Contester's Rate Sheet for August 11, 2004
*********************** Contester's Rate Sheet 11 August 2004 *********************** Edited by Ward Silver N0AX SUMMARY o 50th Anniversary of Worked All Europe - CW this weekend o ARRL 10 GHz Cumulative Contest o Field Day Web submittal success o John Kraus W8JK - Silent Key o IOTA Log Notes o Wikipedia Phonetics and On-Line Propagation Resources o Canary in the Coal Mine BULLETINS o No bulletins this issue. BUSTED QSOS o The Russian WW RTTY contest (http://www.qrz.ru/contest/detail/93) has been moved to Sep 4 (Thanks, Alan N7BF) ANNOUNCEMENTS & NOTICES FOR 11 AUGUST TO 24 AUGUST 2004 Logs are due for the following contests: August 15 - VK/Trans-Tasman 160m Contest, email to: [email protected], paper logs and diskettes to: VK/Trans-Tasman Contest, 28 Crampton Crescent, Rosanna, VIC 3084, Australia August 15 - SARL HF Phone Contest, email to: [email protected], paper logs and diskettes to: Dennis Green ZS4BS, Box 12104, Brandhof, 9324, South Africa August 16 - Mid-Summer Six Club Contest, email to: [email protected], paper logs and diskettes to: Wayne Lewis Sr, Six Club Contest Director, 3338 S Cashua Dr, Florence, SC 29501-6306, USA August 17 - RSGB RoPoCo 2, email to: [email protected], paper logs and diskettes to: RSGB G3UFY, 77 Bensham Manor Road, Thornton Heath, Surrey CR7 7AF, England August 19 - DIE Contest, email to: [email protected], paper logs and diskettes to: EA5AEN, PO Box 11055, Valencia, Spain August 21 - North America QSO Party, CW (August), email to: [email protected], paper logs and diskettes to: Bruce Horn, WA7BNM, 4225 Farmdale Avenue, Studio City, CA 91604, USA August 23 - 10-10 Int. Summer Contest, SSB, email to: (none), paper logs and diskettes to: Steve Rasmussen, N0WY, 312 N. 6th Street, Plattsmouth, NE 68048, USA August 24 - Quebec QSO Party, email to: [email protected], paper logs and diskettes to: Radio Amateur du Quebec (QQP), 4545, Av. Pierre-de-Coubertin, C.P. 1000, Succursale M, Montreal, QC H1V 3R2, Canada 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 50th Anniversary Worked All Europe DX Contest--CW--sponsored by the Deutscher ARC from 0000Z Aug 14-2359Z Aug 15, (phone is Sep 11-12; RTTY is Nov 13-14). 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. Non-EU work EU only except RTTY, where everyone works everyone except own country. Exchange: RS(T) and serial number. Score 1 pt/QSO and 1 pt/QTC. Final score is QSOs + QTCs x weighted multipliers. Multipliers: non-EU use WAE countries, EU use DXCC entities plus call districts in W, VE, VK, ZL, ZS, JA, PY and RA8/9/0. (RTTY use WAE + DXCC.) Mults on 80m count x4, on 40m 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 by Sep 15 (CW), Oct 15 (Phone) or Dec 15 (RTTY) to [email protected] or to WAEDC Contest Manager, Bernhard Buettner DL6RAI, Schmidweg 17, 85609 Dornach, Germany. Maryland-DC QSO Party--CW/Phone--sponsored by the Antietam Radio Association, 1600Z Aug 14-0400Z Aug 15 and 1600Z-2359Z Aug 15. Frequencies (MHz): CW -- 3.643, 7.060, 14.060, 21.060, 28.035, PHONE - 1.895, 3.920, 7.230, 14.270, 21.370, 28.370, VHF/UHF - 50.150, 52.525, 144.15, 146.55, 146.580, 432.15, 446.000. Categories: Club, Mobile, Novice/Tech, QRP, and Standard. Work stations once per band/mode, portable/mobiles can be worked again in each county. Exchange: QTH and category. QSO Points: Club--10 pts, Mobile--5 pts, QRP or Novice/Tech--4 pts, CW or RTTY or ATV--3 pts, all others--1 pt. Highest single point value applies. Score: QSO points x MD counties + Baltimore City + DC. (MD-DC stations also count SPC) For more information: http://www.w3cwc.org/rules.html. Logs due Sept 15 to [email protected] (ASCII format) or Antietam Radio Association, PO Box 52, Hagerstown, MD 21741-0052 North American QSO Party--SSB--sponsored by the National Contest Journal, 1800Z Aug 21-0600Z Aug 22. Frequencies: 160 - 10-meters. Categories: SOAB and M2, 100 W power limit, operate a maximum of 10 hours (off times must be at least 30 min and M2 entries may operate the entire contest). Exchange: Name and S/P/C. Score: QSOs X States + Province + NA DXCC entities (count each once per band). For information: http://www.ncjweb.com/naqprules.php. Logs due 14 days after the contest to [email protected] or Bruce Horn, WA7BNM, 4225 Farmdale Avenue, Studio City, CA 91604. The same mailing address is used for both modes of this contest. SARTG WW RTTY Contest, sponsored by the Scandinavian Amateur Radio Teleprinter Society, 0000Z-0800Z and 1600Z-2400Z Aug 21 and 0800Z-1600Z Aug 22. Frequencies: 80-10 meters. Categories: SOAB (HP, LP <100W), SOSB, MS, SWL. Exchange: RST and serial number. QSO Points: own country--5 pts, different country on same continent--10 pts, diff. cont.--15 pts. Score: QSO points x DXCC entities + W/VE/VK/JA call districts. For more information: http://www.sartg.com/. Logs due Oct 10 to [email protected] or to SARTG Contest Manager, Ewe H�kansson, SM7BHM, Pilspetsv�gen 4, SE-291 66 Kristianstad, Sweden. Keymen's Club of Japan Contest--CW--sponsored by the Keymen's Club of Japan, 1200Z Aug 21-1200Z Aug 22. 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 [email protected] or Yasuo Taneda JA1DD, 279-233 Mori, Sambu-town, Sambu-gun, Chiba 289-1214, Japan. New Jersey QSO Party--CW/Phone--sponsored by Englewood ARA, 2000Z Aug 21-0700Z Aug 22 and 1300Z Aug 22-0200Z Aug 23. Frequencies (MHz): 1.810, 3.535, 7.035, 14.035, 21.100, 28.100, SSB -- 3.950, 7.235, 14.285, 21.355, 28.400, VHF/UHF 50-50.5 and 144-146 MHz. Exchange: QSO number and SPC or NJ county. QSO points: 3 pts/QSO. Score: QSO points x NJ counties. NJ stations use NJ counties + states (except NJ) + provinces, max. 83. For more information: http://www.qsl.net/w2rj. Logs due Sep 18 to Englewood Amateur Radio Association, Inc., PO Box 528, Englewood, New Jersey 07631-0528. SEANET Contest--CW/SSB/Digital--sponsored by the SEANET Convention, 1200Z Aug 21-1200Z Aug 22. Frequencies (MHz): CW -- 3.525, 7.025, 14.025, 21.025, 28.025, SSB -- 7.090, 14.220, 21.320, 28.320. Categories: SO, MS, AB, SB, Mixed and Single Mode combinations. Exchange: RS(T) and serial number. QSO Points: SEANET-SEANET--10 pts (5 pts if same country), SEANET--World -- 10pts. Score: QSO points x DXCC entities for SEANET entrants, QSO points x SEANET entities for non-SEANET entrants, counted once per band and mode. For more information and list of SEANET countries: http://www.seanet2004.com/. Logs due Sep 30 to [email protected] or Ray Gerrard HS0ZDZ, PO Box 69, Bangkok Airport PO, Bangkok 10212, Thailand. VHF CONTESTS ARRL 10 GHz Cumulative Contest, 0600 local-2000 local Aug 21 - 2000 local Aug 22. Categories: 10 GHz only and 10 GHz and up. Exchange: Six-digit Maidenhead Locator. Distance Points equals distance in km between stations. QSO Points: 100 pts for each unique call worked. Score: Distance points + QSO points. For more information: http://www.arrl.org/contests/rules/2004/10-ghz.html. Logs due Oct 19 to [email protected] or ARRL Contest Branch, 225 Main St., Newington, CT, 06111, USA. Summer VHF/UHF QSO Party--sponsored by the Colorado QRP Club, from 1600Z Aug 22 - 2200Z Aug 22. Frequencies: 2m and 70 cm FM, 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. 100 point bonus for QSO with W0CQC. For more information: http://www.cqc.org/contests/summer04.htm. Logs due 30 days after the contest to [email protected] or CQC Contest, PO Box 17174, Golden, CO 80402-6019. NEWS AND PRESS RELEASES 48% of the record 2233 Field Day summaries were submitted via the new Web applet at http://www.b4h.net/cabforms! This has eased the data entry burden at HQ and it was finished earlier than ever before. All Field Day logs received are listed at http://www.arrl.org/contests/claimed/. 2003 November Sweepstakes plaques, 2003 10-Meter Contest certificates, and 2004 DX Contest pins are shipping. (Thanks, N1ND) NCJ News by Carl K9LA (NCJ Editor) - For the July/August issue -- In his VHF/UHF Contesting column, N0JK discusses the Moxon 6m antenna, and he sums it up with "What a great 6-meter antenna system for the portable operator!" W9XT, in his CTT&T column, looks at contest tips that are mode specific. Coax is the topic of the Contesting on a Budget column by K5AF, with great suggestions on how to save some money but not sacrifice performance. K7WM reported on the February 2004 NAQP RTTY contest, K4MA reported the February 2004 Phone Sprint results, and N6TR reported the February 2004 CW Sprint results. Looking ahead to the September/October issue -- Some of the articles are a snap shot of KG4LTB's Dayton presentation about youth in contesting, contest activity maps by WM5R, N4GG's SO2R Part 3, K3NA's Antenna Interactions Part 6, a receiver evaluation feature by SP7HT, and much more. We also have a new column, Software for Contesters, by N4ZR. The results of the January 2004 NAQP CW and Phone contests are in this issue. (For more information about the National Contest Journal - http://www.ncjweb.com/) An interesting story hit the Web last month about a pulsed "mini-EMP" transmitter that the British police were testing to knock out cars they were pursuing. (http://www.guardian.co.uk/crime/article/0,2763,1259138,00.html) No photos were provided, so let your imagination run rampant. I thought I heard some prototypes for this on 40-meters during last year's contest season. (Thanks, Mark AA6DX) Al, K4ALH noted that there were no contest listings for the July 31/Aug 1 weekend and wondered if that was correct. Indeed it was, oh sharp-eyed surveyor. Most contests are specified for a monthly "ordinal" full weekend -- the first, the second, the last, etc. When confronted with a weekend that spans a month, that doesn't fit the mold and so, no contests! Be sure to pass the word to your non-contesting friends. If you are pining away for the QST line scores, you can go to the ARRL Web site and download the line scores in exactly the same format in which they have always been printed. For example, try http://www.arrl.org/contests/results/2003/SeptVHF.pdf. Art RX9TX points out that UA9S/T/W stations may be in either Zone 16 or 17 since the Russian license authorities did not strictly follow the CQ WAZ boundary when assigning calls. Don't let your logging software "assume" a zone. In any and all cases, the zone you should log is what the station sends. After printing the contest logging software links in the last issue, I picked up some additional resources from readers. For example, RoverLog (http://roverlog.2ub.org/) by Tom Mayo N1MU is primarily intended for VHF+ rovers, but it has rig control and networking capabilities, too. (Thanks, Buck KC2HIZ) WinMorse (http://www.winmorse.com/) is a free text to Morse Code conversion application for Windows that offers various output audio formats so that you can play the text back in real time or save it to disc/CD. (Thanks, Hank K8DD) John Kraus W8JK passed away on July 20 at age 94. John was the inventor of the corner reflector, helix and W8JK antennas. Hardly a one of us did not consider him a true radio pioneer and one of the ham radio immortals. RESULTS AND RECORDS The list of June VHF QSO Party Logs Received is posted to the ARRL Web site at http://www.arrl.org/contests/claimed. Be sure yours is listed! Based on a participant query, we discovered that at some time during the submission of logs for the 2004 January VHF Sweepstakes there was apparently a problem with the robot receipting and storing logs. Contest Branch staff searched the queue of all saved email for the event and identified logs that had not been included. These have been sent to the Log Checker for the event to be scored and returned. We also contacted via email each of the participants and explained the situation. We have also contacted the robot keeper asking him to see if he can identify what may have caused the situation to happen. All omitted scores have now been incorporated into the on-line scoring database and line scores. (Thanks, Dan N1ND) IOTA Manager, Don G3XTT passes along this report on IOTA log submissions. "This year we have been testing a two-stage submission process, where you are directed to a Web form after sending in your log. Although we prefer Cabrillo logs, we are prepared to accept most formats. However, this means we need to be sure we have collected the correct entry info -- category, island, etc. which takes a lot of manual effort. Even with Cabrillo logs, not all logging programs collect the required entry data, so again it helps if entrants confirm this via the Web form. So far, we have received nearly 700 logs via this process. The main difficulty appears to have been that we used Javascript for the Web form, whereas many entrants were using old browsers that did not support this. Javascript has now been removed and compatibility with older browsers improved! The correct address for logs is [email protected]. If you have not received an acknowledgement, you may have sent your log to the wrong address. The latest version of EI5DI's SCICheck (10.25) corrects a "missing QSO" problem and CT V10.01.008 (http://www.k1ea.com/download/ct10_01.zip) now supports Cabrillo for IOTA. There is also a Web form for entering IOTA QSOs at http://www.b4h.net/cabforms/iota_cab.php. The list of logs submitted is on-line at http://www.contesting.co.uk/hfcc/iota_online_logs.shtml." The final results of the Helvetia Contest 2004 are now on-line at http://www.uska.ch/html/de/contest/kwresults.html. The writeup is being translated from German into English, but the results and pictures are multi-lingual. (Thanks, Dominik HB9CZF) EA QRP Contest (CW) results are available as a PDF document at http://www.eaqrp.com/concurso/resultado_test_cw_2004.pdf. The EA-QRP Club also has a new domain (http://www.eaqrp.com/). (Thanks, Miguel EA1BP) Are you interested in helping out with in-depth analysis of your favorite contest? If so, please let Dan N1ND know at [email protected]. Even if a lead author has been assigned, regional writeups and specialty analysis or other contributions are always welcome. TECHNICAL After a short note on stubs, Doug N6TQS noted that surplus 75-ohm hardline makes excellent stubs that are very low loss and can be coiled like regular cable. But doesn't the cable have to be 50-ohm cable? No -- not for shorted and open stubs where SWR is infinite along the stub. Ken K0PP sent a clarification about the wiring for prop pitch motors and indicators. Ken correctly notes that the Selsyn position sensors are not part of the motor itself and can be mounted externally in a number of ways. They're not inside the motor housing. Also, the motors have three wires - two for the motor and one for ground - not two, although it's common practice to either tie the ground wire to one of the motor leads or rely on the mounting hardware to provide a ground. Stuck in antenna-restricted housing? Ted N8TW has a Web page that describes his antenna techniques at http://www.qsl.net/n8tw/index.html and may give some ideas to you or someone with similar obstacles. Jim W5QM passes along the Wikipedia link to phonetics -- http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nato_phonetic_alphabet. There are some older alphabets there, too. Fun and educational to boot, especially if you'd like to brush up on your World War One trench slang. Here is a pair of good, on-line propagation resources. K1TTT has posted an on-line MOF/LOF (Maximum/Lowest Operational Frequency) propagation applet at http://www.k1ttt.net/mofjava/mofjavab.html. Serge Stroobrandt ON4BAA has a very nice propagation site with links to real-time solar data, K1TTT's applet, and other useful items like a grey-line map. Good stuff! CONVERSATION Canary in the Coal Mine This morning I was reading the paper over an outdoor breakfast and found myself watching the swallows congregating on my stack of antennas. We have a large migratory population of barn and violet-green swallows in the neighborhood during the summer. They collect on the antennas between "bug feeds" over the fields and pastures in the neighborhoods. In the early fall, they concentrate even more as they prepare for beginning their journey south. We have counted upwards of 150 birds on the various yagis, all spaced a wing's breadth apart, chattering to each other and occasionally taking a swoop down for a tasty insect. It's a marvelous scene. Such events get me thinking about the ham's place in the world. Are we separate from the birds and bugs, outside their domain? For birds, our antennas provide the most desirable perches. To me, we're just another part of the natural world, using aluminum and copper to broadcast our songs around the planet in the radio spectrum. Surely, the parallel can be made between the red-winged blackbird calling from a cattail stem and a crisp CQ out to the South Pacific on 15-meters. Just as much as the birds are inhabitants of the air, hams are inhabitants of the airwaves. Our position in the technical environment is sometimes questioned. For example, in the current dispute over BPL, ham radio is often treated as a hobby of antiquated obstructionists, bent on stifling progress to preserve our unimportant hobby. I'm sure that our Washington, DC representatives often have to explain why our activities justify spectrum space to those who aren't familiar with the current scope of Amateur Radio. Yet, I sense an important analogy to an earlier time when other "unimportant" inhabitants of a different environment turned out to be vital and valuable. In our capacity as "canaries in the coal mine", hams are providing an important service to other users of the radio spectrum and, by extension, to the public served by them. Forty years ago, organizations of hunters and fishermen started raising the alarm about the pollution and loss of habitat that was decimating wildlife. I very clearly remember the attitude expressed by many that these sportsmen, too, were just doomsayers and anti-progress Luddites. How could they think of challenging technical progress just to satisfy their own selfish desires? After all, couldn't they hunt or fish somewhere else? Wasn't there plenty of meat and fish at the store? Who needed to hunt and fish, anyway? Those of you under the age of 40 may not realize what an unorthodox message, and in some quarters unwelcome, these groups were delivering at the time. To their credit, these organizations kept "on message" as we say nowadays, and when an objective look was made at the wildlife habitat, it became shockingly obvious that not only was the wildlife at risk, but so were we all. I see hams doing the same. We have complained for years about the rising tide of electromagnetic pollution that degrades a vital international resource - the RF spectrum. Usually there was only minor and grudging acknowledgement of the facts and, until recently, little enforcement of the law. With BPL, the issue has come to the fore. The prolonged and reasoned protest by hams of this ill-applied technology has successfully attracted the attention of others that would stand to lose greatly. Reasoned technical arguments on the merits have resulted in a serious evaluation of the potential for severe "loss of habitat" on HF and VHF frequencies. Agencies and organizations that may have been inclined to ignore BPL are now waking up to the reality of its potential. What was it that woke them up, but the call of the canary in distress? When I respond to yet another columnist's cheerful and uncritical regurgitation of a press release, I always point out to them that the hams may be a small population of radio users, but we are the ones that see earliest the danger to all. By sending our SOS now, we are alerting others to avoid damage that would be expensive and disruptive to repair. What is the value of not having to abandon large swaths of spectrum? What will be the savings if critical services are preserved? Just like the solitary trampers of the woodlands and waders of the rivers a generation ago, hams are doing the public a great service by speaking out. We must stay on our message, be articulate, and continue to be watchful of our home. The swallows, ducks, and fish could not speak for their home, but we do not have that limitation. It is the obligation of our service to give voice to its defense. 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
