If you are having trouble reading this message, you can see the original at:   
   http://www.arrl.org/contests/update/?issue=2015-07-01   
      
   The ARRL Contest Update   
      
   July 1, 2015   
   Editor: Brian Moran, N9ADG   
      
   IN THIS ISSUE   
      
   ú Speed Limit: 13 wpm   
   ú QRU? IARU!   
   ú Radiosport   
   ú Summer tubing   
   ú Frankly, it's impressive   
   ú Griddy performances reported   
   ú Steer it the other way   
   ú Reviews all the way down   
   ú Reflection: It's not just for power   
      
      
   NEW HF OPERATORS - THINGS TO DO   
      
   If you're working on your CW speed, try the FISTS Slow Speed Sprint on July 4.   
   Speeds are to be kept at 13 WPM or below, and all are welcome.   
      
   BULLETINS   
      
   The IARU Contest is the weekend of July 11. This is the place to be for   
   potential WRTC competitors. Lists of scheduled-to-be-active IARU Headquarter   
   stations are generally maintained in a number of places, one of which is by   
   NG3K: Announced DX Operations.   
      
   BUSTED QSOS   
      
   Dave Burger K3HZ & VK2CZ, points out that in the last issue, "Mention was made   
   of 'University of Sidney'... there is no such place... it is 'University of   
   Sydney '.. just passionate about my Uni.."   
      
   Eric, K3NA commented on last issue's mention of extracting power from WiFi:   
      
   "The router was modified to transmit random noise on the WiFi channel when   
   there wasn't any data to transmit, so that the power-harvesting device has   
   some RF power to harvest... Basically, that means this router is jamming the   
   channel with noise, making that WiFi channel useless for anyone else. This is   
   not what was intended for a shared resource. WiFi channels are supposed to be   
   shared with multiple devices (routers and their clients), not hogged for   
   purposed of power transfer...In my opinion, any application that transmits   
   noise or unnecessary idle signals on shared channels ought to be strongly   
   discouraged. If RF power harvesting is felt to be desirable, then a special   
   segment of the spectrum should be set aside for this purpose, into which any   
   power supplier can transmit energy intended solely to contribute power to RF   
   harvesters... Let's not pollute the RF spectrum any more than necessary!"   
      
   CONTEST SUMMARY   
      
   Complete information for all contests follows the Conversation section   
      
   July 2   
      
    *  CWops Mini-CWT Test   
    *  NRAU 10m Activity Contest   
      
   July 3   
      
    *  QRP Fox Hunt   
    *  NCCC RTTY Sprint   
    *  NCCC Sprint   
      
   July 4   
      
    *  FISTS Summer Slow Speed Sprint   
    *  Venezuelan Independence Day Contest   
    *  DL-DX RTTY Contest   
    *  Marconi Memorial HF Contest   
    *  Original QRP Contest   
    *  PODXS 070 Club 40m Firecracker Sprint   
      
   July 5   
      
    *  WAB 144 MHz Low Power Phone   
    *  DARC 10-Meter Digital Contest   
    *  QRP ARCI Summer Homebrew Sprint   
      
   July 6   
      
    *  RSGB 80m Club Championship, CW   
      
   July 7   
      
    *  ARS Spartan Sprint   
      
   July 8   
      
    *  CWops Mini-CWT Test   
      
   July 9   
      
    *  CWops Mini-CWT Test   
      
   July 10   
      
    *  QRP Fox Hunt   
    *  NCCC RTTY Sprint   
    *  NCCC Sprint   
      
   July 11   
      
    *  FISTS Summer Sprint   
    *  IARU HF World Championship   
    *  SKCC Weekend Sprintathon   
      
   July 12   
      
    *  CQC Great Colorado Gold Rush   
      
   July 15   
      
    *  CWops Mini-CWT Test   
    *  RSGB 80m Club Championship, SSB   
      
      
   NEWS, PRESS RELEASES, AND GENERAL INTEREST   
      
   Recently, WB9SBD asked "Why Contest" on the CQ-Contest email reflector. This   
   elicited a response provided by K3ZJ: "...Bill Leonard, W2SKE (SK) was former   
   president of CBS News and wrote the ham classic back in 1958 for Sports   
   Illustrated. As an aside, today's ARRL 'Professional Media Award' is named   
   after Bill. The story grew from Bill's experience at Buzz Reeve's legendary   
   K2GL station, which is part of the article. Here is a link to an authorized   
   reprint of the Sports Illustrated article. "   
      
   If you're logging computer is older than you'd care to admit and is acting a   
   little slow, you may be able to revitalize it by replacing its spinning hard   
   drive with a Solid State Disk. The prices of SSDs have fallen, and continue to   
   fall. The speed-up you experience could be substantial. Before undertaking the   
   replacement, make sure your computer has a SATA interface, and the operating   
   system that you are using will support SSDs. As a reminder, if your operating   
   system is no longer supported with security patches (Microsoft Windows XP,   
   we're talking about you), it really is time   
   for a more comprehensive upgrade - even web browsing using a vulnerable   
   operating system can jeopardize your computer and the computers "around you"   
   on your LAN. If you are up for adventure, you can download and try out Windows   
   10, which is available in pre-release form.   
      
   A leap second was scheduled to be added on Tuesday according to the New York   
   Times. If all went well, you'll be reading this newsletter or email with no   
   other problems. In the past, adding an extra second has caused unanticipated   
   glitches in various computer systems.   
      
   Web Site of the Week - Tubebooks.org   
      
   A sign with "Free Technical Books" is usually enough to get folks to look   
   through the box under the hamfest table. You can also do the equivalent on   
   line -- Check out the "Radio" section of Tubebooks.Org. You may find yourself   
   spending a lot of time reading some of these, and maybe getting the itch to   
   build something that needs time to warm up. The web site includes Radio   
   Handbooks ("both kinds, Eastern and Western!"), engineering books, etc. The   
   site author is always looking for more material to contribute. (thanks Robert   
   Morris)   
      
   WORD TO THE WISE   
      
   CEPT - "European Conference of Postal & Telecommunications Administrations"   
      
   An agreement between specific countries that may allow you to operate an   
   Amateur Radio Station in a foreign country using the license of your home   
   country - like "reciprocal operating privileges." There are specific   
   requirements for carrying documentation, and specific restrictions apply. See   
   your national radio society, or the ARRL information on CEPT. Depending on   
   where you go, this is a great way to experience being a mult!   
      
      
   SIGHTS AND SOUNDS   
      
   Dave, NN1N, went roving for the ARRL VHF Contest. He writes: "My main goal for   
   the contest was to hand out a rare multiplier and not to compete, but having   
   only a few hours of Es hurt. The Es opening that I did get to the Southeast   
   USA was really good and fun. The meteor scatter and tropo QSOs were fun once   
   completed. As this was also mainly a driving vacation for my wife and I, I had   
   no real worries about things not working out - I just hoped to "wing it" as   
   needed. But, fortunately everything worked fine and I learned more about   
   portable and mobile operating. When the Es were good, the loop on the roof was   
   adequate to work yagi-equipped stations. The loop was useless, of course for   
   tropo and meteors. When I do this again I also want to carry a quick-deploy   
   set up, such as a drive-on mount with a fiberglass mast and a 3 el yagi that I   
   can install in less than ten minutes. This tower and 6 meter yagi took about   
   75 minutes to install. Some of the best QSOs were made while mobile in VE9   
   (FN67) with Es to the upper midwest that also led to double-hop QSOs with W9RM   
   and W0BV in Colorado."   
      
   W3LPL had an Open House, and you can see the video. There's something here for   
   everyone to enjoy, including a hexcopter, Frank's description of the antennas   
   and towers, and operating tidbits.   
      
   Are you travelling this Summer, taking a radio, and want to know what it might   
   be like to be on the other end of a pile-up? Here are some audio perspectives,   
   courtesy of dxuniversity.com.   
      
      
   RESULTS AND RECORDS   
      
   The results of the 2015 ARRL January VHF Contest are now online. Check out the   
   ARRL Contest Results for results, log checking reports, and the searchable   
   score database.   
      
   That the final results and PDF certificates for His Majesty The King of Spain   
   CW Contest 2015 are available at http://concursos.ure.es/en/s-m-   
   l-rey-de-espana-cw/resultados/   
      
      
   OPERATING TIP   
      
   Keep those operators fresh! In a multi-operator event change operators   
   frequently. Under adverse conditions, change operators even more frequently.   
   Rob N7QT and Brian N7RVD put Table Mountain in Washington state on the air for   
   field day, changing operators every two hours during the hot and dry daytime   
   conditions (N7QT).   
      
   TECHNICAL TOPICS AND INFORMATION   
      
   "Active Lightning Control"? Mark K6UFO noticed this article on "Laser-assisted   
   guiding of electric discharges around objects" - using really high power   
   lasers to provide a desired path for lighting to avoid objects. Mark comments:   
   "Now we just need Gigawatt lasers mounted at each tower!"   
      
   Wearable technology is getting a lot of attention, but how will this   
   technology be powered? Avnet has an interesting article on some of the   
   choices, with a couple of the options involving "the host" as the source.   
      
   Amazon has a device called an Echo; it sits in a room, it's internet   
   connected, and can respond interactively to human voice commands (even while   
   playing audio). The voice recognition is quite good. This week Amazon released   
   information to allow third-party services (web sites) to integrate with this   
   device. The Echo device is addressed as "Alexa." One could imagine some   
   amateur radio related uses, such as these interactions:   
      
   Op: "Alexa, ask DX Spotter if 10 meters is open"   
      
   Alexa: "There are no R-B-N nodes near you showing activity on 10 meters."   
      
   Op: "Alexa, ask Contest Update if there's a contest this weekend"   
      
   Alexa: "There is a radio contest every weekend of the year. This weekend, the   
   following contests are happening..."   
      
   It is possible to integrate with local control systems:   
      
   Op: "Alexa, ask Rotator Control to turn tower one to Japan"   
      
   Alexa: "Turning tower one to 310 degrees."   
      
   By the way, if you ask Alexa to tell you a joke, you might get this one: "Did   
   you hear about the two antennas that got married? The ceremony wasn't much,   
   but the reception was excellent."   
      
      
   Selecting the right heatsink for that homebrew project can be confusing.   
   Here's an article from Nuts and Volts that explores the theory and practical   
   considerations behind heatsink selection.   
      
   Technical Web Site of the Week   
      
   PA1HR has compiled key measurements from over forty ARRL product reviews for   
   transceivers into a table on his web site for easy comparison. The reviews   
   were originally published in QST between 2006 and 2015.   
      
      
   CONVERSATION   
      
   In some parts of the computer software industry, the accrual of 'Technical   
   Debt' is discussed and debated. What 'techical debt' means for software is   
   that over time, certain decisions made about the architecture or   
   implementation of computer programs to get them completed have significant   
   potential negative impact on the future - for example, it could make the   
   software more difficult to maintain over time, harder to use, or make the next   
   version of the software more difficult to write. It's difficult to directly   
   attribute a monetary value to 'technical debt.'   
      
   Our contest stations can be very complex systems, and some of the same issues   
   of 'technical debt' can apply. Every contest start time is a "delivery date,"   
   and we have to be ready. We allocate and consume resources as we see fit to   
   attain a higher score. We make tradeoffs ("Summer contest: more likely to use   
   10 meters than 160"). Is the antenna we're putting up for this contest going   
   to be permanent? Do we bury the new coax? Do we spend five hours doing   
   something "right", or thirty minutes in a way that will work for this contest   
   and maybe continue to work? That headphone connector   
   is just a little flaky, can it survive one more weekend? I can use   
   non-insulated ground wire now, but it will only last 1 year. If I use   
   insulated, it costs more, but it may last four years.   
      
   Let's not neglect the other kinds of 'debt' we may be accumulating - an   
   evening or weekend contesting is time you're not spending with your family   
   (unless it's a multi-op). Sitting down for 48 hours straight is a badge of   
   honor and conducive to high scores, but it's also likely taking a real toll on   
   your health. Be mindful of your tradeoffs, and make sure you get in plenty of   
   safe tower climbing between contests for exercise!   
      
   73, Brian N9ADG   
      
      
   CONTESTS   
      
   2 July through 15 July 2015   
      
   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   
      
   CWops Mini-CWT Test, July 1 1300z-1400z, July 1 1900z-2000z, July 2   
   0300z-0400z; CW; Bands: 160, 80, 40, 20, 15, 10m; Member: Name + Member No.,   
   non-Member: Name + (state/province/country); Logs due: July 4.   
      
   NRAU 10m Activity Contest, July 2 1700z-1800z, July 2 1800z-1900z, July 2   
   1900z-2000z, July 2000z-2100z; CW, SSB, FM, Digital; Bands: 10m Only; RS(T) +   
   6-character grid square; Logs due: July 16.   
      
   QRP Fox Hunt, July 3 0100z-0230z; CW; Bands: 20m Only; RST + (st   
   te/province/country) + name + power output; Logs due: July 4.   
      
   NCCC RTTY Sprint, July 3 0145z-0215z; RTTY; Bands: (see rules); Serial No. +   
   Name + QTH; Logs due: July 5.   
      
   NCCC Sprint, July 3 0230z-0300z; (see rules); Bands: (see rules); Serial No. +   
   Name + QTH; Logs due: July 5.   
      
   Venezuelan Independence Day Contest, July 4 0000Z to July 5 2359Z; CW, SSB,   
   PSK; Bands: 160, 80, 40, 20, 15, 10m; RS(T) + Serial No.; Logs due: see rules.   
      
   DL-DX RTTY Contest, July 4 1100Z to July 5 1059Z; RTTY; Bands: 80, 40, 20, 15,   
   10m; RST + QSO No.; Logs due: July 12.   
      
   Marconi Memorial HF Contest, July 4 1400Z to July 5 1400Z; CW; Bands: 160, 80,   
   40, 20, 15, 10m; RST + Serial No.; Logs due: July 10.   
      
   Original QRP Contest, July 4 1500Z to July 5 1500Z ; CW; Bands: 80, 40, 20m;   
   RST + Serial No. + "/" + Power category; Logs due: July 31.   
      
   FISTS Summer Slow Speed Sprint, July 4 1700z-2100z; CW; Bands: 80, 40, 20, 15,   
   10m; FISTS: RST + (state/province/country) + first name + FISTS No.,   
   non-FISTS: RST + (state/province/country) + first name + power; Logs due:   
   August 3.   
      
   PODXS 070 Club 40m Firecracker Sprint, July 4 2000 local to July 5 0200 local;   
   PSK31; Bands: 40m Only; RST + (state/province/country); Logs due: July 18.   
      
   DARC 10-Meter Digital Contest, July 5 1100z-1700z; RTTY, Amtor, Clover, PSK31,   
   Pactor; Bands: 10m Only; RST + Serial No.; Logs due: July 20.   
      
   QRP ARCI Summer Homebrew Sprint, July 5 2000z-2359z; CW; Bands: 160, 80, 40,   
   20, 15, 10m; RST + (state/province/country) + (ARCI no./power); Logs due: July   
   19.   
      
   RSGB 80m Club Championship, CW, July 6 1900z-2030z; CW; Bands: 80m Only; RST +   
   Serial No.; Logs due: July 13.   
      
   ARS Spartan Sprint, July 7 0100z-0300z; CW; Bands: 80, 40, 20, 15, 10m; RST +   
   (state/province/country) + Power; Logs due: July 9.   
      
   CWops Mini-CWT Test, July 8 1300z-1400z, July 8 1900z-2000z, July 9   
   0300z-0400z; CW; Bands: 160, 80, 40, 20, 15, 10m; Member: Name + Member No.,   
   non-Member: Name + (state/province/country); Logs due: July 4.   
      
   QRP Fox Hunt, July 10 0100z-0230z; CW; Bands: 20m Only; RST + (s   
   ate/province/country) + name + power output; Logs due: July 4.   
      
   NCCC RTTY Sprint, July 10 0145z-0215z; RTTY; Bands: (see rules); Serial No. +   
   Name + QTH; Logs due: July 5.   
      
   NCCC Sprint, July 10 0230z-0300z; (see rules); Bands: (see rules); Serial No.   
   + Name + QTH; Logs due: July 5.   
      
   FISTS Summer Sprint, July 11 0000z-0400z; CW; Bands: 80, 40, 20, 15, 10m;   
   FISTS: RST + (state/province/country) + first name + FISTS No., non-FISTS: RST   
   + (state/province/country) + first name + power; Logs due: August 10.   
      
   IARU HF World Championship, July 11 1200Z to July 12 1200Z; CW, Phone; Bands:   
   160, 80, 40, 20, 15, 10m; IARU HQ: RS(T) + IARU Society, Non-HQ: RS(T) + ITU   
   Zone No.; Logs due: August 11.   
      
   SKCC Weekend Sprintathon, July 11 1200Z to Jul 12 2400Z; CW; Bands: 160, 80,   
   40, 20, 15, 10, 6m; RST + (state/province/country) + Name + (SKCC No./"NONE");   
   Logs due: July 19.   
      
   CQC Great Colorado Gold Rush, July 12 2000z-2159z; CW; Bands: 20m Only; RST +   
   (state/province/country) + class + (member no./power output); Logs due: August   
   11.   
      
      
   CWops Mini-CWT Test, July 15 1300z-1400z, July 15 1900z-2000z, July 16   
   0300z-0400z; CW; Bands: 160, 80, 40, 20, 15, 10m; Member: Name + Member No.,   
   non-Member: Name + (state/province/country); Logs due: July 4.   
      
   RSGB 80m Club Championship, SSB, July 15 1900z-2030z; SSB; Bands: 80m Only; RS   
   + Serial No.; Logs due: July 22.   
      
   VHF+ CONTESTS   
      
   WAB 144 MHz Low Power Phone, July 5 1000z-1400z; Phone; Bands: 2m Only;   
   British Isles: RS + serial no. + WAB square, Other: RS + serial no. + country;   
   Logs due: July 26.   
      
   LOG DUE DATES   
      
   July 4, 2015   
      
    *  QRP Fox Hunt   
    *  CWops Mini-CWT Test   
      
      
   July 5, 2015   
      
    *  QRP ARCI QRP Shootout   
    *  NCCC Sprint   
    *  NCCC RTTY Sprint   
    *  IARU Region 1 50 MHz Contest   
      
      
   July 6, 2015   
      
    *  AGCW VHF/UHF Contest   
    *  West Virginia QSO Party   
    *  Alabama QSO Party   
    *  Stew Perry Topband Challenge   
    *  Ukrainian DX Classic RTTY Contest   
      
      
   July 10, 2015   
      
    *  Marconi Memorial HF Contest   
      
      
   July 12, 2015   
      
    *  WAB 50 MHz Phone   
    *  DL-DX RTTY Contest   
      
      
   July 13, 2015   
      
    *  His Maj. King of Spain Contest, SSB   
    *  RSGB 80m Club Championship, CW   
      
      
   July 14, 2015   
      
    *  REF DDFM 6m Contest   
      
      
   July 15, 2015   
      
    *  ARRL June VHF Contest   
      
      
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   ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS   
      
   ARRL Contest Update wishes to acknowledge information from WA7BNM's Contest   
   Calendar and SM3CER's Contest Calendar.   
      
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