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The ARRL Contest Update
Published by the American Radio Relay League
********************************************
May 9, 2012
Editor: Ward Silver, N0AX
==> IN THIS ISSUE
- Ten-Ten HUT! Armed Forces Communications Test
- Magic Banding - 50 MHz Spring Sprint
- Over Hill and Dale - US ARDF Championships
- You Say Bit, I Say Baud
- Hamvention How-To by K3LR
- Murphy Bites Solicited by N4YDU
- High-Performance Receivers by K1DG
- A Mix of Moxon Moxie
- They've a Name
NEW HF OPERATORS - THINGS TO DO
Listen just outside the US ham bands and you'll find military stations
calling and listening on some frequency inside the ham bands. This is
good practice for operating split and you'll receive unique QSL cards,
too. There are lots of short sprint contests to squeeze in around the
spring chores, too!
BULLETINS
There are no bulletins in this issue.
BUSTED QSOS
The traveling Jim Maxwell W6CF Memorial Trophy is awarded annually to
the highest scoring single operator, operating unassisted within the
state of California in the ARRL CW DX Contest and is not related to
Sweepstakes operating. (Thanks, John K6MM)
CONTEST SUMMARY
Complete information for all contests follows the Conversation section
May 12-13
- CWops Monthly Mini-CWT Test (May 9)
- SNS and NS Weekly Sprints--CW (May 11)
- FOC QSO Party--CW
- EUCW Fraternizing CW QSO Party
- Alessandro Volta RTTY DX Contest
- Armed Forces Communications Test
- CQ-M International DX Contest
- Portuguese Navy Day - Phone, CW
- Nevada Mustang Roundup
- FISTS Spring Sprint--CW
- 50 MHz Spring Sprint
- Worked All Britain - LF Phone
- NAQCC Monthly QRP Sprint (May 17)
May 19-20
- Portuguese Navy Day--Digital
- EU PSK DX Contest
- His Majesty King of Spain Contest--CW
- Feld-Hell Hamvention Sprint
- Baltic Contest
- Run For the Bacon--CW
==> NEWS, PRESS RELEASES, AND GENERAL INTEREST
This year's 12th annual US Amateur Radio Direction-Finding (ARDF)
Championships
will be held in Southern California in the mountains east of San Diego
beginning on May 30-31. These well-attended outdoor exercises attract
many spectators and are the qualifying run for the world ARDF
championships to be held in Serbia in September. ARDF is very popular
around the world and a great way to mix ham radio with outdoor sports.
Not only can you support WRTC2014 but you can show your support as
well. The new WRTC2014 store offers long
and short sleeve t-shirts, polo shirts, sweatshirts, and a cap.
Additional products will be added over time. The store also includes a
'donation' item for those who want to give a little extra to WRTC2014
when they make their purchase. Look for WRTC2014 at booth 354 in the
Dayton Hamvention's Silver Arena. (Thanks, WRTC2014 co-chair, Randy
K5ZD)
A recent QRZ.com feature described a new "interpreter badge
"
from the Boy Scouts of America - for Morse code! Scouts that learn to
send and receive at 5 wpm (sound familiar?) earn the right to display
an interpreter badge with code that spells out Morse.
With the number of mobile devices increasing every day, it's surprising
that there aren't more "mobile apps for mobile ops!" Nick N3WG has been
busy creating tools and software as Pignology -
check out his collection of ham apps and growing set of interfaces to
some popular portable radios. Using his new Pigtail kit and an iPad,
this video
shows him
using the CW Terminal sending CW on a KX3 rig using a Bluetooth
keyboard and logging contacts on his Ham Logger app.
Speaking of keyboards, do you miss the full-size keyboards that used to
be the norm for computers and electric typewriters? Bob N7RDP recalls,
"...they had bounce-free mechanical switches, were heavy enough to stay
put and you could type real fast and not have to watch what appeared on
the screen. I was surprised to learn such keyboards are still available
for PCs from Elite Keyboards . Typing on
one, my fingers just seem to go faster. Or maybe its the clacky sound
that makes it seem that way." Charles KG2V found USB equivalents
, too.
The best prescription for ethics is always peer pressure, applied
locally, as the PW7T team shows in this short statement
. Ethics and
fair play keep amateur radiosport fun. (Thanks, Randy K5ZD)
Web Site of the Week - Electronic Design's Lou Frenzel, known by hams
as W5LEF, has been busy generating great articles such as "What's The
Difference Between Bit Rate And Baud Rate?
".
If your answer is, "There's a difference?" then you need to read Lou's
article.
WORD TO THE WISE
Soapbox - after-the-contest comments are called "Soapbox" because of
the somewhat antiquated reference to "standing on one's soapbox" to
make a opinion known. Soapboxes haven't been heavy enough to hold a
person's weight in about a century but why mess up a good word? Reading
the soapbox comments after a contest is part of the fun - check out the
ARRL's online Soapbox for all ARRL
contests and be sure to drop in your comment and photos!
==> SIGHTS AND SOUNDS
What to do at the Hamvention? A short video
hosted by Tim K3LR that
outlines contest activities at the 2012 Dayton Hamvention has been
posted by the Potomac Valley Radio Club (PVRC) - look under the
Recorded Webinars link for May 6. (Thanks, Ken K4ZW )
PBS's program series NOVA recently ran "Secrets of the Sun
" about what makes our favorite
star run and you can watch the show online, too. (Thanks, Ken K0PP)
Jim K1TN writes, "I really enjoyed TV Bob's (N6TV) photos from
Visalia. A lot of work to take them. Really appreciated, Bob. I swear,
someday I will make it to Visalia for the convention." As one
Visalia-goer commented, "Very high calls-known to calls-seen ratio!"
How does a KX3 kit get assembled? You can watch
Steve WG0AT do the job through the photos of John AE5X and the slide
show ends with a video of the finished product in QSO with Dave AA7EE.
Here's a Lego Mindstorm Sodoku-solving robot
. This is cool, but can it keep a dupe
sheet? (Thanks, Ken W0KAH)
Alright! How can you resist watching a video about a 10000-rpm
ping-pong ball and liquid nitrogen? You can't! Here it is
!
==> RESULTS AND RECORDS
Writeup author Nate N4YDU writes, "I'm currently
working on the results article for the 2012 ARRL DX CW contest. I'm
looking for any bad luck or "Murphy" incidents that took place while
you were operating or preparing to operate. If I get enough of a
response, I'll summarize it in the story...maybe even do a Top Ten!"
Wow - an opportunity to tell your tale of woe to the world? Go for it!
Results for the February 2012 NAQP RTTY contest are now online
. "Many new records were set and
the final published results will be in the July/August 2012 Issue of
the National Contest Journal. See you again in NAQP RTTY on July 21."
(Thanks, NAQP RTTY Contest Manager, Mark K6UFO)
Results for the 2011 edition of the CQ Manchester Mineira DX Contest
are now online. (Thanks,
Luc PY8AZT)
Results of the European Sprint CW Contest
held on April 14th are now available online, too, three days after the
log deadline! (Thanks, EU Sprint Referee, Dmitri RW3FO)
OPERATING TIP
Have two or three different models of headphones available for long
contests. A single set can create sore spots on your ears or temples
that gets maddening by Sunday afternoon. Having a couple of different
sets helps prevent that distraction. The same goes for chair cushions!
==> TECHNICAL TOPICS AND INFORMATION
EDN magazine recently published "High-performance HF transceiver
design: A ham's perspective
"
by contester and WRTC2014 co-chair, Doug K1DG. The article goes into
detail about the environment in which contest-grade receivers must not
only operate but excel. There are several graphics of the spectrum
during the 2012 CQ Worldwide 160 Meter CW contest including a waterfall
display that will keep you busy trying to read it for a while.
Magazine Roundup
- Electronic Design (5 April) - "Understanding Solutions for the
Crowded Electromagnetic Spectrum
"
by Lou Frenzel W5LEF, covering VHF through microwave, FCC regulation,
and upcoming technology solutions to the problem.
- IEEE Spectrum (April) - "Poor Man's Solder Reflow Oven
"
for adding reflow soldering to your homebrew electronics capability.
- IEEE Spectrum (March) - "Pocket Scope Roundup
"
reviews four different mini-scopes that fit in your hand, "DIY
Manufacturing
"
about turning your one-off project into a real product, and a
"Reflections" editorial by Robert Lucky asking, "Is Math Still
Relevant?
"
Jack K6JEB posted this video showing his technique for winding toroids
by using a "stitching
pony" made from a lacquered or plastic chopstick.
Portable operators who hike or camp will enjoy Charlie W6JJZ
describing his design for a TFD(Trail Friendly Doublet
)
in this old Adventure Radio Society Sojourner article. (Thanks, Ted
AA5CK)
Two notes on everybody's favorite building material - here's an article
from Instructables on how to bend PVC pipe
and there are lots more ideas in the comments. And those plastic
plumbing fittings you were looking for that join three pipes in a
right-angled corner? They're called "90° side outlet elbows (slip)"
"Slip" means for unthreaded connections. Enjoy.
The Spitfire Array
designed by Fred K1VR uses a conventional grounded quarter-wave tower
as the driven element and adds a parasitic reflector and director. What
is unique about this array is that the parasitic elements are sized to
be half-wave elements which are not grounded and are bent into a
triangle shape. In addition, Rudy N6LF covers a number of
single-support low-band arrays
in his March/April 2003 National Contest Journal article with a list of
good references, as well. (Thanks, Tree N6TR and Jon AA1K)
Linear Technology's Design Note 1027 "Optimizing the Performance of
Very Wideband Direct
Conversion
Receivers " is an
interesting read. DC receivers are grabbing a lot of "market share" in
the commercial wireless world.
While browsing through a technical book list, I came upon the
classic, "Inductance Calculations" by Frederick Grover seen at right.
Reprinted by Dover from the 1946 and 1973 editions, this inexpensive
volume has just about every possible formula for inductance. It's fun
to just open the book randomly and try to figure out what prompted the
need for "Mutual Inductance of Inclined Circular Filaments Whose Axes
Intersect, but Not at the Center of Either" (page 204).
On Marconi's birthday, John AE5X, "...decided to build a coherer
since all the parts were already on hand. I don't understand the
physics of it but it is a neat little device...seems to have a range of
about a foot w/o an "antenna". After making the video I found that
dipole-like leads attached to the coherer and QRP spark transmitter
increased the range to 8 feet."
Two IEEE Antennas and Propagation Magazine articles by Steve Best
VE9SRB answer a lot of questions about how antennas interact with
electromagnetic fields.
- S.R. Best, "A Tutorial on the Scattering and Receiving Properties of
Antennas" (Oct 2009)
- S.R. Best, "The Receiving and Scattering Properties of a Finite
Dipole Array" (Dec 2011)
Both are available through your local library or possible a university
or technical department library.
If you're in the market for new antenna work ropes, check out Martin
OL5Y's company, Mastrant , maker of synthetic
rope for guying applications. There are two types: "P", which is a
polyester Dacron-equivalent and "D" which is Dyneema, a high-weight
poly rope. The rope stretches a bit more than Phillystran over time but
is great for temporary guys and permanent use for supporting wire
antennas. (Thanks, Doug K1DG)
Technical Web Site of the Week - Tim K3LR reports that, "W6NL has sent
me an update to his original work. It is labeled as - Updated Moxon
document 2012 and W8WWV has contributed a wonderful paper on various
NEC model results of the W6NL 2 element 40 meter Moxon. It is labeled
as - W8WWV investigates W6NL Moxon 40 meter models. You can find all
four posted documents relating to the W6NL Moxon in the Station
Engineering folder of k3lr.com .
==> CONVERSATION
They've a Name
With the Dayton Hamvention and many local and regional hamfests coming
up, it's time to review the zoology that makes each and every hamfest a
unique and interesting experience for buyers and sellers alike!
Venerable Sages - Like spirits on Christmas Eve, these hamfest haunts
appear from nowhere, wizened and wrinkled, call sign badge bearing the
markings of extreme age. You will be told A Story that you will have
never heard before about hams you may have never heard of. Yet it will
be fascinating! Some day in the future, when you least expect it, that
story will supply a crucial detail, amazing your friends and enemies
alike. Learn to listen to the sage!
Disorder Demons - There is a special position down there in the hot
place where the guy with the red cape and pointy stick lives for the
people who handle your carefully-sorted parts and put them back in the
wrong boxes or trays. An unsuspecting buyer gets home and begins work
on a project only to find that the ninth part out of ten is mismatched.
At next year's hamfest, you get blamed for it.
Benevelonians - Particularly fond of new hams and kids in general,
these fine folks take the hamfest role of doting uncles and aunts. No
matter how shy the child or unsure the novice, a Benevelonian will
always come up with some trinket or extra part to give away or add to
the sale. "I've got just the thing for YOU!" they say, eyes twinkling,
producing a perfectly chosen gift or gadget for which they won't accept
a cent.
Burrowers - As we all know, the best bargains are often on the floor
under the tables so a Burrower gets down on hands and knees, no matter
how crowded the aisle, proceeding to root through every single box and
bag, spreading and sorting the collection, creating chaos and
convincing your real customers to cross the aisle to "come back later".
They will then offer one-tenth the asking price on a single coil of
wire and leave it on the table when you don't sell it to them.
Explainers - An inquisitive buyer inevitably asks the one question
about an item to which you don't know the answer. "Will this work with
my 1983 Festalon Maglerator?" Unbidden, a hitherto unnoticed Explainer
standing nearby will turn and deliver an authoritative and often
exhaustive reply to the question, leaving both buyer and seller
speechless and astounded. The Explainer will then purchase an obscure
item from your table costing less than a dollar and disappear, never to
be seen again.
Hamfest Cowbirds - The cowbird lays eggs in the nest of other birds for
its chicks to be raised by the hapless parents. Similarly, the hamfest
cowbird leaves its junk on your table so you get to dispose of it.
While you're engaged with another customer, they put their item on one
end of the table and feign great interest in some other doo-dads,
slowly migrating along the table until at the opposite end from their
"egg" which they leave behind. You discover the ruse when somebody
asks, "How much you want for this?" while holding up the surprise you
now own.
Biographers - No matter what you pick up from their table, they know
its entire history beginning with the digging of the ore and the
smelting of the copper. They know the call signs of every owner (before
and after vanity calls) and whether they smoked and what got worked
with that particular radio. They always have the manual. The only thing
they're not sure of is whether a particular item is actually functional
but you've had so much fun learning about it you buy it anyway.
Gravity Testers - I'm sure they spend the morning greasing up their
fingers with special non-stick coatings. Once at your table, they'll
lift up a fragile item and then..."Oops!" Or they'll hold that power
transformer over a flawless radio cabinet and..."Oops!" A variation on
this theme is to reach for something in the back or down the table
and..."Oops!"...knock over a stack of books or gear. Yes, gravity has
been found to be fully operational at your table.
Cats In the Hat - I like these colorful hamfest denizens, usually
adorned with bright clothes, patches, enough enameled pins to distort
the local magnetic field, friendly and loud and they know your name (or
think they do), and have a handshake for everybody! They often leave
your table messed up and buyers forget what they were interested in but
everybody has a smile on their face afterward. You just have to watch
out for Thing One and Thing Two.
And so our hamfest memories are made - of characters old and young,
rich and poor, scallywag and Samaritan alike. It wouldn't be the same
without the slightly daffy denizens of our tribe, would it? Look at the
time, they'll be opening the gates in an hour - happy shopping!
73, Ward N0AX
==> CONTESTS
9 May through 22 May
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 Monthly Mini-CWT Test--CW, from May 9, 1300Z -- multiple
operating periods, twice monthly on 2nd and 4th Wed. Bands (MHz):
1.8-28, 18 to 28 kHz above band edge. Exchange: Name, member number or
S/P/C. Logs due: 2 days. Rules
SNS and NS Weekly Sprints--CW, from May 11, 0200Z to May 11, 0300Z.
Weekly on Thursday evenings local time. Bands (MHz): 1.8-14. Exchange:
Serial, name, and S/P/C. Logs due: 2 days. Rules
FOC QSO Party--CW, from May 12, 0000Z to May 12, 2359Z. Bands (MHz):
1.8-28. Exchange: Name, FOC member number. Logs due: 7 days. Rules
EUCW Fraternizing CW QSO Party--CW, from May 12, 1000Z - multiple
operating periods. Bands (MHz): 3.5-28. Frequencies: Exchange: RST,
name, club, member number. Logs due: Jun 30. Rules
Alessandro Volta RTTY DX Contest--Digital, from May 12, 1200Z to May
13, 1200Z. Bands (MHz): 3.5-28. Exchange: RST, serial, CQ zone. Logs
due: Jun 30. Rules
Armed Forces Communications Test--Phone,Digital, from May 12, 1200Z to
May 13, 2400Z. Bands (MHz): 1.8-28. Frequencies: See website for
specific station schedules. Exchange: RS(T). Logs due: no logs. Rules
CQ-M International DX Contest--Phone,CW, from May 12, 1200Z to May 13,
1200Z. Bands (MHz): 1.8-28. Exchange: RS(T) and serial. Logs due: 30
days. Rules
Portuguese Navy Day--Phone,CW, from May 12, 1500Z to May 13, 1500Z.
Bands (MHz): 3.5-28. Exchange: RS(T), serial, CQ zone. Logs due: 20
days. Rules
Nevada Mustang Roundup--Phone,CW,Digital, from May 12, 1700Z to May 13,
1700Z. Bands (MHz): 1.8-28, 50. Exchange: RS(T) and S/P/C or NV county.
Logs due: Jun 15. Rules
FISTS Spring Sprint--CW, from May 12, 1700Z to May 13, 2100Z. Bands
(MHz): 3.5-28. Exchange: RS(T), S/P/C, name, FISTS nr or power. Logs
due: 30 days. Rules
Worked All Britain - LF Phone--Phone, from May 13, 1000Z to May 13,
1400Z. Bands (MHz): 1.8-7. Exchange: RS, serial, and WAB nr or DXCC
entity. Logs due: 21 days. Rules
NAQCC Monthly QRP Sprint--CW, from May 17, 0030Z to May 17, 0230Z.
Monthly on 2nd Tuesday or 3rd Wednesday local time (alternating). Bands
(MHz): 3.5-14. Exchange: RST, S/P/C, and NAQCC mbr nr or power. Logs
due: 4 days. Rules
Portuguese Navy Day--Digital, from May 19, 0800Z to May 19, 1500Z.
Bands (MHz): 3.5-28. Exchange: RST, serial, CQ zone. Logs due: 20 days.
Rules
EU PSK DX Contest--Digital, from May 19, 1200Z to May 20, 1200Z. Bands
(MHz): 3.5-28. Exchange: RST and EU area code or serial. Logs due: 30
days. Rules
His Majesty King of Spain Contest--CW, from May 19, 1200Z to May 20,
1200Z. Bands (MHz): 1.8-28. Exchange: RST and serial or EA province.
Logs due: Jun 10. Rules
Feld-Hell Hamvention Sprint--Digital, from May 19, 1500Z - multiple
operating periods, monthly on 3rd Saturday. Bands (MHz): 1.8-28.
Exchange: RST, S/P/C, Feld-Hell member nr. Logs due: 7 days. Rules
Baltic Contest--Phone,CW, from May 19, 2100Z to May 20, 0200Z. Bands
(MHz): 3.5. Exchange: RS(T) and serial. Logs due: Jul 1. Rules
Run For the Bacon--CW, from May 20, 0200Z to May 20, 0400Z. Monthly on
3rd Sunday night (local). Bands (MHz): 1.8-28. Exchange: RST, S/P/C,
Flying Pig nr or power. Rules
VHF+ CONTESTS
Nevada Mustang Roundup--Phone,CW,Digital, from May 12, 1700Z to May 13,
1700Z. Bands (MHz): 1.8-28, 50. Exchange: RS(T) and S/P/C or NV county.
Logs due: Jun 15. Rules
50 MHz Spring Sprint--Phone,CW,Digital, from May 12, 2300Z to May 13,
0300Z. Bands (MHz): 50. Exchange: Grid square (6-character preferred).
Logs due: 14 days. Rules
==> LOG DUE DATES
9 May through 22 May
- May 9, 2012 Low Power Spring Sprint
- May 10, 2012 ARS Spartan Sprint
- May 10, 2012 432 MHz Spring Sprint
- May 14, 2012 10-10 Int. Spring Contest, Digital
- May 14, 2012 JIDX CW Contest
- May 14, 2012 Helvetia Contest
- May 14, 2012 RSGB 80m Club Championship, SSB
- May 15, 2012 Yuri Gagarin International DX Contest
- May 15, 2012 Georgia QSO Party
- May 15, 2012 North Dakota QSO Party
- May 15, 2012 QCWA Spring QSO Party
- May 18, 2012 Ontario QSO Party
- May 19, 2012 TARA Skirmish Digital Prefix Contest
- May 20, 2012 ES Open HF Championship
- May 21, 2012 Michigan QSO Party
- May 21, 2012 10-10 Int. Spring Contest, CW
- May 21, 2012 Microwave Spring Sprint
- May 21, 2012 ARI International DX Contest
- May 22, 2012 EA-QRP CW Contest
- May 22, 2012 YU DX Contest
==> ARRL INFORMATION
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==> ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
ARRL Contest Update wishes to acknowledge information from WA7BNM's
Contest Calendar and SM3CER's
Contest Calendar .
The ARRL Contest Update is published every other Wednesday (26 times
each year). ARRL members may subscribe at no cost or unsubscribe by
editing their Member Data Page as described at
http://www.arrl.org/contests/update/.
Copyright (c) 2012 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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---
* Origin: (1:116/901)
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