If you are having trouble reading this message, you can see the original at:   
   http://www.arrl.org/contests/update/?issue=2018-05-02   
      
   The ARRL Contest Update   
      
   May 2, 2018   
   Editor: Brian Moran, N9ADG   
      
   IN THIS ISSUE   
    *  New HF Operators: Multi-state QSO Parties, Slow Speed Sprint   
    *  Contest Summary   
    *  News: Multi-QSO Party Weekend, Contest Super Suite, Mid-Atlantic States   
       VHF Conference, and more   
    *  Word to the Wise: Galvanic Corrosion   
    *  Sights and Sounds: Fair Lawn ARC YouTube Channel, Contest Like It's 1991   
    *  Results   
    *  Operating Tip: Cinco Nueve   
    *  Technical Topics and Information: Machine Learning for Solar Event   
       Prediction, Using the Sun to Point Antennas, Combining Local and Public   
       Spot Information, and more   
    *  Conversation: Keeping Score   
    *  Contests   
    *  Log Due Dates   
      
   ____________________________________________________________________________   
      
      
   NEW HF OPERATORS -- THINGS TO DO   
      
   Multiple QSO parties are on tap for the weekend of May 5-6. See the News   
   section for more information on how to participate in more than one at a time.   
      
   Slower code speeds will be expected and welcome for the FISTS Sprint Slow   
   Speed Sprint. Thirteen words per minute and under is the guideline for this   
   4-hour event. The only catch is that at least one of the stations in any   
   contact must be a FISTS member to count for points.   
      
   ____________________________________________________________________________   
      
      
   BUSTED QSOS   
      
   I busted the call for K0MD in the last issue. Sorry, Scott.   
      
   ____________________________________________________________________________   
      
      
   CONTEST SUMMARY   
      
   Complete information for all contests follows the Conversation section   
      
   03 May - 16 May 2018   
      
   May 3   
      
    *  CWops Mini-CWT Test   
    *  NRAU 10-meter Activity Contest   
    *  SKCC Sprint Europe   
    *  MIE 33 Contest   
      
   May 4   
      
    *  NCCC RTTY Sprint   
    *  NCCC Sprint   
      
   May 5   
      
    *  Araucaria World Wide VHF Contest   
    *  10-10 Int. Spring Contest, CW   
    *  SBMS 2.3 GHz and Up Contest and Club Challenge   
    *  Microwave Spring Sprint   
    *  ARI International DX Contest   
    *  7th Call Area QSO Party   
    *  Indiana QSO Party   
    *  FISTS Spring Slow Speed Sprint   
    *  Delaware QSO Party   
    *  New England QSO Party   
      
   May 6   
      
    *  New England QSO Party   
      
   May 7   
      
    *  RSGB 80-meter Club Championship, SSB   
      
   May 8   
      
    *  ARS Spartan Sprint   
      
   May 9   
      
    *  Phone Fray   
    *  CWops Mini-CWT Test   
      
   May 10   
      
    *  CWops Mini-CWT Test   
      
   May 11   
      
    *  NCCC RTTY Sprint   
    *  NCCC Sprint   
      
   May 12   
      
    *  SKCC Weekend Sprintathon   
    *  VOLTA WW RTTY Contest   
    *  CQ-M International DX Contest   
    *  Arkansas QSO Party   
    *  FISTS Spring Unlimited Sprint   
    *  50 MHz Spring Sprint   
      
   May 13   
      
    *  WAB 7 MHz Phone   
      
   May 14   
      
    *  4 States QRP Group Second Sunday Sprint   
      
   May 16   
      
    *  Phone Fray   
    *  CWops Mini-CWT Test   
    *  RSGB 80-meter Club Championship, Data   
      
   ____________________________________________________________________________   
      
      
   NEWS, PRESS RELEASES, AND GENERAL INTEREST   
      
   On the May 5-6 weekend you have the opportunity to participate in four QSO   
   parties simultaneously. The 7QP, representing all states in the seventh call   
   area (if you're operating portable in the 7QP, let the contest sponsors know,   
   so they can update the list of active counties), as well as the Indiana,   
   Delaware, and New England QSO parties all use a similar exchange. Some logging   
   programs will handle multiple contest participation with just one log. For   
   example, N1MM Logger+ has special support for out-of-state stations to use the   
   IN7QPNE contest to log stations from any of the participating states.   
      
   Tim, K3LR, reminds us that the Contest Super Suite website has a guide to many   
   of the contest-related activities occurring around Hamvention, including   
   activities in Dayton and Xenia. The Contest Super Suite is a nightly gathering   
   of contesters at the Dayton Crowne Plaza Hotel, hosted by the Mad River Radio   
   Club (MRRC), Frankford Radio Club (FRC) and the North Coast Contesters (NCC).   
   Pizza and wings are the customary party fare, sponsored variously by Dayton   
   Contest University, the Society of Midwest Contesters (SMC), Potomac Valley   
   Radio Club (PVRC), and the Yankee Clipper Contest Club (YCCC). This year,   
   Friday is the night for music at the Crowne Plaza.   
      
   The 2018 Mid-Atlantic States VHF Conference will be held September 28 through   
   30, 2018 at the Holiday Inn Bensalem-Philadelphia. Sponsored by the Mt. Airy   
   VHF Radio Club Packrats, this event will feature tabletop selling, papers and   
   presentations, technical testing room, banquet, door prizes, outdoor   
   mini-tailgate flea market, and hospitality suites. Papers and presentations on   
   any topic related to VHF and above are encouraged. Past conferences have   
   included contesting-related presentations on roving, station automation, and   
   contest strategies. Contact Rick, K1DS, to submit your topic or title. Online   
   and mail registration will start in the latter part of May. If you are making   
   hotel reservations, be sure to mention "VHF Conference" to get the special   
   rate.   
      
   DX Engineering is now the exclusive North American retailer for OptiBeam   
   antennas. With a number of models in stock, DX Engineering is taking orders   
   for the entire range of HF antennas, including monoband and multiband models   
   covering 80 through 10 meters.   
      
   In April 2018, Tom, N1MM, presented to the Yankee Clipper Contest Club on the   
   topic of "A $200 Panadapter." He's made his presentation available to everyone   
   on the N1MM website. Tom uses an Airspy HF+ SDR receiver with SDR Console   
   software to show how band information can be displayed inside an N1MM Logger+   
   window, with or without call sign information.   
      
   Sometimes it's not enough to go to Dayton just one time a year. Find out what   
   autumn in Dayton is like while attending the Microwave Update 2018 conference   
   there on October 11 - 14, 2018. It's typical for microwave rover stations to   
   attend this event, and for the conference to contain material related to   
   contesting on the microwave bands. If you'd like to be a presenter, abstracts   
   and draft presentations are due by August 25, 2018, with final materials due   
   on September 1.   
      
   If you'd like to learn Morse Code and you have an Amazon Echo device, you can   
   install the Continuous Wave Alexa skill by Joe, N3HEE, to help you along.   
   According to KB6NU, who described the skill on his blog, the current version   
   is limited to 20 words per minute but is still entertaining. (KB6NU)   
      
   The Dayton VHF Dinner is being organized by Kim, WG8S, on Friday, May 18, at   
   the DoubleTree Suites in Miamisburg, OH. Kim encourages anyone interested in   
   activities at 50 MHz and above, including microwave, EME, and CW/SSB, to   
   attend. See the announcement on the VHF Contesting reflector for more   
   information.   
      
   "Warranty void if sticker removed!" - Don't believe it. Those stickers appear   
   more and more frequently on new electronic devices. The FTC recently reminded   
   a number of companies that the use of third-party repair services or parts   
   does NOT affect warranty rights, and that such warnings may be in violation of   
   the law.   
      
   Peter, HS0ZKX, writes: "I regret to inform the ham community of the passing of   
   Bob Kupps, HS0ZIA/N6BK, an avid contester, who was in the process of building   
   a world-class contest station in Chiang Mai, Thailand." (Peter, HS0ZKX)   
      
   "Pepe, XE2MX, who contested from Ensenada Baja, California for many years is   
   now SK." Dennis, N6KI, can accept and forward condolences at his QRZ.com   
   address to pass on to his family. (Dennis, N6KI)   
      
   ____________________________________________________________________________   
      
      
   WORD TO THE WISE   
      
   Galvanic Corrosion   
      
   When two dissimilar metals are in contact, corrosion may occur due to   
   differing electrode potentials of the metals. Metals are ranked according to   
   their electrode potentials, the more "negative" of two metals will usually be   
   the one to be corroded, if smaller in area than the more "positive." Radio   
   towers and antennas are usually constructed of metal, and care must be taken   
   when using fasteners, clamps, and hardware to ensure compatibility between   
   metals that are in direct contact. The environment also has a large influence   
   on corrosion -- for example moist versus wet, and fresh versus salt water.   
   ARRL's website has an article on galvanic corrosion that may inform your   
   choices.   
      
   ____________________________________________________________________________   
      
      
   SIGHTS AND SOUNDS   
      
   You can sit in on some presentations of the Fair Lawn Amateur Radio Club by   
   viewing the Fair Lawn ARC YouTube Channel. According to Rob, KA2PBT, their   
   videographer Thom, W2NZ, is building up a "sizeable library of the club's   
   programs and speakers." Programs covering a wide range of topics are available   
   for your on-demand viewing. (Rob, KA2PBT, ARRL NNJ Section Manager)   
      
   Back in the 1990s, before video, internet, and video on the internet were   
   prevalent, there was PJ1B, which went head to head with other stations from P4   
   and PJ9. Stu, VE7ZZ, was kind enough to upload video of CQ WW DX Phone   
   contests from that era to YouTube, where you can see the station hardware, and   
   watch how stations are moved between bands. (Ward, N0AX)   
      
   ____________________________________________________________________________   
      
      
   RESULTS AND RECORDS   
      
   Results for the Ohio QSO Party (PDF) have been posted. Just shy of 36,000   
   contacts were submitted for scoring, almost evenly split between CW and SSB.   
   All 88 Ohio counties were represented in the submitted logs. The 2018 Ohio QSO   
   Party will be held on August 25.   
      
   The results article (PDF) for the 2018 CQ WW DX SSB contest is available   
   online.   
      
   ____________________________________________________________________________   
      
      
   OPERATING TIP   
      
   Cinco Nueve   
      
   Learn how to say your call sign in other languages to get more contacts in   
   phone contests. If the exchange is just a signal report, you can likely get by   
   just knowing your call sign and the letters and numbers of the target   
   language. Try calling CQ while pointing in a suitable direction.   
      
   ____________________________________________________________________________   
      
      
   TECHNICAL TOPICS AND INFORMATION   
      
   Machine Learning may help predict solar storms in the future. Researchers are   
   applying machine learning to chaotic systems using a technique they've named   
   "reservoir computing." Rather than constructing a precise model of a system's   
   behavior, data is collected on the actual behavior of systems and used to   
   train the "reservoir" to be able to predict future states with greater   
   accuracy. Solar storm prediction as a problem is similar in nature to using   
   the heart's electrical signals to predict cardiac events, and the use of   
   weather readings to predict future weather events.   
      
   You don't need a compass to set your antenna rotator direction. By using the   
   sun, you can avoid dealing with the details of magnetic declination. By   
   pointing your antenna at the sun, and looking up the local time on a table   
   generated using the US Naval Observatory website, you can read out the   
   azimuth. (Original suggestion from CT1BOH via Twitter)   
      
   It's a situation you don't face every day -- you need to combine spot   
   information from multiple sources, for example a packet cluster, and a skimmer   
   operating locally. Rich, VE3KI, suggested that in such cases, you could "run a   
   spot aggregator program like WinTelnetX on the computer that is running CW   
   Skimmer" to combine the local and remote sources of spots, and act as a local   
   spot server.   
      
   Lithium battery capacity may be able to increase 50 percent by incorporating a   
   new cathode design, according to researchers. With a combination of structural   
   and chemistry changes, fluorine doping is used to replace cobalt and nickel in   
   traditional cathodes with manganese. (Dennis, N6KI)   
      
   ____________________________________________________________________________   
      
      
   CONVERSATION   
      
   Keeping Score   
      
   With the advent of multiple online scoreboards like contestonlinescore.com and   
   cqcontest.net, it's now possible to have an almost current view of the   
   performance of competitors in a particular entry class. It's possible, because   
   that assumes that other participants have configured their logging programs to   
   report their scores, that they've entered the correct category, they've   
   configured the correct URL for score reporting. That's a lot of configuration,   
   and the complexity limits the number of people using it.   
      
   Viewing current standings requires a web browser window to be open to the   
   online scoreboard's URL, which refreshes every few minutes. "Real-time" scores   
   can sometimes be "a few minutes ago" in this application.   
      
   Online scoreboards so far have only been able to capture a very small   
   percentage of all those participating in most contests, with the CWops   
   Mini-CWT Test being a notable exception. Why not have logging programs report   
   scores by default for all contests, with configuration provided the logging   
   program? After all, the logging program already knows the entry categories and   
   scoring details of contests. At contest start time, a click-through dialog   
   would inform that scores are being reported. Click OK to continue. All   
   contesters, including casual ones, could opt-out if they like by clicking a   
   checkbox somewhere. Participation could skyrocket with a new release of   
   software with the opt-out feature.   
      
   Since one of the reasons to have score reporting is to make the competition   
   more exciting, showing competitor score information right in the logging   
   program would go a long way to accomplishing that and spurring adoption. No   
   extra work to configure. It might be useful to know that the station just   
   ahead of you is ahead on raw contacts but has fewer multipliers. Seeing that   
   your cross-town rival just added a multiplier might spur you to work the   
   second VFO extra hard. A good place to show the call sign, score, and   
   multiplier count of the station just ahead might be next to my score, in the   
   entry window.   
      
   My proposed recipe for success in driving adoption of real-time scores is   
   simple as 1-2-3: 1:Turn reporting of scores on by default. 2:Make the scores   
   really real time. 3:Display competitor scores right in the logging program.   
      
   That's all for this time. Remember to send contesting related stories, book   
   reviews, tips, techniques, press releases, errata, schematics, club   
   information, pictures, stories, blog links, and predictions to c   
   ntest-update@arrl.org   
      
   73, Brian N9ADG   
      
   ____________________________________________________________________________   
      
      
   CONTESTS   
      
   03 May - 16 May 2018   
      
   An expanded, downloadable version of QST's Contest Corral is available as a   
   PDF. Check the sponsor's website for information on operating time   
   restrictions and other instructions.   
      
      
   HF CONTESTS   
      
   CWops Mini-CWT Test, May 2, 1300z to May 2, 1400z, May 2, 1900z to May 2,   
   2000z, May 3, 0300z to May 3, 0400z; CW; Bands: 160, 80, 40, 20, 15, 10   
   meters; Member: Name + Member No., non-Member: Name + (state/pro   
   ince/country); Logs due: May 5.   
      
   NRAU 10m Activity Contest, May 3, 1700z to May 3, 1800z (CW), May 3, 1800z to   
   May 3, 1900z (SSB), May 3, 1900z to May 3, 2000z (FM), May 3, 2000z to May 3,   
   2100z (Dig); CW, SSB, FM, Digital; Bands: 10 meters only; RS(T) +   
   six-character grid square; Logs due: May 17.   
      
   SKCC Sprint Europe, May 3, 1900z to May 3, 2100z; CW; Bands: 160, 80, 40, 20,   
   15, 10 meters; RST + (state/province/country) + Name + (SKCC No./power); Logs   
   due: May 10.   
      
   MIE 33 Contest, May 3, 2300z to May 4, 0300z; CW, Phone; Bands: All, except   
   WARC; Mie: RS(T) + age + "ME", non-Mie JA: RS(T) + age + "MEJ", non-Mie   
   non-JA: RS(T) + age; Logs due: May 31.   
      
   NCCC RTTY Sprint, May 4, 0145z to May 4, 0215z; RTTY; Bands: (see rules);   
   Serial No. + Name + QTH; Logs due: April 29.   
      
   NCCC Sprint, May 4, 0230z to May 4, 0300z; CW; Bands: (see rules); Serial No.   
   + Name + QTH; Logs due: April 29.   
      
   10-10 Int. Spring Contest, CW, May 5, 0001z to May 6, 2359z; CW; Bands: 10   
   meters only; 10-10 Member: Name + 10-10 number + (state/province/country),   
   Non-Member: Name + 0 + (state/province/country); Logs due: May 14.   
      
   ARI International DX Contest, May 5, 1200z to May 6, 1159z; Phone, CW, RTTY;   
   Bands: 80, 40, 20, 15, 10 meters; I: RS(T) + two-letter province, non-I: RS(T)   
   + Serial No.; Logs due: May 11.   
      
   7th Call Area QSO Party, May 5, 1300z to May 6, 0700z; CW, Phone, Digital;   
   Bands: 160, 80, 40, 20, 15, 10, 6, 2 meters; 7th Area: RS(T) + five-letter   
   state/county code, non-7th Area: RS(T) + (state/province/DX); Logs due: May 16.   
      
   Indiana QSO Party, May 5, 1500z to May 6, 0300z; Phone, CW; Bands: 160, 80,   
   40, 20, 15, 10 meters; IN: RS(T) + county, non-IN: W/VE: RS(T) +   
   (state/province), DX: RS(T) + "DX"; Logs due: June 1.   
      
   FISTS Spring Slow Speed Sprint, May 5, 1700z to May 5, 2100z; CW; Bands: 80,   
   40, 20, 15, 10 meters; FISTS: RST + (state/province/country) + first name +   
   FISTS No., non-FISTS: RST + (state/province/country) + first name + power;   
   Logs due: June 4.   
      
   Delaware QSO Party, May 5, 1700z to May 6, 2359z; CW, Phone, Digital/RTTY;   
   Bands: 160, 80, 40, 20, 15, 10, VHF; DE: RS(T) + County, non-DE: RS(T) +   
   (state/province/country); Logs due: June 5.   
      
   New England QSO Party, May 5, 2000z to May 6, 0500z, May 6, 1300z to May 7,   
   0000z; Phone, CW/Digital; Bands: 80, 40, 20, 15, 10 meters; CT, ME, MA, NH,   
   RI, VT: RS(T) + county + state, non-NE: RS(T) + (state/province/"DX"); Logs   
   due: June 5.   
      
   RSGB 80-meter Club Championship, SSB, May 7, 1900z to May 7, 2030z; SSB;   
   Bands: 80 meters only; RS + Serial No.; Logs due: May 8.   
      
   ARS Spartan Sprint, May 8, 0100z to May 8, 0300z; CW; Bands: 80, 40, 20, 15,   
   10 meters; RST + (state/province/country) + Power; Logs due: May 10.   
      
   Phone Fray, May 9, 0230z to May 9, 0300z; SSB; Bands: 160, 80, 40, 20, 15   
   meters; NA: Name + (state/province/country), non-NA: Name; Logs due: May 11.   
      
   CWops Mini-CWT Test, May 9, 1300z to May 9, 1400z, May 9, 1900z to May 9,   
   2000z, May 10, 0300z to May 10, 0400z; CW; Bands: 160, 80, 40, 20, 15, 10   
   meters; Member: Name + Member No., non-Member: Name + (state/pro   
   ince/country); Logs due: May 12.   
      
   NCCC RTTY Sprint, May 11, 0145z to May 11, 0215z; RTTY; Bands: (see rules);   
   Serial No. + Name + QTH; Logs due: April 29.   
      
   NCCC Sprint, May 11, 0230z to May 11, 0300z; CW; Bands: (see rules); Serial   
   No. + Name + QTH; Logs due: April 29.   
      
   SKCC Weekend Sprintathon, May 12, 1200z to May 14, 0000z; CW; Bands: 160, 80,   
   40, 20, 15, 10, 6 meters; RST + (state/province/country) + Name + (SKCC   
   No./"NONE"); Logs due: May 20.   
      
   VOLTA WW RTTY Contest, May 12, 1200z to May 13, 1200z; RTTY; Bands: 80, 40,   
   20, 15, 10 meters; RST + QSO No. + CQ Zone; Logs due: May 31.   
      
   CQ-M International DX Contest, May 12, 1200z to May 13, 1159z; CW, SSB; Bands:   
   160, 80, 40, 20, 15, 10 meters; RS(T) + Serial No.; Logs due: June 13.   
      
   Arkansas QSO Party, May 12, 1400z to May 13, 0200z; CW, Phone, Digital; Bands:   
   80, 40, 20, 15, 10, 2 meters; AR: RS(T) + County, non-AR: RS(T) +   
   (state/province/"DX"); Logs due: May 26.   
      
   FISTS Spring Unlimited Sprint, May 12, 1700z to May 12, 2100z; CW; Bands: 80,   
   40, 20, 15, 10 meters; FISTS: RST + (state/province/country) + first name +   
   FISTS No., non-FISTS: RST + (state/province/country) + first name + power;   
   Logs due: June 11.   
      
   WAB 7 MHz Phone, May 13, 1000z to May 13, 1400z; SSB; Bands: 40 meters only;   
   British Isles: RS + serial no. + WAB square, Other: RS + serial no. + country;   
   Logs due: June 3.   
      
   4 States QRP Group Second Sunday Sprint, May 14, 0000z to May 14, 0200z; CW,   
   SSB; Bands: 160, 80, 40, 20, 15, 10 meters; Member: RS(T) + (Sta   
   e/Province/Country) + Member No., Non-member: RS(T) +   
   (State/Province/Country) + Power; Logs due: May 16.   
      
   Phone Fray, May 16, 0230z to May 16, 0300z; SSB; Bands: 160, 80, 40, 20, 15   
   meters; NA: Name + (state/province/country), non-NA: Name; Logs due: May 18.   
      
   CWops Mini-CWT Test, May 16, 1300z to May 16, 1400z, May 16, 1900z to May 16,   
   2000z, May 17, 0300z to May 17, 0400z; CW; Bands: 160, 80, 40, 20, 15, 10   
   meters; Member: Name + Member No., non-Member: Name + (state/pro   
   ince/country); Logs due: May 19.   
      
   RSGB 80m Club Championship, Data, May 16, 1900z to May 16, 2030z; RTTY, PSK;   
   Bands: 80 meters only; RST + Serial No.; Logs due: April 27.   
      
      
   VHF+ CONTESTS   
      
   Araucaria World Wide VHF Contest, May 5, 0000z to May 6, 1600z; CW, SSB, FM;   
   Bands: 6, 2 meters; RS(T) + six-character grid square; Logs due: May 11.   
      
   SBMS 2.3 GHz and Up Contest and Club Challenge, May 5, 0600 (local) to May 6,   
   2359 (local); Any; Bands: 2.3 GHz and up; six-character Maidenhead locator;   
   Logs due: June 5.   
      
   Microwave Spring Sprint, May 5, 0800 (local) to May 5, 1400 (local); not   
   specified; Bands: All above 902 MHz; six-character grid square; Logs due: May   
   19.   
      
   50 MHz Spring Sprint, May 12, 2300z to May 13, 0300z; not specified; Bands: 6   
   meters only; four-character grid square; Logs due: May 26.   
      
      
   LOG DUE DATES   
      
   03 May - 16 May 2018   
      
   May 4, 2018   
      
    *  Phone Fray   
      
   May 5, 2018   
      
    *  CWops Mini-CWT Test   
      
   May 6, 2018   
      
    *  BARTG Sprint 75   
    *  WAB 3.5/7/14 MHz Data Modes   
      
   May 7, 2018   
      
    *  Helvetia Contest   
    *  Nebraska QSO Party   
    *  10-10 Int. Spring Contest, Digital   
      
   May 8, 2018   
      
    *  Missouri QSO Party   
    *  RSGB 80-meter Club Championship, SSB   
      
   May 9, 2018   
      
    *  JIDX CW Contest   
    *  432 MHz Spring Sprint   
    *  Yuri Gagarin International DX Contest   
      
   May 10, 2018   
      
    *  SKCC Sprint Europe   
    *  ARS Spartan Sprint   
      
   May 11, 2018   
      
    *  Phone Fray   
    *  Araucaria World Wide VHF Contest   
    *  ARI International DX Contest   
      
   May 12, 2018   
      
    *  CWops Mini-CWT Test   
      
   May 13, 2018   
      
    *  SP DX RTTY Contest   
    *  Florida QSO Party   
      
   May 14, 2018   
      
    *  10-10 Int. Spring Contest, CW   
      
   May 15, 2018   
      
    *  F9AA Cup, PSK   
    *  North Dakota QSO Party   
      
   May 16, 2018   
      
    *  7th Call Area QSO Party   
    *  4 States QRP Group Second Sunday Sprint   
      
   ____________________________________________________________________________   
      
      
   ARRL Information   
      
   Your One-Stop Resource for Amateur Radio News and Information   
      
   Join or Renew Today!   
      
   ARRL membership includes QST, Amateur Radio's most popular and informative   
   journal, delivered to your mailbox each month.   
      
   Subscribe to NCJ - the National Contest Journal. Published bimonthly, features   
   articles by top contesters, letters, hints, statistics, scores, NA Sprint and   
   QSO Parties.   
      
   Subscribe to QEX - A Forum for Communications Experimenters. Published   
   bimonthly, features technical articles, construction projects, columns and   
   other items of interest to radio amateurs and communications professionals.   
      
   Free of charge to ARRL members: Subscribe to The ARRL Letter (weekly digest of   
   news and information), the ARES E-Letter (monthly public service and emergency   
   communications news), Division and Section news -- and much more!   
      
   ARRL offers a wide array of products to enhance your enjoyment of Amateur   
   Radio. Visit the site often for new publications, specials and sales.   
      
   Donate to the fund of your choice -- support programs not funded by member   
   dues!   
      
   Reprint permission can be obtained by sending email to permission@arrl.org   
   with a description of the material and the reprint publication.   
      
      
   ACKNOWLEDGMENTS   
      
   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) 2018 American Radio Relay League, Incorporated. Use and   
   distribution of this publication, or any portion thereof, is permitted for   
   non-commercial or educational purposes, with attribution. All other purposes   
   require written permission.   
      
   www.arrl.org   
      
   )\/(ark   
      
   Always Mount a Scratch Monkey   
   Do you manage your own servers? If you are not running an IDS/IPS yer doin' it   
   wrong...   
   ... Hard work pays off in the future... Laziness pays off NOW!   
   ---   
    * Origin:  (1:3634/12.73)