 February 15, 2023 Editor: Paul Bourque, N1SFE | |
In this Issue:
Upcoming Contests - Things to Do ARRL International DX Contest, CW The ARRL International DX Contest - CW is this weekend, starting at 0000 UTC on Saturday, February 18, and concluding at 2359 UTC on Sunday, February 19. This contest is a great opportunity for US and W/VE amateurs to make DX contacts and bolster their DXCC totals. The multioperator station accommodations that were introduced 2 years ago have been extended into the 2023 running of the event. This allows multioperator station participants to operate from their home stations in conjunction with the multi-op station. Home stations must be within a 100-kilometer (62-mile) radius of the multioperator station, and must be within the same DXCC entity, US state, or Canadian province. For complete rules and more information, visit www.arrl.org/arrl-dx. Upcoming State QSO Parties Two state QSO parties are happening next weekend. The South Carolina QSO Party begins at 1500 UTC on Saturday, February 25 and concludes at 0159 UTC on Sunday, February 26. The North Carolina QSO Party begins at 1500 UTC on Sunday, February 26, and concludes at 0100 UTC on Monday, February 27. Both events count toward the State QSO Party Challenge, including the Worked All QSO Parties award. For more details, visit the individual event web pages above, as well as http://stateqsoparty.com/. North American QSO Party, RTTY The North American QSO Party - RTTY also runs next weekend, starting at 1800 UTC Saturday, February 25, and concluding at 0559 UTC on Sunday, February 26. The Exchange for North American stations is your name and station location (state, province, or country, while all other stations use only their name. This event runs concurrently with the 2023 North American Collegiate Championship, which is sponsored by the Society of Midwest Contesters. ARRL Volunteers On the Air Event The year long ARRL Volunteers On the Air (VOTA) event continues, recognizing ARRL volunteers' support and contributions. Get on the air and make contacts with as many ARRL volunteers or members as possible. There will be week long activations of portable W1AW/# stations in all 50 states, and several US possessions and territories. For a schedule of W1AW/# portable operations, see the W1AW Portable Activations Schedule. Be sure to upload your logs to LoTW and check your score online. Check out the full details at http://vota.arrl.org. Bulletins Special Event Stations on the Air for the North Carolina QSO Party To commemorate the 120th anniversary of the Wright Brothers historic first flight, there will be six special event stations on the air for the North Carolina QSO Party (NCQP): N4W, N4R, N4I, N4G, N4H, and N4T. Participants who contact these stations can earn 50 points for each station. Stations who contact all six stations spelling the word "Wright" can earn an additional 200 bonus points. The NCQP organizers have announced that N4W will be operating from the Wright Brothers National Memorial in Kitty Hawk, and N4T will be operating again this year from the Battleship North Carolina in Wilmington. The NCQP begins at 1500 UTC on Sunday, February 26, and concludes at 0100 UTC on Monday, February 27. Visit http://ncqsoparty.org/ for more details. Contest Summary See the "Contests" section below for complete contest information. February 16 February 17 February 18 February 19 February 20 February 21 February 22
February 23 February 24 February 25
February 26 February 27 February 28 March 1
News, Press Releases, and Special Interest Tim Duffy, K3LR, has announced that Jon Zaimes, AA1K, will be the 2023 Top Band Dinner speaker. The Top Band Dinner will be held on Friday, May 19, 2023, at the Hope Hotel & Conference Center, located at Wright Patterson Air Force Base, in Dayton, Ohio. Jon Zaimes is an active member of the Frankford Radio Club and participates in the CQ World Wide SSB and CW contests; the ARRL 160-Meter Contest, the CQ World Wide 160-Meter CW Contest, and the ARRL DX CW and DX SSB contests. He is an active DXer and is on the top of the ARRL DXCC Honor Roll, with 329 entities contacted on 160 Meters. For more information, please visit their website at https://www.topbanddinner.com/. Results and Records Ward Silver, N0AX, writes, "thanks to the fast and diligent work of the CW Sprint team, preliminary results for the recent North American CW Sprint are available at https://ncjweb.com/." Jim George, N3BB, adds that he is working on writing the full results article, and is seeking photos of participants, particularly newer operators and those who are operating in unusual locations or in a unique way. Please send any photos to him at n3bb@mindspring.com for possible inclusion in the article. Technical Topics and Discussion In late December, Alex Krist, KR1ST, shared his experiences of testing the RM Noise artificial intelligence (AI) noise-filtering program which uses AI to remove noise from a signal. The filter is trained with noise samples which it then uses to eliminate noise from the source signal. Alex made eight videos that demonstrate RM Noise, which have been added to a YouTube playlist, https://youtube.com/playlist?list=PLkHzeR_O8CT2An8ieNJnp5MEMcNt-oxpU. To learn more and to download a copy of the software, visit https://ournetplace.com/rm-noise. - Thanks to Alex Krist, KR1ST A related article regarding the use of ChatGPT over a D-STAR repeater was posted on www.hackaday.com. ChatGPT is a chatbot developed by OpenAI, which uses artificial intelligence to string words together in a meaningful way. Hams can ask ChatGPT questions over the repeater, and the chatbot will generate spoken responses over the air. You can read the article and see a video demonstration at https://hackaday.com/2023/01/28/the-voice-of-chatgpt-is-now-on-the-air/. - Thanks to Steve Berry, N1EZ Do you have a good technical topic that you'd like to share with the contesting community? Let me know! Send an email to contest-update@arrl.org and I'll share it here.
That's all for this time- get out there and work some DX! 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. Contests February 16, 2023 - March 1, 2023 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, Feb 16, 0000z to Feb 17, 0300z; CW; Bands: 20; Maximum 13 wpm, RST + (state/province/country) + Name + (Member No./power); Logs due: Feb 23. CWops Test (CWT), Feb 16, 0300z to Feb 16, 0400z; CW; Bands: 160, 80, 40, 20, 15, 10; Member: Name + Member No./"CWA", non-Member: Name + (state/province/country); Logs due: Feb 18. CWops Test (CWT), Feb 16, 0700z to Feb 16, 0800z; CW; Bands: 160, 80, 40, 20, 15, 10; Member: Name + Member No./"CWA", non-Member: Name + (state/province/country); Logs due: Feb 18. NTC QSO Party, Feb 16, 1900z to Feb 16, 2000z; CW; Bands: 80, 40, 20; NTC Member: RST + Member No., non-Member: RST + "NM", Less than 25 wpm; Logs due: Feb 19. NCCC RTTY Sprint, Feb 17, 0145z to Feb 17, 0215z; RTTY; Bands: (see rules); Serial No. + Name + QTH; Logs due: Feb 19. QRP Fox Hunt, Feb 17, 0200z to Feb 17, 0330z; CW; Bands: 20; RST + (state/province/country) + name + power output; Logs due: Feb 18. NCCC Sprint Ladder, Feb 17, 0230z to Feb 17, 0300z; CW; Bands: 160, 80, 40, 20, 15; Serial No. + Name + QTH; Logs due: Feb 19. K1USN Slow Speed Test, Feb 17, 2000z to Feb 17, 2100z; CW; Bands: 160, 80, 40, 20, 15, 10; Maximum 20 wpm, Name + (state/province/country); Logs due: Feb 19. ARRL International DX Contest, CW, Feb 18, 0000z to Feb 19, 2359z; CW; Bands: 160, 80, 40, 20, 15, 10; W/VE: RST + (state/province), non-W/VE: RST + power; Logs due: Feb 26. YLRL YL-OM Contest, Feb 18, 0000z to Feb 19, 2359z; CW/Digital, SSB; Bands: All, except WARC; QSO No. + RS(T) + (section/province/country); Logs due: Mar 21. Russian PSK WW Contest, Feb 18, 1200z to Feb 19, 1159z; BPSK31, BPSK63, BPSK125; Bands: 160, 80, 40, 20, 15, 10; RU: RST + 2-letter oblast, non-RU: RST + Serial No.; Logs due: Feb 24. Feld Hell Sprint, Feb 18, 1900z to Feb 18, 2059z; Feld Hell; Bands: 160, 80, 40, 20, 15, 10; (see rules); Logs due: Feb 22. FISTS Sunday Sprint, Feb 19, 2100z to Feb 19, 2300z; CW; Bands: 80, 40, 20, 15, 10; FISTS: RST + (state/province/country) + first name + FISTS No., non-FISTS: RST + (state/province/country) + first name + "0"; Logs due: Feb 26. Run for the Bacon QRP Contest, Feb 19, 2300z to Feb 20, 0100z; CW; Bands: 160, 80, 40, 20, 15, 10; RST + (state/province/country) + (Member No./power); Logs due: Feb 26. K1USN Slow Speed Test, Feb 20, 0000z to Feb 20, 0100z; CW; Bands: 160, 80, 40, 20, 15, 10; Maximum 20 wpm, Name + (state/province/country); Logs due: Feb 22. ICWC Medium Speed Test, Feb 20, 1300z to Feb 20, 1400z; CW; Bands: 160, 80, 40, 20, 15, 10; Name + QSO No.; Logs due: Feb 23. OK1WC Memorial (MWC), Feb 20, 1630z to Feb 20, 1729z; CW; Bands: 80, 40; RST + Serial No.; Logs due: Feb 24. ICWC Medium Speed Test, Feb 20, 1900z to Feb 20, 2000z; CW; Bands: 160, 80, 40, 20, 15, 10; Name + QSO No.; Logs due: Feb 23. Worldwide Sideband Activity Contest, Feb 21, 0100z to Feb 21, 0159z; SSB; Bands: 160, 80, 40, 20, 15, 10, 6; RS + age group (OM, YL, Youth YL or Youth); Logs due: Feb 22. ICWC Medium Speed Test, Feb 21, 0300z to Feb 21, 0400z; CW; Bands: 160, 80, 40, 20, 15, 10; Name + QSO No.; Logs due: Feb 23. SKCC Sprint, Feb 22, 0000z to Feb 22, 0200z; CW; Bands: 160, 80, 40, 20, 15, 10, 6; RST + (state/province/country) + Name + (SKCC No./"NONE"); Logs due: Feb 26. QRP Fox Hunt, Feb 22, 0200z to Feb 22, 0330z; CW; Bands: 20; RST + (state/province/country) + name + power output; Logs due: Feb 23. Phone Weekly Test, Feb 22, 0230z to Feb 22, 0300z; SSB; Bands: 160, 80, 40, 20, 15; NA: Name + (state/province/country), non-NA: Name; Logs due: Feb 24. A1Club AWT, Feb 22, 1200z to Feb 22, 1300z; CW; Bands: 160, 80, 40, 20, 15, 10; Member: RST + Name; Logs due: Feb 27. CWops Test (CWT), Feb 22, 1300z to Feb 22, 1400z; CW; Bands: 160, 80, 40, 20, 15, 10; Member: Name + Member No./"CWA", non-Member: Name + (state/province/country); Logs due: Feb 25. Mini-Test 40, Feb 22, 1700z to Feb 22, 1759z; CW; Bands: 40; RST + Serial No.; Logs due: Feb 24. Mini-Test 80, Feb 22, 1800z to Feb 22, 1859z; CW; Bands: 80; RST + Serial No.; Logs due: Feb 24. CWops Test (CWT), Feb 22, 1900z to Feb 22, 2000z; CW; Bands: 160, 80, 40, 20, 15, 10; Member: Name + Member No./"CWA", non-Member: Name + (state/province/country); Logs due: Feb 25. UKEICC 80m Contest, Feb 22, 2000z to Feb 22, 2100z; CW; Bands: 80; 6-Character grid square; Logs due: Feb 22. CWops Test (CWT), Feb 23, 0300z to Feb 23, 0400z; CW; Bands: 160, 80, 40, 20, 15, 10; Member: Name + Member No./"CWA", non-Member: Name + (state/province/country); Logs due: Feb 25. CWops Test (CWT), Feb 23, 0700z to Feb 23, 0800z; CW; Bands: 160, 80, 40, 20, 15, 10; Member: Name + Member No./"CWA", non-Member: Name + (state/province/country); Logs due: Feb 25. RSGB 80m Club Championship, CW, Feb 23, 2000z to Feb 23, 2130z; CW; Bands: 80; RST + Serial No.; Logs due: Feb 24. NCCC RTTY Sprint, Feb 24, 0145z to Feb 24, 0215z; RTTY; Bands: (see rules); Serial No. + Name + QTH; Logs due: Feb 26. QRP Fox Hunt, Feb 24, 0200z to Feb 24, 0330z; CW; Bands: 20; RST + (state/province/country) + name + power output; Logs due: Feb 25. NCCC Sprint Ladder, Feb 24, 0230z to Feb 24, 0300z; CW; Bands: 160, 80, 40, 20, 15; Serial No. + Name + QTH; Logs due: Feb 26. K1USN Slow Speed Test, Feb 24, 2000z to Feb 24, 2100z; CW; Bands: 160, 80, 40, 20, 15, 10; Maximum 20 wpm, Name + (state/province/country); Logs due: Feb 26. CQ 160-Meter Contest, SSB, Feb 24, 2200z to Feb 26, 2200z; SSB; Bands: 160; W/VE: RS + (state/province), DX: RS + CQ Zone; Logs due: Mar 3. REF Contest, SSB, Feb 25, 0600z to Feb 26, 1800z; SSB; Bands: 80, 40, 20, 15, 10; French: RS + Department/Prefix, non-French: RS + Serial No.; Logs due: Mar 5. UBA DX Contest, CW, Feb 25, 1300z to Feb 26, 1300z; CW; Bands: 80, 40, 20, 15, 10; ON: RST + Serial No. + section, non-ON: RST + Serial No.; Logs due: Mar 12. South Carolina QSO Party, Feb 25, 1500z to Feb 26, 0159z; CW, Digital, Phone; Bands: 160, 80, 40, 20, 15, 10, 6; SC: RS(T) + County, non-SC: RS(T) + (state/province/"DX"); Logs due: Mar 12. North American QSO Party, RTTY, Feb 25, 1800z to Feb 26, 0559z; RTTY; Bands: 80, 40, 20, 15, 10; NA: Name + (state/DC/province/country), non-NA: Name; Logs due: Mar 5. NA Collegiate Championship, RTTY, Feb 25, 1800z to Feb 26, 0559z; RTTY; Bands: 80, 40, 20, 15, 10; NA: Name + (state/DC/province/country), non-NA: Name; Logs due: Mar 5. High Speed Club CW Contest, Feb 26, 1400z to Feb 26, 1700z; CW; Bands: 80, 40, 20, 15, 10; Members: RST + HSC No., non-Members: RST + "NM"; Logs due: Mar 12. North Carolina QSO Party, Feb 26, 1500z to Feb 27, 0100z; CW, Phone, Digital (no FT4/8); Bands: 80, 40, 20, 15, 10, 6, 2; NC: County, non-NC: (state/province/"DX"); Logs due: Mar 13. K1USN Slow Speed Test, Feb 27, 0000z to Feb 27, 0100z; CW; Bands: 160, 80, 40, 20, 15, 10; Maximum 20 wpm, Name + (state/province/country); Logs due: Mar 1. QCX Challenge, Feb 27, 1300z to Feb 27, 1400z; CW; Bands: 160, 80, 40, 20, 15, 10; RST + Name + (state/province/country) + Rig; Logs due: Mar 5. ICWC Medium Speed Test, Feb 27, 1300z to Feb 27, 1400z; CW; Bands: 160, 80, 40, 20, 15, 10; Name + QSO No.; Logs due: Mar 2. OK1WC Memorial (MWC), Feb 27, 1630z to Feb 27, 1729z; CW; Bands: 80, 40; RST + Serial No.; Logs due: Mar 3. QCX Challenge, Feb 27, 1900z to Feb 27, 2000z; CW; Bands: 160, 80, 40, 20, 15, 10; RST + Name + (state/province/country) + Rig; Logs due: Mar 5. ICWC Medium Speed Test, Feb 27, 1900z to Feb 27, 2000z; CW; Bands: 160, 80, 40, 20, 15, 10; Name + QSO No.; Logs due: Mar 2. RSGB FT4 Contest, Feb 27, 2000z to Feb 27, 2130z; FT4; Bands: 80, 40, 20; 4-character grid square + signal report; Logs due: Feb 28. Worldwide Sideband Activity Contest, Feb 28, 0100z to Feb 28, 0159z; SSB; Bands: 160, 80, 40, 20, 15, 10, 6; RS + age group (OM, YL, Youth YL or Youth); Logs due: Mar 1. QCX Challenge, Feb 28, 0300z to Feb 28, 0400z; CW; Bands: 160, 80, 40, 20, 15, 10; RST + Name + (state/province/country) + Rig; Logs due: Mar 5. ICWC Medium Speed Test, Feb 28, 0300z to Feb 28, 0400z; CW; Bands: 160, 80, 40, 20, 15, 10; Name + QSO No.; Logs due: Mar 2. QRP Fox Hunt, Mar 1, 0200z to Mar 1, 0330z; CW; Bands: 20; RST + (state/province/country) + name + power output; Logs due: Mar 2. Phone Weekly Test, Mar 1, 0230z to Mar 1, 0300z; SSB; Bands: 160, 80, 40, 20, 15; NA: Name + (state/province/country), non-NA: Name; Logs due: Mar 3. A1Club AWT, Mar 1, 1200z to Mar 1, 1300z; CW; Bands: 160, 80, 40, 20, 15, 10; Member: RST + Name; Logs due: Mar 6. CWops Test (CWT), Mar 1, 1300z to Mar 1, 1400z; CW; Bands: 160, 80, 40, 20, 15, 10; Member: Name + Member No./"CWA", non-Member: Name + (state/province/country); Logs due: Mar 4. Mini-Test 40, Mar 1, 1700z to Mar 1, 1759z; CW; Bands: 40; RST + Serial No.; Logs due: Mar 3. Mini-Test 80, Mar 1, 1800z to Mar 1, 1859z; CW; Bands: 80; RST + Serial No.; Logs due: Mar 3. CWops Test (CWT), Mar 1, 1900z to Mar 1, 2000z; CW; Bands: 160, 80, 40, 20, 15, 10; Member: Name + Member No./"CWA", non-Member: Name + (state/province/country); Logs due: Mar 4. UKEICC 80m Contest, Mar 1, 2000z to Mar 1, 2100z; SSB; Bands: 80; 6-Character grid square; Logs due: Mar 1. AWA John Rollins Memorial DX Contest, Mar 1, 2300z to Mar 5, 2300z; CW; Bands: 80, 40, 20; RST + Eqpt Type + Eqpt Year; Logs due: Apr 1. VHF+ CONTESTS VHF-UHF FT8 Activity Contest, Mar 1, 1700z to Mar 1, 2100z; FT8; Bands: 144 MHz; 4-character grid square; Logs due: Mar 6. See also: Worldwide Sideband Activity Contest, South Carolina QSO Party, North Carolina QSO Party, SKCC Sprint Log Due Dates February 16 February 17
February 18 February 19
February 20 February 21 February 22 February 23 February 24
February 25 February 26
February 27 February 28 March 1
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, it features articles by top contesters, letters, hints, statistics, scores, NA Sprint, and QSO Parties. Subscribe to QEX - A Forum for Communications Experimenters. Published bimonthly, it 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 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 emailing permission@arrl.org with a description of the material and the reprint publication. Acknowledgements ARRL Contest Update wishes to acknowledge information from WA7BNM's Contest Calendar. | |
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