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The ARRL Contest Update
Published by the American Radio Relay League
********************************************
December 22, 2010
Editor: Ward Silver, N0AX
==> IN THIS ISSUE
- ARRL Straight Key Night and Kids Day
- New Year's Day Contests Aplenty
- NAQP CW versus ARRL RTTY Roundup
- A Carload of Ham Radio
- W2SC - CEO of Pileup, Inc
- ARRL 10 Meter Contest - South of the Border
- K4ZA On Towers
- A Spectrum Dashboard
- Endpieces Interwoven
NEW HF OPERATORS - THINGS TO DO
Straight Key Night on New Year's Eve is a great way to exercise your
manual sending skills - and don't forget the AMSAT
Straight Key Night on OSCAR, too!
BULLETINS
The deadline for CQ WW CW was yesterday and scores must be submitted
for the ARRL Rookie Roundup today (the 22nd). With log deadlines moving
up left and right, be sure not to get left out of the listings!
The 070 Club's QRP DX Scramble scheduled for
Dec 26 has been cancelled. (Thanks, Charlie K8IJ)
BUSTED QSOS
The photo of the P40 gang last week misidentified Mike N7MH as NX7M - I
have subtracted three additional operators from the photo as my
penalty! (Thanks, Mike N7MH)
CONTEST SUMMARY
Complete information for all contests follows the Conversation section
Dec 25-26, 2010
- SKCC Straight Key Sprint (Dec 22)
- RAEM Contest--CW
- DARC Christmas Contest
Jan 1-2, 2011
- ARRL Straight-Key Night (Dec 31)
- Kid's Day--Phone
- South Dakota QSO Party (Dec 31)
- New Years Snowball Contest
- SARTG New Year RTTY Contest
- AGCW Happy New Year Contest--CW
- Original QRP Contest--CW
- EUCW 160 Meter Contest--CW
- ARS Spartan Sprint--CW (Jan 4)
==> NEWS, PRESS RELEASES, AND GENERAL INTEREST
Fans of the NCJ's North American QSO Party
(NAQP) should be aware that the ARRL's RTTY Roundup
and the NAQP CW contest will exercise
the CSMA/CD (Carrier Sense Multiple Access/Collision Detection)
expertise of the radiosport community this coming Jan 8th and 9th. This
happens rarely, so no realignment of contest weekends was deemed
necessary by the contest managers. Cooperation will be the key,
particularly on 40 meters. Designers of cognitive radio systems might
find the algorithms put in play by contesters to be of interest. In
other NAQP news, Mark K6UFO is the new manager of the NAQP RTTY
contest. The Contest Update tips its cap to retiring manager, Shelby
K4WW.
After traveling to the UK, Germany, and Italy in 2010, the fifth
year of Contest University (CTU)
has been announced by CTU Chairman, Tim K3LR, and he wants everyone to
know that "early bird" registration is now open! Held in Dayton on May
19th just before the annual Hamvention ,
this will be the only Contest University held in the USA during 2011.
This year's CTU includes a brand-new Youth CTU track led by Scott W3TX.
As always, CTU will feature well-known contesters and station builders
as CTU Professors. CTU is sponsored by Icom America and a host of other
supporting organizations listed on the CTU Web site - thanks to all!
How does Santa travel the world in a single night? It takes a fast
start and this new rail gun technology
from the Navy would sure satisfy that performance requirement! (Thanks,
John N2NC)
The latest IEEE Antennas and Propagation Society
Student Design Challenge for 2011 is
"Radiation Patterns on a Budget". Participants are asked to build a
measurement system that can be used to find the gain and radiation
pattern of an antenna. The top three teams will travel to the annual
AP-S Symposium, this year held in Spokane, WA from July 3-8, 2011.
The Southeastern VHF Society is calling for
technical and operating papers and presentations for the 15th annual
Southeastern VHF Society Conference to be held in Huntsville, Alabama
on April 29th and 30th, 2011. (Thanks, Robin K4IDC)
Ray ND8L reminds us to report radio equipment BEFORE leaving the US as
your gear could be impounded on trying to leave your host country. The
US Customs web site
has complete information.
Have fun with the Reverse Beacon Net
and its reporting features, particularly after a recent contest, to see
how your signal and those of the competition stack up. From Bob N6TV,
"Hover your cursor over DX spots in the toolbar at the top of the page,
then select the Analysis tool." You can click the signal strength
button or the frequency button and start having fun. Hours may pass. To
save the image, use Prt Scrn and then paste into an MS Paint window and
crop. The image doesn't "save" like most graphics do.
Chris, N6WM is the new Director of the "Slow NCCC Sprint
" or SNS, replacing Mike W9RE. This is a
lower-speed version of the NCCC Sprint and Sprint Ladder (NS and NSL)
on Thursday nights.
A contest presence from Zone 21 has been stilled as HZ1HZ, Sheikh Ahmed
Mohamed Zidan, has become a Silent Key. He was the first HZ contact for
many over the last few decades. His QSL manager, N7RO has sent out over
90,000 cards for HZ1HZ. Licensed since 1949, Ahmed held several high
posts in the Saudi PTT Ministry, the last being Deputy Minister of
Communications, and represented Saudi Arabia at all the ITU conferences
and meetings since 1956. (from the Daily DX for
13 Dec 2010)
Another Silent Key from Finland was reported with the passing of Axel
OH5NW. During WRTC-2002, Axel and his brother Peter OH5NQ hosted a
wonderful tour of the famous Arboretum Mustila
- home to a unique collection of
exotic conifer species and horticultural plants for all of Scandinavia.
It was an interesting combination of garden and antenna farm!
With the deletion of the old PJ entities and the addition of the new
ones it is now possible to have worked 400 DXCC countries including all
current and deleted entities. K6ZO is reported to tally 398, but who
will be the first to 400? (Thanks, Alan K0AV and Bill NC1L)
Bob N6TV reports cleaning up some major bugs in the Cabrillo Statistics
for Windows (CBSW) rate sheet
generator, originally written by Ken K5KA (SK), to allow it to work
well with the latest versions of CTY.DAT. "It's a simple Windows
command line tool. Type CBSW and enter the name of your Cabrillo file
and the name of the output file. You get a nice rate sheet in text
format suitable for posting to 3830, and a breakdown of stations worked
in each country or section, plus some other statistics." N2IC
recompiled the Linux version and that has been updated, too.
Bad operating has now attracted the attention of academic researchers!
""North Carolina State University is a national leader in the study of
LID and has advanced LID research and implementation, including the
development of the state's LID guidance, the "North Carolina LID
Guidebook ."
The NC State Cooperative Extension's LID certification program also has
the potential to be replicated nationally." A LID guidebook? Who
thought they were that organized? (Thanks, Rich NU6T)
Users of the ARRL's Logbook of the World
should be aware that a new
version of the TQSL software version (v1.13) has been released. Check
the LOTW Web page for more information. (Thanks, Dick AA5VU)
Finding your local DXCC Card Checker
has been updated with an
online search function. To find your local checker open this link and
for USA click 'State' and for non-USA click 'Country'. For USA only,
you can narrow your search within your state to Zip Code and distance
from your zip code by noting this information in the boxes shown.
Remember that DXCC card checkers can also certify QSLs for WAS, VUCC,
and WAC. (Thanks, Bill NC1L)
Web Site of the Week - Ham radio was in the automotive news
this week as a
new Chevy Camaro antenna design was credited to an amateur. I don't
want to spoil things for you, so you'll have to read the article for
yourself! What's an antenna without a rotator, asks George K5TR? This
new model - the Cytorq - looks like it could
turn the Chevy Camaro antenna and the Camaro, too!
WORD TO THE WISE
Gall - yes, a lot of operators seem to have no shortage of it, but
what's in mind here is a type of "cold-welding" in which the surfaces
of threads break down and lock together. This is a particular problem
with stainless steel fasteners. The solution is to use an anti-galling
lubricant and tighten the fasteners slowly. This will save all sorts of
grief in antenna work where stainless steel bolts and nuts are common.
==> SIGHTS AND SOUNDS
We know Tom W2SC as the dynamo behind 8P5A, but between contests he
occupies his time as the CEO of NetApp. Forbes Magazine profiled Tom
and his true vocation in this recent article
about his contest activities. (Thanks, Gary KN4AQ)
Will CW fade away? Not with the enthusiasm expressed by KB1TSU
and her dad, WB2HTO! (Thanks,
Tim K3LR)
Old Timers in the aviation biz probably know what "Four Course Radio
Range " means, but it was a
new one to Dan K1TO as explained in this video.
If only the ancient Greeks had Lego , maybe we
wouldn't have to wait 100 years to figure out what the Antikythera
Mechanism
was
for! (Thanks, Dan KE7MTN)
You've probably heard the old story about the "barrel of bricks and the
pulley", but our favorite myth-busting re-enactors took the retelling
one step further, producing this video
of
it in exacting detail. Just perfect...and fun, too! (Thanks, David
K2DBK)
While you're still laughing about that "barl" going up and down,
browse on over to this video on ladder safety
. We all think we know
everything but ask any emergency room doctor for the real story about
the effects of ladders on their workload, particularly during holiday
decorating season. (Thanks, Larry W1DYJ)
As the maladaptations of "A Night Before Christmas" raise their yearly
clatter, I can't resist mentioning this interesting multimedia version
by Gary KN4AQ featuring
loads of classic radio images to accompany the audio text. (Thanks, Tim
K3LR)
And if jolly old St Hiram doesn't bring you that big tower, you can
commiserate with KT8K's (a.k.a. the Mandolin Maniac) musical expression
of
that vertical angst. (Thanks, Garry NI6T and Mitch DJ0QN)
RESULTS AND RECORDS
How many XE stations were active for the recent ARRL 10 Meter contest
featuring XE state multipliers? Ramon XE1KK reports after receiving log
information from more than 30 stations, "The results are surprisingly
good: nearly 100 XEs and 26 of 32 Mexican States were on the air...you
can see the preliminary report
and we will prepare a
detailed report that may take longer to generate and will be used to
promote participation." Ramon also reports that, "it was a big "fiesta"
down here and even the stations that made a few contacts are reporting
their numbers enthusiastically. A good beginning!"
The 2010 Washington Salmon Run results, scores, and awards
are now online - find first-place fish
finishers! (Thanks, Jim K7WA for the Salmon Run Committee)
OPERATING TIP
"There is a 100% chance they will never call me if I don't keep calling
CQ." (Thanks, Andy N2NT)
==> TECHNICAL TOPICS AND INFORMATION
What to do with that gift certificate you got for a present?
Globe-trotting tower pro Don K4ZA has a brand-new ARRL book on Antenna
Towers for Radio Amateurs
. You'll
find this great reading in preparation for the upcoming antenna and
tower work you're planning.
In the "Oops, my oscilloscope got lost in my pocket" department, George
K5TR points us at this pint-sized DSO Nano
digital storage scope. While you're marveling at that achievement,
consider the $16 pocket spectrum analyzer
that adapts the IM-Me consumer gadget to span frequency ranges of 281 -
361, 378 - 481, and 749 - 962 MHz covering ISM, LMR, television,
amateur bands, pagers, and mobile phones. (Thanks, Brian N9ADG)
Here's a neat on-line wire-size calculator
- I like the table of lowest
frequencies for 100% penetration of the copper.
Crank-up towers weigh a lot! How do you move them around after the
truck drops it off in your driveway? Bill W2CQ rented a drywall dolly
from a home improvement store for a small fee. He used a couple of
sheets of plywood to act as a rolling surface across the yard and small
automobile jacks to lift the tower on and off the cart. Simple, no?
Array Solutions announces a new
W3NQN-designed high-performance broadcast-band filter that is rated for
use in-line with your transceiver output. This filter features a very
steep roll off starting at 1.8 MHz, 50 to 80 dB of stop-band loss from
0.5 to 1.65 MHz, and has a 150- W ICAS Power rating with only 0.5 dB
insertion loss at 1.8 MHz, dropping to 0.1 dB at higher frequencies.
I've referred readers to the incredibly useful RF Cafe web site in the
past - now site author Kirt KB3UON returned the favor
in pointing the readership to QST and other ARRL publications. Wired
magazine also got into the act with this "How To Become a Ham Radio
Operator "
article. (Thanks, Joel N1BKE and Tom K1KI)
Why does recharging slowly kill off batteries? As described by this
Science magazine article
,
it turns out that the nanostructures inside the batteries are distorted
by the reversed chemical process, eventually leading to a more
disordered state that provides less capacity.
'Tis the season for snow sticks intended for use outside to mark
driveways and ditches buried beneath winter's blanket. These are often
fiberglass and nearly always a rugged and inert plastic - good for all
sorts of antenna building projects. Take advantage of a consumer-priced
volume item at your local hardware emporium!
Technical Web Site of the Week - The FCC recently released its most
recent version of the "Spectrum Dashboard
" which
allows you to browse and zoom in on all allocated spectrum from 225 MHz
to 3700 MHz with a graphical tool. (From the December issue of "Cheese
Bits " Mt Airy "Packrats" VHF Radio
Club)
==> CONVERSATION
Endpieces Interwoven
It's customary to gallivant through the fields and valleys of holiday
homily in a year-ending editorial, but I'll moderate the tristful
entreaties with a little fun, sprinkling busticated brumal bromides
betwixt verses of "Code For the Holidays", another of the seemingly
inexhaustable Dr Beldar's transmogrifications.
This one is for my mom, it being based on one of her favorites, the
1954 Perry Como hit "Home For the Holidays
" when I was just a muffin
in the oven...
Oh, there's no mode like code for the holidays,
'Cause no matter how QRS you go,
When you pine for the rhythm of a friendly fist
For the holidays, you can't beat old Morse code.
I worked a gal who lives in Tennessee,
She was callin' for
Pennsylvania, so we ragchewed for a while.
From Pennsylvania, hams are beamin'
South to work those W4's,
From Atlantic to Pacific,
Gee, the QRM's terrific.
Even if the QRM is terrific, take an extra ten-count before firing off
that email or pressing the microphone button. Be not a provoker or too
easily provoked. Caution takes but an instant, while regret can last a
lifetime.
Oh, there's no mode like code for the holidays,
'Cause no matter how QRS you go,
When you pine for the rhythm of a friendly fist
For the holidays, you can't beat old Morse code.
With your keyer solid-state
Or that brass J-38
Even mobile while you're driving in the car
For the pleasure that you bring
When you make those earphones ring
No contact is too far
Rarely is the hyperbole so easily ladled out as tasty to eat as it
smells during the cooking. Benefit of the doubt is often oil upon the
waters and something we are all deserve at times. Be free with
understanding and miserly with invective.
I worked a gal who lives in Tennessee,
She was callin' for
Pennsylvania, so we ragchewed for a while.
From Pennsylvania, hams are beamin'
South to work those W4's,
From Atlantic to Pacific,
Gee, the QRM's terrific.
And last, but not least, follow the old Native American advice of
walking a mile in the other person's moccasins. Empathy is a marvelous
thing, often wished for after the fact. When the sun comes up tomorrow,
most of us are still going to be here on this earthly ball, whirling
around our annual track, so we might as well make the effort to share
the place a little better.
Oh, there's no mode like code for the holidays,
'Cause no matter how QRS you go,
When you pine for the rhythm of a friendly fist
For the holidays, you can't beat old Morse code.
For the holidays, you can't beat old Morse code.
Have a great holiday season and don't forget to have fun with the rest
of your ham radio family!
73, Ward N0AX
==> CONTESTS
22 Dec 2010 through 4 Jan 2011
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
ARRL Straight-Key Night--CW, from Jan 1, 0000Z to Jan 1, 2400Z. Bands
(MHz): 3.5-28, 50+. Exchange: General QSO information. Logs due: Jan
31. Rules
Kid's Day--Phone, from Jan 2, 1800Z to Jan 2, 2400Z. Bands (MHz):
3.5-28. Exchange: Name, age, location, favorite color. Rules
SKCC Straight Key Sprint--CW, from Dec 22, 0000Z to Dec 22, 0200Z.
Bands (MHz): 1.8-28, 50, Frequencies: Monthly on the fourth Wednesday
UTC. Exchange: RST, S/P/C, name, SKCC nr or power. Logs due: 3 days.
Rules
RAEM Contest--CW, from Dec 26, 0000Z to Dec 26, 1200Z. Bands (MHz):
3.5-28. Exchange: Serial and lat/long in degrees. Logs due: Jan 25.
Rules
070 Club QRP DX Scramble--Digital, from Dec 26, 0000Z to Dec 26, 2400Z.
Bands (MHz): 14. Exchange: Call sign, first name, WR 100 entity. Logs
due: Jan 28. Rules
DARC Christmas Contest--Phone,CW, from Dec 26, 0830Z to Dec 26, 1059Z.
Bands (MHz): 3.5-7. Exchange: RS(T) and DOK or special station code.
Logs due: 3 weeks. Rules
South Dakota QSO Party--Phone,CW, from Dec 31, 1700Z to Dec 31, 12 Mid.
Bands (MHz): 1.8-28. Exchange: RS(T) and SD county or S/P/C. Logs due:
30 days. Rules
New Years Snowball Contest--Phone,CW, from Jan 1, 0000Z to Jan 1,
0100Z. Bands (MHz): 3.5. Exchange: RST, serial, AGB number. Logs due: 3
weeks. Rules
SARTG New Year RTTY Contest--Digital, from Jan 1, 0800Z to Jan 1,
1100Z. Bands (MHz): 3.5-7. Exchange: RST, serial, Happy New Year in
your language. Logs due: Jan 31. Rules
AGCW Happy New Year Contest--CW, from Jan 1, 0900Z to Jan 1, 1200Z.
Bands (MHz): 3.5-14. Exchange: RST, serial, AGCW number. Logs due: Jan
31. Rules
Original QRP Contest--CW, from Jan 1, 1500Z to Jan 2, 1500Z. Bands
(MHz): 3.5-14. Exchange: RST, serial, and category. Logs due: Jan 31.
Rules
EUCW 160 Meter Contest--CW, from Jan 1, 2000Z to Jan 1, 2300Z and Jan
3, 0400Z to Jan 4, 0700Z. Bands (MHz): 1.8. Frequencies: Multiple
operating periods. Exchange: RST, serial, club name, member nr or "NR".
Logs due: Feb 15. Rules
ARS Spartan Sprint--CW, from Jan 4, 0200Z to Jan 4, 0400Z. Bands (MHz):
3.5-28. Frequencies: Monthly on the first Monday evening. Exchange:
RST, S/P/C, and power. Logs due: 2 days. Rules
VHF+ CONTESTS
ARRL Straight-Key Night--CW, from Jan 1, 0000Z to Jan 1, 2400Z. Bands
(MHz): 3.5-28, 50+. Exchange: General QSO information. Logs due: Jan
31. Rules
SKCC Straight Key Sprint--CW, from Dec 22, 0000Z to Dec 22, 0200Z.
Bands (MHz): 1.8-28, 50, Frequencies: Monthly on the fourth Wednesday
UTC. Exchange: RST, S/P/C, name, SKCC nr or power. Logs due: 3 days.
Rules
==> LOG DUE DATES
22 Dec 2010 through 4 Jan 2011
December 22, 2010 - ARRL Rookie Roundup, CW
December 25, 2010 - MDXA PSK DeathMatch
December 26, 2010 - Run for the Bacon QRP Contest
December 31, 2010 - Kentucky QSO Party
December 31, 2010 - JIDX Phone Contest
December 31, 2010 - PRO CW Contest
December 31, 2010 - All Austrian 160-Meter Contest
December 31, 2010 - TOPS Activity Contest
January 1, 2011 - Feld Hell Sprint
January 1, 2011 - TARA RTTY Melee
January 2, 2011 - ARCI Topband Sprint
January 4, 2011 - ARRL 160-Meter Contest
==> ARRL INFORMATION
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==> ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
ARRL Contest Update wishes to acknowledge information from WA7BNM's
Contest Calendar and SM3CER's
Contest Calendar .
The ARRL Contest Update is published every other Wednesday (26 times
each year). ARRL members may subscribe at no cost or unsubscribe by
editing their Member Data Page as described at
http://www.arrl.org/contests/update/.
Copyright (c) 2010 American Radio Relay League, Inc. All
Rights Reserved
the ARRL COntest UPdate posted to the ls_arrl echo via
Radio REscue NEt operations BBS, 1:116/901 thanks to Daryl
Stout, n5vlz, sysop of the THunderbolt BBS, 1:382/33.
Address all comments and questions to the editor as described in this
electronic newsletter.
---
* Origin: (1:116/901)
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