Contester's Rate Sheet for December 28, 2005
*********************** Contester's Rate Sheet 28 December 2005 *********************** Edited by Ward Silver N0AX SUMMARY o Keyboards and Kids - ARRL RTTY Roundup and Kids Day o WRTC News - Deadline Extended o SolderSmoke Video and Ham Radio Cartoons o HA DX and EU Sprint Results o Radio Equipment and Airports o Sealing Connectors and Flinging Lines o If I Were a Big Gun BULLETINS o No bulletins this issue BUSTED QSOS o None reported! ANNOUNCEMENTS & NOTICES FOR 28 DECEMBER 2005 TO 9 JANUARY 2006 UPCOMING LOG DUE DATES December 31 - IPARC Contest, CW, email logs to: dl8kcg@darc.de, paper logs and diskettes to: Uwe Greggersen DL8KCG, Hurststr 9, D-51645 Gummersbach, Germany. Find rules at: http://www.ipa-rc.de/cont-e.htm. December 31 - IPARC Contest, SSB, email logs to: dl8kcg@darc.de, paper logs and diskettes to: Uwe Greggersen DL8KCG, Hurststr 9, D-51645 Gummersbach, Germany. Find rules at: http://www.ipa-rc.de/cont-e.htm. December 31 - JIDX Phone Contest, email logs to: ph@jidx.org, paper logs and diskettes to: JIDX Phone Contest, c/o Five-Nine Magazine, PO Box 59, Kamata, Tokyo 144-8691, Japan. Find rules at: http://www.jidx.org/jidxrule-e.html. December 31 - All Austrian 160-Meter Contest, email logs to: hf-contest@oevsv.at, paper logs and diskettes to: OEVSV-HQ, HF-Contest Manager, Eisvogelgasse 4/1, A-1060 Vienna, Austria. Find rules at: http://www.oevsv.at/dwn/files/aoec160m2005_rules.pdf. December 31 - EUCW Fraternizing CW QSO Party, email logs to: (none), paper logs and diskettes to: Gunther Nierbauer DJ2XP, Illinger Strasse 74, D-66564 Ottweiler/Saar, Germany. Find rules at: http://www.agcw.de/eucw/eucwp.html. December 31 - TARA RTTY Melee, email logs to: (none), Post log summary at: http://www.n2ty.org/seasons/tara_melee_score.html, paper logs and diskettes to: (none). Find rules at: http://www.n2ty.org/seasons/tara_melee_rules.html. January 1 - ARCI Topband Sprint, email logs to: contest@qrparci.org, paper logs and diskettes to: ARCI Top Band Sprint, c/o Jeff Hetherington, VA3JFF, 139 Elizabeth St W, Welland, Ontario L3C 4M3, Canada. Find rules at: http://www.qrparci.org/. January 3 - ARRL 160-Meter Contest, email logs to: 160meter@arrl.org, paper logs and diskettes to: 160 Meter Contest, ARRL, 225 Main St, Newington, CT 06111 USA. Find rules at: http://www.arrl.org/contests/rules/2005/160-Meters.html. January 9 - RAEM Contest, email logs to: alo@udmurtneft.ru, paper logs and diskettes to: RAEM Contest, PO Box 3945, Izhevsk 426011, Russia. Find rules at: http://www.srr.ru/CONTEST/Cup_R%20A%20E%20M_En.htm. UPCOMING CONTESTS 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 (>100 W); LP - Low Power; QRP (5W or less); Entity - DXCC Entity HF CONTESTS There are a number of short contests celebrating the New Year. For more information, view the Web sites for each contest. - ARRL Straight-Key Night - http://www.arrl.org/contests/rules/2006/skn.html - New Years Snowball Contest - http://www.qsl.net/eu1eu/index_e.htm - HA Happy New Year Contest - http://radioklub.puskas.hu/ha5khc/web - SARTG New Year RTTY Contest - http://www.sartg.com/contest/nyrules.htm - AGCW Happy New Year Contest - http://www.agcw.de/ ARRL RTTY Roundup--1800Z Jan 7 - 2400Z Jan 8. Operate for 24 hours max. with no more than two off periods. Frequencies: 80 -- 10 meters. Categories: SO-LP, SO-HP, MS-LP, MS-HP, 10-minute band-change rule for MS. Exchange: RST + state/province/serial number. QSO Points: 1 pt/QSO. Score: QSO points x States + Provinces + DXCC entities counted only once (KH6, KL7 count as DXCC only). For more information - http://www.arrl.org/contests/rules/2006/rtty.html. Logs due Feb 7 to rttyru@arrl.org (Cabrillo format only) or RTTY Round-Up, ARRL, 225 Main St, Newington, CT 06111. Kid's Day--Phone, sponsored by the ARRL and the Boring Amateur Radio Club from 1800Z to 2400Z Jan 8. Frequencies: 28350 - 28400, 21380 - 21400, 14270 - 14300 kHz, and 2-meter repeaters with permission of repeater control ops. Exchange: Name, age, and favorite color. If the operator has changed, a station can be contacted again. For more information: http://www.arrl.org/FandES/ead/kd-rules.html. No scores or logs are required - every participant is eligible to receive a colorful certificate. Send a 9 X 12 SASE to Boring Amateur Radio Club, 15125 SE Bartell Rd, Boring, OR 97009. DARC 10-meter Contest--CW/SSB, sponsored by the Deutscher Amateur Radio Club from 0900Z -1059Z Jan 8. Frequencies: CW 28.000 - 28.200 MHz, SSB 28.300 - 28.700 MHz, work stations once only. Categories: SO-Mixed Mode and SO-CW. Exchange: RS(T) and serial number, DL stations add DOK code. QSO points: 1 pt/QSO. Score: QSOs x WAE and DXCC entities + DOK codes. For more information: http://www.darc.de/referate/dx/fedcz.htm. Logs due 23 Jan to 10m-contest@dxhf.darc.de or Frank Steinke, DL8WAA, PO Box 1188, D-56238 Selters, Germany. Worldwide QRP Federation QSO Party--CW/SSB/Digital, sponsored by the RU QRP Club from 0000Z - 2400Z Jan 6. Frequencies: 160 - 10 meters. Categories: SOAB-Mixed only. Exchange: RS(T), QRP club name or DXCC entity, member number or power. QSO Points: same continent--1 pt, different cont--3 pts. Score: QSO points x QRP clubs from all bands. For more information: http://ruqrp.narod.ru/index_e.html. Logs due 30 days after the contest to RU-QRP Club, PO Box 229, Lipetsk, 398043, Russia (paper logs only). EUCW 160 Meter Contest--CW, sponsored by the Union Francaise des Telegraphistes from 2000Z - 2300Z Jan 7 and 0400 - 0700Z Jan 8. Categories: EU (HP, LP, QRP), non-EU, SWL. Exchange: RST, serial number, club name, member number or "NM". QSO Points: own entity--1 pt, different entity--2 pts, diff. Continent--5 pts. Score: QSO points x clubs. For more information: http://www.uft.net/articles.php?lng=fr&pg=123. Logs due Feb 15 in Cabrillo format to f6cel@wanadoo.fr or F6CEL - Ghislain, Barbason 5 Rue d'Ecluse, 02190 Pignicourt, France. Original QRP Contest--sponsored by the QRP Contest Community, from 1500Z Jan 7 - 1500Z Jan 8. Frequencies: 80 - 20 meters. Categories: VLP (<1W), QRP (<5W), MP (<20W), Handmade. Exchange: RST, serial number, category (RST OK for non-participating stations). QSO Points: Participants--4 pts, others--1 pt. Total Score: performed by sponsor, see Web site for more information: http://www.qrpcc.de/contestrules/oqrpr.html. Logs due 31-Jan to oqrpc@qrpcc.de or Dr. Hartmut Weber, DJ7ST, Schlesierweg 13, D-38228 Salzgitter, Germany. VHF+ CONTESTS There are no VHF+ contests scheduled. NEWS & PRESS RELEASES WRTC Application deadline extended to 20 Jan 2006! "Dear WRTC 2006 friends: We thank you all for the applications already received. We perfectly understand that with the Region s division is not so easy to come up with the final application. We also have several applicants that are still consolidating their application document. For application date requirement we will consider the date of the first submission. Considering that we decided to postpone our dead line from next Dec 31st up to January 20th 2006. Thanks for supporting WRTC 2006. Best 73, Oms." With the goal of attracting new contesters, the Milwaukee Radio Amateurs' Club has released the rules and regulations for their annual FM Simplex Contest, adaptable to any location on any date. The goal of the contest is to encourage folks, especially the newly licensed, to upgrade their stations and find a life beyond repeaters. You can find the rules at http://www.w9rh.org/ or from Sherm KB9Q at kb9q@arrl.net. This isn't for the Big Guns, of course, but to introduce the idea of a competitive radio event--good thinking! For those of you interested in improving your CW speed, a Win XP (beta) version of RUFZ is now available for download. Check it out at: http://www.darc.de/referate/dx/fedtr.htm. (Thanks, Barry W2UP) A bit late for holiday gifts, but just in time for a winter chuckle, Dick Sylvan W9CBT, has just published "HI HI - A Collection of Ham Radio Cartoons." (http://books.lulu.com/content/177530) If Dick's work looks familiar, you may have seen it in the K9YA Telegraph, a popular ham radio e-zine. While not specifically geared to contesters, the book includes contest-related cartoons and has something for everybody. (Thanks, Mike N9BOR) Paul N1BUG notes that the VHF+ Web site Aurora Sentry is moving and Bob Hall KC2MHU is taking over the site. It's up and running at its new location: http://www.aurorasentry.net/. Paul is also shutting down http://www.n1bug.net/ in January. We're unlikely to see ham radio construction programs on prime-time TV, but there is an alternative. Bill N2CQR (a.k.a. M0HBR and CU2JL, http://www.qsl.net/n2cqr) has developed "SolderSmoke," a video show for homebrewers. His latest, SolderSmoke 11, is available at http://www.ourmedia.org/node/123300. (It's a 36.8 Mbyte file) Topics include "Solar-Powered Station on 80-Meters," "Understanding Solid-State Design," and a few other interesting tidbits. Bill has also produced some podcasts of himself and KL7R discussing homebrew projects - the URL is http://www.ourmedia.org/mediarss/user/36170, which can be cut-and-pasted into your pod control software or just listen on your PC at http://www.ourmedia.org/node/123300. Scanner enthusiasts will be excited to learn of some upgrades at the frequency-listing RadioReference site (http://www.radioreference.com/), including a lot of changes to the RadioReference Wiki. The user forum software has been changed to a more powerful system and there are new forums. More upgrades are reportedly in the works. Al Waller K3TKJ announces that an Icom IC-756PROIII will be given away as part of the annual QSL/QTH Web site fund-raising drive. The drawing will be held on 15 Jan 2006 and donors to QSL/QTH.net are automatically entered into the drawing. More information is available at http://www.qsl.net/. The ultimate second op may be Asimo the Robot, by Honda Corporation. Asimo moves in an extremely lifelike way and you can see Asimo go at http://asimo.honda.com/inside_asimo_movies.asp. A few more design iterations and you will be able to say, "Asimo, go fix that rotator!" or "Asimo, bring me a Red Bull!" Maybe Asimo is Japanese for "Jeeves." My goodness, I'm stuffed after the holiday celebrations. Let's have some Portuguese words for sweets and desserts from the Lonely Planet "Western European Phrasebook". Almond cake - Bolo de amendoa Christmas cake - Bolo-rei Egg cakes in syrup - Papos de anjo Crème caramel - Pudim flan Orange Swiss roll - Torta de laranja And how about some café (kah-FEH) to wash that down? RESULTS AND RECORDS The complete list of Logs Received for the 2005 ARRL November CW Sweepstakes has been posted at www.arrl.org/contests/claimed. If you do not see your entry listed, please contact Kathy Allison KA1RWY at 860-594-0295 or email at kallison@arrl.org. (Dan N1ND is on vacation this week.) Please have your log receipt number available. The 2005 IARU HF Championship Web writeup by Carl K9LA is available to ARRL members at http://www.arrl.org/contests/results/ and the reduced QST version is available to all. (Thanks, Dan N1ND) The results of the EU Sprint Contest - Autumn CW (held on October 8) have just been released, including UBN reports, at http://www.eusprint.com/. UBNs and logs are public. The 2005 EU Sprint Plaques are awarded to the three operators with the highest combined scores and having entered at least three of the four European Sprint contests in 2005. #1 - Tonno Vahk, ES5TV - 939 Points #2 - Sasa Pokorni, 9A5Y (Opr. 9A3NM) - 772 Points #2 - Iliya Getzov, LZ9W (Opr. LZ4UU) - 772 Points #5 - Hrle, 9A7P (Opr. 9A6XX) operated with Low Power (Thanks, Paolo I2UIY) The HADX2005 contest results and HADX 2006 rules with free software are available on http://w3.enternet.hu/mttosz/MAGYAR/index0.htm. Awards for the contest should be sent soon. There are new rules for the 2006 contest, so read carefully! (Thanks, Gyula HA1TJ) TECHNICAL A member of the exclusive "Operated From All 40 Zones Club", Phil N6ZZ/everywhere contributes this useful advice for the contest traveler carrying equipment. "When I travel with radio stuff, I only transport it in an ordinary-looking hard-sided Samsonite suitcase, never in a box. I also include the following items in the suitcase: a. Manual for the radio b. Copy of the front page of my passport c. Copy of my US radio license d. If available, copy of my overseas radio license e. A piece of paper with a typewritten note in large letters that says something like 'TSA: This luggage includes amateur radio equipment for an International Amateur Radio competition. Please repack carefully after your inspection. Thanks very much.' The note is signed and dated. I figure that my luggage may indeed look suspicious to a paranoid TSA inspector. It certainly won't look anything like the other hundreds of suitcases he will be inspecting during the day. Anything I can do to explain the contents to his satisfaction is well worth the additional preparation in advance." Icom owners have several third-party options for band decoders that operate from the Icom CI-V data interface: - microHam's band decoder (http://www.microham.com/band%20decoder.html) - Bob K6XX has a homebrew design at (http://www.k6xx.com/radio/icbsciv.html) - Elecraft's KRC2 is very flexible (http://www.elecraft.com/) (Thanks, Risto W6RK and Rick K6VVA) "If you are recycling a bottle for outdoor use, make sure you see 'PETE' or 'PET' (polyethyleneterephthalate, a.k.a. 'polyester') on the bottom. PP (polypropylene) and PE (polyethylene) will not hold up so well, particularly if they are food-grade which has limited stabilizer options. PET is inherently stable, and its structure will also filter UV to give some protection to whatever the project will house." (Thanks, Stan KD4BTH) There is a very nice summary of several types of basic transistor circuits, "An introduction to analog circuits part 1: transistors and more" by Reno Rossetti on the Planet Analog Web site: http://www.planetanalog.com/showArticle.jhtml?articleID=163702498. Visited the Heil Sound Web site lately? There is a useful page of topics of interest to all at http://heilsound.com/amateur/harmonics.htm#DC. This issue includes notes about setting your DSP properly, getting rid of RFI to your mike, and other things. I am in awe of the inventiveness of the amateur antenna erector. For a good time, browse through the archives of the TowerTalk reflector at http://dayton.akorn.net/pipermail/towertalk, then select "Thread" and search for "EZ". Oiling one's line, indeed! Supplemented by K0WA's maxim, "If you don't have any Common Sense - get some and use it. If you can't find any common sense, ask for help from somebody who has some common sense." If you run out of "Coax Seal" on your next antenna project, you could try "Duct Seal" that is found at places like Lowes and Home Depot. It's a soft pliable putty that doesn't harden. Self-vulcanizing tape is also available at hardware-type stores and has the added advantage of being a lot easier to remove than putty. The old stand-by is three carefully-wrapped layers of Scotch 33+ or 88+ tape. When your editor was preparing for the K7C trip, Kimo KH7U demonstrated that a piece of mastic (a flexible material not unlike putty) at significant diameter transitions, such as at the back of the PL-259 outer shell, make the tape wrap behave much better. (Thanks, Rick KC8AON, Larry N8LP, and George K5TR) One of my trade magazine subscriptions, Design News, has a pair of columns that any ham-tinkerer would love. The first, The Gadget Freak Files, features a nifty invention or creation by a Design News reader. The 15 December issue's column is "You Can Get Scrooged Opening a Trap Door" about a better way to open those attic stairs. The second column, Calamities, is a case study in some kind of product or device failure and the method by which the root cause is discovered. Read them both at http://www.designnews.com/ - scroll halfway down the page to find the links in the "Design News Today" section. At the risk of invoking another Plastic Owl uproar, here is a great way to determine True North, even if you have no compass and are lost in the woods. All it takes is the sun... 1- Jab a double-pointed stick into the ground 2- Mark shadow of stick point on ground (with a pebble or twig) 3- Wait a while 4- Mark point shadow, again 5- Line between shadow marks is E-W 6- Construct perpendicular for N-S 7- For better accuracy use a longer stick and wait longer (Thanks, Russell W4NI) CONVERSATION If I Were a Big Gun Instead of growing "soggy with nostalgia" (Tom Lehrer) or dredging up yet another treacle-y (quick, who knows what treacle is?) holiday homily, here's a song of sentiments with which we can all identify, some more than others, but particularly those denizens of the dark, Top Banders. See you in the New Year! If I Were a Big Gun (Based ever so loosely on "If I Were A Rich Man" from the musical Fiddler On the Roof with music by Jerry Bock) (spoken) Dear God, you made many, many Little Pistols I realize, of course, that it's no shame to be weak But it's no great honor either! So, what would have been so terrible if I had a big signal? (the melody swells from the orchestra pit...) If I were a Big Gun Ritty diddle diddle, QRZed is anybody on? All day long I'd put 'em in the log If I were a great Big Gun! I wouldn't have to wait long Sending didahdidah, CQ DX on short path and long If I were a biggie biggie big Yidle-diddle-didle-didle-gun! I'd build a big tall tower with beams by the dozen, Right there in the middle of the town. A fine four square with long radials galore. There would be one vertical just going up, And one even higher coming down, And one more not hooked up, just for show. I'd fill my yard with masts and dipoles and vee's and loops For the club to see and sigh. And each tall pole and cleat and line and guy Would land like a flower on the eye As if to say "Here lives a real Big Gun!" If I were a Big Gun Ritty diddle diddle, QRZed is anybody on? All day long I'd put 'em in the log If I were a great Big Gun! I wouldn't have to wait long Sending didahdidah, CQ DX on short path and long If I were a biggie biggie big Yidle-diddle-didle-didle-gun! I see my deal XYL Golde, looking like a Big Gun's wife With a proper mobile rig Sending QSLs to her heart's delight. I see her loading up amps and running like three ops Oy, what a running groove she's in! Screaming at the pileups, day and night. The most important ops in town would multi-op with me! They would ask me to Elmer them, Like a Hiram the Wise. "If you please, oh Big Gun..." "Pardon me, oh Big Gun..." Posing problems that would cross the Old Man's eyes! And it won't make one bit of difference if I answer right or wrong. When you're loud, they think you really know! If I would loud, I'd have the signal that I lack When sitting down to operate all day. And maybe work Bouvet in just one call And I would work 75 with the other guns several hours every day. That would be the sweetest thing of all. If I were a Big Gun Ritty diddle diddle, QRZed is anybody on? All day long I'd put 'em in the log If I were a great Big Gun! I wouldn't have to wait long Sending didahdidah, CQ DX on short path and long If I were a biggie biggie big Yidle-diddle-didle-didle-gun! 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
