Contester's Rate Sheet for November 5, 2003
*********************** Contester's Rate Sheet 5 November 2003 *********************** Edited by Ward Silver, N0AX SUMMARY o JIDX and Sweepstakes Phone, plus WAE RTTY o 7J4AAL's 80-meter Monster (not Godzilla) o New release of RoverLog by N1MU o Russian-English Ham Dictionary by RV3GM and DARC Multi-Language CD o Getting Close to the Band Edges o Got Your Ears Cleaned Out? BULLETINS o No bulletins this issue BUSTED QSOS o The email address for logs for the High Speed CW Contest (no, that's not Sweepstakes) had a bogus HTTP header in front of it. The correct address is [email protected]. (Thanks, Mike N2MG) o I mistakenly omitted the notice for the 50 MHz sprint in the last issue after running it the previous two issues. To add insult to injury, I had to go and disparage 10-meter and VHF propagation. Sometimes, you just step in it with both sneakers. From all accounts, activity for the new Sprint was good despite the omission - thanks to the Southeastern VHF Society for sponsoring the new contests. (Thanks, Skip, KG4QDZ) o Dan N1ND points out that there is no need to convert Cabrillo logs to ADIF in order to submit to LOTW. LOTW accepts signed Cabrillo logs. ANNOUNCEMENT & NOTICES FOR 5 NOVEMBER TO 18 NOVEMBER 2003 Logs are due for the following contests: November 9 - YL Anniversary Party, CW, email to: [email protected], paper logs to: Jeanie Parker, WA6UVF, 28400 Vista del Valle, Hemet, CA 92544, USA November 10 - FISTS Fall Sprint, email to: [email protected], paper logs to: Dan Shepherd, N8IE, 1900 Pittsfield St., Kettering, OH 45420, USA November 12 - Tennessee QSO Party, email to: [email protected], paper logs to: Tennessee QSO Party, c/o Doug Smith, W9WI, 1385 Old Clarksville Pike, Pleasant View, TN 37146-8098, USA November 15 - California QSO Party, email to: [email protected], paper logs to: NCCC, c/o Al Maenchen, AD6E, 3330 Farthing Way, San Jose, California 95132, USA November 15 - Pennsylvania QSO Party, email to: [email protected], paper logs to: PA QSO Party 2003, P.O. Box 614, State College, PA 16804-0614, USA November 16 - Oceania DX Contest, Phone/CW , Phone E-mail: [email protected] , CW E-mail: [email protected], paper logs to: Oceania DX Contest, c/o Wellington Amateur Radio Club Inc., PO Box 6464, Wellington 6030, New Zealand November 16 - YL Anniversary Party, SSB, email to: [email protected], paper logs to: Jeanie Parker, WA6UVF, 28400 Vista del Valle, Hemet, CA 92544, USA November 17 - RSGB 21/28 MHz Contest, SSB/CW, SSB E-mail: [email protected], CW E-mail: [email protected], paper logs to: RSGB-G3UFY, 77 Bensham Manor Road, Thornton Heath, Surrey CR7 7AF, England November 18 - ARCI Fall QSO Party, email to: [email protected], paper logs to: Randy Foltz, K7TQ, Attn: Fall QSO Party, 809 Leith St., Moscow, ID 83843, USA November 18 - Illinois QSO Party, email to: [email protected], paper logs to: RAMS, c/o John Matz, KB9II, 7079 West Ave., Honover Park, IL 60103, USA The following contests are scheduled: Note that the following abbreviations are used to condense the contest rules summaries: SO - Single-Op; M2 - Multiop - 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; LP - Low Power; Entity - DXCC Entity HF CONTESTS Japan International DX Contest - Phone, from 0700Z Nov 8 to 1300Z Nov 9. (see January QST, p 97, or www.jzap.com/je1cka/jidx/jidxrule-e.html) Japan International DX Contest (JIDX) - CW, sponsored by Five-Nine Magazine from 0700Z Nov 8 -- 1300Z Nov 9. Frequencies: 80 -- 10 meters. Categories: SOAB and SOSB (HP >100W, LP), MO, Maritime Mobile. Exchange: RST + JA prefecture number or CQ Zone. QSO Points: 80 or 10-meters - 2 pts, otherwise 1 pt. Score: QSO Points x JA prefectures + JD1 provinces (JA stations use DXCC entities). For more information -- http://je1cka.jzap.com/jidx. Logs due Dec 31 to [email protected] or JIDX PHONE/CW Contest, c/o Five-Nine Magazine, PO Box 59, Kamata, Tokyo, 144-8691 Japan. European DX Contest (WAEDC) - RTTY, from 0000Z Nov 8 to 2359Z Nov 9. Same rules as WAEDC Phone and CW, everyone works everyone except own country. QTC can only be exchanged between continents. Frequencies: 80-10 meters according to Region I band plan. Categories: SOHP, SOLP, MS, SWL. Packet or spotting nets allowed (SO stations not using spotting assistance will be noted). SO operate 36 hrs max., up to three off periods of 1 hour min. Exchange: RS(T) and serial number. Score 1 pt/QSO and 1 pt/QTC. Total score: QSOs + QTCs x WAE countries and DXCC entities. Mults on 80 m count x4, on 40 m x3, otherwise x2. A QTC is a report sent from a non-EU station back to an EU station of QSOs that took place earlier in the contest (RTTY QTC can be exchanged between any continents). A QTC contains the time, call sign, and QSO number of the station being reported (e.g. 1307/DL1AA/346). A QSO may only be reported once and not back to the originating station. A maximum of 10 QTCs can be sent to a single station. The same station can be worked several times to complete this quota, but only the original QSO has QSO point value. Keep a list of QTCs sent. For example, QTC 3/7 would indicate that this is the third series of QTCs sent, and seven QSOs are reported. For more information: http://www.waedc.de/. Logs due Dec 15 to [email protected] or to WAEDC Contest Manager, Bernhard Buettner DL6RAI, Schmidweg 17, 85609 Dornach, Germany. OK/OM DX Contest - CW, sponsored by the Czech Radio Club (CRC) from 1200Z Nov 8-1200Z Nov 9. Frequencies: 160-10-meters. Categories: SOAB-HP (>100W), SOSB-HP, SOAB-LP, SOSB-LP, SOAB-QRP (<5W), MS, SWL, packet spotting allowed for all categories. Exchange: RST plus serial number or OK/OM district. QSO Points: EU to OK/OM - 1 pt, non-EU to OK/OM - 3 pts. Score: QSO points x OK/OM districts (OK/OM stations use WPX prefixes) counted once per band. For more information: http://okomdx.radioamater.cz/rules03en.htm. Logs due Dec 1 to [email protected] or OK-OM DX Contest, CRK, PO Box 69, 113 27 Praha 1, Czech Republic. 1st Annual Radio Club of America CW QSO Party, 2300Z-0700Z Nov 8. Frequencies: 3.650 to 3.700 MHz, 100 watts max. Exchange: RST, QTH, name, equipment used. RCA members sign their calls "/RCA". For more information: http://www.radio-club-of-america.org/. Logs to [email protected] or Mike Raide W2ZE, 21 Canandaiqua Street, Shortsville, NY 14548. ARRL November Sweepstakes - Phone, 2100Z Nov 15 - 0300Z Nov 17. Frequencies: 160 - 10 meters, work stations only once. Categories: SOAB-LP (A), HP (B), QRP (Q), SO-Unlimited (U), MS (M), School Club (S). Exchange: Serial number, Category (precedence), Call, Check (last two digits of first year licensed), and ARRL section. QSO Points: 2 pts/QSO. Score: QSO points x sections (counted only once). For more information: http://www.arrl.org/contests. Logs due 17 Dec to [email protected] or to November SS Phone, ARRL, 225 Main St, Newington, CT 06111. North American Collegiate ARC Championship - Phone (runs concurrently with Phone Sweepstakes) RSGB 1.8MHz Contest - CW, from 2100 Nov 15 to 0100Z Nov 16. Frequencies (MHz): 1.820-1.870. Categories: SO only. Exchange: RST+ serial number + UK district. QSO Points: 3 pts/QSO + 5 bonus points per UK district. Score: QSO points. For more information: http://www.rsgbhfcc.org/. Logs due 16 days after the contest to [email protected] or RSGB - G3UFY, 77 Bensham Manor Road, Thornton Heath, Surrey CR7 7AF, England. VHF CONTESTS ARRL International EME Contest, 0000Z Nov 15 - 2400Z Nov 16. Frequencies: any band at or above 50 MHz. Categories: SOAB, SOSB, MO, Commercial. Exchange: signal report. QSO Points: 100 pts/QSO. Score: QSO points x W/VE call areas + DXCC entities (counted once per band). For more information: http://www.arrl.org/contests. Logs due 30 days after the contest to [email protected] or EME Contest, ARRL, 225 Main St, Newington, CT 06111. NEWS & PRESS RELEASES Mailing of certificates for the 2003 ARRL DX contest began and should be complete by now. The log-handling email robot was updated for the November-January contests and test messages are being sent through it. Russ K2TXB has joined the ARRL Contest Department's list of authors. Russ will be doing the 2003 EME Contest write-up. (Thanks, Dan N1ND) If you feel like your 80-meter antenna just isn't adequate, why not have a look at this one from 7J4AAL in Hiroshima and remove all doubt: http://www.nn.iij4u.or.jp/~mak-oxv/engtop.htm. It's 59.4 meters tall and works as full size rotary dipole antenna to 1.9MHz band using the whole boom as an element. Feel like a little stroll along a 100' boom? (Thanks, George K5TR, Jan SM2EKM and others) RoverLog version 1_6_0 has been released by N1MU. RoverLog is a full-featured VHF/UHF/Microwave contest logging program with automatic voice and CW keying, rig and GPS receiver interfacing, and many other contest aids. The new version integrates band information and notes to the lookup database, saves and restores window locations on exit and startup, plus more. More information is available at http://roverlog.2ub.org/. (Thanks, Tom N1MU) Oleg RV3GM has completed his Russian-English Ham Radio Dictionary, which includes an audio cassette. It is organized as lessons and as a lookup list. It includes all the phrases for extended QSOs, some radio components, and most types of equipment and antennas. The cost is $15. For payment methods, contact Oleg directly at [email protected]. The DARC (http://www.darc.de/) sells a CD-ROM entitled "Radio Amateur's Conversation Disc" that not only has the text of words, numbers, and phrases in various languages, it also has everything linked to audio files you can play on the computer, so you can actually hear what it sounds like. (Thanks, Ken WM5R) RESULTS AND RECORDS The 2003 ARRL Field Day Results have been posted for ARRL Members at http://www.arrl.org/contests/results. Along with the expanded write-up, there are numerous photographs, an interesting sidebar on propagation by K9LA, several statistical tables, and the sortable database. It will be available to non-members in early November. (Thanks, Dan N1ND) Do the ARRL contest result writeups leave you grinding your teeth, "Why, my buddy tripled his score from last year and he doesn't even get a comma!"? Then you could make a difference next year by offering to do a "regional" writeup in any of your favorite contests. This would be supplementary information about the goings-on in your area, added to the Web results. It doesn't take a lot of time and your efforts will be appreciated. Just drop [email protected] a note and let him know what contest interests you. Results for the FISTS "Coast-to-Coast" contest are on the Web at http://www.tomochka.com/k7fff/c2c2003/c2c03results.html. (Thanks, Paul NG7Z) Jon N0JK writes to let us know that Al Ward, W5LUA has a more current and complete VHF/UHF/Microwave record list here http://www.arrl.org/qst/worldabove/dxrecords.html. This replaces the link published last week. Check that mailbox because the 2002 CQ WW SSB plaques have all been shipped with CW is right behind. If you don't get the walnut you deserve, contact John, K1AR at [email protected]. The results of the UBA HF DX Contest can be found at http://www.uba.be/frameset_uk.html. Select "HF" and "Contest Results". (Thanks, Marc, ON7SS) The September SSB Sprint Results are now available on the NCJ Web site at http://www.ncjweb.com/sprintresults.php. Log Checking Reports are also available with an email to [email protected]. (Thanks, Jim K4MA) TECHNICAL & TECHNIQUE With all these phone contests filling up the bands, it's easy to find yourself clunking into the band edges. If you are unsure of your rig's frequency calibration, it might be a good idea to do some checking against WWV. The 2003 ARRL Frequency Measuring Test is coming up on Nov. 20th, as well. The Oct 2002 QST article about measuring frequency and what the main VFO display is telling you is available for download at http://www.arrl.org/w1aw/fmt/0210051.pdf. As a rule of thumb, assume a CLEAN signal is 3 kHz wide and that the dial frequency shows the carrier frequency. That means on USB you should be no closer than 3 kHz to the upper band edge (or on LSB, no closer than 3 kHz to the lower band edge). Most radios have adequate suppression of the carrier and unwanted sideband such that you could tune as close as 1/2 kHz to the lower band edge on USB and upper band edge on LSB. However, that assumes that your displayed frequency is accurate to within +/- 100 Hz. Examples of OK band edge frequencies include 14150.5 and 14347 kHz on USB and 7153 and 7299.5 kHz on LSB. You can get closer if you are confident of your VFO calibration and signal characteristics. If you're winding toroids for a filter or impedance matching project, Biagio Barberino has made available a handy inductance calculator for Amidon cores at http://web.cheapnet.it/biagio68/toroidi/toroidi.htm. Although the site is in Italian, there is an English version of AmiTor at the bottom of the page. (Thanks, Brian KB9BVN) Yuri VE3DZ relays information about the automated WQ5L QSL information server. "Send e-mail to [email protected] with a blank subject line. In the body of the nessage list the calls for which you need info, one per line. For example: XX9AX VK2AR TG/KA9FOX The information is packaged in a reply email! A recent Towertalk "thread" on antenna support rope (thread seems a little thin for that topic) turned up a couple of strong recommendations: 3/16" Dacron-covered Kevlar from The Wireman 5/16 "Trucker Twine" from Home Depot There was a side note from Seab AA1MY about using the inexpensive 4" nylon clothes line pulleys from Home Depot. Drill out the 1/4" rivet axle and replace it with a 1/4"-20 galvanized shoulder bolt. That will enable you to add/subtract a support or open a pulley without having to cut the wire when a support fails. Here's an interesting and fun award idea, "How about a Continents X Languages award starting at a score of 6? For example, if you work Europe in English, German, and Spanish, that counts as 1 continent X 3 languages for a total of 3. Working all six continents in the same three languages you would have a score of 18." Any sponsors out there? Berlitz? (Thanks, Don KD1XU) Rick N6XI points out that "WLOGCONV (http://www.qsl.net/ka5wss) is also helpful if you need to use old logs in a new logging program. WLOGCONV can eat TRLOG, CT, NA, Cabrillo and other log formats, then spit out ADIF files. Some assembly required in the use of Find and Replace All, but still very nice." "Figure out what you need and go the next size up." Courtesy of Brad KI0OT's dad. CONVERSATION Got Your Ears Cleaned Out? In the course of preparing an article for eHam.net (http://www.eham.net/articles/6873) it occurs to me that while contesters are likely to use all of their radio's features, we're not all born knowing how to optimize a receiver's strong-signal performance. I learned about receiver dynamic range and intermodulation the hard way - by using a Heathkit SB-303 during major contests. Late on those Sunday afternoons, I just couldn't get away from the random beeps and boops that the mixer overload was placing in the IF pass-band. Yikes! I was reminded of how important good receiver performance is when I got to play with a new Orion receiver in CW Sweepstakes. Even without going into great depth on the controls, I was able to work weak stations in the heat of Saturday afternoon that I'd have had a difficult time with on a lesser receiver. So here's some reminders that will help your ears a LOT in the upcoming contests. The biggest villain of all is the Noise Blanker. Most noise blankers operate by sensing wide-bandwidth pulses in the receiver's IF. They look at an entire band, not just what is coming through the narrow filters further down the receiver's signal path. A strong nearby signal can confuse a noise blanker to the point of nearly shutting down a receiver or causing what sounds like severe over-modulation over many kHz. Unless you have really strong local line noise, turn your noise blanker OFF. If the band is full of strong signals, noise blankers are useless or worse. The attenuator seldom gets a workout, but it can be your biggest friend when dealing with strong nearby signals. It's surprisingly easy for a strong signal to drive a receiver's RF amplifier or mixers into non-linearity known as overload. This creates spurious intermodulation products, known as "crud," up and down the band. 10 dB of attenuation cures a surprising number of ailments at the cost of just a couple of S-units of signal strength. Try turning the preamp OFF (this may mean turning IPO or AIP ON in Yaesu and Kenwood receivers) and cranking in some attenuation. You may find that interference drops dramatically when your receiver is no longer being overloaded. Remember that the goal is to maximize signal-to-noise ratio, not necessarily absolute signal strength. Late breaking news - RF Gain controls are not welded in the full-on position! This makes your receiver very sensitive, but also leaves your IF (and sometimes the RF) amplifiers susceptible to overloading. Experiment with backing off the RF Gain to see if it doesn't improve your receiver's performance in a strong signal environment. Even during casual operating, backing off the RF Gain can dramatically reduce background noise. Does your receiver have Passband Tuning, IF Shift, Variable Bandwidth or similar controls? And all those new DSP features you paid for can clean up noise and attenuate low-frequency or high-frequency audio, too. There's no time like the present to find the receiver's manual and learn what these controls do. Experiment with changing the AGC settings or even (gasp!) turn it OFF and use the RF Gain control instead. Your checklist for good receiver performance on HF contest weekends should include turning Preamp OFF, Noise Blanker OFF, RF Gain 70-80% (and USE it), and finding your attenuation control. If someone comes on frequency to complain that "you're tearing up half the band", a useful reply might be, "Try turning off your Preamp and Noise Blanker and check again." At least you're trying to be helpful. 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/
