Contester's Rate Sheet for August 23, 2006
******************************************** CONTESTER'S RATE SHEET 23 August 2006 Edited by Ward Silver N0AX Published by the American Radio Relay League Free to ARRL members - tell your friends! (Subscription info at the end of newsletter) ******************************************** SUMMARY o Summer DX Fun - All-Asian Phone, Russian and SCC RTTY o Ohio and Hawaii QSO Parties o NCJ News by K9LA o Pacificon and Microwave Update Announcements o Historical Articles and Web Sites o Coax Loss Calculator and Power Line Noise o Plastic Materials Web Resources o Radio Doping BULLETINS o No bulletins this issue BUSTED QSOS o A golden issue last time! CONTEST SUMMARY (Rules follow Commentary section) August 26-27 - Ohio QSO Party - Hawaii QSO Party - Keyman's Club of Japan, CW - ALARA Contest - YO-DX Contest - SARL HF DX Contest, CW - SCC RTTY Championship - Summer VHF/UHF QSO Party September 2-3 - All-Asian DX Contest, Phone - IARU Region 1 Field Day, SSB - DARC 10-Meter Digital Contest - MI QRP Labor Day CW Sprint - Russian RTTY WW Contest --o- ooo - --o- ooo - --o- ooo - -oo o NEWS, PRESS RELEASES, AND GENERAL INTEREST - oooo o o-o o- - o ooo oooo o o - -o- National Contest Journal News - by Carl Luetzelschwab K9LA The main feature in the September/October NCJ is Part 1 of K3NA's analysis of the WRTC2006 contest. It's an interesting look at pre-planning activities, strategies, and contest performance of eight of the top finishers. Other features in this issue include CQWW 160m CW from VO2 by VE3FU and VO1AU, N5TJ's DX Contesting presentation from HamCom, details of the February Readers Survey, and more. N4ZR, W4PA, W9XT, N0JK, K5AF, K4ZA, NG3K, and WA7BNM contribute their regular columns. And the results for the January 2006 NAQP CW, the January 2006 NAQP Phone, and the February 2006 NAQP RTTY contests are also in this issue. - - - - - Best Contesting News of the Year - http://tinyurl.com/mp8xc (Thanks, Mal N7MAL) Pacificon 2006 (http:www/pacificon.org) will be held on October 13-15, in San Ramon, CA at the San Ramon Marriott Hotel. This is a major gathering and features an all-day antenna program on Friday, more seminars and speakers on Saturday, and a thriving hamfest. San Ramon is about 30 miles east of San Francisco. Microwave Update 2006 announces the first annual "Microwave Achievement Award" to be presented at this year's Microwave Update, October 19-22 and is accepting nominations until September 30. This award is being presented in memory of Earl Price, W8MGJ, an exemplary Elmer to all microwave enthusiasts. Following Earl's example, nominees should be active on the microwave bands, show technical prowess, and be microwave Elmers. All amateurs are eligible, Novice through Extra. Submit your nomination by completing the "Microwave Achievement Award" application found at http://www.microwaveupdate.org/ VUCC-chasers and others interested in grid squares will find this Web site really interesting - http://confluence.org/ Confluences are the intersection of latitude and longtitude degree lines. I.e. 45N and 90W. There are lots of photos so you can see what it looks like - I can't see any big, black lines, myself. There are also pairs of antipodes! (Thanks, Ramon XE1KK) A recent issue of "Radiouser" (http://www.radiouser.co.uk/) contained an ad for a new weather satellite receiver (The R2FX from Holger Eckhardt) sold by the Group for Earth Observation (GEO - http://www.geo-web.org.uk/). GEO is an amateur radio group that promotes reception of data from weather and Earth-imaging satellites. The group offers satellite reception hardware, image handling software, and a lot of information about these satellites and how to receive their signals. In the same issue of "Radiouser" is a mouth-watering article about the wireless museums and installations of Cornwall, at the very southwestern tip of England. Titled "In Marconi's Footsteps" (unfortunately not on-line), it surveys the four major attractions in this nearest (to North America) corner of England: - The Marconi Center, Poldhu, http://gb2gm.org.uk/ - Lizard Wireless Station, http://www.lizardwireless.org/ - Porthcurno Telegraph Museum, http://www.porthcurno.org.uk/ - Goonhilly Satellite Earth Station, http://www.goonhilly.bt.com/ There are plenty of good walks in the area and that is covered by the South West Coast Path Association - http://www.swcp.org.uk/ - so if you find yourself on holiday in the U.K., why not spend some time in the wind-swept birthplace of wireless communications? Another historical find resulted from correspondence with one of the editor's "Hand's-On Radio" readers. Tony duBourg writes of his father, Count Guy du Bourg de Bozas, F8DR. "My father was honored by the French Air and Space museum as having built the first "goniometre", or RDF receiver. This is reputed to have made night flying possible. The antennas seemed to be a vertical set of dipoles on a calibrated circle, and he explained to me that this was the most sensitive method of determining direction of transmitter." Not much is available on the Web about F8DR - perhaps a reader will be able to point us to information on F8DR's early history? For all of us that find ourselves dozing at the radio from time to time, there is reason to think that we are engaging in personal improvement! The June 2006 issue of the "IEEE Antennas and Propagation Magazine" features the short column "Napping Improves Ethics" by Randy Haupt of Pennsylvania State University. If you don't have access to it, the basic idea is that by satisfying our need for sleep with a nap, "...alert and refreshed...you are more likely to look at all sides of an issue, to think clearly, and to make good ethical choices." We also learn that Albert Einstein was a big napper. So if you wake to find your head on the keyboard and the keyer sending didididididididididi...you're merely improving your outlook on life and your score in the logbook! The 30th Japan Ham Fair was held this past weekend and around 30,000 attendees were expected. There were lots of new products, including a legal-limit amplifier based on FETs and a K2-like QRP HF transceiver from Tokyo Hy-Power Labs. Entries in a homebrewing contest were displayed as well as a really interesting new tool for builders - the "Smart Tweezers" that have an RLC meter built in so you can tell what it is that you're picking up! Photos and more can be seen at http://www.onjapan.net/2006/hamfair (Thanks, Jim 7J1AJH/AI8A) Marc W6ZZZ wrote in with a link to the Northern California Contest Club's two introductory articles on Field Day and Contesting: "What is Field Day" at http://www.wvara.org/fd/index.html#what-is and "How to Contest" at http://www.wvara.org/fd/index.html#howto-contest Marc attributes authorship to Mike K6PUD. If you would like to know more about the specific details of each WRTC operating site, Oms PY5EG announces a new Web page at http://www.radioamador.com/wrtc/sites This includes pictures and exact geographic coordinates for each station. There may be some discrepancy between the coordinates given and a mapping program, depending on what model of the Earth's surface is used. Are you looking for something in an old issue of the Rate Sheet but can't find the right one? Here's a way to use the Google search engine to look through the old Rate Sheet issues. On Google's home page (http://www.google.com/), click "Advanced Search", then enter the ARRL home page (http://www.arrl.org/) in the Domain window. In the "Find Results" area, enter "rate sheet" (with the quote marks) plus any other search terms you want to look for. Click "Google Search" and, voila! URL of the Week - For all of you yagi builders out there, the VE3GK Web site (http://www.ve3gk.com/) is a must-visit, particularly "The Gain Game." There is a lot of good information on radio sprinkled around the various pages. VE3GK became a Silent Key in May 2004, but the Ottawa Valley Mobile Radio Club maintains the site to keep its information available to us all - thanks! (Also thanks, Steve K7LXC) oo-o oo -o -oo -o-- --- oo- o-o RESULTS AND RECORDS -o-o o- o-oo o-oo oooo o o-o o ARRL CONTEST RESULTS NEWS The remaining Divisional Writeups for the 2006 ARRL DX Phone contest have all been received and integrated into the Web article at http://www.arrl.org/contest/results along with a few late corrections. - - - - - The Michigan QSO Party committee is pleased to announce that the results of the 2006 Michigan QSO Party are now published on the MiQP Web site: http://www.miqp.org/ Despite poor band conditions that severely impacted QSO totals, we had 183 entries this time, which makes 2006 the third largest MiQP on record. (Thanks, Dave K8CC) The complete final results for SAC 2005 are now published on the SM3CER Contest Service: http://www.sk3bg.se/contest The SAC records for 1999 - 2005 are also updated. (Thanks, Jan SM3CER) Results of the 2006 Adventure Radio Society "Flight of the Bumblebees" has been posted on the ARS Web site: http://www.arsqrp.com/ Results for the ARS monthly sprints are also posted there. The 2006 CQ 160 claimed scores have been published on the CQ Magazine Web site at http://www.cq-amateur-radio.com/ Click on 'Contest Rules and Info', then "CQ World Wide 160 Contest". The top 400 scores are shown. For questions, contact k4jrb@juno.com. (Thanks, Dave K4JRB) oo oo-o oo - ooo -o --- - -ooo o-o --- -o- o TECHNICAL TIPS AND INFORMATION -o-- --- oo- o-o o -o --- - - o-o -o-- oo -o --o Dave N0RQ contributes a nice on-line coax calculator - http://www.ocarc.ca/coax.htm - that does a fine job of making it easy to calculate losses. Select the type of cable, the frequency, the length, press the button and no more nepers! Dave also gets this issue's Daily Double with his Web site dedicated to power-line noise (preventing, not promoting) - http://www.powerlinenoise.com/ There are links to quite a few useful topics, including recording and commentary on different types of noise. (As if we don't already hear enough of it...) Larry N8LP refers us to an excellent source of quality dummy loads at very reasonable prices - http://ridgeequipment.com/store/page1.htm. There are several models of up to 200-watt capacity. And no mineral oil! How can you tell if an MOV (metal oxide varistor) has gone bad? It's nothing so obvious as sneaking out at night and swiping cigarettes. A regular voltmeter won't do, so you have to measure current through them, as Roger K8RI points out, "at their working potential. Every over-voltage, even testing, degrades them. Normal MOV failure mode is shorted. If they have failed open it is usually quite evident. MOVs failing open are usually nothing but a pair of leads pointing to where the MOV had been located." Gary K4FMX suggests using a hi-pot (high-potential) tester, if available, since the small current will not degrade the MOV and unexploded, failed-open MOVs can also be detected. Those of you in the process of beefing up your low-band antennas might benefit from a reading of this article on radials by K3LC - http://www.ncjweb.com/k3lcmaxgainradials.pdf The article contains a simple formula for calculating an optimized number and length of radials based on a fixed length of wire. I.e. - you score a 500' spool of hookup wire at the hamfest, so how many radials should be made from the wire? (Thanks, Hasan N0AN) With the price of cable and wire of all sorts going up, here's a nice tip about low-current control cable from Rick N6RK. He uses Cat-5 Ethernet cable obtained cheap or free by scrounging it or buying it on sale. It has eight conductors to for dc applications such as a relay and allows you to use a separate conductor for each dc return. This avoids overloading one conductor with too much current. TECHNICAL URL OF THE WEEK -- This week, it's a pair of URLs. In his extensive antenna building exercises, John W0UN has found these two useful sites for design work. "The first gives a bit of technical information for a wide variety of materials but I find it most interesting for getting an idea of the cost of some of the materials. I have found the prices to be competitive, but what is most handy is the price calculator - http://www.professionalplastics.com/ The second useful reference is the 61-page guide from Regal Plastics - http://www.stealth316.com/misc/engineered-plastics.pdf It has good overview information on just about everything, as well as telling you what an item is when you only have a trade name. It doesn't provide all of the detailed specs on a particular item but it does give you some insight into applications and points you in a direction to find more information from the manufacturer." o-o o o- -oo -o-- oo-o --- o-o - oooo o oo-o o- o-oo o-oo CONVERSATION -o-o --- -o - o ooo - ooo o o- ooo --- -o oo--oo Radio Doping All summer we have been treated to one doping scandal after another in biking and track and baseball and who knows what will happen once the ice dancing season gets started! It's a darn good thing that radiosport doesn't have that problem, isn't it? Well? I wish I could say that was true, but there are a couple of contest practices that sure seem to be similar in spirit. I'm not talking about the time-honored cheating methods of rubber clocking, running gas, "working the Callbook", more than one signal transmitted at a time, etc. etc. Those are sufficiently detectable such that there is a high enough risk to deter most of the potential perpetrators. Kind of like speeding - there are enough policemen out there to keep most of us more or less in line, or at least conforming to customary behavior. What I am talking about occurs in a couple of forms. The first is just blatant cheating - that's the use of spotting network information ("packet spots") without submitting your score in the Assisted category. To be sure, some new contesters just don't realize that using information about the contest during the contest from *any* source (packet, Web site, local spotting net) requires them to submit an Assisted category score. Then there are the casual cheaters - "I'll just peek a little bit" or "I'll have the node connected, but I won't look at it." We can all imagine where that leads. Then there are the incorrigible packet poachers. They mysteriously manage to appear in the pileup within seconds of the spot being broadcast. Funny thing - their score is always Single-Op, Unassisted. Hmmm. Or maybe a series of spots are posted directing callers to their frequency, always by unusual calls that you've never heard of. Another funny thing. Hmmm. Luckily for the rest of us, the packet poacher patterns are becoming easier and easier to detect in their logs. It's also getting harder and harder to spot yourself without leaving a trail of bread crumbs that's easy for the contest sponsors to see. The solution is education for the newcomer and disqualification for the intentional cheater. If you're new to contesting and have just discovered that you committed a rules transgression, don't have a cow, just change the way you operate! If cheaters decide they don't want to play anymore, well, I hope they don't let the door hit 'em on their way out! What's that second type of "doping?" This one doesn't violate any written rules, but is just as pernicious as packet poaching and is just as corrosive to operating ability. I'm talking about post-contest log manipulation, also known as "log cleansing." I don't know of any other sport where the contestants are allowed to go back and tidy up their performances. Does Tiger get to go back and use a longer iron on that shot from the rough? Does Ronaldinho get to go back and give that corner kick another try? I don't think so. Let's be clear - Tiger and Ronaldinho both get to *practice* those shots as much as they want between matches. But on match day, you play it once and once only. When the last putt goes in on the 18th hole or the referee blows the whistle, it's over, finished, done. Yes, I know there are terrific software packages that can analyze your whole log in 30 seconds, outputting a complete list of possibly busted calls, discrepancies in exchanges, erroneous multipliers and so forth. Those are great for practice. Sanitizing your submitted log to make you look like a better operator than you were is just false pretenses. It's like plagiarizing on your term paper or using forbidden notes on an exam. You may improve your grade, but you still don't know the material. And here's the part that really hurts you in the long run - as long as you know you're going to run the log checking program after the contest, the pressure to get it right the first time, every time is lessened. You think, "Well, I'll just listen to the audio again or let the software fix it." How does that make you a better operator? It doesn't! Contesting awards are not intended the combination of operator and log-processing software. There's no reason why the vast majority of single-op contest logs couldn't be emailed to the contest sponsor within a very few minutes after the end of the contest. Use the software *after* you submit your log to help you find weak spots in your technique and develop your skill level for the *next* contest. Tossing away your contest crutches is the only way you're going to really excel in the radiosport game. (These and a number of other related topics are covered in the ARRL's Web page, "HF Contesting - Good Practices, Interpretations, and Suggestions". (http://www.arrl.org/contests/hf-faq.html) Developed by the ARRL Contest Advisory Committee, these helpful hints are intended to explain how things are "supposed to work" in contests. Feel free to distribute that URL or make copies and share them in your contest club. If you have questions or suggestions, as the Chair of the CAC I'd be happy to receive them or ask your contest Elmer.) 73, Ward N0AX -o-o --o- - o ooo - -o-o --o- - o ooo - CONTESTS -- 23 AUGUST TO 5 SEPTEMBER 2006 -o-o --o- - o ooo - -o-o --o- - o ooo - 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) HF CONTESTS Ohio QSO Party--CW/SSB, sponsored by the Mad River Radio Club from 1600Z Aug 26 -0400Z Aug 27. Frequencies (MHz): CW -- 3.545, 7.045, 14.045, 21.045, 28.045; SSB -- 3.850, 7.225, 14.250, 21.300, and 28.450. Categories: SO, MM, Mobile and Rover. Exchange: Serial Number and Ohio county, state or province, DX stations send "DX". QSO Points: CW--2 pts, SSB--1 pt. Score: QSO points x OH counties (OH station count states, provinces, and OH counties) counted once per mode. For more information: http://www.oqp.us/ Logs due 30 days after the contest to logs@oqp.us or to Ohio QSO Party, c/o Jim Stahl K8MR, 30499 Jackson Road, Chagrin Falls, OH 44022-1730. Hawaii QSO Party--CW/Phone/RTTY/PSK31, sponsored by the Koolau ARC from 0700Z Aug 26 - 2200Z Aug 27. Frequencies: 160-10 meters. Categories: SOAB and MS (single or mixed-mode), MM (mixed-mode only). Spotting nets and packet allowed in all classes. Exchange: RS(T) and S/P/C, maritime region (1-3), or HI county. QSO Points: 20-15-10 meters, Phone--1 pt, CW/Digital--2 pts; 40 meters, Phone--2 pts, CW/Digital 4 pts; 80 meters, Phone--4 pts, CW/Digital--8 pts; 160 meters, Phone 8 pts, CW/Digital 16 pts. Score is total points plus 150 pts for QSO with KH6J. For more information: http://www.karc.us/hi_qso_party.html Logs due 30 days after contest to kh6j@karc.us or Hawaii QSO Party, PO Box 8960788, Wahiawa, HI 96786-0788. Keymen's Club of Japan Contest--CW, sponsored by the Keymen's Club of Japan from 1200Z Aug 26-1200Z Aug 27. Frequencies: 160-6 meters (JA allocations on 160 are 1.810- 1.825, 1.908-1.912 MHz). Categories: SOAB, SOSB (JA only), SWL. Exchange: RST and JA prefecture/district or continent. QSO Points: 1 pt/QSO (JA count JA/JA--1 pt and JA/DX--5 pts). Score: QSO points x JA pref/dist from each band (JA also count continents). For more information: http://www.jarl.com/kcj Logs due 30 Sep to kcjlog@freeml.com or Masayoshi Namba, JA1FCY, 1420-55 Kibara, Sambu-town, Sambu, Chiba 289-1212 Japan. ALARA Contest--CW/SSB, sponsored by the Australian Ladies Amateur Radio Association from 0600Z Aug 26 -- 1159Z Aug 27. Frequencies (MHz): 80 -- 10 meters. Categories: YL, OM, Club, SWL. Exchange: RS(T), serial number, ALARA member number, name. QSO Points: ALARA YL--5 pts, non-member YL--4 pts, OM--3 pts, CW--double points. Score: total QSO points. For more information: http://alara.org.au/ Logs due 30 Sep to alaracontest@wia.org.au or Mrs Marilyn Syme VK3DMS, 99 Magnolia Avenue, Mildura, VIC 3500 Australia. YO-DX Contest--CW/SSB, sponsored by the Romanian Amateur Radio Federation (RARF) from 1200Z Aug 26 - 1200Z Aug 27. Frequencies: 80-10 meters. Categories: SOAB, SOSB, MS. Exchange: RST and serial number, YO stations send county abbreviation. QSO Points: own country--1 pt, different country own continent--2 pts, different continent--4 pts, YO stations--8 pts. Score: QSO points x YO counties and DXCC entities counted once per band. For more information: http://www.hamradio.ro/contests/yodx_eng.pdf Logs due 30 days after the contest to yodx_contest@hamradio.ro or YO DX HF Contest, PO Box 22-50, Bucharest RO-014780, Romania. SARL HF DX Contest--CW, sponsored by SARL from 1230Z -- 1630Z Aug 27. Frequencies: 80 -- 20 meters. Categories: SOAB, MS. Exchange: RS(T) + serial number. QSO Points: CW -- 2 pts. Total score: QSO points + ZS call areas and South African countries (see Web site). For more information: http://www.sarl.org.za/public/contests Logs due 14 days after the contest to zs4bs@netactive.co.za or PO Box 12104, Brandhof 9324, Republic of South Africa. SCC RTTY Championship, sponsored by the Slovenian Contest Club from 1200Z Aug 26 - 1159Z Aug 27. Frequencies: 80-10 meters. Categories: SOAB-HP, SOAB-LP, SOAB-Assisted, MS. Exchange: RST and 4-digit year first licensed. QSO Points: own country--1 pt, different country same continent and between W, VE, VK, ZL, ZS, JA, PY call areas, LU provinces, and UA9/0 oblasts--2 pts, different continent--3 pts. Score: QSO points x different years from all bands. For more information: http://lea.hamradio.si/~scc/rtty/htmlrules.htm Logs due Sep 15 to rtty@hamradio.si (Cabrillo format preferred) or on diskette to Slovenia Contest Club, Saveljska 50, 1113 Ljubljana, Slovenia. All-Asian DX Contest--Phone, sponsored by JARL from 0000Z Sep 2 - 2400Z Sep 3. Frequencies: 80 - 10 meters (160 is CW only in Japan), incl. 10-min. band change rule. Categories: SOAB, SOSB, MO, Low Power (Asian stations only), Junior (JA stations <20 years), Senior (JA stations >70 years). Exchange: RS(T) and a two digit number denoting the operator's age. YL stations may send 00. QSO Points for non-Asian stations: 40 - 15 meters--1 pt, 80 and 10 meters--2 pts, 160 meters--3 pts. Score: QSO pts × Asian prefixes (WPX rules). For more information and Asian station QSO points: http://www.jarl.or.jp/English Logs due Oct 31 to aaph@jarl.or.jp or JARL, All Asian DX Contest, Tokyo, 170-8073, Japan. IARU Region 1 Field Day--SSB, sponsored by IARU Societies from 1300Z Sep 2 - 1300Z Sep 3. Frequencies: 160 - 10 meters. Categories: SOAB (LP, QRP), MS (HP, LP). Exchange: RST and serial number. QSO Points: EU to EU fixed stations - 2 pts, non-EU to EU - 3 pts, with portable EU stations - 4 pts. Score: QSO points x DXCC and WAE entities counted once/band. See IARU Region 1 society Web sites for more information. Send logs to the appropriate national societies - not ARRL. NA hams to ssbfd.logs@rsgbhfcc.org or RSGB G3UFY, 77 Bensham Manor Road, Thornton Heath, Surrey CR7 7AF, England. DARC 10-Meter Digital Contest--Digital Modes--sponsored by the Deutsche Amateur Radio Committee from 1100Z - 1700Z Sep 3. Frequencies (MHz): 28.050 - 28.150 on RTTY, Pactor PSK31, Amtor, Clover. Categories: SO, SWL. Stations may be worked on each mode, but count for multipliers only once. Exchange: RST + serial number. QSO Points: 1 pt/QSO. Score: QSO Points x WAE countries + DXCC entities + W/VE/JA districts. 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-44722 Bochum, Germany. MI QRP Labor Day CW Sprint, 2300Z Sep 4 - 0300Z Sep 5. Frequencies: 160 - 6-meters. Categories: SOAB with classes A (<250 mW), B (<1 W), C (<5 W), D (>5W). Exchange: RST, S/P/C, and MI-QRP number or power output. QSO Points: MI-QRP members--5 pts, non-member W/VE--2 pts, DX--4 pts. Score: QSO points x S/P/C counted once per band. If homebrew RX or TX, multiply by 1.25. If both RX and TX are homebrew, multiply by 1.5. For information: http://www.qsl.net/miqrpclub Logs to n8cqa@arrl.net or L. T. Switzer N8CQA, 427 Jeffrey Ave, Royal Oak, MI 48073-2521. Russian RTTY WW Contest, sponsored by Radio Magazine from 0000Z - 2400Z Sep 2. Frequencies: 80 - 10 meters. Categories: SOAB, SOSB, MS, SWL. Exchange: RST + WAZ zone or Russian Oblast. QSO Points: own continent--5 pts, different cont.--10 pts. Score: QSO points x DXCC entities + Russian oblasts, each counted once per band. For more information: http://www.radio.ru/cq/contest/rule-results/index2.shtml Logs due Oct 2 to contest@radio.ru or Radio Magazine, Seliverstov per 10, 107045 Moscow, Russia. VHF+ CONTESTS Summer VHF/UHF QSO Party--SSB/CW/FM, sponsored by the Colorado QRP Club from 1600Z - 2000Z Aug 27. Frequencies: 6m, 2m and 70 cm, 5 watts output maximum, use recognized simplex frequencies according to the ARRL band plan, do not use the national simplex frequencies of 146.52 or 446.000 MHz. Categories: Portable, Non-Portable. Exchange: Call sign, Grid Square, first name, and CQC member # or power. QSO Points: 1 pt/QSO. Total Score: QSO Points x names beginning with different letters (26 max), counted once per band. 10 point bonus for QSO with W0CQC. For more information: http://www.cqc.org/contests Logs due 30 days after the contest to contest@cqc.org or CQC Contest, PO Box 17174, Golden, CO 80402-6019. -oo --- -o - -- oo ooo ooo -o-- --- oo- o-o LOG DUE DATES - 23 AUGUST TO 5 SEPTEMBER 2006 o-oo --- --o -oo o o- -oo o-oo oo -o o ooo August 28 - Run for the Bacon QRP Contest, email logs to: W2LJ@arrl.net, upload log at: http://partsandkits.com/fp/autolog.asp, paper logs and diskettes to: Larry Makoski, W2LJ, 327 Clinton Place, South Plainfield, NJ 07080, USA. Find rules at: http://www.fpqrp.com/fpqrprun.html August 31 - Portugal Day Contest, email logs to: (none), paper logs and diskettes to: REP Award/Contest Manager, PO Box 2483, 1112 Lisboa Codex, Portugal. Find rules at: http://www.rep.pt/pdf/contest_portugalday.pdf August 31 - Venezuelan Ind. Day Contest, email logs to: contestyv@cantv.net, paper logs and diskettes to: Radio Club Venezolano, Concurso Independencia de Venezuela, PO Box 2285, Caracas 1010-A, Venezuela. Find rules at: http://www.radioclubvenezolano.org/rules.htm August 31 - European HF Championship, email logs to: euhfc@hamradio.si, paper logs and diskettes to: Slovenia Contest Club, Saveljska 50, 1000 Ljubljana, Slovenia. Find rules at: http://lea.hamradio.si/~scc/euhfcrules.htm August 31 - National Lighthouse Weekend QSO Contest, email logs to: (none), paper logs and diskettes to: Dave Ruch, NF0J, PO Box 20696, Bloomington, MN 55420-0696, USA. Find rules at: http://arlhs.com/NLLW-2006-guidelines.html September 1 - CQ Worldwide VHF Contest, email logs to: cqvhf@cqww-vhf.com, paper logs and diskettes to: CQ VHF Contest, 25 Newbridge Road, Hicksville, NY 11801, USA. Find rules at: http://www.cq-amateur-radio.com/VHFContest_Rules2006050206.pdf September 1 - RSGB IOTA Contest, email logs to: iota.logs@rsgbhfcc.org, paper logs and diskettes to: RSGB IOTA Contest, PO Box 9, Potters Bar, Herts EN6 3RH, England. Find rules at: http://www.contesting.co.uk/hfcc/rules/riota.shtml September 1 - ANARTS WW RTTY Contest, email logs to: ctdavies@bigpond.net.au, paper logs and diskettes to: Contest Manager ANARTS, PO Box 93, Toongabbie, NSW 2146, Australia. Find rules at: http://anarts.com.au/CONTEST%202006%20RULES.htm September 1 - Council of Europe RC 20th Anniversary Challenge, email logs to: f6fqk@free.fr, paper logs and diskettes to: Mr Francis KREMER, 31, rue Louis Pasteur, F 67490 DETTWILLER, France. Find rules at: http://www.hornucopia.com/contestcal/coerc20challenge.pdf September 2 - North American QSO Party, SSB, email logs to: (see rules, Web upload preferred), upload log at: http://www.ncjweb.com/naqplogsubmit.php, paper logs and diskettes to: Bruce Horn, WA7BNM, 4225 Farmdale Avenue, Studio City, CA 91604, USA. Find rules at: http://www.ncjweb.com/naqprules.php September 3 - TARA Grid Dip Shindig, Post log summary at: http://www.n2ty.org/seasons/tara_grid_score.html, paper logs and diskettes to: (none). Find rules at: http://www.n2ty.org/seasons/tara_grid_rules.html September 5 - ARRL UHF Contest, email logs to: AugustUHF@arrl.org, paper logs and diskettes to: August UHF Contest, ARRL Contest Branch, 225 Main St, Newington, CT 06111, USA. Find rules at: http://www.arrl.org/contests/rules/2006/uhf.html ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS & SUBSCRIPTION INFORMATION The Contester's Rate Sheet wishes to acknowledge information from the following sources: WA7BNM's Contest Calendar Web page - <http://www.hornucopia.com/contestcal> SM3CER's Web site - <http://www.sk3bg.se/contest> ARRL members may subscribe at no cost by editing their Member Data Page as described at <http://www.arrl.org/contests/rate-sheet>. Excel and Windows are trademarks of the Microsoft Corporation