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The ARRL Contest Update
Published by the American Radio Relay League
********************************************
June 22, 2011
Editor: Ward Silver, N0AX
==> IN THIS ISSUE
- Time For Field Day - Have Fun!
- O Canada Day!
- Russian Prefixes Rearranged
- What's All This About Bob Pease and Jim Williams?
- Ural Contest Group Championship Videos
- ARRL 10 Meter and Jan VHF Results Online
- Beverages Straight, No Chaser
- Why Is There Air?
- Caught a Fish!
NEW HF OPERATORS - THINGS TO DO
It would be hard to prescribe anything other than a mega-dose of Field
Day this weekend - all bands, all
modes. Have fun! Regardless of whether that experience wets your
whistle or whets your appetite, the annual July 1st Canada Day contest
is a great opportunity to point your beams north and join our neighbors
in their national day of celebration.
BULLETINS
There are no bulletins in this issue.
BUSTED QSOS
Elecraft founder call signs and names were swapped in the story about
the new KX-3 last time - for the record, Wayne is N6KR and Eric is
WA6HHQ. Also, the call of the Grid Pirates VHF+ team is K8GP, not W8GP
- apologies for the busted calls! Log checkers...apply the penalty
stick...
CONTEST SUMMARY
Complete information for all contests follows the Conversation section
June 25-26
- ARRL Field Day
- QRP ARCI Milliwatt Field Day
- NAQCC Milliwatt Sprint--CW (Jun 22)
- SARL Top Band QSO Party (Jun 23)
- His Majesty King of Spain--Phone
- Marconi Memorial HF Contest--CW
July 2-3
- Canada Day Contest (Jul 1)
- 070 Club Firecracker PSK31 Sprint
- Venezuelan Independence Day Contest
- DL DX RTTY Contest
- DARC 10-Meter Digital Corona
- Ten-Ten Spirit of 76 QSO Party (Jul 4)
- MI QRP July 4th Sprint--CW (Jul 4)
==> NEWS, PRESS RELEASES, AND GENERAL INTEREST
If you have been on the HF bands lately, you may have noticed that a
number of new prefixes are in use by stations in the Russian
Federation. Here is a summary of the changes recently adopted by the
Russian telecommunication authorities as reported in a recent ARRL Web
story
containing the numerous details of the new prefix structure. Make sure
your logging software's CTY files
are up to date before the IARU HF Championship in July! (Thanks, SRR
President Roman R5AA, ex-RZ3AA)
More from Dayton - Scott N7SS reports that Icom American was showing
off a new mapping feature for VHF+ products. Redhawk
is a GPS
mike for virtually any radio that features a real GPS display and other
features like text messaging. It also allows a user to poll another and
get their current location without having to wait or request they
transmit. Mapping software will be able to use this data to show live
locations on a map - such as for a rover or mobile station.
Graphene is not the new
fragrance of spreadsheet users, it's a single-atomic-layer allotrope
(form) of carbon that makes up graphite. It also has interesting
electronic properties that are being put to work in wireless
applications, such as a recent frequency mixing ability up to 10 GHz as
reported by IBM researchers
. Carbon is
cheap and ubiquitous so the electronics industry is watching these
developments with interest. (Thank, Bob N6TV)
The US Representative for serious VHF+ operating-magazine DUBUS
, Ed KL7UW, has a new email address
that can be used for correspondence with DUBUS or
Teckniks, the books of articles from prior issues.
Young contest operator Manu LU9ESD has
been selected as part of the upcoming 2012 DXpedition to Malpelo
Island, HK0NA . Manu's experiences at 6Y1V and PT5T
have given him the necessary "chops" to contribute on what will surely
be a major operation from a most-needed DXCC entity!
Starting with the 2011 edition of the ARRL UHF Contest
, the
upper power limit for Low Power entries will be 50 watts - an increase
from 10 watts. Also note that the power must be measured at the output
of the final stage of amplification (see Rule 2). This is a change from
the old rules that allowed power measurement at the input to the
antenna. Feed line loss is now part of the game. (Thanks, Lloyd N9LB
and ARRL Contest Branch Manager, Sean KX9X)
Pete N4ZR writes to let us know that, "At Contest
University (CTU) in Dayton this year, I
gave a "class" on the three most widely used contest logging programs -
WriteLog, N1MM Logger, and Win-Test." This was very well received by
the CTU attendees! "I have posted PDF versions of the review
, as well as my CTU
presentation on CW Skimmer and the Reverse Beacon Network."
But will they operate EME? China is reported as starting the
construction of the world's biggest radio telescope
in the remote Guizhou Province of southern China. It will have a
diameter of 305 meters and a collecting area of just over 73,000 square
meters - the largest aperture ever constructed. This will extend the
range of to three times further into space than the famed Arecibo
'scope. Game on!
This may be old news by the time of publication, but in case there
are rooms left, the North Coast Contesters (
NCC) are pleased to announce that
the Crowne Plaza in Dayton, Ohio started taking room reservations for
the 2012 Hamvention week on Monday, June 20th under the previously
announced agreement for a block rate arranged by the NCC. To make a
reservation at the special rate ($135/night) You MUST either call this
telephone number to make reservations 937-229- 9852 (special number) or
you can make them online . If you call the
special number and get the voicemail box - DO NOT leave a message -
they cannot call you back. Call back yourself. You must talk to a live
operator to make a reservation. A deposit is required at the time of
reservation and the hotel cancellation policy applies. (Thanks, Tim
K3LR)
Web Site of the Week - Although neither of these gentlemen was
highly-connected to the radiosport world, both Jim Williams
and Bob Pease
were intimately involved with the electronic technology that underlies
much of what we do, both on and off the air. They were legends in the
world of analog electronics design and both died suddenly in the past
week. Hams will recognize a kindred soul in this NPR story
about
Jim's travels through the surplus electronics catacombs of Silicon
Valley and his appreciation for technology as shown by this video
beginning with him standing in front of his living-room art
installation - a recreated Minuteman missile guidance computer
. Similarly, the workbench
of Bob Pease is legendary for its apparent disorder
from which sprouted well-crafted and engineered designs. Both were also
legendary for their abilities to write and present with clarity and
inspiration - references to Bob's "Pease Porridge
"
and "What's All This..." columns have made an occasional appearance in
this newsletter and both men have authored books considered classics in
the field. Personally, both were a huge inspiration to your editor as a
writer and author of technical material - having demonstrated how to do
it right. To say they will be missed is a gross understatement.
(Thanks, Doug K1DG and others for links)
WORD TO THE WISE
Mentor - this Field Day is an excellent opportunity to mentor new hams,
to advise and guide and teach. Take the time to show them what
effective operating looks and sounds like - there will be plenty of
opportunities to score points and run rate in the weekends ahead of us.
==> SIGHTS AND SOUNDS
Igor, UA9CDC has contributed several videos from the recent Ural
Contest Group Championship - the 12th annual competition, held during
the first six hours of IARU Region I Field Day. (Part 1
, Part 2
, Part 3
- the videos were taken
and edited by Valery R9DA) Teams are only limited by the 12 meter mast
height, Spiderbeam antennas, and 100 watt output power. All the
participants are spread out along a North-South line, separated by 200
meters. A video tour of the R9DX contest station
is also available.
Brothers Dave N2TEB and Andrew K2FR operated portable from Mount
Beacon, NY (FN31al) in the recent ARRL June VHF QSO Party. They managed
to work stations out to about 1000 miles before the rain moved in.
Enjoy this video of the mountaintop adventure
put together by Andrew.
Morse Madness strikes when you least expect it, as evidenced by this
Bench Press key , a Rocking
Chair key , a CW gun
(this has potential), a
Cheese Slicer key , and
even a Rotary dial phone CW key
. Listen for OH6DC in the
Straight Key Night! (Thanks, Mark K6UFO)
If you think contesters are nuts, how about this woodpecker who found a
great place to stash acorns
?
==> RESULTS AND RECORDS
The 2010 ARRL 10 Meter and 2011 January VHF QSO Party results are now
online . The ARRL Contest
Branch extends its thanks to retiring 10 Meter Contest author Ken WM5R
who is a new father and will need to devote more time to his junior
operator. ARRL Contest Branch Manager, Sean KX9X notes, "I'm seeing
several log submissions for the ARRL June VHF QSO Party that [were
submitted in] the Single Operator category, but claim the use of
spotting assistance. As a reminder, the use of spotting assistance
(packet cluster, DX Summit, Internet chat rooms, etc) places you in a
Multioperator category: If you operated on four or fewer bands, you can
enter Limited Multioperator; if you operated on five or more bands, you
should enter the Multioperator category. If you used spotting
assistance during the weekend and submitted as a Single Operator,
please resubmit your log in the correct category."
The Seventh District QSO Party (7QP) results have
been turned around with the customary blazing speed this group exhibits
every year. Click the "2011 Results" tab for the complete story.
(Thanks, 7QP Contest Manager, Dick K4XU/N7XU)
WRTC2014 Chairman, Doug K1DG notes, "We have been
receiving questions about the Team Selection process lately via email
at the info@wrtc2014.org address. Please send questions on that subject
to selection@wrtc2014.org." In addition, Mark K6UFO sent a pointer to
Marek SQ2GXO's WRTC2014 operator comparison website
based on claimed results. Marek encourages you
to report any bugs or problems.
The Claimed Scores for the ARI DX Contest are now published on the Log
Received Page - from the ARI home page, click "Log
Received". The ARI team wishes to thank Dave, KM3T and kkn.net for
support. (Thanks, ARI HF Contest Manager, Bob, I2WIJ)
OPERATING TIP
Although one's state is not part of most VHF contest exchanges, there
are many operators chasing state-level awards such as Worked All States
who want to know your state along with the grid. Rather than add state
to the exchange, why not add it to your CQ? For example, "CQ contest
from W5ZN in EM45, Arkansas." You may pull in a few more callers that
way! (Thanks, Bennie K5KV)
==> TECHNICAL TOPICS AND INFORMATION
Trying to keep a straight path when deploying a Beverage antenna in
heavy brush or undergrowth (see this blog by N2NL/KH2
for an idea of the problem) is a lot
easier with My Tracks
,
a free Android phone GPS app. (Thanks, José CT1BOH)
Recent solar activity predictions have been dismaying to fans of 15
meters and up (while the low-band ops have been secretly cackling with
glee). The most recent ARRL Propagation Bulletin ARLP024
contains a
host of links about the reports and dissenting opinions. In the
meantime, just get on the air and make contacts anyway!
Dave N3XUD enthusiastically endorses WinGrid
by W4SM as a great grid square tool. The
free program calculates grid squares from latitudes and longitudes, the
reverse, and calculates distances and headings from two sets of
lat/long or grid squares. There are a number of other useful programs
there, as well.
Knot-knot! Who's there? Alan K2ACK and his collection of Wikipedia
links for useful rope tricks; the Figure Eight Loop
and the Figure Eight
knot , the Double
Bowline (that poor rabbit
must be going nuts), and the Butterfly
.
So you finally bought that neat coax connector crimping tool and die
set. But which to use for which connector? Here is a size chart
that might be of help in
selecting the right crimper die for the right RF connector. There are
also standard die sets on the RF Parts
and Tessco
websites. (Thanks, Bert VE3NR and Les W2LK)
Bill N5AB reports success in using an old-fashioned screen door spring
at one end of an antenna wire, where the support rope meets the tree,
to provide some flex for a wire antenna. He uses a length of rope
between the antenna and the metal spring to prevent any undesired
coupling between the two.
If you are designed an amplifier power supply, you might want to check
out the PSU Designer Software
from Duncan Amplifiers.
This will help insure that you've included all of the important factors
that affect supply performance. There are some high voltage supply
design examples
from G3SEK
available, too!
Paul NA5N has a lot of excellent parts and building information on his
website . When
he's not hamming, he works at the National Radio Astronomy Observatory
doing some REAL DXing!
Roger K8RI is building some adapter plates
to mount Yaesu
thrust bearings, which are metric, to Rohn 25 accessory shelves, which
are not metric. This process is fairly easy to adapt to other similar
needs.
Technical Web Site of the Week - From time to time someone poses the
question as to why coax cables are mostly manufactured in either 75 or
50 ohm characteristic impedances. This article from Microwaves 101
nicely
explains why, with both math and graphs. (Thanks, Fred WA7TZY)
==> CONVERSATION
Caught A Fish!
In the recent ARRL June VHF QSO Party, a special event occurred as Mark
KM0A completed his Fred Fish Memorial Award
(FFMA), working his "last two" grid squares during the contest! This is
only the fourth FFMA and quite an achievement! If you've ever been
someone's "last state" or "last zone" or "last county", you know it can
be almost as much fun on the other end. Here to tell you about it from
the rover's perspective are Barry KS7DX and Dennis K7BV and their
friend, Ken, who went to great lengths to put CM93 (almost entirely
water) on the air - it was quite an adventure!
73, Ward N0AX
Firstly I'd like to thank all the folks that sent Dennis and I notes
thanking us for doing the trip. It was an adventure to say the least
and we were very happy to hand out the grid to so many people who
needed it for FFMA. Hearing Mark KM0A calling early Saturday morning,
giving him the grid and then hearing him say it was the last one he
needed had to be the highlight of the whole trip. When we left on
Wednesday he needed two and to find out we gave him the last was just
unbelievable!
We arrived at Santa Rosa (in California's Channel Islands, grid CM93)
on Thursday and proceeded to setup the stations and get the 6M7JHV
7-element Yagi antenna installed. Once it was installed we determined
very quickly that it wasn't going to be very good. It was moving around
a lot with the rolling of the boat and the constant wind so we took it
back down and replaced it with our spare 3-element Yagi. Even that was
moving around a lot but with its wider pattern and shorter boom it was
easier to move as the boat changed position. And the boat changed
position a lot! We'd no sooner get the antenna pointing east and the
boat would swing on the anchor and all of a sudden the antenna was
pointing west or some other oddball direction! The winds and currents
didn't do us any favors. Combine those factors with QSB on the band and
you begin to understand why we were loud one minute and gone the next!
Once we had the 3-element up I started to check things out, set
levels etc. and in doing so I started calling Jim KS7S on meteor
scatter. As soon as the 1st TX sequence ended (using the WSJT software
package - Ed.) and I was back in receive I heard Bruce KI7JA calling
me! I immediately answered him and the pileup started! There were 3 or
4 stations at a time calling so as fast as I'd work one I had another
ready to go. Looking at the log I was averaging 1 station every 5
minutes for the first hour. Not a great run-rate for SSB/CW but not too
bad for meteor scatter. I quit shortly after that and Dennis took over
mainly on CW for the rest of the evening.
Friday morning was again very good for meteor scatter and I added more
to the log before Dennis took over on SSB and CW. Friday turned out to
be our best day during the whole trip in terms of contacts. The band
stayed open until well after midnight with lots of double hop to the
east coast. When the band would start to dry up Dennis would switch to
beacon mode and eventually someone new would call. What become abundant
clear was that the majority of signals we were hearing came from
stations with stacked arrays and power. And there we sat with a lowly
3-element waving in the breeze!
Saturday morning of course was the red-letter day with Mark KM0A being
the first is the log on SSB. The opening was short lived into Missouri
but I switched to ISCAT and worked a few in that mode with some SSB and
FSK in between. Running WSJT V7 on FSK and V9 on ISCAT meant I could
switch between modes quickly and that helped with the short openings.
My last digital contact was with Doug VE5UF. After that I went to SSB
and got ready to start the contest. Once the contest started it was
tough to hold our frequency with so much activity. I had no way of
knowing how great the Es openings were except by what I was working and
what I heard other stations working. I ended up having to do S&P to be
able to work anyone. Being called by some VE3's and some W1 and W2
stations was very cool though. Dennis took over on CW around 0045Z but
found the band starting to fade for us. The weather had been
deteriorating all day and according to NOAA wasn't going to get any
better through the night. With the band conditions not great we decided
to take a break and have supper and see how band conditions were later
on. We never got the chance!
We had no sooner started to eat supper when the weather really turned
on us. The anchor was holding but the seas were getting rougher and the
winds were increasing badly. In fact the boat was rising and falling so
much that the anchor chain would occasionally whip and jump the cogs in
the windlass. The latest NOAA weather forecast wasn't encouraging with
forecasted winds gusting over 50 mph and seas running 8 to 11 feet. We
decided rather quickly to, as the saying goes, get the heck out of
Dodge!
Getting the anchor up and stowed took more time and effort than any of
us thought it would take. After several attempts and a frustrating
moment when it jumped its guide and had to be levered back into place
it was finally stowed safely and we began heading for cover. By now it
was 9:15 PM and too dark to find another anchorage so with the wind
pushing us east we decided to head for Oxnard, CA. Finally we got
behind the seawall of the Channel Island Harbor and a pilot boat came
and directed us into a temporary slip for what was left of the night.
It was now 4:30 AM. We over-nighted there Sunday and headed for home
Monday morning. After stopping for fuel at Long Beach we finally made
it back to Seal Beach around 5 PM.
Other than the weather and lack of propagation at times it was good
trip and there are 300 or so folks that no longer need CM93. I've
posted some pictures of the trip on Picasaweb
- clicking a
photo will make it bigger. Enjoy!
Very 73, Barry KS7DX, Dennis K7BV and Ken
==> CONTESTS
22 June through 5 July
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 Field Day--Phone,CW,Digital, from Jun 25, 1800Z to Jun 26, 2100Z.
Bands (MHz): 1.8-28, 50+. Exchange: Category, ARRL/RAC section or DX.
Logs due: Jul 27. Rules
QRP ARCI Milliwatt Field Day--Phone,CW,Digital, from Jun 25, 1800Z to
Jun 26, 2100Z. Bands (MHz): 1.8-28, 50+. Exchange: Category, ARRL/RAC
section or DX. Logs due: Jul 27. Rules
NAQCC Milliwatt Sprint--CW, from Jun 22, 0030Z to Jun 22, 0230Z. Bands
(MHz): 3.5-14. Frequencies: Monthly on 2nd Tuesday or 3rd Wednesday
(alternating). Exchange: RST, S/P/C, and NAQCC mbr nr or power. Logs
due: 4 days. Rules
SARL Top Band QSO Party--Phone,CW, from Jun 23, 0000Z to Jun 27, 0000Z.
Bands (MHz): 1.8. Exchange: RS(T) and province or country. Logs due: 7
days. Rules
His Majesty King of Spain--Phone, from Jun 25, 1200Z to Jun 26, 1200Z.
Bands (MHz): 1.8-28. Exchange: RS, serial or EA province. Logs due: Jul
15. Rules
Marconi Memorial HF Contest--CW, from Jun 25, 1400Z to Jun 26, 1400Z.
Bands (MHz): 1.8-28. Exchange: RST and serial number. Logs due: 30
days. Rules
Canada Day Contest--Phone,CW, from Jul 1, 0000Z to Jul 1, 2359Z. Bands
(MHz): 1.8-28, 50-144. Exchange: RS(T), Province/Territory or serial.
Logs due: Jul 31. Rules
070 Club Firecracker PSK31 Sprint--Digital, from Jul 2, 8 PM to Jul 3,
2 AM. Bands (MHz): 7. Exchange: RST and S/P/C. Logs due: Aug 2. Rules
Venezuelan Indep Day Contest--Phone,CW, from Jul 2, 0000Z to Jul 3,
2400Z. Bands (MHz): 1.8-28. Exchange: RS(T) and serial. Logs due: Aug
31. Rules
DL DX RTTY Contest--Digital, from Jul 2, 1100Z to Jul 3, 1059Z. Bands
(MHz): 3.5-28. Exchange: RST and serial. Logs due: Aug 10. Rules
DARC 10-Meter Digital Corona--Digital, from Jul 3, 1100Z to Jul 3,
1700Z. Bands (MHz): 28. Exchange: RST, serial. Logs due: 14 days. Rules
Ten-Ten Spirit of 76 QSO Party--Phone,CW,Digital, from Jul 4, 0000Z to
Jul 10, 2400Z. Bands (MHz): 28. Exchange: Call, name, member number,
S/P/C. Logs due: 15 days. Rules
MI QRP July 4th Sprint--CW, from Jul 4, 2300Z to Jul 5, 0300Z. Bands
(MHz): 1.8-28, 50. Exchange: RST, S/P/C, and QRPMI number or power.
Logs due: 30 days. Rules
VHF+ CONTESTS
ARRL Field Day--Phone,CW,Digital, from Jun 25, 1800Z to Jun 26, 2100Z.
Bands (MHz): 1.8-28, 50+. Exchange: Category, ARRL/RAC section or DX.
Logs due: Jul 27. Rules
QRP ARCI Milliwatt Field Day--Phone,CW,Digital, from Jun 25, 1800Z to
Jun 26, 2100Z. Bands (MHz): 1.8-28, 50+. Exchange: Category, ARRL/RAC
section or DX. Logs due: Jul 27. Rules
Canada Day Contest--Phone,CW, from Jul 1, 0000Z to Jul 1, 2359Z. Bands
(MHz): 1.8-28, 50-144. Exchange: RS(T), Province/Territory or serial.
Logs due: Jul 31. Rules
MI QRP July 4th Sprint--CW, from Jul 4, 2300Z to Jul 5, 0300Z. Bands
(MHz): 1.8-28, 50. Exchange: RST, S/P/C, and QRPMI number or power.
Logs due: 30 days. Rules
==> LOG DUE DATES
22 June through 5 July
June 20 - 10-10 Int. Open Season PSK Contest
June 21 - RSGB National Field Day
June 22 - UA2 QSO Party
June 22 - RSGB 80m Club Championship, CW
June 23 - UN DX Contest
June 23 - SARL Youth Day Sprint
June 26 - Run for the Bacon QRP Contest
June 27 - CQ WW WPX Contest, CW
June 28 - MI QRP Memorial Day CW Sprint
June 30 - EUCW Fraternizing CW QSO Party
June 30 - VOLTA WW RTTY Contest
July 1 - SBMS 2 GHz and Up WW Club Contest
July 1 - Baltic Contest
July 1 - Feld Hell Sprint
July 1 - UKSMG Summer Contest
July 1 - VK Shires Contest
July 3 - Alabama QSO Party
July 4 - AGCW VHF/UHF Contest
July 4 - Maritimes QSO Party
==> 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) 2011 American Radio Relay League, Inc. All
Rights Reserved
the ARRL COntest UPdate posted to the ls_arrl echo via
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Address all comments and questions to the editor as described in this
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