Contester's Rate Sheet for March 23, 2005
*********************** Contester's Rate Sheet 23 March 2005 *********************** Edited by Ward Silver N0AX SUMMARY o Where is that guy? CQ WPX SSB Contest this weekend o Missouri and Montana QSO Parties o Rush Drake W7RM - Silent Key o New Low-Power Sprint - May 1st o DX Field Award by CQ Magazine o Lots of Contest Results Released o Meet the HyperDog o They Be Giants BULLETINS o No bulletins this issue BUSTED QSOS o A golden issue last time! ANNOUNCEMENTS & NOTICES FOR 23 MARCH TO 5 APRIL 2005 Logs are due for the following contests: March 26 - Mississippi QSO Party, email logs to: (none), paper logs and diskettes to: Vicksburg ARC, 64 Lake Circle Drive, Vicksburg, MS 39180, USA March 29 - CQC Winter QSO Party, email logs to: contest@cqc.org, paper logs and diskettes to: Colorado QRP Club, Box 17174, Golden, CO 80402-6019, USA March 29 - REF Contest, SSB, email logs to: cdfssb@ref-union.org, paper logs and diskettes to: F6CTT, Joseph Cornee, 31, rue des EcoButs, 44230 St Sebastien Sur Loire, France March 29 - UBA DX Contest, CW, email logs to: ubacw@uba.be, paper logs and diskettes to: Carine Ramon, ON7LX, Bruggesteenweg 77, B-8755 Ruiselede, Belgium March 29 - US Virgin Islands QSO Party, email logs to: (none), paper logs and diskettes to: John Ellis, NP2B, PO Box 24492, Christiansted, VI 00824, USA March 31 - Dutch PACC Contest, email logs to: pa0adt@dutchpacc.com, paper logs and diskettes to: Ad van Tilborg, PA0ADT, Schepenenveld 141, 7327 DB Apeldoorn, Netherlands March 31 - CQ 160-Meter Contest, SSB, email logs to: 160ssb@kkn.net, paper logs and diskettes to: CQ 160-Meter Contest, 25 Newbridge Road, Hicksville, NY 11801, USA March 31 - AGCW YL-CW Party, email logs to: (none), paper logs and diskettes to: Dr. Roswitha Otto, DL6KCR, St. Nikolaus Str. 26, D-52396 Heimbach, Germany March 31 - AGCW QRP Contest, email logs to: qrp-test@agcw.de, paper logs and diskettes to: Edmund Ramm, DK3UZ, Anderheitsallee 24, Bramfeld, D-22175 Hamburg, Germany March 31 - YL-ISSB QSO Party, email logs to: 2hamsrus@earthlink.net, paper logs and diskettes to: N4KNF or N4ZGH, 2160 Ivy Street, Port Charlotte, FL 33952, USA April 1 - North Carolina QSO Party, email logs to: henry@summitschool.com, paper logs and diskettes to: NC QSO PARTY, c/o Henry Heidtmann W2DZO, 934 Franklin Street, Winston-Salem, NC 27101, USA April 3 - UBA Spring Contest, CW, email logs to: ubaspring@uba.be, paper logs and diskettes to: Lode Kenens ON6KL, Oudestraat 8, B-3560 Lummen, Belgium April 4 - RSGB Commonwealth Contest, email logs to: commonwealth.contest@rsgbhfcc.org, paper logs and diskettes to: RSGB-G3UFY, 77 Bensham Manor Road, Thornton Heath, Surrey CR7 7AF, England April 4 - 10-10 Int. Mobile Contest, email logs to: tentencontest@alltel.net, paper logs and diskettes to: Steve Rasmussen, N0WY, 312 N. 6th Street, Plattsmouth, NE 68048, USA April 5 - ARRL Inter. DX Contest, SSB, email logs to: DXPhone@arrl.org, paper logs and diskettes to: ARRL Intl DX Contest, Phone, ARRL, 225 Main St., Newington, CT 06111, USA April 5 - DARC 10-Meter Digital Contest (Mar), email logs to: df5bx@darc.de, paper logs and diskettes 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 - 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 WPX Contest--SSB - sponsored by CQ Magazine, from 0000Z Mar 26- 2400Z Mar 27 (CW is May 28-29). Frequencies: 160 -- 10 meters. Categories: SOAB, SOSB, SO-Assisted, -HP, LP, and --QRP, MS (10-min rule), M/2, MM, SO-Rookie, SO-Tribander-and-Single-Wire, SO-Band-Restricted. SO operate 36 hours max with off times at least 60 min. Exchange: RS(T) + serial number. QSO Points: different continents - 3pts (14-28 MHz) and 6 pts (1.8-7 MHz), with North America - 2 pts (14-28 MHz) and 4 pts (1.8-7 MHz), with own country - 1 pt. Score: QSO points x prefixes worked (ie, N8, KA1, HG73, JD1) counted only once. For more information: http://www.cqwpx.com/. Logs due May 1 (CW, July 1) to ssb@cqwpx.com (cw@cqwpx.com). Spring QRP Homebrewer Sprint - CW/PSK31 - sponsored by New Jersey QRP Club, 0000Z - 0400Z Mar 28. Frequencies: QRP CW and PSK31 frequencies on 80 - 10 meters, CW and PSK31 are considered separate bands. Exchange: RST + S/P/C + Output Power. QSO Points: Commercial Equipment - 2 pts, Homebrew Xmtr or Rcvr -3pts, Homebrew Xmtr and Rcvr or Xcvr - 4 pts. Kits ok as homebrew. Power multiplier: 0>250 mW = x 15, 250 mW>1W = x10, 1>5W = x7, >5W = x1. Score: QSO Points x S/P/C (counted once per band) x power multiplier. For more information: http://www.njqrp.org/data/qrphomebrewersprint.html . Logs due 30 days after the contest to n2cq@arrl.net (text format) or Ken Newman, N2CQ, 81 Holly Drive, Woodbury, NJ 08096. Low Power Spring Sprint - CW - sponsored by the Slovak Amateur Radio Association (SARA) from 1400Z -- 2000Z Mar 28. Frequencies: 160 -- 10 meters. Categories: A (1W), C (5W), Q (25W), X (50W), Y (100W), SOSB, SO-2 or 3 Bands, SOAB. Exchange: RST, Grid Square, and Power Category. (RST-only OK from non-contest stations) QSO Points: with own continent--3 pts, diff cont.--9 pts, OM station--18 pts. Score: QSO points x grid squares + WPX prefixes (counted once per band). Logs due 30 days after the contest to om3kfv@zoznam.sk or Radioklub OM3KFV, PO Box 3, 038 61 Vrutky, Slovakia Lighthouse Spring Lites QSO Party - all modes - sponsored by the Amateur Radio Lighthouse Society from 0001Z Mar 26 - 2359Z Apr 3. Frequencies (MHz): CW--1.830, 3.530, 7.030, 14.030, 21.030, 28.030; SSB--1.970, 3.970, 7.270, 14.270, 21.370, 28.370. Exchange: ARLHS member/lighthouse number or serial number, name, and S/P/C. Score: 1 pt/QSO, plus 2 pts for ARLHS member, plus 3 pts for lighthouse. For more information: http://arlhs.com/SL-2005-guidelines.html. Logs due Apr 30 to Dave Ruch, NF0J, PO Box 20696, Bloomington, MN 55420-0696. 51st Annual Poisson d'Avril Contest 0000Z - 1954Z Apr 1. All bands, all modes: HF, VHF, UHF, WARC, IRLP, TCP/IP, and cellular/PCS bands. Categories: SO-Assisted (since anyone operating in this event clearly needs help), SO-No Radio, and MO-Multi Transmitters, MO-better. SO-NR entrants are limited to Internet connection bandwidth of 155 Mb/s or less. Dial-up entrants count as QRP, QRS, and QRU. Rover category; stations must only operate within 100 meters of grid corners, drive in circles and work only other rovers. Self-spotting is not permitted except in the SO-No Ethics category. Steroids are OK as long as your head doesn't explode during the contest period. Exchange: IP address or home address. Off-times must be at least 30 minutes long (OK...29...err...28, but that's our final offer) and will be clearly miscalculated by a chicken pecking at a keyboard. All QSOs must be confirmed by e-QSL and uploaded to LogJam of the World. Severe penalties for early withdrawal. Contacts are worth whatever you put into them. Logs MUST be submitted electronically in real-time, unless you are located on the International Date Line, which we still cannot figure out. For more information: http://wattamaroonuare.com/. Telepathic or carrier-pigeon entries will no longer be accepted although chicken in lemon sauce is nice with a vouvray. Missouri QSO Party -- CW/SSB, sponsored by the Boeing Employees Amateur Radio Society of St. Louis (BEARS) from 1800Z Apr 2 - 0500Z Apr 3, and 1800Z - 2400Z Apr 3. Frequencies (MHz): CW - 40 kHz from band edge and 1810 kHz; Phone - 1.850, 3.980, 7.280, 14.280, 21.380, 28.310, work MO stations once per band and mode. Categories: Fixed, MO Mobile, MO Rover. Exchange: RST, serial number, and MO county or S/P/C. QSO Points: CW -- 2 pts, Phone 1 pt. Score: MO stations -- QSO Points x States + Provinces + MO counties + 1 for DX; non-MO stations -- QSO Points x MO counties. Multipliers count only once. QSOs with W0MA count add'l 100 QSO points. For more information -- http://www.qsl.net/w0ma. Logs due 30 days after the contest to n0aj@arrl.net or James L Kinser N0AJ, 2147 Encino Drive, Florissant, MO 63031-7627. Montana QSO Party--Phone/CW/Digital - sponsored by the Flathead Valley Amateur Radio Club from 2300Z Apr 2 - 2300Z Apr 3. Frequencies: 160 meters -- 70 cm, no categories, repeaters and IRLP are permitted. Exchange: RST and S/P/C or MT county. If a station changes counties, it can be worked again. Score: QSOs x S/P/C + MT counties (counted only once). For more information: k7ncr@arrl.net. Logs due May 10 to angelmelody@centurytel.net or Norm Palin K7NCR, 68 Silver Leaf Dr, Kalispell, MT 59901. QCWA Spring QSO Party - CW/Digital/SSB - sponsored by the Quarter Century Wireless Association from 1900Z Apr 2 - 1900Z Apr 3. Frequencies (MHz): CW - 1.810, 3.540, 7.035, 14.040, 21.050, 28.050; Phone - 1.845, 3.890, 7.244, 14.262, 21.365, 28.325 plus all VHF/UHF bands, no crossband or repeater QSOs. Categories: Phone, Digital, Mixed. 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 S/P/C. QSO Points: Phone - 1 pt, CW/Digital - 2 pts. Score: QSO Points x QCWA chapters + S/P/C counted once per band. W2MM counts as a 3-point multiplier on each band. For more information: http://www.qcwa.org/2005-qso-party-rules.htm. Send logs to w2od@aol.com or Robert Buus W2OD, 8 Donner St, Holmdel NJ 07733-2004. EA RTTY Contest - sponsored by the Unión de Radioaficianados Españoles (URE.) from 1600Z Apr 2 - 1600Z Apr 3. Frequencies: 80 -- 10 meters, according to IARU band plan. Categories: SOAB, SOSB, MOAB, SWL. Exchange: RST and serial number or EA Province. QSO Points: 10 - 20 meters: own continent - 1 pt, diff cont - 2 pts; 40 and 80 meters: own cont - 3 pts, diff cont - 6 pts. Score is QSO points x DXCC entities + EA provinces + W/VE/JA/VK call areas counted once per band. If operating portable, sign /call area. For more information: http://www.rttycontesting.com/rules/earttyrules2005.pdf. Logs due May 7 to ea1mv@ure.es as ASCII text or Cabrillo format or EA RTTY Contest, PO Box 220, E - 28080 Madrid, Spain. SP DX Contest - CW/SSB - sponsored by the PZK Polish Amateur Radio Union and the SP DX Club from 1500Z Apr 2 - 1500Z Apr 3. Frequencies: 160 -- 10 meters, according to the IARU Region I band plan, no crossmode QSOs. Categories: SOAB and SOSB (CW, SSB, or Mixed), SO-Three Band Mixed, SO-QRP, MS Mixed (incl. nets, packet, Internet), SWL Mixed. Exchange: RS(T) and serial number or Polish province abbreviation. QSO Points: 3 pts for each SP contact, SP stations count 3 pts outside EU, 1 pt for EU (no pts for SP-SP QSOs). Score is QSO points x provinces (counted once per band and mode) or DXCC entities (for Polish stations). For more information: http://www.contest.spdxc.org.pl/en/index.php. Logs due Apr 30 to spdxc-logs@pzk.org.pl (Cabrillo format preferred) or to Polski Zwiazek Krotkofalowcow, SPDX Contest Committee, PO Box 320, 00-950 Warszawa, Poland. Kids Roundup - Phone, sponsored by the Anne Arundel Radio Club, Jr (AARC, Jr), from 1400Z Apr 2 - 2200Z Apr 3. Frequencies: 80 meters -70 cm. See Web site for categories and QSO Point rules. Exchange: Call sign, QTH, category, first name. Contacts with amateur radio station KI3DS count 25 points. For more information: http://www.ki3ds.org/. Logs due May 1 to ki3ds@ki3ds.org or AARC Jr, Attn: Bob Rose, 7901 Pepperbox Lane, Pasadena, MD 21122-6328. VHF+ CONTESTS VHF Spring Sprints - CW/SSB - sponsored by the Eastern Tennessee DX Association as follows: 50 MHz - 2300Z May 14 - 0300Z May 15; 144 MHz 7-11 PM local time, 4 Apr; 222 MHz - 7-11 PM Apr 12; 432 MHz - 7-11 PM Apr 20; Microwave - 902 MHz and higher - 6 AM -- 1 PM May 7. Fixed and Rover categories. Exchange is Grid Square only, count 1 pt per QSO. Score is QSO Points x Grid Squares, score each sprint separately. Rovers and Microwave sprints total all points and all grids worked from each grid. For more information: http://www.etdxa.org/vhf.htm. Logs must be emailed or postmarked within four weeks of the contest to springsprints@etdxa.org or ETDXA/WU4O Jeff Baker, 2012 Hinds Creek Road, Heiskell, Tennessee 37754. NEWS AND PRESS RELEASES Rush Drake W7RM became a Silent Key on the afternoon of March 11. Chip K7JA contributed the following note: "As one who knew Rush very well during his glory years at Foulweather Bluff, I must say that it was an honor to have grown up in contesting at the helm of his station and at his side on many a tower. He put together a potent antenna farm at one of the premier locations in North America and re-shaped contesting in the USA for many years. Big Yagis up high and four-vertical arrays on Puget Sound - what an effort! The first-place finishes his station made in DX contests were among the last ever recorded from the West Coast, and may turn out to be the last ever. Thanks, Rush, for many a good time...lots of cheers and tears and above all plenty of Dozos on 15 meters!" More thoughts follow in the Conversations section and K9PG's "Profiles" column in NCJ will feature W7RM in the June/July issue. Thanks to the hard work of Kenneth Harker WM5R, and folks working with him, a comprehensive set of records for the ARRL 10-Meter Contest was posted to the Web site at http://www.arrl.org/contests/. Certificates for the IARU Contest have been completed and mailed out, as well. (Thanks, Dan N1ND) In the previous issue the WRTC2006 Raffle was announced, but one crucial detail was omitted - identifying whether checks sent to the NCDXF are contributions or raffle ticket purchases. Contributions are tax deductible, so be sure to identify on your check, in an accompanying letter, or in the notes/comment area of a PayPal transfer whether you are buying raffle tickets or making a contribution. In a related note, Carl AI6V has joined the WRTC2006 fundraising team. (Thanks, Rusty W6OAT and Jeff K1ZM) Reservation are now being accepted for the 7th Annual Contest Dinner at the International DX Convention in Visalia, CA. The dinner will be held Friday, April 15, 2005, with serving starting at 7:30pm. The speaker will be Veijo Kontas OH6KN with a presentation of his monster contest station (one 42-meter tower, three 60-meter towers and one 105-meter tower plus many antennas) in Oulu, Finland. Cost is $25 per person to be paid at the door. You can reserve your seat and make your menu selection at http://www.twistedoak.com/wk6i/contestdinner.html. (Thanks, Jeff WK6I) Howie N4AF announces a new Low Power CW Sprint contest to occur on May 1, 2005 (UTC). The contest will use conventional NCJ rules except that max power is 100 W. Certificates will be awarded to the top ten scorers and the highest scoring non-NA station. Details are available at http://pvrc.org/may_sprint.htm. We've been wishing for more Sprint action and here it is! CQ Amateur Radio magazine announces the introduction of a new operating award, the "CQ DX Field Award," recognizing achievements in contacting at least 50 of the world's 324 10x20-degree "grid fields." Complete details and rules will be published in the April 2005 issue of CQ magazine and posted on the magazine's Web site at http://www.cq-amateur-radio.com/. Look for another pair of major awards to be announced later this year. (Thanks, Rich W2VU) The Asia-Pacific DX Committee cordially invites you to the Asia Pacific DX Convention, which will take place November 18 through 20, 2005 as the first Asian international DX event. Activities include tours of the Icom factory and the world-renowned Tokyo electronics district. More information is available at http://www.ja3.net/apdxc. (Thanks, Jon KL2A) N3FJP logging software is now available for the Virginia QSO Party. You can learn more about Scott's numerous contest logging programs and other software products at http://www.n3fjp.com/. Tom Branch K4NR has created a Web site http://www.homes4hams.com/ where he hopes to join hams with ham-friendly realtors. Also, hams that have ham-friendly property and homes for sale can list them FREE on his site (donations accepted). You can contact Tom at tom@k4nr.org. (Thanks, Scott KA9FOX) In response to my request for links to on-line contesting club newsletters, Joe K0BX points us to the Mississippi Valley DX and Contest Club (MVDXCC) bulletin at http://www.mvdxcc.org/newsletter/newsletter.pdf. Pete N4ZR also contributed the PVRC newsletter link, http://pvrc.org/newsltrs.htm. If your club's newsletter is available on-line, let me know! In my daily Internet travels-by-trackball I thumbled upon the following interesting site that presents statistics on the Amateur Service from the FCC database. Check it out at http://www.speroni.com/FCC/index.html. RESULTS AND RECORDS Another FB writeup of the 2004 CW Sweepstakes results, "Five Easy (?) Pieces (of Information)" has been delivered by Randy K5ZD. It's on the Web site for ARRL Members at http://www.arrl.org/contests/results. The complete results for the 2004 Fall Sprints have been published on the Southeastern VHF Society Web site - http://www.svhfs.org/. (Thanks, Jim W4KXY) Jeff, KU8E, has published the results of the 2004 Georgia QSO Party at http://gqp.contesting.com/. Certificates and plaques should be mailed shortly. The new official EU Sprint Web page is now on-line at http://www.eusprint.com/, showcasing the work two young English coders over the last few months, Royce M0RHI, who wrote the code, and Pete M3PHP, who designed the graphics. The new layout is friendlier and more dynamic to support new statistics and make the UBNs and results easier to navigate. (Thanks, Paolo I2UIY) The 2004 JIDX-PH contest results have also been uploaded at http://jidx.org/jidx2004ph.html. (Thanks, Tack JE1CKA) TECHNICAL As we follow the gray line propagation in search of the wily Micro-Lite Kerguelen expeditioners, what tools are available for terminator tracking? - DX Atlas (http://www.dxatlas.com/) - Geoclock (http://home.att.net/~geoclock/) - DXAID (http://www.eham.net/reviews/detail/1058, p.oldfield@telus.net) - W6EL Prop (http://www.qsl.net/w6elprop/) - Mapmaker (http://www.mapmaker.com/) Thanks, Bill W4ZV, Gerry VE6LB, and Dwight W0WOI Did you know you can save and transfer Morse CW practice sessions in the popular MP3 format? Maybe those dancers wearing portable MP3 players on the TV ads are really shaking to the rhythm of the first hour of Sprint on 20-meters? CW practice sessions as MP3 files are available at http://www.arrl.org/w1aw/morse.html and http://www.uba.be/nl.html. You can also convert WAV files to MP3 using the free utility LAME available at http://lame.sourceforge.net/. (Thanks, Marc ON4MA and Dennis N6KI) With the sole purpose of discussing and sharing experiences on the subject of LDEs (Long Delayed Echoes) Jose YV5LIX has created a new Yahoo Group at http://groups.yahoo.com/group/lde-vlde/. You are welcome to join the group and share your own experiences or just learn. There is a new "easy to follow" AO-51 Schedule at http://www.amsat.org/amsat-new/echo/ControlTeam.php. It will tell you at a glance what you need to know to become successful using AO-51. Don't forget the "51 on 51" award being offered by AMSAT! Oh, and OSCAR-11 is now old enough to drink - still sending telemetry after 21 years in orbit. (Reprinted from the AMSAT News Service Bulletin) Do you think you have a big antenna or tower? Do you know someone that does? We all want to see pictures of those big arrays! Now there's a place to see them all at once. Stewart GM4AFF has created the "Rate My Antenna" site at http://www.ratemyantenna.com/ to satisfy our comparative urges. Along with being prepared in the radio room, there are lots of other ways to be prepared for emergencies and disasters. Rick KU0W recommends this great Web site for emergency preparedness - http://www.equipped.com/. In the never-ending battle between ham and tree another weapon has been delivered - the HyperDog tennis ball launcher! Kin to the Wrist Rocket and other amped up slingshots, the HyperDog will immediately have you standing in your backyard calculating trajectories. Look upon the HyperDog and tremble at http://shop.muttropolis.com/product/dog-toys/110810/muttropolis-hyperdog-ball-launcher-dog-toy.html. (Thanks, Dave W7AQK) CONVERSATION They Be Giants "Thank you Rush from all of us on your team. Not only for your drive and dedication to the contesting hobby, but for letting us cut our teeth at your dream station and then all go on to our own contesting careers....while never forgetting our roots." Danny K7SS offered up those words on the CQ-Contest reflector after learning of the passing of his personal contest mentor, Rush Drake W7RM. Other remembrances of Rush followed along with some great "I remember..." stories of multi-op adventures across the contesting landscape. I may have come on the Northwest scene too late to take advantage of W7RM in the hey-day of his Foulweather Bluff crew, but I have done quite a few multi-op efforts over the years, recognizing myself and others in their stories. What is truly mind-boggling is how many of today's top operators got their start and honed their skills at multi-op stations, just like Danny. The folks that put these big stations together and patiently assemble teams, repair and maintain, feed, clean up, submit the logs, and answer the QSLs are certainly some of the unsung heroes of contesting - giants of the sport, regardless of the size of their aluminum farm or the resulting score. Sure, most of them may not be mentioned regularly in the Top Ten boxes, but can you imagine the sport of contesting without them? If all of us had to learn in isolation, it would be a much longer journey filled with far fewer good memories. It is because of their hospitality and essential good nature that so much was made available to us for so little for so long. Rush has passed from the scene but this coming weekend and all through the year, familiar calls will populate the airwaves as another crop of skilled operators takes an exam in Contesting 101. As we grow older, one of the most frequent regrets is that time was not taken to express gratitude for kindness past. Busy as we are, wrapped up in our own lives and plans, it's too easy to let the years slip by until, one day, we find that it is too late. All of us have our giants - taking a minute to say thanks, even in a small way, can be one of the best experiences you will ever have. Showy presentations and awards are fine, but the personal expression of gratitude will go even farther and last longer. Whether your giant is big or little, rich or poor, I hope you'll find the right way to acknowledge them. Theirs are the shoulders on which tomorrow's giants stand. 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
