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The ARRL Contest Update
Published by the American Radio Relay League
********************************************
June 20, 2012
Editor: Ward Silver, N0AX
==> IN THIS ISSUE
- Head For the Hills - ARRL Field Day
- Oh, Canada! - Canada Day Contest
- Arizona Outlaws W1AW
- Exiles Far From Main Street
- Packrats On Camelback Mountain
- ARRL DX CW by N4YDU Imminent
- Your Papers, Please - Contest and Antenna Forums
- Antenna Comparisons by VE7BQH
- While the Iron is Hot
NEW HF OPERATORS - THINGS TO DO
Field Days are like county fairs - there is often a little of
everything ham radio and just about always something good to eat! Some
are more of a rodeo and some are more like a picnic but you'll have
fun, no matter what. Take the opportunity to invite a friend to come
along and share your hobby, too!
BULLETINS
VE3 stations in this year's Field Day should ALL report "Ontario" as
their section (ON or VE3 on CW and digital) The four new Ontario
sections DO NOT go into effect until September 1, 2012. The first event
that will use the new sections is the 2013 ARRL CW Sweepstakes.
BUSTED QSOS
Minor discrepancies aside, nothing was seriously broken in the last
issue.
CONTEST SUMMARY
Complete information
for all contests follows the Conversation
section
June 23-24
- ARRL Field Day
- SARL Top Band QSO Party (Jun 21)
- NAQCC Milliwatt Sprint--CW (Jun 21)
- Worldwide EME Contest
- His Majesty King of Spain--Phone
- Marconi Memorial HF Contest--CW
June 30-July 1
- Canada Day Contest
- Ten-Ten Spirit of 76 QSO Party (Jul 2)
- OK1WC Memorial Contest (Jul 2)
- ARS Spartan Sprint--CW (Jul 3)
==> NEWS, PRESS RELEASES, AND GENERAL INTEREST
The Arizona Outlaws Contest Club
(AOCC) will represent the ARRL as the Headquarters Station (HQ) W1AW/7
in the upcoming 2012 IARU HF Championship
on July 14-15. As the first
ARRL affiliated club with only three years of history to represent
W1AW, congratulations are due the AOCC and the Arizona Section. AOCC is
setting up 12 primary stations signing W1AW/7, plus back-ups, across
the entire state to give everybody a chance to work the ARRL HQ
multiplier. (Thanks, AOCC President, Bob K8IA)
Richard K5NA (center) received a lifetime DX achievement award at the
HamCom convention from ARRL West Gulf Division Director K5RAV (left)
and South Texas Section SEC and good friend Tom N5TW. (Photo by K5OT)
You can "friend" the WRTC2014 community on Facebook
as they assemble and organize this
international event. "We will be posting photos and other information
as we work toward WRTC2014. Please join the WRTC2014 fan page on
Facebook and share the journey!" (Thanks, WRTC2014 co-chair, Randy
K5ZD)
The Mount Airy VHF Radio Club established
the Rover Recognition Award in 2005 to honor the efforts of rover
stations in VHF, UHF and microwave contesting in memory of Bill
Seabreeze, W3IY (SK). Congratulations to this year's recipient, John
D'Ausilio, W1RT! For many years John has been roving the grids on the
East Coast and delivering hundreds of QSOs to other amateurs on the
VHF, UHF and microwave bands. His well-equipped rover, dubbed the
"Intergalactic Jitney," has substantial power and antennas for bands
from 50MHz though 24GHz.
Dave W9ZRX reminds VHF+ contesters, "Please send me the Cabrillo File
from your June VHF Contest operations. These are used to update the VHF
Super Check Partial Database counterpart
to the excellent one for HF maintained by WA1Z."
VHF+ contesters should take note of the new 9 cm band plan
in which weak signal terrestrial legacy users are encouraged to move to
3400.3-3401.0 MHz, as time and resources permit.
The AMSAT Field Day 2012 is open to all
Amateur Radio operators and encourages the use of all amateur
satellites, both analog and digital. Additional information about
satellite operation during Field Day is also available on the website.
(From the AMSAT bulletin ANS-162)
John K6MM wrote a little summary
of the Dayton Hamvention's
contest-related activities for the JUG - the Northern California
Contest Club's monthly newsletter.
If you know someone having trouble with their subscription to the
Contest Update (or any ARRL bulletin or newsletter), first check to be
sure their email address is correct on their Member Profile. If all
looks well, this process usually restores normal delivery:
- Log in to your ARRL profile at the top of the
ARRL home page
- Click "Edit your Profile"
- Select "Edit Email Subscriptions"
- Uncheck (so that there is no check mark) "ARRL Contest Update
(biweekly contest newsletter)"
- Click "Save"
- Return to "Edit Email Subscriptions"
- Check (so that there is a check mark) "ARRL Contest Update (biweekly
contest newsletter)"
- Click "Save"
Web Site of the Week - Here is a list
of ten fun islands for your next DXpedition! Just be sure you can come
home again - unlike some of the more famous and unwilling inhabitants.
(Thanks, Norman W9VQ)
WORD TO THE WISE
Safety - Field Day encourages lash-ups in the urge to "get 'er done."
Don't let safety take a back seat to expedience - not at Field Day and
not when doing antenna work at home. Taking the right approach to
safety starts with the person looking back at you in the bathroom
mirror - it's not found in books or regulations. My project engineering
friend, Dave K5GN, recently suggested three basic rules:
#1 Work safely or not at all.
#2 There's always time to do it right.
#3 Always address risk, never do nothing about it.
Whatever your project - a wire dipole in a tree or a full-size Yagi at
200 feet - make these rules the bedrock of how you and your team
operate.
==> SIGHTS AND SOUNDS
The Packrats took lots of photos for their
annual June VHF Contest expedition to the top of Camelback Mountain.
You can enjoy watching the labors of others in the June issue of their
Cheese Bits newsletter. While there, enjoy the monthly nibbles of
history in the "Wayback Machine" column.
Tom K8CX has posted his gallery of Dayton 2012 photos
online, accompanied by a detailed
and interesting "recap
" of the biggest
convention in ham radio. (Thanks, Tim K3LR)
Tim also reports that Tom KB4HQA, recovering from his unfortunate
auto accident, has posted the video
of The Spurious Emissions Band's Friday night adventures at the Crowne
Plaza hotel as seen in the photo at right.
Each of us can promote ham radio using our different talents and here's
a music video that takes a
new approach to the usual issues of hams and their collections of good
stuff! (Thanks, Paul NA4ZI)
Enjoy the craftsmanship of Paul WD7S' 8877-based auto-tune all-band
amplifier , 100%
homebrew! (Thanks, Peter DJ7WW)
==> RESULTS AND RECORDS
The extended writeup by Nate N4YDU for the 2012 ARRL DX CW
contest should be online
this week - look for special sidebars by K9LA on unusual 10 meter
propagation and by VE7FO on the creation of a brand new operating team.
Today is the log submission deadline for the 2012 CQ WPX CW contest
2012. There have been over 3500 logs received, but many logs are still
missing. You can submit your Cabrilo-formatted log online
or by email and there
is an ADIF file converter , as well. Check
the received log list to be
sure your log was received. (Thanks, CQ WPX Director, Randy K5ZD)
Results of the 2012 French HF CW championship
are online. 832 logs were
received and the SSB results are coming soon! (Thanks, Pascal F5LEN)
UBA HF Contest Manager, Marc ON7SS/OO9O reports that the results of
the UBA SSB Contest 2012 are on-line
now as well as the contest
certificates
. Marc
will send UBN (Unique-Busted-Not in Log) reports - contact him via the
website and request the report for the call sign you used.
The results of the 2012 7th Area QSO Party
,
the 7QP, are now available - mighty fast work! Plaques and certificates
will go out within three weeks. (Thanks, Dick K4XU/N7XU and the 7QP
admin team - K2DI & WS7N.)
Results for the 2012 Ontario QSO Party
are now posted, too.
Certificates for all the winners are downloadable and plaque winners
will be presented with their awards at the annual CCO meeting in August
or sent by mail to those not attending. (Thanks, Bob VE3KZ)
Jay NS4J has posted the 2011 US Islands QSO Party results
and certificates are being
printed. (Thanks, John WA4JA)
OPERATING TIP
No surprises! When you transmit your contest exchange, give the
information in the order it is expected - the order in which the rules
show it. While there may not be a required order, surprising the other
station with out-of-order information makes for a slow rate and quick
errors.
==> TECHNICAL TOPICS AND INFORMATION
Five excellent papers (by K4IQJ, K3TUF, K1KP, W2GD, K4ZA and K9LA)
presented at the 2012 Dayton Antenna Forum are now available on the
K3LR web site by clicking "Dayton Antenna
Summary 2012". The equally good talks by W3LPL and W2GD at the 23rd
Annual Dayton Top Band Dinner are also
available under "Presentations" to download their slides. Thanks, (Tim
K3LR)
Jim W5IFP recommends the Isobar
solid
RFI-filtered and MOV surge protector from Tripp-Lite. It has individual
toroid filters on each line inside the metal box with additional
filters are between the Stage 1 and Stage 2 outlets. Both the hot and
common lines are individually filtered.
Here's an interesting story
on the
aurora and magnetic reconnection - always of interest to HF operators!
(Thanks, Bill AI5I/G4NDH)
The article "An Inexpensive System for Power Line Noise Hunting" by
George N4UA appears in the June issue of the Potomac Valley Radio Club
newsletter . He uses an airband
(130 MHz) receiver and tape-measure three-element Yagi for a
inexpensive solution. George reports that folding up the elements acts
as an attenuator for when close to the source.
Another example of re-purposing something sold in higher volume at
lower prices in a non-ham application was reported by Craig NM4T to
hold up a portable antenna mast. "I use a speaker tripod that I bought
on sale at the Guitar Center. These are great since they are designed
to support heavy speaker units. And, most painter poles slide right
into the top of the tripod assembly which also cranks up a few feet. If
you buy the matching ballistic material carry bag--You also have a fine
case that can be thrown into the car. The bag is big enough for 2
tripods, a 48" telescoping painter pole, some antenna components and
accessories."
Cecil W5DXP has a nifty center-fed all-band dipole design
that uses different lengths of
transmission line to adjust the impedance at the transmitter end. This
design works as a home or portable antenna. (Thanks, Dave W7AQK)
222 MHz has a lot to offer VHF+ contesters according to Jim KK6MC,
"Noise is lower than on two meters, high gain antennas are easy to
build and manage, and path losses are less than on 432. Activity is not
as high as 6/2/70 cm but I have found it to be a very useful addition
to my contesting station. For one thing, the QSO points are worth more
and multiply the grids on the other bands. It is a great QRP band, you
will probably get further from there with 222 MHz than either 144 MHz
or 432 MHz." Jim has used and likes the Elecraft XV222
and Down East Microwave, Inc.
(DEMI) transverters as good
performers. For homebrewers, W1GHZ designed a 222 MHz transverter
companion to the FT-817 and a
low-power transverter for microwave IF called the miniverter-F
. (DEMI provides some
hard-to-find parts and a kit for the miniverter). Another option is the
SignalBlox 100 mW,
222 transverter kit.
How should you apply Prelube spray lube to your crank-up tower cables?
George K6GT uses "a big plastic funnel and cut a lengthwise slot (about
1/4" wide) in it, so that I could slip it over the cable. Then I hold
the bottom of the funnel against the cable, I've got a low leakage (OK,
pretty drippy) funnel whose spout is almost occluded by the cable. When
I spray the lubricant, the overspray gets caught by the funnel and runs
down onto the cable. It saves a lot of the lube, but not all."
Greg W8WWV has designed a homebrew rotator cage
for a sturdier mount on the top of MA-series tubular crank-up towers.
This can also be adapted to mount rotators on poles and masts. (Thanks,
Mike W4EF)
Technical Web Site of the Week - VE7BQH has just updated his 2 meter
and 6 meter antenna comparison tables
that include additional
information on each antenna. The changes are explained by him along
with links to both text and spreadsheet versions of the tables. (from
AMSAT bulletin ANS-169)
==> CONVERSATION
While the Iron is Hot
Here in the Midwest we are looking right into the oven for Field Day
with Missouri temperatures in the 90's predicted for Saturday. Checking
around the country, most locations will also see the mercury rise into
the 80's and 90's...damp Seattle is expecting fog and mid-sixties but
if the coffee pot is on and loaded with espresso-ground French Roast,
they'll make it through the night. The rest of you out there, grab your
sunscreen and a portable fan, put on your best hamster-y tee-shirt and
hat, fill the cooler with ice - are you ready for some Field Day?
Not only will the weather be hot but so will the opportunity for
lighting a fire in new and potential hams kindled by the attractions of
our favorite avocation. Here's a hint - the digital modes are the
easiest for a non-radio person to understand and learn, particularly
those from the connected generations. Take advantage of their natural
keyboard skills and show them how to work RTTY or PSK31. Point out how
similar to texting it is. Once they get the hang of digital, voice and
other modes come a whole lot easier because they'll understand the flow
of things on the air.
No matter what door these folks come through - public service, weather
watching, technical interests, radio-controlled craft, balloons,
astronomy - they come to Field Day ready to learn and participate. So
let them! Make sure they get an opportunity to play a part in
everything from hauling on a rope to setting up the stations to
operating and logging. It is your job to reach out and welcome them
into the tribe. Don't expect them to push their way in - would you feel
comfortable doing that as a newcomer? If they spend the weekend on the
periphery of the fun it's probably the last time you'll see them.
Let's assume the best - they came, they saw, they liked it! They want
more! "When can we do this again?" is a common question. The right
answer is NOT, "Well, um, sometimes we do Sweepstakes in November..."
To a teenager, you might as well tell them the next contest is in the
22nd century! Show them how to get to the 3830 score report web page
where claimed scores are posted
right away - no matter that the final results aren't printed until
December's QST. They can look at the Web on the smartphone in their
pocket, you know. While they have that phone or tablet out, bring up DX
Sherlock propagation maps and DX
Summit . Heck, why not bring a laptop and LCD
monitor to run the live spotting and propagation maps in real-time all
weekend? You'll have a crowd hanging around watching the show!
Have a plan already in place for someone to host a multi-op for new
operators in the upcoming IARU HF Championship (July 14th and 15th).
There are the North American QSO Parties with
RTTY the following weekend and the CW and SSB versions in August.
Rookie Roundup's RTTY version is on
August 19th and that's a perfect opportunity for your fledglings to
take their first solo flight! Contest Corral
is just packed with short and
low-key contests that new operators need and enjoy.
Field Day is not just an operating event, it is our biggest recruitment
and PR event of the year. Use that opportunity to celebrate what we do
and show others why we enjoy it so much. Help them get interested and
start participating. Like the thermometer, barbeque, and coffee pot,
our ham radio iron is red-hot on Field Day...don't let it cool!
73, Ward N0AX
==> CONTESTS
June 20 to July 3
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 23, 1800Z to Jun 24, 2100Z.
Bands (MHz): 1.8-28, 50+. Exchange: Category, ARRL/RAC section or DX.
Logs due: Jul 24. Rules
SARL Top Band QSO Party--Phone,CW, from Jun 21, 0000Z to Jun 25, 0000Z.
Bands (MHz): 1.8. Exchange: RS(T) and province or country. Logs due: 7
days. Rules
NAQCC Milliwatt Sprint--CW, from Jun 21, 0030Z to Jun 21, 0230Z. Bands
(MHz): 3.5-14. Exchange: RST, S/P/C, and NAQCC mbr nr or power. Logs
due: 4 days. Rules
His Majesty King of Spain--Phone, from Jun 23, 1200Z to Jun 24, 1200Z.
Bands (MHz): 1.8-28. Exchange: RS, serial or EA province. Logs due: Jul
15. Rules
Marconi Memorial HF Contest--CW, from Jun 23, 1400Z to Jun 24, 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
Ten-Ten Spirit of 76 QSO Party--Phone,CW,Digital, from Jul 2, 0000Z to
Jul 8, 2400Z. Bands (MHz): 28. Exchange: Call, name, member number,
S/P/C. Logs due: 15 days. Rules
OK1WC Memorial Contest--Phone,CW, from Jul 2, 1600Z - see website.
Bands (MHz): 3.5, 50, 144, First through fourth Monday of each month;
see website for bands. Exchange: RS(T) and serial. Logs due: 7 days.
Rules
ARS Spartan Sprint--CW, from Jul 3, 0200Z to Jul 3, 0400Z. Bands (MHz):
3.5-28. Frequencies: Monthly on the first Monday evening. Exchange:
RST, S/P/C, and power. Logs due: 2 days. Rules
VHF+ CONTESTS
ARRL Field Day--Phone,CW,Digital, from Jun 23, 1800Z to Jun 24, 2100Z.
Bands (MHz): 1.8-28, 50+. Exchange: Category, ARRL/RAC section or DX.
Logs due: Jul 24. Rules
Worldwide EME Contest--Phone,CW, from Jun 23, 0000Z to Jun 24, 2400Z.
Bands (MHz): 5.7G. Exchange: TMO/RS(T) and "R". Logs due: Jun 25. 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
OK1WC Memorial Contest--Phone,CW, from Jul 2, 1600Z - see website.
Bands (MHz): 3.5, 50, 144, First through fourth Monday of each month;
see website for bands. Exchange: RS(T) and serial. Logs due: 7 days.
Rules
==> LOG DUE DATES
June 20 to July 3
- June 20 - CQ WW WPX Contest, CW
- June 20 - UA2 QSO Party
- June 20 - RSGB 80m Club Championship, CW
- June 22 - UN DX Contest
- June 23 - Feld Hell Sprint
- June 23 - SARL Youth Day Sprint
- June 24 - Run for the Bacon QRP Contest
- June 26 - The Day of YLs
- June 28 - MI QRP Memorial Day CW Sprint
- June 30 - EUCW Fraternizing CW QSO Party
- June 30 - VOLTA WW RTTY Contest
- June 30 - IARU Region 1 Field Day, CW
- July 1 - Baltic Contest
- July 1 - UKSMG Summer Contest
- July 1 - VK Shires Contest
- July 2 - AGCW VHF/UHF Contest
- July 2 - Alabama QSO Party
- July 2 - Maritime QSO Party
- July 2 - Ukrainian DX Classic RTTY Contest
- July 2 - QRP ARCI QRP Shootout
==> 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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