The July/August issue of NCJ, The National Contest Journal, is filled with the latest news from the contesting world. Whether you are new to contesting or are a seasoned pro -- or somewhere in the middle -- you will find something in NCJ just for you.

One skill that everyone who participates in the single operator category needs to learn is how to master that second radio. It’s a skill that will not only increase your score, but also your operating fun. But what about in a sprint? In his article “Mastering SO2R in the Sprint,” Jim George, N3BB, notes that the rules in a sprint can be confusing for the contest newcomer; besides being only four hours long, the station that initiates a contact by calling CQ has to move off frequency after completing that contact. The station answering the station that called CQ then may remain to answer a caller or to call CQ if no one calls. That station then must move off frequency after making an additional contact. George advises those contemplating competing in a sprint as SO2R (single operator/two radios) that it is important to master the basic rules of a single contact in the sprint with a single radio (SO1R). Most, if not all, of the operators populating a sprint’s Top 10 score lists are SO2R operators.

In February 2009, 15 year old Cal Darula, K0DXC, was fortunate to have an opportunity to operate from the 6Y1LZ/6Y1V contest superstation in Jamaica for the ARRL International DX Contest CW weekend. In his article, “A New Claimed ARRL DXCW M2 World Record from 6Y1LZ,” Darula calls the encounter “a life-changing, eye-opening amazing experience,” and thinks that -- pending log-checking -- the team may have even set a new world multi-two record.

When one thinks of Visalia --not counting those who need a map to find it (it’s almost equidistant between San Francisco and Los Angeles) -- one might think of agriculture such as grapes, olives, cotton and citrus. But when a ham thinks of Visalia, it means DX. Visalia is the home of the annual International DX Convention; 2010 marked the 61st year the event has been held in the city. But it’s not just DXers who make the trip out to Central California -- if you go, you’ll also find a lot of contesters. NCJ Editor Al Dewey, K0AD, led the Contest Forum at the 2010 convention. Find out more about all the contest activities at Visalia in his article, “Contesting Action at Visalia 2010.”

The results from the January North American Sprint (CW) and the February North American Sprint (SSB) are in the July/August issue of NCJ, as well as the results from January’s CW and SSB North American QSO Parties and February’s RTTY North American QSO Party. Of course, there are all the regular columns and features you expect from NCJ: “Workshop Chronicles” by Don Daso, K4ZA; “Contest Tips, Tricks and Techniques” by Gary Sutcliffe, W9XT; “VHF-UHF Contesting” by Jon Jones, N0JK; “RTTY Contesting” by Ed Muns, W0YK; “Propagation” by Carl Luetzelschwab, K9LA; “Contesting on a Budget” by Ralph Bellas, K9ZO; “Software for Contesters” by Pete Smith, N4ZR, and “Contesting 101 “by Kirk Pickering, K4RO.

All this and more in the July/August issue of NCJ. NCJ is published six times a year by the ARRL; it is edited by Al Dewey, K0AD. NCJ is what every contester needs in their shack -- subscribe today!