Contester's Rate Sheet for September 25, 2002
*********************** Contester's Rate Sheet 25 September 2002 *********************** Edited by Ward Silver, N0AX SUMMARY o Two of the biggest states - CA and TX - and their QSO parties in back-to-back weekends! Check the referenced web sites for complete details and lists of county expeditions or mobile operations. The CA QSO Party has a new plaque for the highest scoring entry in "Top Club, non-California". o World ARDF Championships - a report o Last call for data for the Master Databases constructed by K9TM o Wire antenna ideas o When Is the Contest Over? BULLETINS o The Hurricane Watch Net (HWN) on 14.325 MHz has been activated due to Hurricane Isidore. Please stay well clear of this and other emergency nets during your contest operations! While the HWN may be deactivated as Isidore dissipates, this is hurricane season and the net could be reactivated at any time. BUSTED QSOS o The Scandinavian Acivity Contest's SSB weekend was erroneously reported as coincident with the CW weekend of 21/22 September, but of course, the real weekend for SAC SSB is this coming weekend of 28/29 September. (thanks, Ingo, SM5AJV / 8S5A) ANNOUNCEMENT & NOTICES FOR 25 SEPTEMBER TO 8 OCTOBER 2002 Logs are due for the following contests: o September 30, 2002 - Keyman's Club of Japan Contest - email to: ja1dd@jarl.com, paper logs to: Yasuo Taneda, JA1DD, 279-233 Mori, Sambu-town, Sambu-gun, Chiba 289-1214, Japan o September 30, 2002 - SEANET Contest, CW/SSB/Digital - email to: g3nom@rast.or.th, paper logs to: SEANET Contest 2001, Ray Gerrard, HS0/G3NOM, PO Box 69, Bangkok Airport Post Office 10212, Thailand o September 30, 2002 - Hawaii QSO Party - email to: ah6oz@hawaii.rr.com, paper logs to: Hawaii QSO Party, PO Box 8960788, Wahiawa, HI 96786-0788, USA o October 3, 2002 - MI QRP Club Labor Day CW Sprint - email to: n8cqa@att.net, paper logs to: L.T. Switzer, N8CQA, 427 Jeffrey Avenue, Royal Oak, MI 48073-2521, USA o October 6, 2002 - DARC 10-Meter Digital Contest (September) - email to: f5bx@darc.de, paper logs to: Werner Ludwig, DF5BX, PO Box 1270, 49110 Georgsmarienhuette, Germany o October 8, 2002 - North American Sprint, CW - email to: cwsprint@ncjweb.com, paper logs to: Boring Amateur Radio Club, 15125 Bartell Road, Boring, OR 97009, USA o October 8, 2002 - QRP ARCI End of Summer PSK31 Sprint - email to: foltz@turbonet.com, paper logs to: Randy Foltz, K7TQ, Attn: End of Summer PSK31 Sprint, 809 Leith St., Moscow, ID 83843, USA 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/RJ Worldwide RTTY DX Contest - sponsored by CQ Magazine and The New RTTY Journal, 0000Z Sep 28-2400Z Sep 29. Frequencies: 80-10 meters. Categories: SOAB (LP, HP>150W), SOSB, Assisted (AB only), MS (LP, HP), M2, MM. Exchange: RST + CQ Zone (W/VE stations also send state/province). QSO Points: own country - 1 pt, different country, same continent - 2pts, diff. cont. - 3pts. Score: QSO points x SPC (incl. WAE countries) + CQ Zones counted once per band. For more information - http://www.cq-amateur-radio.com/rtty.html or http://www.rttyjournal.com/rules/cqww.html. Logs due 31 Oct to wwrtty@kkn.net or to CQ/RJ RTTY DX Contest, 25 Newbridge Road, Hicksville, NY 11801 USA Scandinavian Activity Contest - SSB - sponsored by Experimenterende Danske Radioamatorer (EDR), 1200Z Sep 28-1200Z Sep 29. Frequencies: 80-10 meters. Categories: SOAB (QRP <5W, LP <100W, HP), MS, SWL. Exchange: RS(T) + serial number. QSO Points: EU stations - 1 pt, Non-EU - 1 pt on 20-10, 3 pts on 80-40. Finals score is QSO pts × Scandinavian call areas counted once per band. For more information - http://www.sk3bg.se/contest/text/sacnsc.txt. Logs due Oct 31 to sac@contesting.com or EDR HF Contest Manager, Peter Vestergaard OZ5WQ, Vestervej 74, DK-4960 Holeby, Denmark Texas QSO Party - CW/Phone/Digital - sponsored by Northwest Amateur Radio Society (NARS), 1400Z Sep 28-0200Z Sep 29 and 1400Z-2000Z Sep 29. Frequencies: CW - 40 to 60 kHz above bottom of band, Phone - 25 kHz above edge of General segments and 28.300 - 28.500, VHF - 50.2, 144.2 MHz. Categories: SO, SO-QRP (<5W CW, <10W Phone), SO-CW Only, MM, Texas stations only - SO, MO. Exchange: RST + SPC or MM region, TX stations send RST + TX county. QSO Points: Phone - 2 pts, CW/Digital - 3 pts. Score: non-TX stations - QSO points x TX counties, TX stations - QSO points x TX counties+SPC. Multipliers counted once only. For each TX Mobile worked in 5 counties, add 500 points to final score plus 500 points for each 5 additional counties. TX Mobile stations add 5000 points for each 5 counties activated with 5 or more QSOs. For more information - http://www.k5vuu.com/tqp/rules.htm. Logs due 31 Oct to k5vuu@arrl.net or Texas QSO Party Committee, 17007 Hillview Lane, Spring, Texas 77379 Louisiana QSO Party - CW/Phone - sponsored by the Twin City Ham Club, 1400Z Sep 28-0200Z Sep 29 and 1400Z-2000Z Sep 29. Frequencies: 80-2 meters. Categories: SOAB (QRP <5W, LP <150W, HP, CW, Phone, Mixed Mode), MS (QRP, LP, HP, Mixed Mode only). Exchange: RST and SPC or LA parish. QSO Points: Phone - 2 pts, CW - 3 pts. Score: QSO points x LA counties (LA counties use SPC) counted once per band. For more information - http://www.tchams.org/users/contest/laqp. Logs due 31 Oct to laqp@tchams.org or TCHC Contest Committee, PO Box 1871, West Monroe, LA 71294. Alabama QSO Party - CW/Phone - sponsored by the Central Alabama HF/VHF Contesting Club, 1800Z-2400Z Sep 28. Frequencies: 160-10 meters, SSB, CW, and FM contacts count separately. Categories: SO, MS, Rover, QRP(< 5W), LP (< 200 W), HP. Exchange: RST and SPC. Work Rover stations in each county. QSO Points: AL stations count for 2 pts, others 1 pt. Scoring: AL stations - QSO points x SPC counted once per band. Non-AL stations - QSO points x AL counties counted once per band. Rovers add 500 point bonus for each county activated with 10 QSOs or more. For more information - web.dbtech.net/~dxcc/rules1.htm. Logs due 30 days after the contest to dxcc@dbtech.net or Alabama QSO Party, 4525 Eastern Hills Lane, Cottondale, AL 35453. TARA PSK31 Rumble (Fall Classic), sponsored by Troy ARA, 0000Z-2400Z Oct 5. Frequencies: 80-6 meters, work stations once per band. Categories: Club Challenge (see web site), Normal (100W), Great (20W), Super (5W), Novice, SWL. Exchange: Name and SPC. Score: QSO's x (W + VE + JA + VK call areas + 1 point per entity). Multipliers count once per band. For more information - http://www.qsl.net/wm2u/rumble.html or http://www.n2ty.org. Logs must be received by 18 May via the contest web site or email to wm2u@n2ty.org. Oceania DX Contest - Phone, supported by the Wireless Institute of Australia (WIA) and New Zealand Association of Radio Transmitters (NZART), 0800Z Oct 5-0800Z Oct 6 (CW is 0800Z Oct 12-0800Z Oct 13). Frequencies: 160-10 meters, work VK/ZL/Oceania stations only. Categories: SOAB, SOSB, MS, MM, SWL. Exchange: RS(T) and serial number. QSO Points: 160 - 20 pts, 80 - 10 pts, 40 - 5 pts, 20 - 1 pt, 15 - 2 pts, 10 - 3 pts. Score: QSO points × WPX prefixes counted once per band. For more information - http://www.nzart.org.nz/nzart/update/contests/oceania/. Logs due Nov 25 in Cabrillo format to phoctest@nzart.org.nz (CW to cwoctest@nzart.org.nz) or Oceania DX Contest, c/o Wellington Amateur Radio Club Inc., PO Box 6464, Wellington 6030, New Zealand EU Autumn Sprint - SSB, sponsored by the EU Sprint Gang, 1500Z-1859Z Oct 5 (CW is 1500Z-1859Z Oct 12). Frequencies: 80-20 meters, work EU stations only. SOAB category only. Exchange: your call, serial number, name, other station's call. Special QSY rule - see Web site. Score is number of QSOs. For more information - loja.kkn.net/~i2uiy/. Logs due 15 days after the contest to eusprint@kkn.net or Paolo Cortese, I2UIY, PO Box 14, I-27043 Broni (PV), Italy (CW logs to Karel Karmasin, OK2FD, Gen Svobody 636, CZ-674 01 Trebic, Czech Republic). California QSO Party - CW/SSB, sponsored by the Northern California Contest Club, 1600Z Oct 5-2200Z Oct 6. Frequencies: 160-2 meters. Categories: SOAB (HP >100W, LP, QRP <5W), MS, MM, CA County Expedition, Mobile, Novice/Tech, Club, School. SO work 24 hours only. 10-minute rule for MS. CW QSOs in CW subbands, except 160. Work CA stations in each county. County lines count for 1 QSO but multiple counties. Exchange: serial number and SPC or CA county. QSO Points: CW - 3 pts, Phone - 2 pts. Score: QSO points × CA counties (max 58) or CA stations multiply by states and VE call areas (max 58). For more information - http://www.cqp.org. Logs due by Nov 15 to cqp@contesting.com or to Alan Maenchen, AD6E, 3330 Farthing Way, San Jose, CA 95132. QCWA QSO Party - CW/Phone - sponsored by the Quarter Century Wireless Association, 1800Z Oct 5 - 1800Z Oct 6. Frequencies: CW - 1.910, 3.540, 7.035, 14.040, 21.050, 28.050 MHz; Phone - 1.910, 3.890, 7.244, 14.262, 21.365, 28.325 MHz plus all VHF/UHF bands, no crossband or repeater QSOs. 15 QSOs with each station maximum and only one QSO with stations in home QCWA chapter. Exchange: Last two digits of year licensed and QCWA chapter or SPC. QSO Points: Phone -- 1 pt., CW/Digital -- 2 pts. Score: QSO Points x QCWA chapters + SPC counted once per band. W2MM counts as a 3-point multiplier on each band. For information and log sheets, send SASE to QCWA HQ, 159 East 16th Ave., Eugene OR 97401-4017. Send logs to W0HXL, Dick Newsome, 2924 North 48th Street, OMAHA NE 68104-3726, U.S.A. RSGB 21/28 MHz Contest - SSB, sponsored by the RSGB, 0700Z-1900Z Oct 6 (CW is 0700Z-1900Z Oct 20). Frequencies: 15 and 10 meters (see Web site for band plan). Categories: UK and DX SO or MS (Open, Restricted, QRP <10W) and SWL (Open and Restricted). Exchange: serial number and UK district. QSO Points: 3 pts/QSO. Score QSO points x UK districts (UK stations use DXCC entities plus JA, W, VE, VK, ZL and ZS call areas) counted once per band. For more information - http://www.rsgbhfcc.org. Logs due Nov 20 to hf.contests@rsgb.org.uk or to RSGB-G3UFY, 77 Bensham Manor Road, Thornton Heath, Surrey CR7 7AF, England Pro CW Contest - CW, sponsored by the Pro CW Club, 0400Z-0559Z and 0600-0800Z Oct 6. Frequencies: 7 MHz only, work stations once during each two hour period. Categories: SO, MS, Pro-CW member, SWL. Exchange RST + serial number (members send RST + PRO). QSO Points: same country - 1 pt, same continent, diff country - 2 pts, others - 3 pts, QSOs with members count double. Score: QSO points x DXCC entities (count QSO points and mults separately from each two-hour period). Logs due 30 after the contest to Vasile Guirgui YO6EX, PO Box 168, RO-2400 Sibui-1, Romania. NEWS & PRESS RELEASES A lot of press has been dedicated to WRTC2002. Here's some interesting news about another, even larger radiosport event--the international Amateur Radio Direction-Finding Championships. "This year's team of eleven American on-foot foxhunting enthusiasts were up against more than 300 competitors from 28 other nations, and they came within two minutes of bringing home our first medal. Nadia Mayeva from Mooresville, North Carolina took fourth place in her age category by finding all her required transmitters in 109:02. She was edged out by a YL from China, who won the category bronze medal in 107:20. "Gyuri Nagi KF6YKN of Maspeth, New York placed fifth out of 50 in the hotly-contested M40 category. Tthat's males ages 40 through 49. He and his family put on a one-week training camp for members of Team USA near his native hometown in Hungary during the week before the championships. "This was USA's third trip to the World Championships, which are held in even-numbered years at locations chosen by the International Amateur Radio Union. Team members ranged in age from 33 to 60. Co-captains were Dick Arnett WB4SUV of Erlanger, Kentucky and Bob Frey WA6EZV of Cincinnati, Ohio. Karla Leach KC7BLA of Bozeman, Montana represented USA and IARU Region 2 on the International Jury overseeing the competitions. Her assignment was Course Marshal at one of the foxes. "Complete results for all ARDF Team USA members plus lots more information about the sport are now at Team USA's official Web site: http://www.homingin.com. That's homingin - one word - homingin.com." (thanks, ARNewsline (TM) - http://www.arnewsline.org - and John, K1AR) Look for big changes in the way contests are announced in QST as well as revisions to the contest rules posted on the ARRL Web site. Problems with the log handling robot for the September VHF QSO Party have been resolved. Plaques and certificates with the new layout (see http://www.arrl.org/news/stories/2002/09/19/3/?nc=1) are ordered and it is expected that the backlog of shipments will begin soon. If you are interested in sponsoring a plaque for any ARRL contest, please contact Dan Henderson, N1ND, at n1nd@arrl.org. (Thanks Dan, N1ND and the ARRL Contest Desk staff) WriteLog users take note - Steve, N9OH has developed a series of contest modules and plug-ins for WriteLog to add support for more contests. These include the WI, VA, MI, OK, IN, OH, GA, New England, TN, WA (Salmon Run), and IL state QSO parties, as well as the ARS Spartan Sprint. More are on the way as listed at http://www.xnet.com/~sjwoodr/ham/modules. Those of you that use callsign databases, Tim K9TM is trying to get the master database files for this year out by 1 Oct. Things are going well and we have received many many logs (thanks). However, this is one of those tasks where you just can't have too much data. This is a last call for any remaining logs to be included in this release of the database - send them ASAP! For details on what is needed please see my prior post at: http://lists.contesting.com/_cq-contest/2002-August/048923.html and http://lists.contesting.com/_cq-contest/2002-August/048929.html" (Thanks, Tim K9TM) TECHNICAL & TECHNIQUE Who says ham radio doesn't involve chemistry? Here's a handy tip on cleaning copper for soldering jobs. "I had a Copperweld dipole that was so oxidized it would not solder. I wanted to remove the oxide without damaging the copper cladding. If I only had some hydrochloric acid in the house! Looking in the cleaning closet the label on the Lysol toilet bowl cleaner looked promising. so I squirted some on the wire, left it a few minutes and washed it off. The surface was cleaner than new and gave a beautiful solder joint. The stuff is quite viscous so it clings to the wire. It worked much better than the flux I tried in the past. Of course, the viscosity that makes it cling to the wire would also make it cling to the surface of your eye so be careful and wear some glasses." (Thanks Wes, WZ7I) And after we've cleaned off our wires, how do we get them into the trees? A sampling of recent discussion on the subject from the QRP-L reflector (http://qrp.lehigh.edu/lists/qrp-l/) includes these good ideas. If you use a fishing reel, be sure to keep it away from yourself in case of back lash and wear goggles in all cases! Good types of weights include fishing sinkers, particularly conical ones 1.5-2 oz., painted bright colors, discarded tire balancing weights, a hockey puck (requires a 25-lb test line and a strong arm), spark plug sockets or just the spark plug, 20 oz. plastic soda bottles one-third filled with water, baseballs, tennis balls, golf balls with a screw-eye attached, locking sandwich or bean bags filled with sand, and fruit, like lemons or apples (if they get stuck, just pull the line through them). A good way to locate the weight after it's gone over the tree and into the bushes is to use a 20-feet orange fishing leader on the weight. My favorite idea was the K3TKS Antenna Arrow. "It is a 36" aluminum hunting arrow which is crowned with an empty 30.06 cartridge filled with molten lead. I put a small hole in the end of the shaft for the #12 mono-filament line. I use about 60 feet of it which is then tied to heavier Dacron(TM) line. I generally use an old #40 straight bow or compound bow for my antenna fishing." (Thanks George, K3TKS and all the QRP-L contributors) CONVERSATION When Is the Contest Over? Back in the old days of many No. 2 pencils, Operating Aid No. 6, and poor handwriting, contests activity went on much, much longer than the operating period. I'm not talking about making QSOs, of course. The activity involved the laborious counting, sorting, deciphering and copying of the logged data that took days and weeks to complete before finding a No. 9 business envelope and enough postage to hold the logs, dupe sheet, and summary. The time people spent on logs made the annual tax season look like a picnic by comparison. It could truly be said that the contest took 48 hours of yelling and four weeks of paperwork, with the final picture of one's contest only available when the mailman carted off your work to the sponsors. These days we have it so-o-o-o-o easy - just seconds after 0000Z, we type a few characters and almost instantly our entire log package is ready to go. So, without four weeks of poring over scribbles and scratchouts, when is the contest really over? With the greatly improved accuracy and speed of computer logging, how much post-processing is it ethical to perform after the clock ticks the final tick? What other sporting event allows post-event adjustment of the participant's recorded behavior? Except for disqualifications and rare protests, in all other sports the winners are determined at the conclusion of the event. The only parallel to log adjustment that I can think of is a golfer filling out his score card after the hole is completed. To be sure, there must be some accommodation of paper logs and the necessary delays. Perhaps there should be two deadlines - one for paper and one for electronic logs. Maybe there should be a stricter deadline that must be met in order to qualify for awards or certificates. The original log deadlines weeks after the contest were necessary to allow for the delays of manual work and the post office. With the technology available today - databases of calls, log manipulation toolsets, email and reflectors and Web pages - not only can we correct our typos, but we can "sanitize" our logs by cross-checking calls, exchanges, bands, and modes. But is "can" the same as "should"? (Before going further with the discussion, I should be clear that this subject is of concern primarily to those competing for awards or against other entrants. If you are a casual participant handing out a few QSOs, then this isn't such a Big Deal.) Except as based on notations made during the contest, there should be no substantive changes in log content once the contest period is over. Some examples are in order. o - Correcting the exchange for W1AW based on notes made in the contest - OK. o - Changing the exchange for W1AW based on what was received last year - NOT OK. o - Fixing an obvious typo during a post-contest review of the log - QUESTIONABLE. o - Changing a call based on a post-contest summary on the 3830 reflector - NOT OK. o - Correcting a busted call during the contest based on a subsequent contest QSO - OK. o - Changing calls based on post-contest comparison against a database - NOT OK. o - Replaying contest audio to check calls and exchanges - NOT OK. When it's over, it's over. No correlation between Internet databases and your dupe sheet. No emails asking, "Am I in your 160-meter log at high noon?" No reviews of packet spotting logs. If you're computer logging, then typing is just as much part of the contest as keying or tuning. Mistakes in keying count as busted QSOs, why shouldn't typos made in receiving be the same? By all means, review your logs and recorded audio to improve your performance - in the next contest. It's clearly acceptable and desirable to be sure that your submitted package has the best possible description of every QSO you made during the contest. But not the ones you "think" you made, or "should" have made, or "must" have made 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/
