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The ARRL Contest Update
Published by the American Radio Relay League
********************************************
August 17, 2011
Editor: Ward Silver, N0AX
==> IN THIS ISSUE
- The First Rodeo - ARRL RTTY Rookie Roundup
- How High Can You Go - ARRL 10 GHz and Up
- Microwave Update and Eastern VHF+ Conference
- Tom Hammond N0SS - Silent Key
- The Faces of Brazil
- Rolling In Results
- Advice for Stack Builders
- Guy Comparison by K7NV
- A Personal Touch
NEW HF OPERATORS - THINGS TO DO
I hope new operators will take a spin in the ARRL's RTTY edition of the
Rookie Roundup - it's geared to a
pace that operators new to HF will find comfortable. Don AA5AU's
website on RTTY Contesting has loads
of "how to" and "getting started" tips and guidelines. I hope to hear
you on Sunday!
BULLETINS
There are no bulletins in this issue.
BUSTED QSOS
Your editor's spelling having improved "considerable", the Busted QSO
section will remain quiet for this issue.
CONTEST SUMMARY
Complete information for all contests follows the Conversation section
Aug 20-21
- ARRL 10 GHz and Up Contest
- ARRL Rookie Roundup--Digital
- SARTG WW RTTY Contest
- Russian District Award Contest
- CWops CW Open
- Keymen's Club of Japan Contest--CW
- North American QSO Party--Phone
- Feld-Hell New Member Sprint
- SARL Digital Contest
- Run For the Bacon--CW
Aug 27-28
- ALARA Contest
- Hawaii QSO Party
- SCC RTTY Championship
- YO DX Contest
- Kansas QSO Party
- Ohio QSO Party
- South Africa DX Contest--CW
==> NEWS, PRESS RELEASES, AND GENERAL INTEREST
The North East Weak Signal Group (NEWS) is proud to sponsor the
combined Eastern VHF/UHF Conference and Microwave Update 2011
Conference in Connecticut October
13-16. The conference committee consists of volunteers from NEWS, the
Mt. Airy VHF Radio Club (PackRats) and others. The program begins on
Thursday with a tour of the Haystack Observatory in Massachusetts and
numerous speakers already lined up to give presentations on Friday and
Saturday. There will be vendor's displays, Lab Measurement sessions,
both indoor and outdoor selling, and much more. (Thanks, Ron WZ1V)
If you are interested in the ongoing competition for WRTC 2014
positions, you should visit the WRTC Rank
website! The qualification standings are based on claimed and final
contest scores to help operators seriously interested in qualifying to
WRTC2014 to track their scores and other competitors. The website has
recently made some changes and improvements - take a look! Site manager
Marek SQ2GXO reminds us that WRTC Rank is not an official site -
official scores
are
maintained by WRTC 2014 committee member Dan K1TO.
Don't forget about the inaugural CW OPEN contest coming on Aug 20 and
21 to a band near you! Logging modules are supported on: N1MM,
WriteLog, TR4W, and other contest logging software (see
www.cwops.org/cwopen.html ). The
unusual format of multiple operating periods should be fun to try!
(Thanks, Alan AD6E and Rob K6RB)
Tree N6TR has been off in the land of Zone 19 recently as judge of the
Friendship Radiosport Games
. He is the
judge for the CW events and will be participating in the
direction-finding event with his daughter, Theresa.
Dave W9ZRX <%20zephd@indy.rr.com> would like to put out an update to
the VHF Super Partial Check files before the ARRL September VHF
Contest. He would appreciate it if you would send him a copy of the
Cabrillo from the July CQ VHF Contest.
DXCC Manager, Bill NC1L notes that dxcc@arrl.org is no longer in
use. A number of new e-mail addresses
will be used to insure
that your email will be delivered to the most appropriate person
depending upon the subject.
The Scandinavian Activity Contest pre-issue of Pileup!
will be published in
early September. The editors are looking for any contest-related
materials, serious or humorous, perhaps even both. Your experiences and
tips in working SAC from outside Scandinavia would be especially
welcome. (Thanks, Ilkka OH1WZ )
Hector XE2K reports on a new project or experiment from the Grupo DXXE
led by Joaquin XE1R. The new gazette will
share experiences and writeups from the members. The gazette will be in
Español to begin with and they have just published edition numero uno.
A second issue may be available as this newsletter is published. The
editors will appreciate your comments and recommendations.
The Northern Lights Radio Society (NRLS) sponsors the Limited Rover
Award with rules based on participation in the ARRL's UHF contest. If
you submitted a log for that contest, you might quality! Check out the
rules and rewards
on the
NRLS website. (Thanks, Todd KC9BQA)
Todd also reports on another VHF+ participation-stimulating program -
the Wisconsin V/UHF County Hunters Award or WIVUCH
. If you work at least 20 WI counties on any
mix of bands 50 MHz and above - no repeater contacts allowed - you will
receive an initial certificate. I can think of several regional VHF+
clubs that could sponsor a local equivalent!
The Aleutians are easy to find on a map but not so easy to get to!
Nevertheless, Yuri N3QQ, John KE7V, and Yuri UA9OBA were able to hitch
a ride from VP8DEU and put St Matthew on the air as KL7RRC as described
in this ARRL website story
. (Thanks, Yuri
N3QQ)
Very sad news comes from the U. S. heartland about the death of Tom
Hammond N0SS after a very long battle with cancer. Contesters who
attended the Dayton Hamvention will remember Tom, especially his
increasingly sophisticated and challenging CW Pileup competitions
sponsored by the Kansas City DX Club. Tom was a personal friend for
many years and Elmered many, many hams and contesters in the
mid-Missouri area, including multiple world-record-holder Jeff N5TJ,
then N0AQK. Tom was also a linchpin of the state's emergency
communications team and made countless other contributions to Amateur
Radio, including the Elecraft community.
Web Site of the Week - AMSAT is happy to announce
the ARISSat-1 Chicken Little Contest. This is your opportunity to
calculate, or guess, when ARISSat-1 falls out of orbit, defined as the
time it crosses an altitude of 78 kilometers, which is considered to be
the point of no return. While not part of the contest, the actual
reentry may be visible depending on location. There are two student
divisions and one adult division for the contest. Group submissions are
encouraged with a limit of one per group or individual. (ANS thanks
ARISSat-1/KEDR team for the above information and we thank AMSAT for
the information from AMSAT bulletin ANS-226)
==> SIGHTS AND SOUNDS
The recent Contest University held in
Brazil generated a lot of Latin America buzz! Diego LU8ADX snapped a
whole lot of photographs during
the festivities and you'll recognize many familiar call signs from your
contest logs.
John W0UN reminded me of this interesting video of coupled pendulums
.
It makes a restful lesson in physics, doesn't it?
WORD TO THE WISE
Equinox - the vernal (spring) and autumnal (fall) equinoxes are the
days on which there are equal amounts of light and dark. Hams known
them also as the days on which the grey line goes directly over the
poles, making for some very long-haul DX QSOs! Contest season is
ramping up and is considered to be in full swing after the autumnal
edition.
==> RESULTS AND RECORDS
There are loads of contest results to announce in this issue - we must
have been very busy this past six months!
Results for the 2011 ARRL DX SSB Contest
are now online.
Certificates for the
2010 ARRL 10 GHz & Up Cumulative Contest have also been mailed - you
can track the status of ARRL contest award processing online, as well.
Make sure your club or group's Field Day submission is in the files by
having a look at the Field Day Submissions
page.
(Thanks, ARRL Contest Branch Manager, Sean KX9X)
Sean KX9X also congratulates Thomas Johnson WD5K of Dallas, TX for
earning The ARRL Fred Fish Memorial Award
(FFMA) #5. Tom submitted confirmation of his last-needed grid, CN77 and
Tom's application was reviewed and approved by ARRL on July 28, 2011.
Sam VE5SF reports that results for the 2010 Canada Winter Contest
are now available on the
RAC website.
We also have a basket full of state QSO party results:
Alabama QSO Party (Thanks, Jim KC4HW)
Georgia QSO Party (Thanks, John K4BAI)
Michigan QSO Party (Thanks, Dave K8CC)
Wisconsin QSO Party (Thanks, Lynn K9KR)
Gmail users might want to check their system's Spam folder as there
have been a number of reports about email containing notices of CQ WW
Log Checking Reports (LCR) winding up there and not in the Inbox. This
is apparently the result of some aggressive spam filtering and may not
be a long-term issue but if you participated in the CQ WW and haven't
received email for your LCR, take a look. Putting noreply@cqww.com in
your Contacts list will also notify the spam filter to pass messages
from that address. (Thanks, Bob N6TV)
OPERATING TIP
Be prepared when you get on for a busy contest weekend - if there are
several contests active, print up some paper log sheets to record
contact information from contests other than the one on which you're
focusing. That way you can hand out points to everybody and probably
add QSOs to your contest log, as well. After the contest, enter the
QSOs into your computer log and generate a Cabrillo file by using the
LogConv program from KA5WSS
or other Cabrillo-friendly software. You may get an unexpected
certificate for your troubles!
==> TECHNICAL TOPICS AND INFORMATION
Tom K8AZ has some good advice for stack builders. Measure or frequency
sweep the feed lines to be odd ¼-wave multiples. Make sure you include
in the length any jumper from the tower to the antenna balun and the
balun, too. When building feed lines, use coax off of the same
spool.... and sweep it with an MFJ 259 or equivalent. Use identical
baluns and make sure you know the phasing. Once installed, mark one
side of the DE with red tape so you'll be able to tell what the proper
phasing is years later when you're likely to have forgotten. (Of
course, you do keep a station notebook, don't you?) The point about
including baluns in the ¼-wavelength is well taken - the phase shift
through a balun is generally not specified and can be significant. If
you want a specific electrical length of feed line between your
transmitter and the antennas, be sure to include the entire feed line
including baluns, PL-258 adaptors, jumpers, and so forth.
Speaking of baluns, if your choke balun is getting warm, why? Choke
balun dissipation occurs when it doesn't have sufficiently high common
mode impedance at the frequency of use. For the reasons why, read Kevin
Schmidt W9CF's paper on the effects of balun location
in your antenna
system and the necessary impedance to get the job done!
Peter PC2A points us to a good discussion of how to use one Beverage
antenna at different frequencies by using band-pass filters as a
splitter
.
The VP6DX group used this technique and it worked very well! More on
Beverage antennas is waiting for you on Mike W0BTU's web site
. Just about every
question you have on Beverages is addressed.
You've probably heard that placing dissimilar metals in contact with
each other promotes corrosion but which combinations are better or
worse than others? The farther apart the metals are in the Galvanic
Series , the
stronger the corrosion effects. The Corrosion Source website is full of
good information about corrosion and how to prevent it.
Russ KB8U has placed pictures and text describing his portable Moxon
rectangle for 6m on his website.
It assembles in about a minute, not counting hooking up the coax.
There's plenty of life left in the summer sporadic E season and the
ARRL September VHF QSO Party is not far away!
Another multi-antenna resource page is
published by Martin SM0DTK. There are lots of antenna designs including
the "Mini Horse" beam with dimensions for 40 through 2 meters.
Technical Web Site of the Week - There are lots of cookbook solutions
to guy cable selection but if you really want to know the details,
check out K7NV's excellent engineering analysis
. Each common type of
guy cable is described and characteristics compared. Good stuff!
(Thanks, Pete N4ZR)
==> CONVERSATION
A Personal Touch
Not so long ago, I was outside just after a warm summer's dusk with a
group of friends, enjoying the good weather and clear skies. I also
knew that the International Space Station was going to make a long,
high-elevation pass at about the same time and suggested that the group
move into the clear where they could see it. Several were amazed to
find out they could see it from the ground without a telescope and I
assured them it would be surprisingly bright. (You can find visible
passes of the ISS, optical flares from the Iridium satellite solar
panels, amateur birds, and many other space objects at the
Heavens-Above website.)
As we scanned the southwestern skies, I fielded questions about how
high the station was (about 200 miles) and how fast it would travel
(this pass was going to last more than four minutes) and how I knew
this (the web is pretty useful at times). Then, right on time, a bright
spot of light suddenly became visible and the questions turned to
appreciative comments as it climbed up toward the zenith and passed
overhead. As an added bonus, just before the pass was over, the station
passed into the Earth's shadow and abruptly winked out, so I got to
explain that, too. I fielded a lot more questions and I'm sure several
of the watchers have done the same on their own since that evening.
What does this have to do with ham radio? Well, quite a bit, actually.
While my friends knew of the station, they had never actually seen it.
It was an abstract bit of knowledge that had little connection to their
daily lives. But standing outside on a summer evening, watching it
travel overhead and knowing that there were astronauts on board changed
everything. That personal, visceral experience gave them a personal
connection to what was just some initials an hour before.
Less long ago (like last weekend) I attended the annual Pacific
Northwest DX Convention this weekend - I had a great time seeing all my
friends again and catching up on how things were going in this
far-flung corner of the U.S. It's said you can't go home again and that
may be true...but you can sure visit! As I pulled into the Everett
Holiday Inn parking lot, I noticed a large semi-trailer out front on
the street painted a raucous lime green and festooned with insignia and
logos. As it turned out, the Endurocross
motorcycle race was being held on the same weekend and we were sharing
the hotel with a lot of racers and fans.
As you might expect, there was some overlap between the two groups,
such as at breakfast. They were curious about the badges and call signs
and after we got past the inevitable, "Ham radio - do you still do
that?" they were quite interested in our "radio cross" events and DXing
and that sort of thing. The key point, though, is that they were
completely unaware of our existence.
The big semi had on its side a logo for the "world's fastest radio
control technology" - so it's not like the race crowd is unaware of
wireless technology. They are just unaware of us - that people are
still using radio for fun and not as a kind of "smart wire" was news to
them. We've essentially dropped out of that conversation because they
had no connection with their lives. Without that personal connection,
ham radio has little chance of re-entering their conversation with the
world.
Here's where you and maybe your club come in. Unless we - as in you and
I - get out there and put ourselves in the public eye, we (and ham
radio) are going to stay a caricatured mystery to the lay public even
though they may be technically savvy and bright. People are not going
to pick up a brochure and somehow get interested enough to participate
in ham radio. They need to see real people doing something that looks
useful (such as building a kit or antenna) and fun (such as
radiosport).
The "real people" I mentioned - that's you and me, folks. We have to
get out of our basements and garages and spare bedrooms and put feet on
the ground where people are. We need to be doing something where and
when other people are around. A club can set up shop every so often at
a mall or near sports fields (kids everywhere!) or in a favorite public
park - anywhere people are likely to see you and have enough free time
to ask questions.
Just get out there and be yourselves! Laugh a lot. Smile and shake
hands. Don't sit behind a table like it was a castle wall - stand out
front and greet people in a friendly way. Talk to them and hand them a
flyer with your website and lists of local clubs and stores - don't
wait for them to take it. Look like you're having a good time, for
crying out loud! It's amazing how well just having fun works as a
marketing tool.
A simple station will do - have somebody building a kit or accessory or
antenna. You don't have to work DX, just make a few contacts a couple
of states away. Have some test equipment - hint, kids love to talk into
a microphone and see an oscilloscope trace jiggle. Print up some flyers
about ham radio in your town - invite them to a club meeting. Have a
demonstration of some special technique like working through a
satellite or using a digital mode with a computer. If you can operate
during a contest when contacts are made far and wide - set up a map on
a piece of foam-core board and stick pins in to show where you've
contacted.
Just as a bright point of light in a darkening azure sky can open a
mind in unexpected ways, so can a chance encounter with you and your
radio, having a good time. You, too, can be an astronaut right here on
Earth.
73, Ward N0AX
==> CONTESTS
17 Aug to 30 Aug 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 Rookie Roundup--Digital, from Aug 21, 1800Z to Aug 21, 2359Z.
Bands (MHz): 3.5-28, 50. Exchange: Both calls, name, check, S/P/XE or
"DX". Logs due: See Web. Rules
SARTG WW RTTY Contest--Digital, from Aug 20, 0000Z - see website. Bands
(MHz): 3.5-28. Exchange: RST and serial. Logs due: Oct 10. Rules
Russian District Award Contest--Phone,CW, from Aug 20, 0800Z to Aug 21,
0800Z. Bands (MHz): 1.8-28. Exchange: RS(T), serial or Russian
district. Logs due: 30 days. Rules
CWops CW Open--CW, from Aug 20, 1200Z to see website. Bands (MHz):
1.8-28. Exchange: Serial and name. Logs due: 5 Sep. Rules
Keymen's Club of Japan Contest--CW, from Aug 20, 1200Z to Aug 21,
1200Z. Bands (MHz): 1.8-28, 50. Exchange: RST and JA pref/dist or
continent. Logs due: Sep 21. Rules
North American QSO Party--Phone, from Aug 20, 1800Z to Aug 21, 0600Z.
Bands (MHz): 1.8-28. Exchange: Name and state. Logs due: 14 days. Rules
Feld-Hell New Member Sprint--Digital, from Aug 20, 2000Z to Aug 20,
2200Z. Bands (MHz): 1.8-28. Frequencies: Monthly on 3rd Saturday.
Exchange: RST, S/P/C, Feld-Hell member nr. Logs due: 7 days. Rules
SARL Digital Contest--Digital, from Aug 21, 1300Z to Aug 21, 16009Z.
Bands (MHz): 3.5-14. Exchange: RST and serial. Logs due: 7 days. Rules
Run For the Bacon--CW, from Aug 22, 0100Z to Aug 22, 0300Z. Bands
(MHz): 1.8-28. Frequencies: Monthly on 3rd Sunday night (local).
Exchange: RST, S/P/C, Flying Pig nr or power. Rules
ALARA Contest--Phone,CW, from Aug 27, 0400Z to Aug 27, 1359Z and Aug
28, 0400Z to Aug 28, 1359Z. Bands (MHz): 3.5-28, 144,440. Exchange:
RS(T), serial, ALARA nr, name. Logs due: Sep 30. Rules
Hawaii QSO Party--Phone,CW,Digital, from Aug 27, 0400Z to Aug 28,
2200Z. Bands (MHz): 1.8-28. Exchange: RS(T) and HI county/island or
S/P/C. Logs due: Oct 1. Rules
SCC RTTY Championship--Digital, from Aug 27, 1200Z to Aug 28, 1159Z.
Bands (MHz): 3.5-28. Exchange: RST, 4-char year first licensed. Logs
due: Sep 15. Rules
YO DX Contest--Phone,CW, from Aug 27, 1200Z to Aug 28, 1159Z. Bands
(MHz): 3.5-28. Exchange: RS(T), serial or YO district. Logs due: 30
days. Rules
Kansas QSO Party--Phone,CW,Digital, from Aug 27, 1400Z to Aug 28, 0200Z
and Aug 28, 1400Z to Aug 28, 2000Z. Bands (MHz): 3.5-28, 50,144,
Frequencies: CW--40 kHz above band edge; Phone--3.840, 7.240, 14.240,
21.340, 28.440. Exchange: RS(T) and KS county or S/P/"DX". Logs due:
Sep 30. Rules
Ohio QSO Party--Phone,CW, from Aug 27, 1600Z to Aug 28, 0400Z. Bands
(MHz): 3.5-28. Exchange: Serial and S/P or "DX". Logs due: 30 days.
Rules
South Africa DX Contest--CW, from Aug 28, 1400Z to Aug 28, 1600Z. Bands
(MHz): 3.5-14. Exchange: RST and serial. Logs due: 4 Sep. Rules
VHF+ CONTESTS
ARRL 10 GHz and Up Contest--Phone,CW,Digital, from Aug 20, 6 AM to Aug
21, 12 AM. Bands (MHz): 10G+. Exchange: 6-character grid locator. Logs
due: Oct 19. Rules
ARRL Rookie Roundup--Digital, from Aug 21, 1800Z to Aug 21, 2359Z.
Bands (MHz): 3.5-28, 50. Exchange: Both calls, name, check, S/P/XE or
"DX". Logs due: See Web. Rules
Keymen's Club of Japan Contest--CW, from Aug 20, 1200Z to Aug 21,
1200Z. Bands (MHz): 1.8-28, 50. Exchange: RST and JA pref/dist or
continent. Logs due: Sep 21. Rules
ALARA Contest--Phone,CW, from Aug 27, 0400Z to Aug 27, 1359Z and Aug
28, 0400Z to Aug 28, 1359Z. Bands (MHz): 3.5-28, 144,440. Exchange:
RS(T), serial, ALARA nr, name. Logs due: Sep 30. Rules
Kansas QSO Party--Phone,CW,Digital, from Aug 27, 1400Z to Aug 28, 0200Z
and Aug 28, 1400Z to Aug 28, 2000Z. Bands (MHz): 3.5-28, 50,144,
Frequencies: CW--40 kHz above band edge; Phone--3.840, 7.240, 14.240,
21.340, 28.440. Exchange: RS(T) and KS county or S/P/"DX". Logs due:
Sep 30. Rules
==> LOG DUE DATES
17 Aug to 30 Aug 2011
August 17, 2011 RSGB 80m Club Sprint, CW
August 20, 2011 North American QSO Party, CW
August 21, 2011 DMC RTTY Contest
August 21, 2011 RSGB IOTA Contest
August 22, 2011 10-10 Int. Summer Contest, SSB
August 23, 2011 RSGB RoPoCo CW
==> 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
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Address all comments and questions to the editor as described in this
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