Contester's Rate Sheet for February 23, 2005
*********************** Contester's Rate Sheet 23 February 2005 *********************** Edited by Ward Silver N0AX SUMMARY o Phone Home - CQ WW 160 and ARRL DX SSB o Mississippi, North Carolina, and Virgin Islands QSO Parties o Contest Time and RF Calculator Programs o Happy Birthday to Galileo o Putting In a Big Crankup Tower o Waterproofing and Getting Things Apart o Go Find Some KL7's! BULLETINS o No bulletins in this issue. BUSTED QSOS o A golden issue last issue! ANNOUNCEMENTS & NOTICES FOR 23 FEBRUARY TO 8 MARCH 2005 Logs are due for the following contests: February 27 - SARL Field Day Contest, email logs to: admin@sarl.org.za, paper logs and diskettes to: Field Day Contest, Box 1721, Strubensvallei 1735, South Africa February 28 - Midwinter Contest, CW or Phone, email logs to: jckoekkoek@home.nl, paper logs and diskettes to: PA3GQG, Contest Manager Midwinter Contest, Keulenheide 1, 6373 AP Landgraaf, The Netherlands February 28 - Hunting Lions in the Air Contest, email logs to: rad.handfield-jones@pixie.co.za, paper logs and diskettes to: The HLITA Contest Committee, Lions Club of Midrand, PO Box 1548, Halfway House 1685, South Africa February 28 - CQ 160-Meter Contest, CW, email logs to: 160cw@kkn.net, paper logs and diskettes to: CQ 160-Meter Contest, 25 Newbridge Road, Hicksville, NY 11801, USA February 28 - AGCW Straight Key Party, email logs to: htp@agcw.de, paper logs and diskettes to: Friedrich W. Fabri DF1OY, Moselstrasse 17b, D-63322 Roedermark-Urberach, Germany February 28 - RSGB 1st 1.8 MHz Contest, CW, email logs to: 1st160.logs@rsgbhfcc.org, paper logs and diskettes to: RSGB-G3UFY, 77 Bensham Manor Road, Thornton Heath, Surrey CR7 7AF, England March 1 - BARTG RTTY Sprint, email logs to: ska@bartg.demon.co.uk, paper logs and diskettes to: (none) March 1 - REF Contest, CW, email logs to: cdfcw@ref-union.org, paper logs and diskettes to: F6CTT Joseph Cornee, 31, rue des EcoButs, 44230 St Sebastien Sur Loire, France March 1 - UK DX Contest, RTTY, email logs to: ukdxc@scotham.net, paper logs and diskettes to: UK DX RTTY Contest Committee, PO Box 7469, Glasgow, G42 0YD, Scotland UK March 1 - UBA DX Contest, SSB, email logs to: ubassb@uba.be, paper logs and diskettes to: Carine Ramon ON7LX, Bruggesteenweg 77, B-8755 Ruiselede, Belgium March 1 - Vermont QSO Party, email logs to: (none), paper logs and diskettes to: Ed Hutchinson N1FMP, Vermont QSO Party Coordinator, PO Box 74, East Barre, VT 05649, USA March 7 - FYBO Winter QRP Sprint, email logs to: azscqrpions@covad.net, paper logs and diskettes to: John Stevens, Attn: FYBO, 21457 N. 91st Dr, Peoria, AZ 85382, USA March 8 - Mexico RTTY International Contest, email logs to: xe1j@ucol.mx, paper logs and diskettes to: Jose Levy XE1J, Dirección de Concursos FMRE, Clavel 333, Colima, Col. 28030, Mexico March 8 - ARCI Winter Fireside SSB Sprint, email logs to: wb5khc@2hams.net , Post log summary at: http://2hams.net/ARCI/Submit%20Introduction2.htm, paper logs and diskettes to: Tom Owens WB5KHC, Attn: Winter Fireside Sprint, 1916 Addington St, Irving, TX 75062-3505, USA March 8 - YLRL YL-OM Contest, CW, email logs to: wx4mm@tm-moore.com, paper logs and diskettes to: Mary Moore WX4MM, 1593 Lee Road 375, Valley, AL 36854, 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 CQ WW 160-Meter Contest - SSB, sponsored by CQ Magazine from 0000Z Feb 26 - 2400Z Feb 27. Exchange: RS and S/P/C. Categories: SO-QRP (<5 W) -LP(<150 W) -HP, MO categories. Enter as MO if packet or spotting nets are used. QSO Points: own entity - 2 pts, same continent - 5 pts, diff. cont. - 10 pts, /MM stations count 5 points, but no multiplier. Score: QSO points X states + VE call areas + DXCC entities (KH6 and KL7 count as DXCC only). For more information: http://www.cq-amateur-radio.com/index.html. Logs due by Feb 28 to 160ssb@kkn.net (Cabrillo format only) or CQ 160 Contest, 25 Newbridge Rd, Hicksville, NY 11801. REF French Contest - Phone, sponsored by the Reseau des Emetteurs Francais, 0600Z Feb 26 -- 1800Z Feb 27. Contact French stations including Corsica, Overseas Territories, and EU Council station TP2CE. Frequencies: 80 - 10-meters. Categories: SOAB, MS, and SWL. Exchange: non-French stations send RST and serial number, French send RST and department number or prefix. QSO Points: different continent - 3 pts, 1 pt otherwise. Score: QSO points X departments and prefixes counted once per band. For more information: http://www.ref-union.org/concours/. Logs are due April 15 cdfssb@ref-union.org or Reseau des Emetteurs Francais, REF Contest, BP 7429, 37074 Tours Cedex, France. UBA Contest - CW, sponsored by the Royal Union of Belgian Amateur Radio, from 1300Z Feb 26 -- 1300Z Feb 27 Frequencies: 80 - 10-meters, according to the IARU band plan. Categories: SOAB, SOAB-QRP, SOSB, MS, packet is allowed for all classes. Exchange: RST and serial number, ON stations add their province abbr. QSO Points: QSOs with ON stations - 10 pts, with other EU - 3 pts, outside EU - 1 pt. Score: QSO points X ON provinces + ON prefixes + European DXCC entities counted once per band. For more information: http://www.uba.be/. Logs due 30 days after the contest to ubacw@uba.be in ADIF format or Michel Le Bon, ON4GO, UBA HF Contest Manager, Chée de Wavre 1349, B-1160 Bruxelles, Belgium. Mississippi QSO Party - CW/Digital/Phone - sponsored by the Vicksburg Amateur Radio Club, 1500Z Feb 26 -- 0300Z Feb 27. Frequencies (MHz): CW - 3.545, 7.045, 14.045, 21.045, 28.045; Phone - 3.862, 7.238, 14.275, 21.375, 28.375; and VHF. Work stations once per band and mode. Categories: Fixed Station and Mobile. Mobiles may be worked again as they change counties. Exchange: RST and MS county or S/P/C. Score: QSOs x MS counties (MS stations add S/P/C). For more information: w5xx@vicksburg.com. Logs due March 26 to Vicksburg ARC, 64 Lake Circle Dr, Vicksburg, MS 39180. North Carolina QSO Party - CW/Phone - sponsored by the Forsyth Amateur Radio Club, 1700Z Feb 27 -- 0300Z Feb 28. Frequencies (MHz): CW - 3.540, 3.740, 7.040, 7.140, 14.040, 21.040, 21.140, 28.040, 28.140, Phone - 3.860, 7.260, 14.260, 21.360, 28.360. Categories: SO, Mobile, Club, all stations 100W max. output. Mobiles may be worked again as they change counties. Exchange: RST and NC county, ARRL/RAC section, or DX prefix. QSO Points: phone - 2 pts, CW - 3 pts, NC mobile - 3 pts (either mode). Score: NC stations - QSO points x NC counties + ARRL/RAC sections + 1 DXCC entity, others - QSO points x NC counties (max 100). 50 bonus points for working Cherokee or Dare counties (150 for working both) and 50 points for working W4NC or W4WS (150 points for both). Mobiles add 100 bonus points for each NC county activated. For more information: http://www.w4nc.com/. Logs due April 1 to henry@summitschool.com or NC QSO PARTY c/o W2DZO, 934 Franklin Street, Winston-Salem, NC 27101 High Speed CW Contest - sponsored by High-Speed CW Club, 0900Z - 1100Z and 1500Z - 1700Z Feb 27. Frequencies: 80 - 10 meters. Categories: SO (150 W max, members and non-members), SO-QRP (<5 W), SWL. Exchange: RST and HSC member number or "NM". QSO Points: member - 5 pts, non-member - 1 pts. Score: QSO points. Logs due 6 weeks after the contest to hsc-contest@dl3bzz.de or Lutz Schröer DL3BZZ, Am Niederfeld 6, 35066 Frankenberg / Eder, Germany. North American QSO Party -- RTTY -- sponsored by the National Contest Journal from 1800Z Feb 26 - 0600Z Feb 27. Frequencies: 160 - 10 meters. Categories: SOAB and M2, 100 W power limit, SO operate a maximum of 10 hours (off times must be at least 30 min). Exchange: Name and S/P/C. Score: QSOs x States + Province + NA DXCC countries (counted once per band). Preferred log submission method is via upload form found at: http://www.ncjweb.com/naqplogsubmit.php. For information: http://www.ncjweb.com/naqprules.php. Logs due Mar 14 to rttynaqp@ncjweb.com or Shelby Summerville K4WW, 6506 Lantana Ct, Louisville, KY 40229-1544, USA 1st Annual U.S. Virgin Islands QSO Party - CW/SSB/PSK/RTTY - dedicated to the memory of Bob Denniston W0DX/VP2VI, from 1201Z Feb 26 - 2359Z Feb 27. Frequencies (MHz): CW - 50 kHz above band edge; Phone - 1.890, 3.890, 7.290, 14.290. 21.390, 28.390, 50.190. Exchange: Call, RS(T), serial number, (non-VI stations) name and S/P/C (VI stations) island name and current temperature in Farenheit. Total Score: (Non-VI) QSOs + 100 pts per island worked + sum of temperatures, (VI) QSOs x S/P/C (counted once only). For more information: http://www.atthehelm.com/ Logs due 30 days from the contest to John Ellis, NP2B, PO Box 24492, Christiansted, VI 00824. AM QSO Party - sponsored by the Antique Wireless Association, from 2300Z Feb 26 - 2300Z Feb 27. Frequencies (MHz): 3.837-3885, 7.270-7.290, 14.250-14.280. Exchange: RS, name, year of equipment mfr. For scoring and other information: http://www.antiquewireless.org/. Logs due 7 Mar to Marc Ellis at PO Box 1306, Evanston, IL 60204-1306 ARRL International DX Contest - Phone, from 0000Z Mar 5 - 2400Z Mar 6. 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 Apr 5 to dxssb@arrl.org (Cabrillo format only) or DX SSB, ARRL, 225 Main St, Newington, CT 06111. DARC 10-Meter Digital "Corona" - RTTY/AMTOR/PACTOR/PSK31/Clover, sponsored by Deutscher Amateur Radio Club from 1100Z -- 1700Z Mar 5. Frequencies (MHz): 28.050-28.150, work stations once per mode. Categories: SO, SWL. Exchange: RST + serial number. QSO Points: 1pt/QSO. Score: QSO points x DXCC entities + WAE countries + JA/VE/W call districts (all counted only once). For more information: http://www.darc.de/referate/dx/cqdlcont/fgdcc.htm. Logs due 4 weeks after the contest to dl9gs@darc.de or A.Schlendermann DL9GS, Postfach 102201, D-44807 Bochum, Germany. Open Ukraine RTTY Championship - sponsored by the Ukrainian Amateur Radio League (UARL) from 2200Z Mar 5 - 0159Z Mar 6 (Low Bands - 160 and 80 meters - two separate 2 hour periods) and 0800Z - 1159Z Mar 6 (High Bands 40 - 10 meters). Categories: SOAB, SOSB, and MO. Exchange: Two letter regional abbreviation (see Web site) and serial number. Start serial numbers over for High Band portion. QSO Points: 2 pts/QSO and 10 pts for each new region. For more information: http://www.uarl.com.ua/openrtty/. Logs due by 6 Apr to krs@model.poltava.ua or George Ignatov UT1HT, PO Box 87, Kremenchug-21, Ukraine, 39621. Spartan Sprint--CW--sponsored by the Adventure Radio Society from 0200Z -- 0400Z Mar 8 (Monday evening in the U.S.). Held on the first Monday of every month. Frequencies (MHz): 3.560, 7.040, 14.060, 21.060, 28.060 (QRP calling frequencies). Categories: SO. Exchange: RST, S/P/C, and power output. Score: "Skinny" division--total QSOs / total station weight, "Tubby" division--total QSOs. For more information: http://www.arsqrp.com/ars/pages/spartan_sprints/ss_rules_new.html. Logs due on Wednesday after the contest via the ARS Web site or to hjohnc@core.com. VHF+ CONTESTS No VHF+ contests are scheduled. NEWS AND PRESS RELEASES Scott N3FJP has released more modules for his popular line of contest logging software (http://www.n3fjp.com/). State QSO party software has expanded to include the Mississippi and North Carolina contests. The K7RE RTTY software now supports ARRL RTTY Round-Up, CQ WPX and NAQP (both including a network version), and NA Sprint. The new Field Day rules are incorporated, as well. Lee AA1YN maintains a registry of active VHF+ contest stations at http://www.aa1yn.com/vhf/. To see the capability of the database, click on "Search the VHF database by QTH", enter my Lee's call his basic information comes up. Click on his call sign and you will get a page describing his capabilities. All this information is readily available online and searchable. It's easy to register and there are a number of associated services once you're registered. Bill K3CO has released the latest version of his contest operating time calculator. It's free from a Web site hosted by Kirk K4RO <http://www.k4ro.net/tcg/misc/K3CQ_Operating_Time_Form.xls>. It has a dozen different useful functions and the price is right - free! It requires Microsoft Excel(R) to run properly. Feb. 15th was Galileo's birthday, on which he would have been 441 years old. Contrary to popular belief, Galileo didn't discover sunspots, but he was one of the first to study them using a telescope. Visit http://spaceweather.com/ to view some of Galileo's sunspot drawings and find out how you can safely observe sunspots using the same projection techniques used Galileo. Andy N7TP writes, "There is at least one other hobby that offers as much support and assistance as ham radio - amateur astronomy. DXers and contesters have antenna fever, but astronomers have "aperture fever." No telescope is big enough, much less too big. Amateur astronomers are even more anxious to have anyone, visitor or budding astronomer, look at and look through their telescopes than hams are to have the same group of people look at, listen to, and talk on their radio gear." I can attest to that mentoring, having attended a few "star parties" myself. Imagine a multi-multi involving telescopes. Large ones. Really large ones. All set up for everyone to experience. You haven't lived until you've seen Neptune's blue disc live with your very own eyes. Here's another nugget from John W0UN! "In RF design and antenna design you end up needing a calculator for a lot of the calculations. I have been running DreamCalc 2 (http://www.dreamcalc.net/) for many months. Registration is only $14.99. DreamCalc 3 is even cooler with a lot of graphing functions as well. It is currently in public beta testing and you can download it now." Ever wonder why 160-meters, which is at the bottom of the HF bands, is called the Top Band? Bernie N8PVZ did. My response was that 160 has the longest wavelength of any amateur band. The term was coined back in the days when the usual reference to operating frequency was by wavelength :-) If you have a better story, let's hear it! This issue's Portuguese lesson includes some "sizeable" words. Maybe they'll be good for describing your score? By the way, if you haven't lately, check out the WRTC-2006 Web site (http://www.wrtc2006.com/) for updated rules and information! Small - pequeno (p'KE-nu) Big - grande (GRAY-d') Heavy - pesado (p'ZAH-du) Light - leve (LEH-v') Too Much - demais (d'MAYSH) These words and phrases are from the Lonely Planet series of phrasebooks. (http://www.lonelyplanet.com/) RESULTS AND RECORDS The complete list of Logs Received for the 2005 ARRL RTTY Roundup has been posted at http://www.arrl.org/contests/claimed. If you find a problem, please contact Dan N1ND at n1nd@arrl.org or by phone at 860-594-0232. If you're wondering if your ARRL DX scores could be records, check out the actual record listings at http://www.arrl.contests/. Hours of fun! TECHNICAL Howard VE3GFK/W6 recently put up an 85-foot crankup tower and took lots of photos of both preparing the base and getting the tower to the vertical position. Hey, it beats helping! You can see the photos at http://www.kleega.com/tower/ (the base) and http://www.kleega.com/erection/ (raising the tower). An innocent question about the temporary waterproofing of coax connectors unleashed a torrent, so to speak, of ideas on the TowerTalk reflector (http://www.contesting.com/). Here are some of the better ones: - Sections of bicycle tire inner tubes - Fingers cut from rubber gloves - Plumber's putty, Silly Putty(R), and duct sealing compounds - The ubiquitous CoaxSeal(R) - Long, thin balloons - CushCraft's PL-259 boots, available direct - Plastic soda bottles Contributors were too numerous to credit individually - thanks, one and all. Since we're on a roll with help from the community, more TowerTalk debate (see previous message) covered the art of getting aluminum tubing sections separated. A few pearls for your perusal: - heat the outer tube briefly with a propane torch - lots of penetrating oil and/or WD-40 (with extreme care around a torch) - continuous twisting in one direction while pulling - driving out the inner tube with a steel rod - use a handheld cutting tool to "slot" the outer tube The suggestion with the most resonance for me (from a company that sells tubing, in the spirit of full disclaimer) was to, "junk the stuck tubing and get new stuff." Having remodeled a house, I can relate to that. Thanks to the TowerTalk community, once again. This safety information was contributed courtesy of Tom K1KI. "Once in a while I hear of hams climbing towers during a contest to fix problems. This is most common in a multi-op situation when one antenna has a problem and someone goes to fix it while the rest of the team continues to operate on other bands. This is what stimulated my thinking: http://www.fcc.gov/eb/FieldNotices/2003/DOC-255968A1.html." Ed Hare W1RFI, the ARRL's RF exposure expert, replied, "Controlled exposure is averaged over 6 minutes. [That's the case here - Ed.] This is not a time limit, but the time period over which exposure must be averaged. If the ham is 1 meter from the antenna, he is about 40 dB over the limits that require an exposure calculation." Ed points out that the field strength calculations in the near field is not simple. Ed's real bottom line? "Don't do it!" Hobby shops sell copper and brass sheet and tubing that are quite suitable for radio work. There are numerous other goodies for the ham in crafts and hobby shops. For shielding jobs, check out the copper embossing foil that is very ductile, but holds its shape well. Other things at hobby shops for hams include brass springs, wrinkle paint spray X-acto(R) knives and tools, even light-duty double-bladed knife switches! (Thanks, Stew KD5DL) The free HFradio and propagation eAlert service (http://hfradio.org/donation.html) is run by Tomas Hood NW7US at http://propagation.hfradio.org/. The service includes alert email notifications of significant events. If you find yourself making use of these services, please consider supporting the site with a small donation. After viewing the Web site listing of tall towers in the Rate Sheet's previous issue, Fred G4BWP wrote to say that, "At the recent Contest Club of Finland (CCF) meeting OH6KN showed his new station. His tallest tower is 105 m high, about 315ft. We wondered if that was the highest ham tower?" I don't know! Is there a listing of tall ham towers out there somewhere? The Bucket Boss Company offers a jumper cable storage bag that is just right for rolls of coax. It is a round flat bag about 13" in diameter made of sturdy cordura nylon with webbing handles and a heavy duty zipper that opens it up for about 80% of the circumference. It will handle 3+ inches of coiled coax, and there is room in the center for short lengths. There are probably a variety of similar products at auto parts and hardware stores. (Thanks, Lynn N7CFO) Ed KA7UKN reminds us of a great way to demagnetize tools or other small metal parts. "I had a screwdriver that was magnetized and it was driving me crazy (no pun intended). I grabbed my trusty Weller 250-watt gun, pressed the trigger and passed the screwdriver through the loop formed by the tip. In a second or two I had the desired results. It was so fast and so effective that I purposely magnetized the tool over again with the strongest bar magnet that I have. A few passes between the loop formed by the solder gun's tip degaussed the tool. Where has this been all of my life?" CONVERSATION Go Find Some KL7's! I spent this weekend hibernating with my buddies in the renowned K3LR basement that houses one of the most potent multi-multi stations on the planet. Before the event, it's easy to get a little overwrought about being put in front of a radio on such a team. You hope you'll measure up, that things will go well, that you won't make some incredible blunder. In short, it's just like playing a team sport when you were little. In the old days, it was, "What if I fall down or strike out?" In the contesting world, our fears are things like, "What if blow up the amplifier? They'll laugh if I get calls wrong! What if I'm too slow?" You know, it never really changes. Even if you do let the smoke out of something or bust an obvious call, it's never as bad as you think it's going to be. Everybody is secretly relieved that it's you and not them, helps you through the rough spots, and life goes on. Later, you can't really remember why you were so concerned in the first place. When you're at a big team effort, there are other aspects that take you right back to the days of (fill in your childhood activity here) with the other kids. We were baseball nuts back in St. Louis, wearing dirt paths into a neighbor's yard. Focused on the game, we kept up a ferocious chatter about who couldn't hit, easy out, throw it over the plate, and hey-batter! As I recall, some of it was fairly, um, rude, but not really directed at anyone in particular. It was just the noise we made playing baseball. In fact, we were all pretty easy outs to tell the truth. Go into any phone multi-op and you'll hear the same thing translated into radio. Every operator has their own style, peculiarities, favorite expressions (both good and bad), and loads of advice and suggestions for anybody close. I have Phil K3UA to thank for the title of this piece - it was from his band partner Andy N2NT at an early N2RM operation. Phil had recorded the room noise during the first couple of hours of a CQ WW contest and captured Andy essentially saying, "Right over the plate, Phil, come on, right over the plate!" Is there any doubt that doing a weekend multi-op - HF, VHF+, Field Day - is the same kind of thing as grabbing your gear and heading out to the park with the other kids? We play until way after dark. It doesn't seem like there's a lot of adult supervision, thankfully. We hoot and holler and eat junk food and make terrible jokes. It's great! Not so long ago, the word "ludic" (LOO-dik, an adjective meaning of, relating to, or characterized by play or playful) was in a word-of-the-day email that crossed my Inbox. After this weekend it just seemed to fit perfectly. But why over-analyze and put fancy names on it? Go find me some KL7s, would ya? 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
