825, 3.525, 7.025, 14.025, 21.025, 28.025, 50.095; SSB 1.850, 3.750, 7.250, 14.250, 21.250, 28.350, 50.130. Exchange: Grid Square and BC region or S/P/C. QSO Points: SSB - 1 pt, CW/Digital - 2 pts. Total Score: QSO Points x BC regions or S/P/C (counted once only). Add 25 points for a QSO with VE7SUN. For more information: http://www.deltaamateurradio.com/. Logs due 13 Mar to ve7ccy@rac.ca or Delta Amateur Radio Society, c/o Tsawwassen Community Police Station, 1108 56th Street, Delta, BC V4L 2A3. RSGB 1.8 MHz Contest - CW - sponsored by RSGB, 2100Z Feb 12 to 0100Z Feb 13. Frequencies (MHz): 1.820 -- 1.870. Categories: SO only. Exchange: RST + serial number and UK district. QSO Points: 3pts/QSO + 5 pts for first QSO with a UK district. Score: QSO points. For more information: http://www.rsgbhfcc.org/. Logs due 16 days after the contest to 1st160.logs@rsgbhfcc.org or RSGB-G3UFY, 77 Bensham Manor Road, Thorton Heath, Surrey, CR7 7AF, England. Asia-Pacific Sprint - CW - sponsored by the AP Sprint Contest Committee, 1100Z - 1300Z Feb 12. Frequencies: 20 and 40-meters, NA stations work Asia-Pacific countries only. Categories: SO only, 150 watts max.. Exchange: RST and serial number. Score: total QSOs x WPX prefixes (counted once). For more information: http://jsfc.org/apsprint/aprule.txt. Logs due 7 days after the contest to apsprint@kkn.net (no paper logs). FISTS CW Winter Sprint - CW - sponsored by FISTS International CW Club, 1700Z until 2100Z Feb 12. Frequencies: 80 - 10 meters, work US/VE stations. Categories: SOAB-QRP (<5W), SOAB-QRO, Club. Exchange: Name, RST, S/P/C, members send FISTS number, nonmembers send power output. QSO Points: FISTS members - 5 pts, nonmembers - 2 pts. Score: QSO points × S/P/C (count each only once). For more information: http://www.fists.org/. Logs due 30 days after the contest to W8PIG@yahoo.com or Dan Shepherd N8IE, 1900 Pittsfield St, Kettering, Oh 45420. 50th Anniversary Dutch PACC Contest--CW/SSB--sponsored by the Vereniging voor Experimenteel Radio Onderzoek in Nederland (VERON) from 1200Z Feb 12 -- 1200Z Feb 13. Frequencies: 160 -- 10 meters according to IARU band plan, no SSB on 160, work stations only once per band. Categories: SO, SO-QRP, MO, SWL. Exchange: RS(T) + serial number (Dutch stations send province). QSO Points: 1 pt/QSO. Score: QSO points x Provinces (counted once per band). For more information: http://www.dutchpacc.com/. Logs due March 31 to pa0adt@dutchpacc.com or Ad van Tilborg, PA0ADT, Schepenenveld 141, 7327 DB Apeldoorn, Netherlands. OMISS QSO Party - SSB - Sponsored by the Old Man International Sideband Society, 1500Z Feb 12 - 1500Z Feb 13. Frequencies (MHz): 3.9405, 7.2635, 14.290, 21.360, 28.665. Categories: SO, Mobile. Exchange: RS, S/P/C and OMISS # (DX stations send "DX"). QSO Points: OMISS members--2pts, non-members--1 pt. Score: QSO points x States + Provinces + 1 DXCC entity, each counted only once. For more information: http://www.omiss.net/. Logs due Mar 15 to k5db@arrl.net or Don Banta, K5DB, 3407 Diana St, Springdale AR 72764. CQ World Wide RTTY WPX Contest, sponsored by CQ Magazine, 0000Z Feb 12 to 2400Z Feb 13. Frequencies: 80 - 10 meters. Categories: SOLP (<150 W), SOHP, SOSB, MS, MM. SO work 30 hours max. Use of spotting assistance allowed for all categories. Exchange: RST and serial number. QSO Points: own country - 1 pt, own continent - 2 pts, different cont - 3 pts, double points on 80 and 40 meters. Score: QSO points x WPX prefixes. For more information: http://www.cq-amateur-radio.com/. Logs due 11 Mar to wpxrtty@kkn.net or CQ Magazine - WPX RTTY Contest, 25 Newbridge Road, Hicksville, NY 11801 USA. Classic Exchange - CW/Phone - from 1300Z Feb 13 to 0700Z Feb 14. Frequencies (MHz): CW--1.810, 3.545, 7.045, 14.045, 21.135, 28.180; AM--1.890, 3.880, 7.290, 14.280, 21.380, 28.320, 29.000; SSB - 3.870, 7.280, 14.270, 21.370, 28.490. Exchange: Name, RST, S/P/C, and mfr/model of transmitter and receiver. Work stations again with different radios. Score is determined by the age of your equipment. For complete information: http://qsl.asti.net/CX. Send logs and comments to WQ8U@arrl.net or J.D. "Mac" MacAulay, WQ8U, 6235 Wooden Shoe Lane, Centerville, OH 45459. 80-Meter Sprint - CW, sponsoring by the North American QRP CW Club, from 0130Z - 0530Z Feb 16, work one of three overlapping 2-hour periods (see Web site). Frequencies: 3.555-3.565 and 3.705-3.715 MHz. Exchange: RST, S/P/C, NAQCC number or power. QSO Points: member - 2 pts, non-member - 1 pt. Score: QSO Points x S/P/C (see Web site for multiplier structure). For more information: http://www.arm-tek.net/~yoel/sprint_0205.html. Logs due 22 Feb to yoel@armtek.net or Tom Mitchell KB3LFC, RD6 Box 122A, Kittanning, PA 16201. ARRL International DX Contest - CW, 0000Z Feb 19 - 2400Z Feb 20. Frequencies: 160 - 10 meters. Categories: SOSB, SOAB (HP >150W, LP, QRP <5W), MS, M2, MM. Exchange: RST + State or Province or Power (KH6 and KL7 count as DX). QSO Points: 3 pts/QSO. Score: QSO points x DXCC entities (DX counts states + provinces). For more information: http://www.arrl.org/contests/rules. Logs due Mar 21 to dxcw@arrl.org (Cabrillo format only) or DX CW, ARRL, 225 Main St., Newington, CT 06111. CQC Winter QSO Party - CW/Phone - sponsored by the Colorado QRP Club, 2200Z Feb 19 to 0359Z Feb 20. Frequencies (MHz): CW - 1.825, 3.560, 3.710, 7.040, 7.110, 14.060, 21.060, 21.110, 28.060, 28.110, SSB - 1.910, 3.985, 7.285, 14.285, 21.385, 28.385. Categories are SOAB, SOSB, SO-Homebrew. Exchange: RST, S/P/C, name, CQC member number or power output (5W max). QSO Points: CW - CQC member - 6 pts, non-member - 4 pts, Phone - members - 3 pts, non-members - 2 pts. Score: QSO Points X S/P/C (count once per band) X names (one name from each letter of the alphabet) + 1000 pts for QSO with W0CQC. For more information: http://www.cqc.org/. Logs due 30 days after the contest to ki0rb@idcomm.com or CQC Contest, PO Box 17174, Golden, CO 80402-6019. VHF+ CONTESTS No VHF+ contests are scheduled. NEWS AND PRESS RELEASES NCJ News from Carl K9LA (NCJ Editor) - The March/April NCJ should be at the printer as you're reading this. In addition to the features mentioned in the January 12 Rate Sheet, N5OT profiles a father-son team in Arkansas in his Station Profile column. W9XT wraps up Part 2 of Strange Problems in his CTT&T column. N0JK editorializes about digital modes in his VHF-UHF Contesting column. W6WRT begins his stint as the RTTY Contesting columnist with a discussion of how to improve RTTY reception. And K5AF, in his Contesting on a Budget column, talks about storage media. The March/April Editorial focuses on the question "Who Is NCJ For?" After receiving the March/April issue, if you'd like to add your comments to this topic, please feel free to send me an email at editor@ncjweb.com. Rounding out the issue are contest results for the March and October 2004 RTTY Sprints, and the August 2004 NAQP CW. The North Coast Contesters announce that tickets for the 13th Annual Dayton Contest Dinner are on sale now! (Special thanks to DX Engineering for sponsoring the tickets.) Master of Ceremonies will be John Dorr K1AR. The 2005 Contest Hall of Fame Inductions will be formally announced by the CQ World Wide Contest Director and CQ Contest Hall of Fame member, Bob Cox K3EST. The dinner will be held in the Van Cleve Ballroom of the Crowne Plaza Hotel on Saturday, May 21, at 6:30 PM. The hotel is located at 5th and Jefferson Streets (Next to the Convention Center) in downtown Dayton (Downtown). Tickets are $33 per person and seating is limited to 300, so order your tickets promptly via the Radioware and Radio Bookstore at http://www.radio-ware.com/. Deadline for ticket orders is 7 May and no tickets will be available at the door. (Thanks, Tim K3LR) In case you haven't heard, there are a few rule changes for the 2005 edition of ARRL Field Day. These affect categories, bonus points, and other aspects of our favorite summertime non-contest activity. Check them out at http://www.arrl.org/contests/rules/2005/rules-fd-2005.html and there is an ARRL Web story at http://www.arrl.org/news/stories/2005/02/02/2/?nc=1. There's some good new reading on the Society of Midwest Contester's VHF+ Web page, thanks to the efforts of Kevin W9GKA. "Early Contacts" is a new article written on the historical development of all VHF/UHF/SHF bands. (http://www.w9smc.com/SMC%20VHF/earlycontacts.pdf) "The Role of the Clubs" is also a new article exploring the impact that VHF clubs have had on VHF contesting activity. (http://www.w9smc.com/blackhole/news0604.pdf) The article "Other Impacts" has been extensively updated since last year. The latest revisions include numerous statistical and historical observations on VHF contest activity levels. (http://www.w9smc.com/SMC%20VHF/OtherImpactsarticle.pdf) "VHF Historical Data File" now contains log entry totals on all six ARRL VHF contests for all years. (http://www.w9smc.com/SMC%20VHF/uvhfdata.pdf). Except for the Plastic Owl of True North, no other icon of ham radio is so visible as the Slashed Zero. K8ZT has published a short story on the Zero at http://www.k8zt.com/zero.html. There is also a link to AE7Q's zero story. Check out Tony's Software Logging Page at http://www.k8zt.com/logging.html for links to a variety of Windows, Mac, Linux, and PDA software. (Thanks, Tony K8ZT) The Potomac Valley Radio Club (PVRC) has announced a new contest training program. You can read about it at: http://www.contesting.com/articles/578. Contest Club Ontario also has a good beginners page at http://www.qsl.net/cco/beginners.htm. (Thanks, Don VE3XD) Like a pretty picture? How about a color version of the entire sky measured by seriously large antennas at 408 MHz? Browse to the Astronomy Picture of the Day at http://antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov/apod/ap050205.html and see how much time you spend paging through the fascinating views. I wonder what it looks like at 40 meters during Sweepstakes... (Thanks, Steve K6AW) This issue's Portuguese lesson includes some words that describe the growth of a "packet pileup." A little - um pouco (oong PO-ku) Few - poucos (PO-kush) Some - alguns (ahl-GOONGSH) More - mais (maysh) Too much - demasiado (d-ma-zee-AH-du) Enough! - Basta! (BAHSH-tah!) RESULTS AND RECORDS The September 2004 VHF Contest Web report writeup is now available at http://www.arrl.org/members-only/contests/results/2004/Sep-VHF/. The complete lists of Logs Received for the 2004 ARRL 160-Meter and 10-Meter Contests are posted at http://www.arrl.org/contests/claimed/. If you find an error in your listing or are missing, please contact N1ND@arrl.org. If you emailed your log to the ARRL, please include your receipt number in your email. (Thanks, Dan N1ND) Claimed Scores for SAC 2004 are published on SM3CER Contest Service since January 16th. The link can be found on the 1st page. Please check that your log is received and placed in the correct category. If something is wrong I will of course correct it - just let me know! I have still a few paper logs on SSB to type into the computer, before I can check and publish the final results. (Thanks, Jan SM3CER) Results for the 2004 VHF+ Spring Sprints are available at http://www.etdxa.org/vhf.htm. (Thanks, Jeff WU4O) TECHNICAL Owners of the venerable Drake C-line radios will be pleased to learn of the availability of the CD-based "Service Part Locator for the Drake C Line" from Garey Barrell K4OAH. The CD includes complete parts lists, chassis photos, info on the noise blanker board, high-resolution PDF versions of the original manuals, and numerous other tidbits. The cost is $25 postpaid in the US via Paypal (k4oah@mindspring.com) or to 4126 Howell Ferry Rd, Duluth, GA 30096. The winner of this month's "What Can I Use This For?" prize is a receiving loop made from an embroidery loop. N5ESE's handiwork can be observed at http://www.io.com/~n5fc/loop_ant.html. (Thanks, Gregory, WB7RSG) Here's the first place entrant in the ongoing Sneaky Antenna Installation Trick Competition. "With respect to getting wires and cables up to the second floor, the standard rain gutter downspout makes a nice "raceway" to run all the cables in that is inconspicuous (it looks just like your other downspouts, can be painted to match, and is big enough to run many cables inside). You could even slit it so that you can slide stuff in and out. The plastic downspouts are even easier." (Thanks, Jim W6RMK) Recently, I listed the US Navy antenna handbook. Not wanting to slight another branch of the services, the USMC antenna handbook is another good reference. It can be downloaded at https://www.doctrine.quantico.usmc.mil/htm/doc8.htm. (Thanks, Brian KB9BVN) The major US automobile manufacturers each publish a guide to installing radio equipment in their vehicles. These are full of good information about grounding, cable routing, noise management, and so forth. General Motors - http://service.gm.com/techlineinfo/radio.html Chrysler - http://www.arrl.org/tis/info/pdf/INSTG01.pdf Ford - http://www.fordemc.com/docs/download/Mobile_Radio_Guide.pdf The following Web site will give customized sunrise/sunset for almost every city in the USA - http://www.sunrisesunset.com/usa/. Select your state and city, then select Astronomical Twilight to get the actual sunrise/sunset times for each day of the selected month. (It prints best in "landscape" orientation.) The US Naval Observatory site, http://aa.usno.navy.mil/data/docs/RS_OneDay.html, is also quite good. For standalone software, Geoclock is the best, but a simple free program by W4SM is TrakSM which is available at http://www.keplerian.com/ (Thanks, George K8GG and Matt WV1K) Matt WV1K also contributes this neat link to a site that lists Big Towers - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_Masts. If your ego is threatened by towers larger than yours, don't go there. Somewhat simpler and easier to deal with than a ground plane antenna on Top Band, John W2GD recommends the vertical dipole he uses at P40W. The big advantage is that no ground system is required, although ground screens help cut losses. An 80/160 version of the antenna is described at http://www.yccc.org/Articles/double_l.htm. Tuning the antenna is easy - adjusting the length of the lower leg. Try to pull the top leg out as horizontally as possible, but it will still work even with a significant angle toward the ground. Do you have audio questions? Try Shure's excellent educational page on microphones and audio electronics - http://www.shure.com/support/technotes/default.htm. Fans of older microphones and such will enjoy the Web site http://www.coutant.org/contents.html. CONVERSATION We Know How to Do That! I'm reading through my technical journals and the editorial in RF Design's January 2005 issue caught my eye. The title was "Making Radios Smarter for Communications" by Ashok Bindra, the Editorial Director. Permit me to quote from Mr. Bindra's first paragraph... "...such radios must also determine location, sense spectrum use by neighboring devices, change frequency, adjust output power, and even alter transmission parameters and characteristics." You may have heard of the Software-Defined Radio (SDR), but this is a new level, the Cognitive Radio (CR). Mr. Bindra quotes Bruce Fette from the SDR Forum, "The cognitive radio concept is commonly referred to as 'the next step up' for software-defined radios emerging today. It's an up-and-coming technology that promises to deliver a radio that is aware of its RF environment, can adapt to this environment, and consequently can adjust its operating parameters." Does this sound familiar? My goodness, it sounds just like what happens on any contest weekend all across the HF spectrum! Actually, it happens on any of our crowded bands just about 24 hours a day. Hams have been doing CR for decades! Maybe the SDR gurus could learn a little bit from the techniques we use to shoehorn our thousands of contacts into the too-few kilohertz available. I'm not suggesting an overtly literal approach. It might not be a good thing to let a CR know about things like jamming, pileup police, tuning up, etc. On the other hand, it's probably inevitable that some smart programmer will eventually figure out how to blast their way onto a channel by hacking the usual collision detection mechanics. Yes sir, the CDMA (Collision-Sense, Multiple Access) protocol sure sounds an awful lot like a busy morning opening during CQ WW. Instead of suggesting to the professionals that amateurs might have some expertise on the subject, why not a more subtle, academic approach? A paper entitled, "A Summary of Historical and Current CR Techniques Optimized by Neural Networks" covering the effective techniques of pileup and interference management might be enlightening, don't you think? It tickles my funny bone to think that the latest and greatest innovation in wireless may just be an adaptation of the techniques that hams have used for almost a century. Will the transceiver of tomorrow rap out a short QRL? before transmitting? And will the channel's user reply, "QSY, ya lid!" One can hope. 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
