 September 15, 2021 Editor: Paul Bourque, N1SFE | |||
IN THIS ISSUE
When a tower and beam aren't possible for one reason or another, try a wire antenna to get on the air. A dipole can get you on at least one band, and some amateurs use wire antennas exclusively. Variations on the dipole theme to get multi-band coverage include the fan dipole, the off-center-fed dipole, the popular G5RV antenna, and many others. Some of the multi-band antennas will require an antenna tuner of some sort. This next weekend, look for the Scandinavian Activity Contest, CW for some DX opportunities. According to The Daily DX, it's the 63rd running of the contest. Greenland also counts as part of Scandinavia for this contest! With the Collegiate QSO Party, Texas QSO Party, Iowa QSO Party, New Hampshire QSO party, New Jersey QSO Party, and Washington State Salmon Run on the same weekend, there will be plenty of domestic stations on the air. The following weekend, the first of the season's CQ WW Contests kicks off with the CQ WW RTTY Contest. If you are using FT4 or FT8, you already have all the hardware you need for RTTY. RTTY contacts are generally made more quickly, and it's a lot of fun. Here's a blog entry from DX Engineering on getting started. Don't forget the Thursday evening NCCC RTTY NS sessions to make sure your station is in top shape. Also on that weekend is the Maine QSO Party. Complete information for all contests follows the Conversation section 16 Sept - 29 Sept 2021 September 16
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Mark, K6UFO, NAQP RTTY Contest Manager, writes: "The NAQP Contests in 2022 will add a Single Op Assisted category. The new rules are posted at https://ncjweb.com/NAQP-Rules.pdf." The next NAQP isn't until January, 2022, so this notice is a little early, I suspect there will be another reminder in the Contest Update in December. The Southeastern DX Club brought back their club's 2007 "100 W and a Wire DX Operating Event." Licensed members of the SEDXC and other Atlanta, GA, area clubs are invited to participate in this year's version during the month of September. The rules are easy: use 100 watts and a wire or vertical antenna on the non-WARC bands to work as many DX entities as possible in any mode. "There will be plaques for band winners and for the all-band winner." For all of the information, see the SEDXC website. Pete, N4ZR, writes: "I thought you'd like to know that the replacement receivers for two nodes, KP2RUM and 3D2AG, provided by the Reverse Beacon Network with user donations, have now arrived. KP2RUM is back up and running, and Antoine told me today that he had received his receiver, so I assume we'll see the 3D2AG node back up soon as well. Meanwhile, we have procured a receiver and accessories for TZ4AW, which Ulmar, DK1CE, will be carrying to Mali when he goes there in November. All the necessary gear is on the way to him, for a new node that will begin to fill a big gap in our coverage in central Equatorial Africa. Again, this is thanks to user donations to the RBN." WSJT-X 2.5.0 Release Candidate 6 is now available from the WSJT-X website. Microsoft Windows users may need to consult the release notes to install OpenSSL, one of its dependencies. The W4DXCC DX and Contest Convention is a "go!" in Pigeon Forge, Tennessee, for September 24-25th, 2021. This is the 16th convention, and the fun starts with a Ham Radio Bootcamp on Friday, a full slate of programs on Saturday, with the Saturday evening banquet as the closing event. See the program for the lineup of presentations and events that will appeal to all. Ed, W0YK, invites you to the NA RTTY Sprint this Saturday evening (US): "Please join the spring NA RTTY Sprint is this Sunday from 0000-0359 UTC 19 September (Saturday evening, NA time). Contests are much more fun for everyone when participation is high. Typically, the NA RTTY Sprint has 100-150 participants (unique calls) and at least double that would greatly improve the event. If your reluctance is the Sprint format, there are ways to make it less intimidating:
Teams of up to five single-op entries add to the fun as well. They can be formed from members of your local club or created with stations around the continent. Helpful links:
Hope to print you on Saturday! - Ed W0YK" The Iowa QSO Party has some rules changes for 2021, and the contest sponsors have made it easy to find them by highlighting them on their website. New for 2021 are the in-state single- and multi-op portable classes, in- and out-of-state QRP classes, and the allowance of the use of FT8 as long as the complete contest exchange is made. As far your editor knows, MSHV FTx mode software may be the only one capable right now of using macros to send the appropriate messages for state QSO parties. Sam Zeloof has been mentioned in the Contest Update before - he's the student that has been fabricating his own silicon devices in his garage. He starts with silicon wafers, and performs his own lithography, etching, deposition, and so on. He's continued to improve his craft, and can now place multiple transistors onto a die, and can wirebond the dies in an IC package. He's self-taught, and acquires his equipment via eBay or donation. Six-Pack "I'm working on my six-pack" in the context of radio contesting probably means that a coax switch with two radio ports and six antenna ports needs building, maintenance, or repair. Matrix-type coax switches may also have other number of inputs and outputs, e.g. 2x8, 2x10, 4x8 and so forth.
Mike, W7VO, wrote on his Facebook page: "I just uploaded my March 2021 QSO Today Expo presentation on the history of the ham radio call sign to YouTube. Enjoy!"
Raw scores from the recent WW Digi DX Contest have been posted. "These are scores from the log check software BEFORE any log errors are deducted. For the most part, OOF (Order of Finish) doesn't change with log check completion, except for close scores sometimes." - Ed, W0YK. Zooming and Scrolling Information Using the Keyboard A general-purpose tip: Sometimes when using a logging program, information displayed in a window may overflow the boundaries of that window. You may find that your program supports zooming in and out by holding down the control key on your keyboard while using the scroll wheel of your mouse. To horizontally scroll the contents of a window, on Microsoft Windows, hold down the shift key and use the mouse scroll wheel. Give these two a try before a contest so it will be more natural when you need it. This can save precious time during a contact, and increase your situational awareness. PIN diodes are a component used in RF switching and RF limiting stages. Hank, K7HP, recommends the MACOM website's "AG312- Design With PIN Diodes" and "AN3022 -- Establishing the Minimum Reverse Bias for a PIN Diode in a High-Power Switch" for those that are interested in RF switching applications. (via Elecraft email reflector) You might find it useful to have your own CW Skimmer to assist you during some CW contests (yes, use qualifies as assistance) to catch that multiplier that pops up before it hits the spotting networks. Setting up your own, local, CW Skimmer has gotten easier over time, as people have documented their successes using the I-Q outputs of modern radios and SDR hardware. The first place to start is the CW Skimmer website, where you can find a tutorial written by Pete, N4ZR, and contributions from others for hardware and software combinations. The beginnings of the nation's AC power grid are grounded in Folsom, California, according to the article "The Birthplace of the AC Grid" on the IEEE Spectrum website. The first high-voltage transmission of three-phase 60 Hz AC power was used to power Sacramento's business and transportation. The original site is preserved as the Folsom Powerhouse State Historic Park. Promotion Contests come and go; some are started, and never really catch on. As part of getting the Contest Update ready every 2 weeks, I come across contests that have a web page, but out-of-date information. Or incomplete information. Or misspellings. Or broken links to a related Facebook or social media page. Or no results from past contests. Sometimes, when I email the contest sponsors asking about missing information, or a clarification, or to point out the information that's missing, I don't even get a reply. If the contest sponsors can't be bothered to keep the information up to date, should they expect continuing participation? On the other hand, some contests are promoted remarkably well. For one example of a well-promoted contest, I can point to the Northern California Contest Club's RTTY National Sprint (NS) practice on Thursday evenings. Ken, K6MR, posts a message to the RttyDigital Groups.IO group each week about that week's event. Here's the most recent: "Greetings Diddlers, Great group last week with some great Q totals. Welcome back to WD0T, who has been busy doing other things. Also, AA9L and K4RVA who are getting the hang of sprinting. This weekend has the Russian Cup Digital test, and it's RTTY. Two 4-hour segments and it uses grid squares, so should be interesting scoring. So fire up the diddle machine and join us Thursday evening and make sure everything is purring like a kitten. The details for our little get-together: Friday, 10 Sept 2021, 0145Z - 0215Z (Thursday, 9 Sept 2021 in NA) -- 1845 - 1915 PDT -- 2145 - 2215 EDT -- (others in-between those two) -- 160: Around 1805 (Last two to five minutes seem to be popular...) -- 80/40/20/15 +84 kHz up from the band edge <--NOTE -- Same band dupes ok after 1 intervening Q. -- 1 kHz QSY rule, otherwise standard Sprint rules -- Mults per band -- 100W power limit Please visit http://www.ncccsprint.com/rttyns.html for complete rules and links to other info. If you find any problems with the web pages, please let me know so we can get them fixed. If you would like to receive all the latest info about NS as well as a have a place for comments and questions, sign up for the NS mailing list: https://groups.io/g/nccc-blue Contestonlinescore.com has a slot set up for us if you'd like to make sure your logger is talking to the world. Select NCCC NA RTTY Sprint. Report scores to 3830scores.com, and join us at 0300Z on 3610 kHz (+/- a few for ongoing groups) for comments and questions (and dinner menus). Don't forget to check out RTTYops Weekday and Weekend Sprints. Tuesday/Thursday/Sunday (in NA) for you hopelessly addicted Sprinters. Diddle diddle, Ken K6MR" Ken is doing some great marketing for the NS event. Participants are recognized, newcomers are welcomed, all of the details are included, and by also including details about a subsequent "main event" to be ready for, desire to participate is generated. Related events are cross-promoted. The website is kept up to date. I've had occasion to email Ken in the past, and all of my emails were promptly answered. Ken's is not the only example of a well-promoted event - other events have a similar level of care shown by their sponsors' actions. Borrowing a marketing technique from the Burma Shave shaving cream company, here's just one jingle for the RTTY NS: A Little Sprint Each Thursday Night Helps Weekend Contests Go All Right That's all for this time. Remember to send contesting-related stories, book reviews, tips, techniques, press releases, errata, schematics, club information, pictures, stories, blog links, and predictions to contest-update@arrl.org 73, Brian N9ADG 16 Sep - 29 Sep 2021 An expanded, downloadable version of QST's Contest Corral is available as a PDF. Check the sponsors' website for information on operating time restrictions and other instructions. HF CONTESTS Walk for the Bacon QRP Contest, Sep 16, 0000z to Sep 16, 0100z and, Sep 17, 0200z to Sep 17, 0300z; CW; Bands: (see rules); Maximum 13 wpm, RST + (state/province/country) + Name + (Member No./power); Logs due: September 23. VHF+ CONTESTS SARL VHF/UHF Digital Contest, Sep 18, 0500z to Sep 18, 0700z (6m) and, Sep 18, 0700z to Sep 18, 0900z (2m) and, Sep 18, 0900z to Sep 18, 1100z (70cm) and, Sep 19, 0500z to Sep 19, 0700z (6m) and, Sep 19, 0700z to Sep 19, 0900z (2m) and, Sep 19, 0900z to Sep 19, 1100z (70cm); Digital; Bands: 50 MHz, 70 MHz, 144 MHz, 432 MHz, 1296 MHz; RST + 6-character grid locator; Logs due: September 26. AGCW VHF/UHF Contest, Sep 25, 1400z to Sep 25, 1700z (144) and, Sep 25, 1700z to Sep 25, 1800z (432); CW; Bands: 144 MHz, 432 MHz; RST + "/" + Serial No. + "/" Power class + "/" + 6-character grid locator; Logs due: October 3. Also, see Wisconsin Parks on the Air, Washington State Salmon Run, Worldwide Sideband Activity Contest, SKCC Sprint 16 Sep - 29 Sep 2021 September 16, 2021 September 17, 2021 September 18, 2021 September 19, 2021
September 20, 2021 September 21, 2021 September 22, 2021 September 23, 2021 September 24, 2021 September 25, 2021 September 26, 2021
September 27, 2021 ARRL Information Click here to advertise in this newsletter, space subject to availability. Your One-Stop Resource for Amateur Radio News and Information ARRL membership includes a choice of one print magazine: QST, the monthly membership journal, or On the Air, ARRL's new bimonthly publication for beginner and intermediate hams. All ARRL members can access all four ARRL magazines -- QST, On the Air, NCJ, and QEX - digitally. Subscribe to NCJ - the National Contest Journal. Published bimonthly, features articles by top contesters, letters, hints, statistics, scores, NA Sprint and QSO Parties. Subscribe to QEX - A Forum for Communications Experimenters. Published bimonthly, features technical articles, construction projects, columns and other items of interest to radio amateurs and communications professionals. Free of charge to ARRL members: Subscribe to The ARRL Letter (weekly digest of news and information), the ARES E-Letter (monthly public service and emergency communications news), Division and Section news -- and much more! ARRL offers a wide array of products to enhance your enjoyment of Amateur Radio. Visit the site often for new publications, specials and sales. Donate to the fund of your choice -- support programs not funded by member dues! Reprint permission can be obtained by sending email to permission@arrl.org with a description of the material and the reprint publication. ACKNOWLEDGMENTS ARRL Contest Update wishes to acknowledge information from WA7BNM's Contest Calendar. | |||
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N1MM Logger+ releases 1.0.9252 and later have 32 more programmable bandmap buttons! Your favorite rig control macros can be programmed for easy access. By right-clicking on an existing bandmap button, new ones can be created to send an arbitrary radio command using the CAT1ASC macro. The additional bandmap buttons can also be "pressed" from the keyboard: Ctrl+Alt+Shift+0 through Ctrl+Alt+Shift+Z. According to Tom, N1MM: "Obviously these are tough combinations to type. They are better accessed with mouse clicks, AutoHotKey shortcuts or Touch Portal." Tom also notes that "There are separate buttons for the left and right bandmaps. If only one bandmap is open, then both the left and right shift keys work to open the left bandmaps' buttons. If both bandmaps are open, you must press the key combo with the shift key corresponding to the bandmap. Left Shift = Radio 1, Right Shift = Radio 2." More information is available from the 
