 May 22, 2013 Editor: Ward Silver, NØAX | ||||||||
IN THIS ISSUE
NEW HF OPERATORS - THINGS TO DO Those of you working on your code speed can certainly nudge it up a few levels by giving the CQ WPX CW Contest a try this weekend. In fact, along with WPX CW, there are several shorter CW contests. If the idea of Southeast Asian stations gets your blood pumping, don't miss the SEANET contest over the June 1-2 weekend! BULLETINS Don't forget to make sure your club's Field Day logging software has been updated to handle the new Ontario sections of GTA, ONE, ONN, and ONS. Non-contest clubs and emcomm groups may have missed the announcement and the implications of the changing section list. Please help everyone avoid unpleasant surprises on Field Day - both to the operators and software - by making sure your event's leaders know about the change and take the necessary steps. BUSTED QSOS Joanna's correct call is K6YL, not W6YL; VE3TW and VE3GFN used the call VA3RAC; and the seventh district has 8 states, not 7. The hyperlink for the paper on RF simulation was not encoded properly in the emailed version of the newsletter. The correct URL is http://icslwebs.ee.ucla.edu/dejan/researchwiki/images/3/30/Rf-sim.pdf. CONTEST SUMMARY Complete information for all contests follows the Conversation section May 25-26
Jun 1-2
One of the Dayton Hamvention highlights for your editor is the annual Contest Dinner. The dinner's highlight, of course, is the induction of new members to the CQ Contest Hall of Fame, led by CQ World Wide Contest Director, Randy Thompson K5ZD. From the Daily DX writeup of the event, the new members are:
Your editor is fortunate to count them both as friends and is grateful to Dale for the opportunities to spend a weekend in an operating chair at VE7SV. Well done, gentlemen! There is a nice writeup of all Hall of Famers on the ARRL website, too.
A county map is a very handy operating aid when participating in a state QSO party, but finding out-of-state maps is a pain. Short of putting in a special order from your travel club, Jim K8MR has found very good ones to be available from the U.S. Census Bureau website. During the recent New England QSO Party, Dave KM3T was using the County Finder iOS app. It geolocates you and tells you what county you are in. Although your editor browsed a bit on the Android app site, nothing similar popped up. The County Jail Inmate Search app looked interesting, but that's probably not too useful to most readers. IEEE Spectrum article "Peaceful Coexistence" is a good story about how spectrum regulation and management are moving in the direction of sharing and intelligent channel selection. The article has lots of food for thought as amateurs move into the second century of wireless communications.
Paul W1GHZ reports that the Proceedings CD for the 2013 Eastern VHF/UHF Conference is now available. The price including shipping is $5 USA, $7 international and you can order online. Web Site of the Week -With N3FJP's announcement of Field Day Contest Log 4.0 and his newly archived versions, all of the major contest logging software is up to speed, section-wise. Now we need to let our clubs, teams, and friends know that "VE3" has become "GTA, ONE, ONN, and ONS"! Please relay this information to your club's Field Day committee and to other clubs and emcomm teams in the area, even if you're not a member - they will appreciate the reminder or, perhaps, being alerted to the change! WORD TO THE WISE You might be attending the Hamvention - if you request to store a gin pole in the hotel baggage room, flummoxing the concierge! (Thanks, Dan K1TO) Contest University students take a break in the afternoon to play Audio Sprint. It does make for a memorable fifteen minutes - and the product of QSO points and multipliers is then multiplied by one beelyun, so everybody makes a huge score! CTU first-timer Dave KM3T captured this video of the whole thing. He apologizes for the wobbly camera work but I think it captures the atmosphere rather nicely! You've seen the "world at night" maps - how about the "world on-line" map? This animation shows you a day's worth of where Internet activity is happening based on the use of the PING command to find active hosts. There is definitely a day-night ebb and flow. Where does this map come from, you ask? The source paper is a great read even if you're not a total net-head. (Thanks, Steve K6AW)
While you were thinking about all those radio goodies at Dayton, thousands were attending the DIY-equivalent of Maker Faire in the Bay Area. EDN published a great slideshow of the various interesting stuff - take a look! Before there were LOLcats, we had QRLCats such as this fine selection of felinity from Universal Radio. (Thanks, Steve K7LXC) The electromechanical phone systems of yesteryear were pretty amazing. How did they do it? Watch this AT&T Archives video, "The Step-by-Step Switch" - you won't be able to stop watching! How high is your tower? This XKCD cartoon helps you figure that out on a scale of the Universe. DX Multioperator certificates for the 2012 ARRL DX Phone Contest have been shipped and ARRL Contest Branch Manager, Sean KX9X reports that he is almost completely caught up with the certificate backlog.
The Kansas City DX Club (KCDXC) Pileup Contest was a heckuva lot of fun this year, as always, especially with Chuck NO5W's "Morse Race" software showing the race in real-time. Not only the current heat was displayed but the races of the top five competitors, too! You could cheer for your "horse" to take a top-five spot or groan as yours slipped a spot or two.
In one of the very final heats, eventual (and repeating) champ, Dave K5GN went neck-and-neck with then-current #1 and #2 leaders Doug W9WI and Yuri VE3DZ. It was like watching Michael Phelps and Michael Gross go at it in the Olympic Pool. Nice job to all and a special thanks to the KCDXC for hosting one of the most popular Dayton contest events.
CQ 160 Contest Director, Andy Blank N2NT needs your material for the contest writeup. "If you operated the 2013 CQ 160 Contest either SSB or CW, please send me a photo of you and your station. I am looking for stations that haven't appeared in the magazine before." Contest writeup authors are usually delighted to get photos and stories - don't assume they are only interested in the Big Guns! Alberto LU1DZ writes in to let us know that the results for the 2012 WWSA Contest are now available online! OPERATING TIP The year's list of Silent Keys read aloud at the Dayton Contest Dinner was dreadfully long this year - a very sobering presentation. Whatever you do, take care of yourself so we don't hear your call during that ceremony any time soon. Paul Harden, NA5N is an electronics engineer for the Very Large Array (VLA) radiotelescope facility in New Mexico. Not limited at all to the "ultra-highs", Paul discussed a neat new project in the recent ARRL Propagation bulletin ARLP0019 with significant implications for HF operators. "My current project is our low-band system (60-500 MHz) and the Long Wavelength Array (LWA) for 10-88 MHz. Though a few years away, one of the science goals of LWA is to make real-time 3D maps of the ionosphere. The prototype system clearly paints the locations of the E/F layers and its depths as it migrates around. Really cool, and when completed, should be made publicly available on the web and a great tool for hams."
VOACAP Online has been recently upgraded so that the Google Maps portion is now using the API version 3 with some new functionality added. VOACAP is a propagation prediction program for 3-30 MHz. (Thanks, Daily DX) The automotive power system is a surprisingly noisy environment, even with that big battery on the bus. Varistors are used to clamp excessive variations - this EDN article shows you how they are used to do the job. You can make use of that information in your portable or mobile station, protecting your own gear. The VLF station WWVB is changing their time protocol, possibly affecting clocks and other instruments that use the time-and-frequency broadcasts. Sharp-eyed reader, Dean W9WGV spotted this information. There is more information online from EDN - this article is on SAW (surface acoustic wave) and BAW (bulk acoustic wave) filters. Exotic? Hardly - your wireless environment is full of them and probably more than one of your radios! Technical Web Site of the Week - An alternate source has emerged for HV power transformers, along with Hammond Engineering picking up the Peter Dahl designs. Gary K4AVC gives his customer's recommendation, saying, "My friend Peter Eggiman of Electronic Products Design has been making HV transformers since 1983 and has all of the Dahl data and specs from years ago. He has a nice manufacturing facility in Wendell, N.C." Missed the Top Ten Again Sure enough, Doctor Beldar and the Spurious Emissions (out of the) Band appeared again at this year's Contest SuperSuite. They and a pair of parrotheads managed to wreak havoc on the hit "Margaritaville" - the poor tune was buffeted pretty badly. Why don't you give it a try at your Field Day sing-along - watch out for those pop tops! 73, Ward NØAX My Log's Fulla NILs (to the tune of "Margaritaville") Tunin' for red plates Peakin' the loading Chorus: Missed the Top Ten again cause my log's fulla NILs I know the reason But I logged some beauties Missed the Top Ten again cause my log's fulla NILs Called in the wrong spot But I checked the cal-en-dar Missed the Top Ten again cause my log's fulla NILs 22 May through 4 June 2013 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 CQ WW WPX Contest--CW, from May 25, 0000Z to May 26, 2400Z. Bands (MHz): 1.8-28. Exchange: RST and serial. Logs due: Jun 1. Rules QRP ARCI Hootowl Sprint--CW, from May 26, 8 PM to May 26, Midnight. Bands (MHz): 3.5-28. Exchange: RST, S/P/C QRP number or power. Logs due: 14 days. Rules MI QRP Memorial Day CW Sprint--CW, from May 27, 2300Z to May 28, 0300Z. Bands (MHz): 1.8-28. Exchange: RST, S/P/C, MI QRP number or power. Logs due: 30 days. Rules Ten-Ten Open Season--Digital, from Jun 1, 0000Z to Jun 2, 2400Z. Bands (MHz): 28. Exchange: Call, name, S/P/C, member numbers. Logs due: 15 days. Rules Digifest--Digital, from Jun 1, 0400Z - See website. Multiple time periods. Bands (MHz): 3.5-28. Exchange: RST and grid square. Logs due: 7 days. Rules LZ Open 20 Meter Contest--CW, from Jun 1, 1100Z to Jun 1, 1500Z. Bands (MHz): 14. Exchange: 6-digit serial and serial from previous QSO. Logs due: 10 days. Rules Maritime QSO Party--Phone,CW, from Jun 1, 1200Z to Jun 1, 2359Z. Bands (MHz): 1.8-28, 50, 144, 25 to 50 kHz from band edge. Exchange: Maritime county or S/P/C. Logs due: 1 month. Rules SEANET Contest--Phone,CW, from Jun 1, 1200Z to Jun 2, 1200Z. Bands (MHz): 3.5-28. CW--3.525, 7.025, 14.025, 21.025, 28.025, SSB--3.540/3.790, 7.090, 14.320, 21.320, 28.320 MHz. Exchange: RS(T), serial. Logs due: Jul 1. Rules IARU Region I Field Day--CW, from Jun 1, 1500Z to Jun 2, 1459Z. Bands (MHz): 1.8-28. Exchange: RST, serial. Rules - see IARU society websites Alabama QSO Party--Phone,CW, from Jun 1, 1600Z to Jun 2, 0400Z. Bands (MHz): 1.8-28. CW--1.810, 3.545, 7.045, 14.045, 21.045, 28.045; PH--1.865, 3.855, 7.230, 14.250, 21.300, 28.450 MHz. Exchange: RS(T) and AL county or S/P/C. Logs due: 30 days. Rules OK1WC Memorial Contest--Phone,CW, from Jun 3, 1600Z - See website. Multiple time periods. Bands (MHz): 3.5, 50, 144. First through fourth Monday of each month; see website for bands and periods. Exchange: RS(T) and serial. Logs due: 7 days. Rules ARS Spartan Sprint--CW, from Jun 4, 0200Z to Jun 4, 0400Z. Bands (MHz): 3.5-28. Monthly on the first Monday evening. Exchange: RST, S/P/C, and power. Logs due: 2 days. Rules VHF+ CONTESTS Maritime QSO Party--Phone,CW, from Jun 1, 1200Z to Jun 1, 2359Z. Bands (MHz): 1.8-28, 50, 144, 25 to 50 kHz from band edge. Exchange: Maritime county or S/P/C. Logs due: 1 month. Rules UKSMG Sporadic E Contest--Phone,CW,Digital, from Jun 1, 1300Z to Jun 2, 1300Z. Bands (MHz): 50, No QSOs below 50.080 or from 50.100-130 MHz. Exchange: RST, member nr, 6-char grid locator. Logs due: Jul 1. Rules Six Meters World Wide Club Contest--Phone,CW,Digital, from Jun 1, 1500Z to Jun 2, 2359Z. Bands (MHz): 50. Exchange: Call sign, grid square, member number. Logs due: Jun 21. Rules OK1WC Memorial Contest--Phone,CW, from Jun 3, 1600Z - See website. Multiple time periods. Bands (MHz): 3.5, 50, 144. First through fourth Monday of each month; see website for bands and periods. Exchange: RS(T) and serial. Logs due: 7 days. Rules LOG DUE DATES 22 May through 4 June 2013
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