Contester's Rate Sheet for November 20, 2002
*********************** Contester's Rate Sheet 20 November 2002 *********************** Edited by Ward Silver, N0AX SUMMARY o The smallest Upcoming Contests listing ever! o Lots of interesting Web sites to visit in this issue - find 'em all! o George Henf KK4CW of GAP Antennas - SK o Field Day, Texas QSO Party, Indiana QSO Party, and EU Sprint results available o Lots of PSK-31 resources o A Little Perspective, Please BULLETINS o CQ WW CW not on Thanksgiving weekend (Nov 30-Dec 1) this year. As a matter of fact, with the exception of the 4-hour QRP Holiday Sprint on Dec 1, there are NO contests on Thanksgiving weekend this year. BUSTED QSOS o A very tarnished issue last time...in a stunning example of the perils of using cut-and-paste functions, I managed to get the modes wrong for the Nov 9-10 WAE (it was RTTY, not CW) and Nov 16-17 Sweepstakes (it was Phone, not CW). I sincerely hope that no one was unduly inconvenienced...sorry about that. o The January VHF Sweepstakes announcement on page 95 of December QST has the wrong dates for the contest. The contest runs from 1900Z Saturday Jan 18 through 0400Z Monday Jan 20. The ARRL contest rules Web site has the correct information (http://www.arrl.org/contests/rules/2003/01vhfss.html) and the Contest Corral for January will have the correct information, as well. ANNOUNCEMENT & NOTICES FOR 20 NOVEMBER TO 3 DECEMBER 2002 Logs are due for the following contests: o November 20, 2002 RSGB 21/28 MHz Contest, SSB/CW - email to: hfcontests@rsgb.org.uk, paper logs to: RSGB-G3UFY, 77 Bensham Manor Road, Thornton Heath, Surrey CR7 7AF, England o November 20, 2002 Worked All Germany Contest - email to: wag@darc.de, paper logs to: Klaus Voigt, DL1DTL, PO Box 12 09 37, D-01010 Dresden, Germany o November 25, 2002 Panama Radio Club Anniversary Contest - email to: hp1rcp@hotmail.com, paper logs to: Radio Club of Panama, PO Box 10745, Panama #4, Republic of Panama o November 25, 2002 Oceania DX Contest, Phone/CW, e-mail: phoctest@nzart.org.nz (phone) or cwoctest@nzart.org.nz (CW), paper logs to: Oceania DX Contest, c/o Wellington Amateur Radio Club Inc., PO Box 6464, Wellington 6030, New Zealand o November 30, 2002 Iberoamericano Contest - email to: ea5al@ure.es, paper logs to: URE Contest Manager, Vicente Aguilella, EA5AL, PO Box 87, 12200 Onda, Castellon, Spain o November 30, 2002 JARTS WW RTTY Contest - email to: jarts@edsoftz.com, paper logs to: (none) o December 1, 2002 CQ Worldwide DX Contest, SSB - email to: ssb@cqww.com, paper logs to: CQWW Phone, CQ Magazine, 25 Newbridge Road, Hicksville, NY 11801, USA o December 1, 2002 DARC 10-Meter Digital Contest - email to: df5bx@darc.de, paper logs to: Werner Ludwig, DF5BX, PO Box 1270, 49110 Georgsmarienhuette, Germany o December 3, 2002 Ukrainian DX Contest - email to: urdx@tav.kiev.ua, paper logs to: Ukrainian Contest Club HQ, PO Box 4850 , Zaporizhzhe 69118, Ukraine The following contests are scheduled: Note that the following abbreviations are used to condense the contest rules summaries: SO - Single-Op; M2 - Multiop - 2 Transmitters; MO - Multi-Op; MS - Multi-Op, Single Transmitter; MM - Multi-Op, Multiple Transmitters; AB - All Band; SB - Single Band; S/P/C - State/Province/DXCC Entity; HP - High Power; LP - Low Power; Entity - DXCC Entity CQ Worldwide DX Contest--CW, sponsored by CQ Magazine, 0000Z Nov 23--2400Z Nov 24. Frequencies: 160-10 meters. Categories: SOAB and SOSB (HP >100W, LP, QRP <5W), MS, MM. MS have 10 minute rule. Exchange RS(T) and CQ zone. QSO Points: same cont--1 pts (NA stations count 2 pts), diff cont--3 pts. Stations in the same country may be worked for zone credit only. Score: QSO points x CQ Zones + DXCC entities + WAE countries counted once per band. For more information - http://www.cqww.com. Logs due Jan 15 to cw@cqww.com or to CQ Magazine, 25 Newbridge Rd, Hicksville, NY 11801, USA. ARRL International EME Contest, 0000Z Nov 23 - 2400Z Nov 24 (2nd weekend). Frequencies: any band at or above 50 MHz. Categories: SOAB, SOSB, MO, Commercial. Exchange: signal report. QSO Points: 100 pts/QSO. Score: QSO points x W/VE call areas + DXCC entities (counted once per band). For more information-- http://www.arrl.org/contests/rules/2002/rules-eme.html. Logs due 30 days after the contest to emecontest@arrl.org or EME Contest, ARRL, 225 Main St, Newington, CT 06111. Holiday Spirits Homebrew CW Sprint--sponsored by the QRP ARCI, 2000Z - 2400Z Dec 1. Frequencies--1810, 3560, 3710, 7040, 7110, 14060, 21060, 21110, 28060, 28110 kHz. Categories: SOAB, SOSB, SO20-10, SO160-40, MOAB, DX stations are SOAB only. Exchange: RST, SPC, and Power or QRP ARCI number. QSO Points: members--5 pts, non-members/different continent--4 pts, non-members/same cont.--2 pts. Score: QSO points x SPC (counted once per band) x Power multiplier (<250mW x 15, 250mW - 1W x 10, 1 - 5W x7, >5W x 1) + Bonus Points (2000 for homebrew (HB) xmtr, 3000 HB rcvr, 5000 HB xcvr). For more information--http://personal.palouse.net/rfoltz/arci/holispr.htm. Logs due 30 days after the contest to rfoltz@turbonet.com or Randy Foltz, K7TQ, Attn: Holiday Spirits Sprint, 809 Leith St, Moscow, ID 83843. This is undoubtedly the lightest set of upcoming contests you will ever see. You know CQ WW is the most popular contest around when nobody even TRIES to hold another HF contest on the same weekend - on any mode. NEWS & PRESS RELEASES While Sweepstakes is still fresh in the old memory bank, take a few minutes to post a comment to the ARRL Soapbox Web page. It's really easy and there are already a number of interesting stories and photos. But not enough! This is a great opportunity to share the fun with others - log on to http://www.arrl.org/contests/soapbox/ and upload text and photos. It's fun! Array Solutions has added the ICE products home page to their web site - point the browser at http://www.arraysolutions.com/Products/ice/index.html. Once there, burrow into the "Special Publications" page for some meaty articles on lightning protection, Beverage antennas, and numerous other topics. (Thanks, Jay WX0B) Cable Experts has a Web page with some handy coax and connector resources: http://www.cablexperts.com/cfdocs/tech_data.cfm?bskt=0. This includes an attenuation and power rating chart and some good connector cross-references. K3EST reminds you to check the CQ WW web page at http://www.cqww.com to be sure your CQ WW SSB log was received. If you would like to submit a checklog, when putting together the Cabrillo formatted file, use the category "Checklog" and the subject line of your email should read "[yourcall] Checklog". This also works for ARRL and other contests supported by the Cabrillo format. Speaking of Cabrillo format, if you need to generate a Cabrillo-format log from some other format, there are free Cabrillo converters on the Web - such as the fine general-purpose program LOGCONV at http://www.qsl.net/ka5wss/logconv/. Kelly, VE4XT, will be writing up the ARRL Phone Sweepstakes results and would like to print lots of photos in the QST writeup. If you are so inclined, Kelly is looking for candid photos of humorous situtations involving the contest, portrait-like photos (unshaven and otherwise), and artsy photos of radios, antennas, stations, you name it. To be suitable for publication, the photos should be of at least 300 dpi resolution, eight inches on a side, or about 600 kbytes or larger. (Don't hesitate to send him larger files.) The photos should be emailed to kelly.taylor@freepress.mb.ca. Since the January listing of the rules for the JIDX contest, the email address for log submissions has changed. If you participated in the Phone JIDX contest earlier this month, the correct address for emailing logs is jidx-ph@ne.nal.go.jp. In the "I can dream, can't I?" Department, http://www.americantowers.com lists 14,000 telecommunications tower sites for sale. Many of these are obsolete cellular or microwave towers. Obviously, they're not down in a hole. Why, there are two less than five miles from me. Hmmm... George Henf KK4CW - SK. George was one of the principals in the GAP Antenna Company since its inception. Many of us have used his GAP verticals. George passed away on 8 Nov. (Thanks, Steve AB2ET) RESULTS AND RECORDS The 2002 Field Day results are now online at http://www.arrl.org/contests/results/index.html#2002. Certificates with the new graphics are in the process of being mailed for the 2001 160 Meter and 10 Meter contests. Next up will be the 2002 RTTY Roundup, January VHF SS, and ARRL International DX contests. (Thanks, Dan N1ND) The results for the 2002 Texas QSO Party are available http://www.k5vuu.com/tqp/ and the results for the Indiana QSO Party are available on the Hoosier DX and Contest Club (HDXCC) web site - http://www.hdxcc.org/. Paolo, I2UIY, writes, "Starting on November 1, 2002 the EU Sprint finally has its own web page at http://www.qsl.net/eusprint. Here you will find everything about the EU Sprint: rules in several languages, results, prizes and software to download. Please visit the page and help us to keep it up. We want your articles about the EU Sprint, share with us your tactics and secrets!" TECHNICAL & TECHNIQUE Waterproofing - is there any other subject so pertinent during the late fall? Gleaned from the TowerTalk reflector, here are three useful products to keep water and moisture on the right side of whatever it is that you want keep water on the right side of. - GC "Red Glypt" comes in a small bottle with a brush and is sold through electronics distributors. - Star Brite "Liquid Electrical Tape" available at Home Depot and Napa Auto Parts in different colors like red, blue, white, and black. I personally like this stuff for making coax pigtails waterproof. - Dow Aquarium sealant is good and tough, doesn't give off corrosive acetic acid when curing and comes in clear, white, and black. Another tip from various parties - when making coax pigtails, thoroughly tin the braid at the boundary of your waterproofing so that the spaces between the strands are filled with solder. That prevents the wicking of moisture up into the rest of the braid behind the waterproofing. I hate when that happens! (Thanks, TowerTalkians) A great batch of recommendations came through regarding what to hang on the end of a rope as a counterweight to keep wire antennas under tension. What thinkers we have out there in Radio Land! - Buckets or paint cans filled with concrete, rocks, oyster shells, or casino chips - Ingots "from your local foundry" - Cinder blocks, cored brick or big chunks of wood with a screw eye in 'em - Heavy, black tie-down cords - UV-resistant (or painted) jugs filled with water - Window sash weights - may be available free from window installers - Garage door springs (use a safety wire) - Large transformers - Politicians I understand that there will be great deals on frozen turkeys after the holidays, too...they'll probably last all winter. (More great ideas from the crowd on TowerTalk) You've probably noticed a growing number of contests dedicated to or adding PSK31. If you are interested, but not sure how to get started, there is a pretty good resource page for PSK at http://www.aintel.bi.ehu.es/psk31.html. The ARRL TIS lists articles and other information at http://www.arrl.org/tis/info/psk31.html. For software to operate PSK31, the freeware package DigiPan comes very highly recommended and can be downloaded at http://www.digipan.net. Other software resources can be found at http://www.westmountainradio.com/links.htm. The eHam Web site also has reviews of some of the more popular PSK software at http://www.eham.net/reviews/products/28. No excuses, now! (Thanks to Rod, N0RC and Dave, N0IT) If your receiver took a beating last weekend or you're getting ready for the ARRL 160-Meter contest, Gary Nichols KD9SV has some interesting products such as front-end protection, preamps, and antenna switchboxes at http://johnjeanantiqueradio.com/gary.htm. If you've ever wondered how the quad antenna was invented (and why), the following Web site has the story - http://www2.gvsu.edu/~w8gvu/qad-hst.html. Be sure to win bets at the next after-meeting-meeting in the bar! CONVERSATION A Little Perspective, Please The following was written in response to a commonly-heard (and sincere) concern about the technical expertise of new hams. It's unquestionable that times have changed - the hobby and the people in it are changing. How can we accommodate this trend? I recall a letter written to the ARRL (that was it...just "ARRL", not even a department) by a high-school kid asking the question, "Can a dipole can be made twice as long by grounding one end?" He only had room for a low, 40-meter dipole and wanted to get on 80-meters. That was a pretty dumb question, but he got a courteous reply from the ARRL technical staff that answered the question and added some interesting information and a copy of an article about ground-plane verticals (which was the source of the confusion in the first place). The kid went away happy and figured out another way to get on 80-meters. Taking a quick look through the rules and regulations, I see nothing about requiring an engineering degree to get a ham license. Do you have to be an ex-military radio chief? Nope, nothing about that in there either. How about a being a senior wireless communications tech? That's funny, they seem to have overlooked that obvious requirement, as well. What could the FCC have been thinking? I teach electrical engineering labs at Seattle University and I will agree that kids coming into the program have a lot less hands-on electronics experience than 30 years ago. Rarely have any of them built squat. What they have instead is a highly developed appreciation for complex systems based on their experiences building and operating computer-based network applications. Yes, even gaming networks. In the old days, the focus was on the box. Today, innovation is happening at the systems level. People are getting into the hobby because they are interested in the communications aspects, not necessarily from the design angle - although they can easily decide to pursue it. As a sometime-editor of the QST "The Doctor Is In" column working with answers relayed from various ARRL staffers I think you have to consider where the questions can be reasonably expected to come from. The ARRL doesn't receive very many "How do I convert my home-brew 10 Gbit/sec laser modulator to run from nuclear power" questions - the people asking these questions just don't have a convenient Elmer to help them through the rough spots we all encounter (and often like to forget). If someone came up to you at a club meeting and asked a simple question like these, how would you respond face-to-face? There are an awful lot of hams that got into the hobby after cobbling together something out of a magazine and stumbling around on the air rather badly until they were rescued by a friendly local ham or club. If we want to dry up the hobby for good, and quickly, I can think of no better way than to raise the barrier to entry by demanding skills that are largely disappearing from the general population. Yes, electronic know-how makes ham radio a lot more fun - but it's not the only thing the hobby has to offer. We should be figuring out to help those interested learn electronics instead of dissing 'em because they don' t know it already. A couple of my son's friends came over to play Sweepstakes this past weekend. One has his license, one doesn't - neither knows enough about electronics to fill a specimen jar. Yet, after screwing around on Field Day and reading their license manuals, they know something about operating a radio, a little about antennas, a dab of propagation, and are getting exposed to stuff they would otherwise never see. While they weren't operating, we were working on the bench to build a new computer and finish some PL-259 soldering. It was fun for them - maybe they'll stick with it. I know one is going to go put up a dipole for the 10-Meter Contest in a couple of weeks. By the way, the dumb kid was me in 1972 and the letter was from Lew McCoy, W1ICP. It was like a letter from God himself and the league letterhead might as well have been stone tablets. The detailed, instructive reply went a long way towards cementing my life-long relationship with the hobby. I now have an engineering degree and more than 30 years of experience - largely due to getting into this marvelous hobby that has room both for newbies greener than June apples and grizzled veterans of the solder wars. Let's lighten up and figure out how to help others enjoy it. ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS The Contester's Rate Sheet wishes to acknowledge information from the following sources: WA7BNM's Contest Calendar Web page - http://www.hornucopia.com/contestcal/ ARRL Contest page - http://www.arrl.org/contests/ SM3CER's Web site - http://www.sk3bg.se/contest/
