Contester's Rate Sheet for December 17, 2003

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Contester's Rate Sheet
17 December 2003
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Edited by Ward Silver, N0AX

SUMMARY
o Sweepstakes Phone logs due TODAY!
o N5FG - New WAZ manager
o WAE CW, Salmon Run, and California QSO Party results or claimed
scores available
o Cleaning Corroded Copper Connections
o Fixing Those Doggone Burned-out Christmas Lights
o Cognitive Radios - Old Hat for Contesters

BULLETINS
o The date of the February CW Sprint has been moved to avoid
Valentine's Day.  The new date is 1 Feb 2004.  Phone Sprint is
unaffected.  Valentine's Day will be avoided for future Sprints and a
list of Sprint dates into the distant future will be posted on the NCJ
Web site (http://www.ncjweb.com/) in the near future. (Thanks, Tree
N6TR)

BUSTED QSOS
o The contributor of the low-band antenna Web sites was Phil KB9CRY,
not Bill.
o Contrary to what you will read in QST's "Contest Corral", the VHF
Sweepstakes contest runs from 1900Z Jan 24 - 0400Z Jan 26.

ANNOUNCEMENT & NOTICES FOR 17 DECEMBER TO 30 DECEMBER 2003

Logs are due for the following contests:

December 17 - ARRL Sweepstakes Contest, SSB, email to:
SSPhone@arrl.org, paper logs and diskettes to: November SS Phone,
ARRL, 225 Main St, Newington CT, 06111, USA  

December 17 - North American Collegiate ARC Championship, SSB, email
summary to: wm5r@arrl.net, no paper logs
 
December 23 - LZ DX Contest, email to: lzdxc@yahoo.com, paper logs and
diskettes to: BFRA, PO Box 830, 1000 Sofia, Bulgaria  

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

HF CONTESTS

OK DX RTTY Contest--sponsored by the Czech Radio Club, 0000Z - 2400Z
Dec 20. Categories: SOAB, SOSB, MOAB, SWL. Frequencies: 80 - 10 meters
according to IARU band plan. Exchange: RS and CQ Zone. QSO Points: 80
& 40--3 pts on same continent, 6 pts different cont., 20-10--1 pt same
cont., 2 pts different cont. Score: QSO points x DXCC entities + OK
stations (counted once per band). For information:
http://www.crk.cz/ENG/DXCONTE.HTM. Logs due 15 Jan to okrtty@crk.cz 
or Czech Radio Club, OK DX RTTY Contest, PO Box 69, 113 27 Praha 1,
Czech Republic.

Russian 160-Meter Contest--CW/SSB. sponsored by Radio Magazine, from
0000Z -- 0200Z Dec 20. Categories: SO, MO, SO and MO 18 years and
younger, Mixed Mode only. Exchange: RST, serial number, and square ID
(see http://www.radio.ru/cq/contest/rule/map-2.gif for a map showing
the squares) QSO Points: own square--1 pt, adjacent sq--2 pts, 1 add'l
pt each add'l square distant. Score: total QSO points. For more
information: http://www.radio.ru/cq/contest/rule (Cyrillic only). Logs
to contest@radio.ru, or Radio Magazine, Seliverstov per. 10, Moscow
107045, Russia.

Croatian CW Contest--sponsored by Hrvatski Radioameterski Savez (HRS),
from 1400Z Dec 20 - 1400Z Dec 21. Frequencies: 160 - 10 meters.
Categories: SOAB (HP >100W, LP, QRP <5 W), SOSB (HP, LP), MO, SWL.
Exchange: RST + serial number. QSO Points: 9A stations--10 pts on
160-40, 6 pts 20-10; different cont--6 pts 160-40, 3 pts 20-10; own
cont and country--2 pts 160-40, 1 pt 20-10. Score: QSO points x WAE
countries on all bands. For more information:
http://www.inet.hr/~vzugcic/9acwtest.htm. Logs due 30 days after the
contest to zmaticic@inet.hr or Hrvatski Radioameterski Savez (HRS),
Croatian CW Contest, PO Box 149, 10003 Zagreb, Croatia.

International Naval Contest--sponsored by the Belgian Maritime Amateur
Radio Society from 1600Z Dec 20 - 1600Z Dec 21. Frequencies: 80 - 10
meters. Categories: SOAB-CW/SSB/Mixed, MO-Naval Club, MO-Non-Naval,
SWL. Exchange: RST + Club number + serial number. QSO Points: Naval
members--10 pts/QSO; non-members--1 pt/QSO. Score: QSO points x Naval
clubs + Different stations worked (count only once). For more
information: http://users.skynet.be/jdl/intnave.htm. Logs due 1 Feb to
ON4CJJ@pandora.be or BMARS, PO Box 1006, B-8300 Knokke, Belgium

Lighthouse Christmas Lights QSO Party--all modes, sponsored by the
Amateur Radio Lighthouse Society, 0000Z Dec 20 - 2400Z Jan 4, 2004.
Frequencies (MHz): CW--1.830, 3.530, 7.030, 14.030, 21.030, 28.030,
SSB--1.970, 3.970, 7.270, 14.270, 21.370, 28.370. Exchange: year first
licensed or ARLS member number or ARLS Lighthouse number + name +
S/P/C. QSO Points: ARLS member--3 pts, ARLS Lighthouse--6 pts, 1 pt
otherwise. Score is QSO Points, stations activating light beacons
multiply by 1.5. For more information:
http://arlhs.com/LCL-2003-guidelines.html. Logs due 31 Jan to Dave
Ruch, NF0J, PO Box 20696, Bloomington, MN 55420-0696, USA.

DARC Christmas Contest--CW/SSB, sponsored by the Deutscher Amateur
Radio Club, 0830Z - 1100Z Dec 26. Frequencies (MHz): CW--3.510 -
3.560, 7.010 - 7.040, SSB--3.610 - 3.650 and 3.700 - 3.775, 7.040.
Categories: SO-Mixed, SO-CW. Exchange: RS(T) + DOK or Special Station
code. QSO Points: 1 pt/QSO. The station calling CQ must QSY after
making a QSO. Score: QSO Points x DOK codes + WPX prefixes. For more
information: http://www.darc.de/referate/dx/fedcx.htm. Logs due 3
weeks after the contest to xmas@darc.de or Markus van Bergerem,
Brandenberg 5, D-47533 Kleve, Germany.

Holiday Milliwatt CW Contest--sponsored by the Knightlites QRP Club,
from 1800Z - 0200Z the following day beginning on Dec 28, 29, and 30. 
Frequencies: 160 - 10 meters. No categories. Exchange: RST, S/P/C,
First Name, Power, and "Club" if operating at a club station. See
http://www.knightlites.org/ for information about the many power and
bonus multipliers (rules are correct although heading is still 2001). 
Score is total of best two days results.  Logs due 1 Feb to 
n7ri@earthlink.net or Ralph Irons N7RI, 1119 Avon St, Charlottesville,
VA 22902.

E.T. Krenkel 100th Birthday RAEM Contest--CW--sponsored by the Union
of Radioamateurs of Russia together with the Central and Moscow
"E.T.Krenkel" clubs from 0200Z - 0959Z Dec 28. Frequencies: 80 - 10
meters, 10 band changes per hour. Categories: SOAB (HP, LP), SOSB, MS
(up to 3 operators), SWL. Exchange: Serial number and degrees of
latitude and longitude. QSO Points: 50 pts/QSO + 1 point for each
degree of difference in lat/long + 100 pts for Polar Circle station +
300 pts for RAEM station. Logs due 12 Jan to alo@udmurtneft.ru or PO
Box 3945, Izhevsk 426011, Russia.

VHF CONTESTS

No VHF Contests are scheduled.

NEWS & PRESS RELEASES

Wayne W5XD reports the disturbing discovery that certain individuals
are generating and selling WriteLog authorization codes.  As stated in
the WriteLog sign-on notice, if you purchased a WriteLog registration
from anyone except K5DJ, then the registration and the software are
basically stolen.  See http://www.writelog.com/ for the real way to
purchase WriteLog.

Floyd Gerald N5FG, has been appointed CQ Worked All Zones (WAZ) Awards
Manager, effective January 1, 2004, succeeding Paul Blumhardt, K5RT.
CQ requests that WAZ applicants delay sending applications (and cards)
to Floyd until 1 Feb in order to allow for an orderly transition and
transfer of records. Applications and cards sent to K5RT will be
forwarded to N5FG each month. After 1 Feb, WAZ applications and cards
should be sent to Floyd Gerald, N5FG, 17 Green Hollow Rd., Wiggins, MS
39577-8318. (Thanks, Dick K2MGA)

History aficionados will enjoy the light-hearted "Dead Electrical
Dudes" series of articles by Phil Neidlinger KA4KOE on the eHam.net
portal.  Currently on dude number three, Major Edwin Armstrong,
previous dudes include Nikola Tesla (#2) and James Maxwell (#1).  Take
a browse by http://www.eham.net/articles/6974 for the current
installment.

Dave AA6YQ is the author of DXKeeper, a free logging application for
Windows that prepares ADIF files for the ARRL's TQSL program. His
latest release, 3.0.8, independently tracks hardcopy QSL, eQSL.cc, and
LotW status for each QSO, including verification of uploads, automatic
processing of downloaded QSLs, and reports for award progress. 
DXKeeper is available at http://www.qsl.net/dxlab.

Andrew ZS1AN has updated his Contesting FAQ "to reflect the many good
suggestions I received." The list can be found at
http://www.qsl.net/zs1an/contesting_faq.html.  If you have already
viewed the FAQ, it may still be cached in your browser's history
folder, so refresh the view to see the new information.

Here's a new twist on Straight Key Night. The Pacific NW VHF Society
is doing SKN on UHF!  A great way to break the ice and brush the dust
off of either your UHF equipment or the straight key.  Or both. 
Consider a specialty SKN in your area this year!

Did you hear about the murder of the Morse Code operator?  The butler
didit.

RESULTS AND RECORDS

The results of the Worked All Europe DX Contest CW 2003 are out and
published at http://www.waedc.de/.  Your personal UBN report can be
downloaded from the Web site, as well. (Thanks, Ben DL6RAI)

Halfway around the world from DL, the Washington State Salmon Run
results are complete and posted at http://www.wwdxc.org/.  The tasty
smoked salmon prizes should be hitting the mails soon and a new photo
certificate will be distributed this year.

The 2003 California QSO Party (CQP) logs received and claimed scores
are now listed at http://www.cqp.org/results/2003/LogsReceived2.pdf. 
If you don't see your score, now would be an excellent time to send
email to the CQP Manager at ad6e@arrl.net.

Timo OH1NOA maintains a Web site that lists the highest rates during
contests up to and including this year's CQ WW.  Just take a gander at
http://www.qsl.net/oh1noa/rates.htm and be prepared to scratch your
head in amazement. The QRATE referred to on the site is a program by
VE3SUN that finds the highest rate hour in a log file.  QRATE can be
downloaded from many sources, including
http://www.qth.com/ka9fox/links_software.shtml. (Thanks, Timo OH1NOA)

How about a year-end tip-of-the-cap to all of the hard-working contest
managers out there?  Mostly unpaid, they labor in anonymity, only
being noticed when something goes wrong.  If not for the contest
managers and the committees that put many hours in behind the scenes,
radiosporting would be much less fun and rewarding.  The next time you
send in a log or enjoy a writeup, dash off a note of thanks in
return.

TECHNICAL & TECHNIQUE

What about cleaning oxidized copper for a good solder connection? 
Scraping or sanding sometimes isn't an option.  If there is room to
use a sponge or rag on the surface, Twinkle copper cleaner will do the
job.  Dip It tarnish remover, a liquid, will also quickly remove oxide
as will Vanish toilet bowl cleaner.  Pool supply and hardware stores
also have a more serious chemical - dilute muriatic or hydrochloric
acid which is highly corrosive.  Geared more for soldering is Duzall
liquid flux, also quite acidic.  All of these REQUIRE that you use eye
and hand protection and wash the clean copper with clear water after
soldering to remove any remaining acid. (Thanks, Towertalk
reflectees)

Need the schematic for a TNC data connector or a radio microphone
connector?  This handy Web page is an encylopedia of numerous
manufacturers and models.  A real time-saver -
http://users3.ev1.net/~medcalf/ztx/wire/index.html#y.

Jim AD1C has contributed yet another useful software tool that
attempts to locate passed QSOs in a Cabrillo log. You can download it
from:
http://www.k1ea.com/utilities/pass.zip." The program will run in a DOS
window on Win 95/98/NT/2K/XP machines as well as in DOS.  To run the
program, type:
   pass <CONTEST.LOG> [minutes]
A passed QSO is one where you work the same station on two or more
bands in consecutive QSOs.

With all of us preparing for the low-band DX and contest season, using
receive antennas can often put stress on a receiver's front-end from
nearby transmitting antennas.  KD9SV's "Front End Saver" helps with
this problem and can be found at 
http://www.radiobooks.com/products/fes.htm. (Thanks, Floyd K8AC)

For prospective tower erectors, N1LO has created a valuable site with
a lot of information on tower construction and maintenance practices. 
It's very much worth a read: http://www.qsl.net/n1lo/tower.htm
(Thanks, Gene AD3F)

Big News for tower-intensive contesters has been the bankruptcy of
Rohn Industries and the possible loss of the most popular line of
tower hardware.  AN Wireless (http://www.anwireless.com/) and XX Towers
(http://www.xxtowers.com/) are making an effort to provide
Rohn-equivalent and fit-compatible products.  While less known in the
amateur world, Valmont Microflect
(http://www.valmont.com/communication/communication3.shtml) and Nello
(http://www.nelloinc.com/) also have similar product lines. (Thanks,
Steve K7LXC and others on the Towertalk reflector)

Just in time for the holiday season, Doug K1DG contributes the
following incredibly useful article references. "Why is it that you
always test 48 bulbs before you find the bad one in a 50-light string?
This simple circuit allows you to divide and conquer, greatly reducing
the time it takes to find the bad bulb:
http://email.ednmag.com/cgi-bin2/DM/y/efFW0GaI6h0Gcq0B5iB0Aw. Do you
ever wonder how bulb vendors overcame the frustrating problem of
having an entire string go dark when just one of the series-wired
bulbs failed?
http://email.ednmag.com/cgi-bin2/DM/y/efFW0GaI6h0Gcq0B5iC0Ax. Readers
responded to suggest alternative ways that a failing bulb does not
cause an entire string of bulbs to fail. Apparently, some light
strings use another mechanism, and we have some hands-on evidence to
confirm this fact. This approach involves no software, no
microprocessors, no logic gates, no nanosecond timing - just some
passive light bulbs and clever materials engineering.
http://email.ednmag.com/cgi-bin2/DM/y/efFW0GaI6h0Gcq0B5iD0Ay." Thank
you, Doug, from light-string hangers everywhere!

CONVERSATION

Cognitive Radios - Old Hat for Contesters

The hottest topic in the wireless industry, including both telephony
and data, is not BPL but rather the "software defined radio" or SDR. 
By digitizing the incoming signal as close to the antenna as possible,
the radio becomes a digital data processor. The functions of
demodulation and filtering are performed by software instead of by
analog circuitry.  

Existing radios are optimized for one or two modes or for specific
data transmission protocols.  Adding more modes or protocols is
usually difficult or leads to compromises in performance.  By
operating on the RF signals as data, different software packages can
be swapped in as the operator's needs change.  Want a high-bandwidth
streaming data radio? Select application number one.  A high dynamic
range, razor-sharp filter low-band rig?  Try application number eight.
 And so on.

Carrying the idea one step further, an interesting story in Business
Week magazine, "Beyond Wi-Fi: A New Wireless Age" talks about an
"ultrasmart machine, which would be able to scan the airwaves and
determine the vacant spaces on its own."  A recent EE Times article,
"Cognitive radios the next step for SDR" states that "Cognitive-radio
technology enables the radio itself to learn...identifying and using
empty spectrum to communicate more efficiently." Does this sound
familiar? The latest and greatest thing is apparently Search and
Pounce!

Lest you scoff at this as pie-in-the-sky, the feasibility of this
concept was demonstrated years ago in programs like TACO by WU1F and
Z80 by N6TR which automatically tune the band and make contest QSOs in
CW.  WF1B and other digital contest software packages would be a
natural to automate.

Let's carry this forward through a couple of turns of the
architectural crank as the YaeKenComTec "Ensemble" is released
featuring 16 different SDRs in a single box and a single wide-band,
ultra-linear power amplifier.  Each SDR can not only be configured for
any mode on any frequency, but is controlled by software that can
interpret the receiver output and act on it - tuning, calling, and
logging.  It sounds advanced, but all of the hardware is here today. 
It's just a question of price.

The strategy of top operators could be packaged and incorporated as
accessories.  Imagine a radio with expert propagation knowledge in one
SDR, search-and-pounce mastery in another, and a high rate pileup
manager in a third.  The station builder is only limited by the
contest rules, the number of processors and amps of transmitter power.
 The operators will never get tired, overdrive the amplifier, or fall
asleep reading magazines on Sunday afternoon.

There is SO much more that the commercial designers could learn from
contest operating.  For example, why limit the radio to "available"
spectrum?  It wouldn't take much tweaking to show a savvy SDR how to
wedge into an "almost clear" frequency, would it?  Soon the software
would be adding the ability to complain that "I was here first!" Can
Radio Battlebots be far behind?

73, Ward N0AX

The Business Week article can be found at:
http://www.businessweek.com/magazine/content/03_50/b3862098.htm and
the EE Times article at:
http://www.eet.com/in_focus/mixed_signals/OEG20031113S0039.

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/