 October 10, 2012 Editor: Ward Silver, NØAX | |||||||
IN THIS ISSUE
NEW HF OPERATORS - THINGS TO DO Wow - LOTS of things to do on HF in October. This month is one of the busiest contest months - why? Because early fall conditions on HF are generally quite good compared to summer and winter. No matter what your tastes - phone, code, or digital - there are multiple contests going on for the next couple of weeks, followed the Big Fall Four: CQ WW SSB, ARRL Sweepstakes (CW then Phone), and CQ WW CW. BULLETINS The 5-day log submittal deadline for all CQ Contests was announced after the 2012 CQ WW RTTY Contest Rules were published in the July 2012 issue of CQ magazine. Those published rules gave 15 October 2012 as the log deadline. Accordingly, logs will not be considered late for this event until after 15 October. (Thanks, CQ WW RTTY Director, Ed WØYK) Take some time out of your days for students and scouts getting a taste of radio. The ARRL School Club Roundup (Oct 15-19) and the annual Jamboree On the Air (Oct 20-21) are coming up - make a few QSOs and meet some future hams! BUSTED QSOS Egregious errors were avoided in the previous issue. CONTEST SUMMARY Complete information for all contests follows the Conversation section October 13-14
Oct 20-21
With the CQ Worldwide SSB contest looming (Oct 27-28), CQ Magazine publisher Dick Ross, K2MGA wasted no time, naming Randy Thompson, K5ZD as the new Director of the SSB and CW CQ World Wide DX Contests
The World Wide Radio Operators Foundation (WWROF) is sponsoring a free webinar on Oct 21 at 1900 Z; "CQ WW Update 2012", hosted by - who else? - but its new Director, K5ZD. The webinar will provide an update on the status of the contest including new rules for 2012, log entry tips, fair play, and various other topics of interest. Questions will be taken following the presentation. (Thanks, Ken K4ZW) The Young Amateur Contest Ham Team featured in the latest Youth@HamRadio.Fun column by Sterling, NØSSC looks like fun for new hams. The group has nearly 80 members from around the world and more than 20 mentors assisting them. They have a weekly Echolink net so everyone can participate and membership is free, so encourage your young contester to get on-board! Bob KØRC has posted an updated CQWW RTTY Log Analyzer for download. The new version will import up to 3,000 QSOs. If your log is larger, send Bob an email to request a High Capacity version. More software tools! - Jim W7EJ/CN2R has added new features and updated his Log QSO contest log analyzer web application. All CQ WW contest results from 1991 through 2011 can be viewed - the logs are the public logs posted by the CQ WW committee. There are several videos that describe how to use the tool - for example, you can compare the scores of up to three different stations on an hour-by-hour basis (as well as other time scales). This is a web-based application and runs on the most common Internet browsers. (Thanks, Steve N2IC) The EU Sprint committee reports problems getting the web site updated with recent results but wants to confirm that the Autumn EU Sprint contests will take place as usual, starting with the phone contest this coming Saturday. The committee (G4BUO and RW3FO) are looking for another European contester to help manage and promote the contest - please contact G4BUO directly. CQ WW RTTY Contest Director, Ed WØYK notes that, "It is apparent that many people do not read the robot email reply they receive. At the bottom of that email, the robot lists the format errors in the log. If you don't understand what the robot is telling you, then simply compare that specific QSO line with the format specified on the Logs webpage. The problem should be obvious." Be sure to configure your logging software to output your information in the right order as shown on the contest's "Logs" web page. (There is a known problem with MixW omitting the QTH field from the output Cabrillo file - see the Logs webpage for a workaround.) Ed reminds everyone that "you can easily edit your Cabrillo file with a text editor. Since is it common to add, change or move the same parameter field in every QSO line, a column editor is invaluable. I recommend the freeware Crimson Editor."
It's a bird, it's a plane, it's FITSAT-1 - what's it saying up there? One of the recently launched CubeSats from Japan is covered in high-power LEDs and will be blinking out the message "HI THIS IS NIWAKA JAPAN" in Morse code as it orbits the Earth. No word was available at press time on whether the message changes to "HERE I COME NIWAKA JAPAN" as it de-orbits. (Thanks, Ken K6LA and Paul WB2ABD) The popular AO-27 FM satellite is currently off-line. The end-of-transmit cycle AFSK packet telemetry beacon was reported to have become stuck on a single tone. The control team now has the satellite running in a maintenance mode and is trying to determine what happened. The latest AO-27 news is posted on its webpage. (Thanks, AMSAT Bulletin ANS-281) Bernie W3UR asks that anyone who is doing a contest expedition and wants to announce it to please send the details to The Daily DX. Please include dates, the contest name, operator(s), bands, modes, and QSL instructions along with any other details. It should also be noted that Bill NG3K also runs an online website for contest operation announcements for some of the larger contests. Web Site of the Week - The creator of CW Skimmer, Alex VE3NEA, has come out with a new and interesting freeware CW practice tool. Pileup Runner is a simulator of DX pileups. Currently at the beta-testing stage, it is intended for the DXpedition operators and those who are curious how the pileup looks and sounds at the DX side. Compared to his popular contest simulator, Morse Runner, Pileup Runner has an extra dimension: frequency. In this program just working the callers is not enough. To be successful, you also have to tune your receiver through the pileup in a smart way. (Thanks, Ed AI6O and Dennis N6KI) WORD TO THE WISE 90 minutes - this is the length of a typical human sleep cycle from the first loss of consciousness, through rapid-eye-movement (REM) deep sleep, and back to shallow sleep. Timing your contest naps to last for about 90 minutes avoids the grogginess of being awakened mid-cycle. This eham.net article by K5ZD goes in to some detail about how to manage those all-important mid-contest Zs - and we're not talking about South Africa! Here's something that is both a sight AND a sound - Tonno ES5TV has finally completed his 5-year project of building a double H-frame 15 meter antenna array. The antenna system has 8 pairs of 5-element Optibeam OB5-15 monoband Yagis, separated by 12 meters horizontally and 14 meters vertically, with the highest at 64 meters above the ground. Are there any bigger 15 meter arrays out there? Tonno is now trying 15 meter EME (no kidding!) but will have to wait when the MUF is low enough for the ionosphere to pass 21 MHz signals.
The photo at right show three of the five Here is just the thing for the living room wall - an FCC map of ground conductivity around the United States. A guaranteed conversation starter! Although it is true that while in space, no one can hear you scream (from the movie Alien), you can translate the various fields and phenomena into tones as the Sounds of Earthsong does for the radio emissions coming from Earth. I wonder what it sounds like after a big DX contest starts at 0000 UTC? (Thanks, Gary NØGL) Those readers who have been around technical endeavors for "a while" will enjoy this online slide show presenting the slide rule collection of Mort Hans from EDN magazine. There are a few electronic-themed gadgets in there for you to find! Any problem that can be broken down or transformed into a series of additions and subtractions can be made into a slide rule as these widely varied "linear calculators" illustrate. The preliminary August NAQP SSB results are now posted on the NCJ website. Questions about the results or the North American QSO Party SSB contest can be directed to that contest's manager, Bill ACØW. Certificates for the 2011 ARRL Phone Sweepstakes went out the door today and the 2011 Sweepstakes plaques are being processed later this week. (Thanks, ARRL Contest Branch Manager, Sean KX9X) Outgoing CQ WPX Director K5ZD announces that Log Check Reports for all entrants to the 2012 WPX CW Contest are now available. An email with a link to the Log Check Report has been sent to everyone who submitted a log. The emails include a private link to the report file. If you submitted a log and did not receive an email, you might want to check your junk mail folder. You may also request your report directly. A deeper level of log checking than ever before was performed this year. There were 22,107 QSOs with unique callsigns among the 2,835,110 QSOs. 83.8% of those unique QSOs were determined to be incorrect. The median score reduction was 9.4%. WPX is usually a little higher than other contests since many busted calls create prefix multipliers. The official results will appear in the March 2013 issue of CQ Magazine and on the CQ WPX Contest website.
The DX results of the 2012 ARI International DX Contest are now available as a PDF file on the ARI contest website. (Thanks, ARI HF Contest Manager, Bob I2WIJ) Results for the 16th annual Stew Perry Topband Distance Challenge are now posted as well as those for the "Summer Stew". Look for a "fun story" in the results this year and don't forget about the upcoming opportunity to "warm up your stew" on October 20-21. (Thanks, Tree N6TR) New Jersey QRP Club Skeeter Hunt Results for 2012 are now online along with all of the soapbox comments. (Thanks, Larry W2LJ) Dink N7WA is busily compiling the Soapbox comments from this season's contest scores submitted via the 3830 website. He's starting out with the CQ WW RTTY and Texas QSO Parties - don't miss 'em! OPERATING TIP When you configure your logging software, pay particular attention to your category - any connection to the Internet for spotting information requires you to enter as Assisted or Unlimited. Don't be embarrassed by mistakenly entering the wrong category! Recognizing that most casual participants do enter in the Assisted and Unlimited categories, the popular N1MM contest logging software now uses Single-Op Assisted as its default category. Here is a very interesting article by Dave AB7E about minimum discernable signal differences. He has also generated audio files with different levels, combinations of CW tones, and sending speeds that can be downloaded and played back for you to test your own listening ability. How high is that tower? Here are two methods. K1TO's looks down and N2NL/KH2's looks up: Looking down on a sunny day: Measure the shadow of the tower, D1. Stick a straight rod or tube with a height H2 into the ground. Find the length of its shadow, D2. Tower height, H1 = (H2/D2) * D1. The longer H2 is, the more accurate the method will be. The Boy Scout method, looking up: Back away from the tower with your arm held straight out until you can stick up your thumb and place its tip at the top and base at the bottom. Turn your thumb sideways so that the base is still at the bottom and the tip is on the ground. From the spot on the ground just covered by the tip of your thumb, measure to the tower base to find the tower height. For complete directions about transient protection with good explanations, Jim W6RMK recommends Ronald Standler's book Transient Protection of Electronic Circuits from Dover Publishing. The book includes both theory and cookbook "what do you do in situation X" instructions. As Jim points out, doing the "right thing" is no more difficult than the "wrong thing" (and he has lots of examples of poor design from a transient damage standpoint). Dover Publishing has reprinted lots of old technical books that still contain much valuable information at a much lower cost than a brand-new text.
The October 2012 issue of "Cheesebits", the Packrat VHF Society's newsletter, has a nice article on 6 meter propagation by Chris W3CMP The Koolau Amateur Radio Club's Field Day team needed an antenna tuner design aimed at high-impedance, end-fed half-wave vertical dipoles. After some study, they came up with this L network design and a detailed set of building instructions including a detailed bill of materials and parts sources. Brad AA1IP shows us where tube design lives on in QRP homebrewer Kazuhiro JA1OZL's inspired website collection of tube circuits. There is everything from audio amplifiers, to linear amplifiers, to complete radio receivers and transmitters. He also includes some solid-state designs along with the "hollow state". By the way, Brad just managed to span the Atlantic with a QRPP radio modeled on the 10 mW Vanguard satellite beacon from 1958, using an original PNP transistor from that era! (Thanks, Brad AA1IP) Here's thought-provoking article with parallels to radiosport - "A Study of the Performance of Wireless Sensor Networks Operating with Smart Antennas" by Skiani, Mitillineos, and Thomopoulos in IEEE Antennas and Propagtation Magazine, June 2012. If you replace "wireless sensor networks" with "radio contest stations" and "smart antennas" with "directional antennas" the discussion reminds me very much of how we use directional antennas to minimize interference and maximize rate. The cognitive radio folks might want to listen to the ham bands during the current contest season!
This Electronic Design article on A/D converters is a very good overview of available types, how they work, and for what applications they are the most suited. With so much of radio depending on these ICs, it's important to understand their basic operation. Technical Web Site of the Week - Nothing NASA measures is done "up close" as shown by this EDN collection that describes many of NASA's amazing sensors. There is certainly more to NASA spinoffs than "Tang" and the ball-point pen! Remote sensing is important for the ham and non-ham alike. Between You and Me The definition of ethics is sometimes stated as "what you do when you think no one is watching." Given that most of what contesters do is done in our shacks with the door closed, ethics is mighty important to radiosport. I can think of no other sporting event in which all of the competitors do their work in private (or as private teams) then submit the results as a written log of activity for adjudication. This effectively doubles down on the ethical requirements for each and every contester. That's also why it is so maddening when a few people - by all accounts a very small fraction of us - toss ethics aside in pursuit of a certificate or plaque or just their call sign printed in a magazine or web article. That's also why the selection of K5ZD is such a good choice for CQ WW Contest Director. Randy's contesting history, his CQ Hall of Fame selection, his world records, his tenure as CQ WPX Director, his continuous leadership in the area of contest ethics - all make it clear that ethics in radiosport will be at the top of his CQ WW agenda. Not to say that ethics did not have a place at the table in prior years - not at all! Under K3EST, major advances in log checking and adjudication - completely invisible to most contesters - were implemented and applied. The game was changed forever as higher and higher fractions of the claimed QSOs were submitted to rigorous cross-checking. No more could someone sloppily run through a pileup or "work the callbook" and expect to get away with it. Order-of-finish has never been of higher quality and as I said in the previous issue, we owe K3EST a debt of gratitude for taking numerous arrows on our behalf. Not to say, either, that the Contest Police will suddenly be dispatched to ride forth from their barracks, knocking on those closed shack doors in the middle of the night, armed with power meters and web cams, taking loads of color glossy 8x10 photographs with circles and arrows for the judges. No, contesting will probably take place much as it has for the past fifty years...except... Except in the shacks of some of the more obnoxious cheaters who think they may be fooling the contest sponsors. They aren't. It won't take a great deal more enforcement to help the folks having a hard time staying on the right side of the ethics fence make good decisions and for the bad eggs to find another outlet for their competitive energies. Shorter log deadlines are just one of the ways to improve contest results quality. The continuous development of better and more intelligent software tools is another. Contest committees and sponsors have more ways of inspecting logs, too. Given the ubiquity of cheap storage and bandwidth, why, anybody - not just a log-checker - can soon expect to be able to listen to any contact at any time during a past contest. What now has to be inferred with a certain degree of uncertainty will then be directly observable. Won't that be interesting? Yes, by golly, it will! This is a perfect example of how contesting furthers the advancement of the radio and communications arts, isn't it? Contesting is also unique in sport that competitors are also partners in each other's success. To score, we have to give each other points. I have to hand off the baton to you so that you can hand it back off to me. I like that aspect of contesting and I like the renewed emphasis on contesting ethics, the story of what happens between you and me. 10 Oct through 23 Oct 2012 An expanded, downloadable version of QST's Contest Corral in PDF format is available. Check the sponsor's Web site for information on operating time restrictions and other instructions. HF CONTESTS School Club Roundup--Phone,CW,Digital, from Oct 15, 1300Z to Oct 19, 2359Z. Bands (MHz): 1.8-28, 50+. Exchange: RST, class and S/P/C. Logs due: 30 days. Rules North American RTTY Sprint--Digital, from Oct 14, 0000Z to Oct 14, 0400Z. Bands (MHz): 3.5-14. Exchange: Both call signs, serial, QTH, name. Logs due: 7 days. Rules 10-10 Sprint--Phone,CW,Digital, from Oct 10, 0001Z to Oct 10, 2359Z. Bands (MHz): 28. Exchange: Call, name, 10-10 number, S/P/C. Logs due: Oct 25. Rules NAQCC Monthly QRP Sprint--CW, from Oct 10, 0030Z to Oct 10, 0230Z. Bands (MHz): 3.5-14. Monthly on 2nd Tuesday or 3rd Wednesday local time (alternating). Exchange: RST, S/P/C, and NAQCC mbr nr or power. Logs due: 4 days. Rules CWops Monthly Mini-CWT Test--CW, from Oct 10, 1300Z - See website, multiple operating periods, twice monthly on 2nd and 4th Wed. Bands (MHz): 1.8-28. Frequencies (MHz): 18 to 28 kHz above band edge. Exchange: Name and member number or S/P/C. Logs due: 2 days. Rules Great Pumpkin Sprint--Digital, from Oct 13, 8 PM to Oct 13, 2 AM. Bands (MHz): 1.8. Exchange: RST and S/P/C. Logs due: 2 weeks. Rules Makrothen RTTY Contest--Digital, from Oct 13, 0000Z to Oct 14, 1600Z. Multiple operating periods. Bands (MHz): 3.5-28. Exchange: 4-character grid square. Logs due: Nov 15. Rules Oceania DX CW Contest--CW, from Oct 13, 0800Z to Oct 14, 0800Z. Bands (MHz): 1.8-28. Exchange: RST and serial. Logs due: Nov 12. Rules Scandinavian Activity Contest--Phone, from Oct 13, 1200Z to Oct 14, 1200Z. Bands (MHz): 3.5-28. Exchange: RS and serial. Logs due: 2 weeks. Rules QRP ARCI Fall QSO Party--CW, from Oct 13, 1200Z to Oct 14, 2359Z. Bands (MHz): 1.8-28. Exchange: RS(T), S/P/C, QRP ARCI number or pwr. Logs due: 14 days. Rules Arizona Centennial QSO Party--Phone,CW,Digital, from Oct 13, 1600Z - see website, multiple operating periods. Bands (MHz): 3.5-28, 50, 144, Frequencies (MHz): CW-1.812, 3.548, 7.048, 14.048, 21.048, 28.048, 50.048; SSB-1.848, 3.848, 7.189, 14.248, 21.348, 28.448, 50.148, 146.48. Exchange: Name and S/P/C or Year and AZ county. Logs due: Oct 31. Rules EU Autumn Sprint--CW, from Oct 13, 1600Z to Oct 13, 2000Z. Bands (MHz): 3.5-14. Exchange: Both call signs, serial, name. Logs due: 15 days. Rules Pennsylvania QSO Party--Phone,CW,Digital, from Oct 13, 1600Z - see website. Bands (MHz): 1.8-28, 50,144, Frequencies (MHz): CW--40 kHz above band edge and 1.810; SSB--1.850, 3.825, 7.200, 14.280, 21.380, 28.480. Exchange: Serial and ARRL/RAC section. Logs due: Nov 14. Rules FISTS Fall Sprint--CW, from Oct 13, 1700Z to Oct 13, 2100Z. Bands (MHz): 3.5-28. Exchange: RST, S/P/C, name, FISTS number or pwr. Logs due: 30 days. Rules SKCC Weekend Sprintathon--CW, from Oct 14, 0000Z to Oct 14, 2359Z. Monthly on the second Saturday local time. Bands (MHz): 1.8-28, 50. Exchange: RST, QTH, name, SKCC nr or "none". Logs due: 5 days. Rules JARTS WW RTTY Contest--Digital, from Oct 20, 0000Z to Oct 21, 2400Z. Bands (MHz): 3.5-28. Exchange: RST and age (YL may send '00'). Logs due: Nov 22. Rules 10-10 Fall CW QSO Party--CW, from Oct 20, 0001Z to Oct 21, 2359Z. Bands (MHz): 28. Exchange: Call, name, 10-10 number, S/P/C. Logs due: Nov 5. Rules Scandinavian YLRA Contest--Phone,CW,Digital, from Oct 20, 1000Z to Oct 21, 1000Z. Bands (MHz): 3.5-28. Frequencies (MHz): See website. Exchange: RS(T) and "88" (YLs) or "73" (OMs). Logs due: Nov 30. Rules Iowa QSO Party--Phone,CW,Digital, from Oct 20, 1400Z to Oct 20, 2300Z. Bands (MHz): 1.8-28, 50+. Exchange: RS(T) and IA county, state/prov, or "DX". Logs due: Nov 20. Rules New York QSO Party--Phone,CW,Digital, from Oct 20, 1400Z to Oct 21, 0200Z. Bands (MHz): 1.8-28, 50+, Frequencies (MHz): CW--1.820, 3.550, 7.050, 14.050, 21.050, 28.050; Phone--1.870, 3.825, 7.200, 14.290, 21.350, 28.400. Exchange: RS(T), NY county, state/prov, or "DX". Logs due: 14 days. Rules Worked All Germany--Phone,CW, from Oct 20, 1500Z to Oct 21, 1459Z. Bands (MHz): 3.5-28. Exchange: RS(T) and serial or DOK code. Logs due: 2 weeks. Rules Stew Perry Warmup Contest--CW, from Oct 20, 1500Z to Oct 21, 1500Z. Bands (MHz): 1.8. Exchange: 4-char grid square. Logs due: 30 days. Rules W/VE Islands QSO Party--Phone,CW,Digital, from Oct 20, 1600Z to Oct 21, 2359Z. Bands (MHz): 1.8-28, 50. Exchange: RS(T) and S/P/C or island designator. Logs due: Nov 30. Rules Telephone Pioneer QSO Party--Phone,CW,Digital, from Oct 20, 1900Z - see website, multiple operating periods. Bands (MHz): 1.8-28, 50-432. Exchange: Year of membership and chapter. Logs due: Dec 10. Rules Spooky Feld-Hell Sprint--Digital, from Oct 20, 2000Z to Oct 20, 2200Z. Bands (MHz): 3.5-7,21-28. Exchange: RST, S/P/C, Feld-Hell member nr. Logs due: 2 weeks. Rules Asia-Pacific Sprint--CW, from Oct 21, 0000Z to Oct 21, 0200Z. Bands (MHz): 14-21. Exchange: RST and serial. Logs due: 7 days. Rules Illinois QSO Party--Phone,CW, from Oct 21, 1700Z to Oct 22, 0100Z. Bands (MHz): 1.8-28, 50,144. Exchange: RS(T) and IL county or S/P/C. Logs due: Nov 17. Rules Run For the Bacon--CW, from Oct 22, 0200Z to Oct 22, 0400Z. Monthly on 3rd Sunday night (local). Bands (MHz): 1.8-28. Exchange: RST, S/P/C, Flying Pig nr or power. Rules VHF+ CONTESTS School Club Roundup--Phone,CW,Digital, from Oct 15, 1300Z to Oct 19, 2359Z. Bands (MHz): 1.8-28, 50+. Exchange: RST, class and S/P/C. Logs due: 30 days. Rules Arizona Centennial QSO Party--Phone,CW,Digital, from Oct 13, 1600Z - see website, multiple operating periods. Bands (MHz): 3.5-28, 50, 144, Frequencies (MHz): CW-1.812, 3.548, 7.048, 14.048, 21.048, 28.048, 50.048; SSB-1.848, 3.848, 7.189, 14.248, 21.348, 28.448, 50.148, 146.48. Exchange: Name and S/P/C or Year and AZ county. Logs due: Oct 31. Rules Pennsylvania QSO Party--Phone,CW,Digital, from Oct 13, 1600Z - see website. Bands (MHz): 1.8-28, 50,144, Frequencies (MHz): CW--40 kHz above band edge and 1.810; SSB--1.850, 3.825, 7.200, 14.280, 21.380, 28.480. Exchange: Serial and ARRL/RAC section. Logs due: Nov 14. Rules SKCC Weekend Sprintathon--CW, from Oct 14, 0000Z to Oct 14, 2359Z. Monthly on the second Saturday local time. Bands (MHz): 1.8-28, 50. Exchange: RST, QTH, name, SKCC nr or "none". Logs due: 5 days. Rules Arucaria VHF Contest--Phone,CW, from Oct 20, 0000Z to Oct 21, 1600Z. Bands (MHz): 50,144. Exchange: RS(T) and 4-char grid square. Logs due: 10 days. Rules Iowa QSO Party--Phone,CW,Digital, from Oct 20, 1400Z to Oct 20, 2300Z. Bands (MHz): 1.8-28, 50+. Exchange: RS(T) and IA county, state/prov, or "DX". Logs due: Nov 20. Rules New York QSO Party--Phone,CW,Digital, from Oct 20, 1400Z to Oct 21, 0200Z. Bands (MHz): 1.8-28, 50+, Frequencies (MHz): CW--1.820, 3.550, 7.050, 14.050, 21.050, 28.050; Phone--1.870, 3.825, 7.200, 14.290, 21.350, 28.400. Exchange: RS(T), NY county, state/prov, or "DX". Logs due: 14 days. Rules W/VE Islands QSO Party--Phone,CW,Digital, from Oct 20, 1600Z to Oct 21, 2359Z. Bands (MHz): 1.8-28, 50. Exchange: RS(T) and S/P/C or island designator. Logs due: Nov 30. Rules Telephone Pioneer QSO Party--Phone,CW,Digital, from Oct 20, 1900Z - see website, multiple operating periods. Bands (MHz): 1.8-28, 50-432. Exchange: Year of membership and chapter. Logs due: Dec 10. Rules Illinois QSO Party--Phone,CW, from Oct 21, 1700Z to Oct 22, 0100Z. Bands (MHz): 1.8-28, 50,144. Exchange: RS(T) and IL county or S/P/C. Logs due: Nov 17. Rules LOG DUE DATES 10 Oct through 23 Oct 2012
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