 July 10, 2019 Editor: Paul Bourque, N1SFE | ||
IN THIS ISSUE
Let's say for argument purposes that you're already set up for FT8, and you're sending and receiving just fine. You're just a software install away from also being able to use the same physical set up for RTTY! Some reasons to try RTTY for contests include:
Before setting up for RTTY, I suggest writing down all of the settings that you are already using with your FT8 software for radio control, including port names, speeds, and so on. Do the same for your audio devices. You'll need those values to set up the RTTY software. Close your FT8 application and then install a RTTY program of your choice. There are a number of options for RTTY software, but one of the easiest to get going is MMTTY. You can use Don, AA5AU's "Getting Started on RTTY" to guide you through the dialogs to get the program configured for stand-alone mode, using AFSK. The trickiest part might be getting the PTT control going if you use a radio command in your FT8 program. Once you've configured the software for stand-alone mode, you'll want to find some RTTY stations to work to verify everything is as it should be. Best bets for that are on Thursday evenings as part of the NCCC NS RTTY Sprint practice, or on weekends when there are RTTY contests. Once your configuration has been tested, the next step is getting your contest logging program to work with your RTTY engine. For N1MM Logger+, you can use this guide as a starting point. The NAQP RTTY Contest is coming up July 20 - a great opportunity to give RTTY a try. BUSTED QSOS In the last issue, I gave a rationale for the three contest sessions of the CWT. Alan, AD6E/KH6TU comments: "The reason for three sessions is to give similar conditions in each of the three IARU zones. Basically, one in the morning, one in evening, and one at night. At least that was the original reasoning. It's similar to how the CW Open is run." Complete information for all contests follows the Conversation section 11 Jul - 25 Jul 2019 July 11 July 12 July 13 July 14 July 15 July 17 July 18 July 19 July 20
July 21 July 22 July 24 Don't forget to submit your ARRL Field Day reports by July 23. It's easy to forget, but it's also easy to submit it via the web form. There's a new exclusively-FT8/FT4 Contest, sponsored by the World Wide Radio Operators Foundation (WWROF), and the Slovenia Contest Club: The World Wide Digi DX Contest. The inaugural 24-hour event will occur August 31 starting at 1200 UTC, and features distance-based scoring based on the exchange of grids. Multipliers are grid fields (the letter part of a grid, for example "CN" of "CN87"), and are per band, so it will pay to get multipliers on multiple bands. There are entry categories for single operators of various power levels in addition to Multi-One, Multi-Two, and Multi-Unlimited categories. See the contest rules for more information. An N1MM Logger+ version to be released later this week will have support for this new contest, including a new Grid Field Map display to visually show the multipliers. The organizers of the World Wide Digi DX Contest would like your help in testing their log submittal and log checking. Ed, W0YK, states: "At the end of May 2019, I worked over 600 QSOs on FT8 and FT4 as P49X. I would appreciate it if anyone who worked P49X on the FT modes would please send me their ADIF log file. It can be any date range as long as it includes the end of May QSOs with P49X. Our software can ignore QSOs outside that period. Just forward your ADIF log file to P49X Log Contacts to help us get ready for log processing." (W0YK) Attention Midwest Contesters - The Society of Midwest Contesters' SMC Fest will be held August 24, 2019 in Normal, Illinois. The program includes practical information on station building, maximizing contest scores even with part-time effort, SO2R from small lots, mobile and rover operations, and more. See you there? A Call History file with IARU Headquarter multiplier stations for the upcoming IARU contest is available for download. Updates go to Joe, OZ0J. In a recent blog entry Bob, KB6NU, discusses three areas he'd like to improve on for his next ARRL Field Day: Schedule Operators, Train Operators, and Better Antennas. Contesting has a big information management component. More computer screen real estate allows the display and management of more information, and it's typical to see multiple monitors attached to computers used for contesting. A startup is addressing the particular multi-screen needs of laptops with a product called the 'Trio' - it brings two additional HD-resolution screens that can be flexibly used in landscape or portrait mode. The extra two screens combined weigh less than 1.8 pounds, so they might be suitable for portable or travel operation. (Dennis, N6KI) A typical pre-contest task is to load the new "country files" into our logging programs. This file helps logging programs keep track of what zones and countries have been worked for multiplier purposes based on the call sign. Jim, AD1C, compiles these files and periodically releases new versions for different logging programs and different contests. If you've never done so before, take a look at a typical change log to appreciate the detail of this information. Well-known RTTY Contester Bill, W6WRT, has passed away. "Country File" A file used by your logging program that maps call sign patterns and individual call signs as necessary to countries and zones so that you can have an accurate display of worked versus needed multipliers during a contest. See further information about country files, above.
Videos from Contest University 2019 have been posted on the YouTube, courtesy of Icom America, and of course Contest University. Nine videos, including the "eyeball sprint contest" are available this year! Steve, VE6WZ, has been publishing videos on different aspects of station and antenna building on 160 meters. He's added more on the topic of receive antennas. Steve says it best: "A few weeks ago I uploaded a video on some design and construction ideas for Beverage matching and termination boxes. I show how to wind your own transformers, and present a few different enclosure methods. I show how I have designed and built some commercially made double sided boards for broadside phase boxes and 4 Beverage switch boxes using KiCad and OSH park. This video is part of my "RX antenna series" which includes various videos about low-band RX antennas. It is still a work in progress and in a week or so I will add another video about installing Beverage wires in the field, and a video about beverage maintenance." (via Topband reflector) Results for the Ontario QSO Party have been posted. Over 170 logs were received for this contest. The highest-QSO-count station, VE3ODX in the SOHP mixed class made 832 contacts split roughly between CW and SSB. The highest-scoring station was VE3EJ in the SOHP class with 600 CW contacts. Rates are Relative If you've been maintaining a high run rate for an extended period of time, any reduction is bound to feel like there's something wrong. A 75 QSOs-per-hour rate seems slow after you've been running at 120+ per hour, but it might be all that you can do on that particular band at this particular time. Modern logging programs can tell you what your rate is for the last 10 or 100 contacts. Use this information to help you make a decision based on data vs. your gut. Is another band better? Better check before committing to the change! NXP Semiconductors has released two new LDMOS transistors that will certainly be of interest to HF circuit designers - the MRF101AN and MRF300AN. Both are for 50 volt designs -- the MRF101AN is for 100 watt applications, while the MRF300AN is targeted for 300 watt applications. Both parts are available in complementary pinouts for push-pull designs. To get the designer juices flowing, NXP is also sponsoring a design contest for these parts, with a submission deadline in October. (PA1DSP via Twitter, K5EM via email) Bob, 5B4AGN, is gauging demand for a group buy of components to assemble single-band bandpass filters. Bandpass filters are useful for SO2R station setups, or any time you have multiple transceivers on different bands in close proximity. Based on a W3NQN design, these filters are generally well regarded and can be a satisfying and useful project to undertake if you have all of the correct parts on hand. Please see Bob's email message in the Multi-band TX BPF Yahoo group (you will have to log in to Yahoo to view this message). Amateurs looking to assemble a new computer for their station might want to look into new CPUs just released by AMD. The Ryzen 9 chips are getting great reviews for their combination of high computing capability, low power consumption, and very competitive pricing. Checking for them online, it's not that they're not available yet, it's that the first run of these high-end chips is mostly sold out. According to researchers, telepathy is possible with the right gear. Immediately after the announcement, telepathy traditionalists stated that the use of technology isn't "real telepathy." "Perfect is the Enemy of Good" That little gem of a phrase has been attributed to Voltaire, and it gets rediscovered and repackaged from time to time. I bet that most Amateurs would say "of course it is" if you mentioned this phrase to them. There's imperfection all the way down! The Ionosphere is an imperfect medium, subject to the capricious nature of the sun. Our operating location can suddenly be surrounded by plasma TVs and people arc welding on contest weekends. We don't have enough room for all of the antennas we want. We can't get our antennas high enough. The exact relay we wanted for our coax switch is no longer available. The zip ties we had to use most recently are the wrong color and don't match the others. All of those things could keep us from the enjoyment of being on the air, if we demand perfection! Instead, we muddle through, sometimes using compromise antennas, re-purpose equipment that we have, or surplus equipment. But just having "good" leaves room for the possibility of always finding and using something better, which drives innovation. I don't know if Robert Watson-Watt was an Amateur Radio Operator, but in my mind this Scotsman certainly had all of the qualities. In the 1920s he figured out how to use oscilloscopes with long-persistence phosphor and directional antennas to detect the direction of potentially damaging thunderstorms for pilots. He also was among the first to determine there was a layer of something in the sky that would reflect radio signals. It was called the Heaviside layer then, ionosphere now. He was able to use his oscilloscopes to observe the return echoes of signals to determine the height of the reflective layer. This was the precursor to RADAR. During WW2, he was instrumental in developing airborne RADAR to counter nighttime enemy bombers. But he faced challenges in the physical size of the equipment and power consumption. The gear he came up with weighed less than 200 lbs, and consumed less than 500 watts of power. He realized those constraints meant that he would have to use a frequency greater than 300 MHz to minimize antenna size, but those frequencies were a challenge in those days. It wasn't perfect, but worked well enough by 1940 to help end the Blitz. His view on perfection? "Give them the third-best to go on with; the second-best comes too late, the best never comes." That's all for this time. Remember to send contesting related stories, book reviews, tips, techniques, press releases, errata, schematics, club information, pictures, stories, blog links, and predictions to contest-update@arrl.org 73, Brian N9ADG 11 Jul - 25 Jul 2019 An expanded, downloadable version of QST's Contest Corral is available as a PDF. Check the sponsors' website for information on operating time restrictions and other instructions. HF CONTESTS CWops Mini-CWT Test, Jul 10, 1300z to Jul 10, 1400z and, Jul 10, 1900z to Jul 10, 2000z and, Jul 11, 0300z to Jul 11, 0400z; CW; Bands: 160, 80, 40, 20, 15, 10m; Member: Name + Member No., non-Member: Name + (state/province/country); Logs due: July 13. VHF+ CONTESTS CQ Worldwide VHF Contest, Jul 20, 1800z to Jul 21, 2100z; Any; Bands: 6, 2m; 4-character grid square; Logs due: July 26. 11 Jul - 25 Jul 2019 July 11, 2019 July 12, 2019 July 13, 2019 July 14, 2019 July 15, 2019 July 16, 2019 July 17, 2019 July 18, 2019 July 19, 2019 July 20, 2019 July 21, 2019
July 22, 2019 July 23, 2019 July 24, 2019 ARRL Information Click here to advertise in this newsletter, space subject to availability. Your One-Stop Resource for Amateur Radio News and Information ARRL membership includes QST, Amateur Radio's most popular and informative journal, delivered to your mailbox each month. Subscribe to NCJ - the National Contest Journal. Published bimonthly, features articles by top contesters, letters, hints, statistics, scores, NA Sprint and QSO Parties. Subscribe to QEX - A Forum for Communications Experimenters. Published bimonthly, features technical articles, construction projects, columns and other items of interest to radio amateurs and communications professionals. Free of charge to ARRL members: Subscribe to The ARRL Letter (weekly digest of news and information), the ARES E-Letter (monthly public service and emergency communications news), Division and Section news -- and much more! ARRL offers a wide array of products to enhance your enjoyment of Amateur Radio. Visit the site often for new publications, specials and sales. Donate to the fund of your choice -- support programs not funded by member dues! Reprint permission can be obtained by sending email to permission@arrl.org with a description of the material and the reprint publication. ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS ARRL Contest Update wishes to acknowledge information from WA7BNM's Contest Calendar and SM3CER's Contest Calendar. | ||
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