 October 27, 2021 Editor: Paul Bourque, N1SFE | |
IN THIS ISSUE
NEW HF OPERATORS -- THINGS TO DO This weekend (Oct 30, 0000z to Oct 31, 2359z) is the CQ World Wide DX Contest - SSB. If you're new to HF operation, and interested in HF contesting and working DX, there is plenty of opportunity for you to hone your contesting skills while snagging some new countries for your DXCC totals. The exchange is your signal report plus your CQ Zone (example "5/9 08"). If you're unsure of what your CQ Zone is, check out this map. Full rules for the event are at www.cqww.com/rules.htm. CQ WW Contest Director John, K1AR, notes that for 2021, in addition to the new Youth overlay for participants 25 and under (see story below), there's also a a new "Explorer" category to allow experimenters to be creative in their technical approaches to the event. For more information on the Explorer category, visit cqww.com/explorer.htm. CONTEST SUMMARY Complete information for all contests follows the Conversation section October 28 October 29 October 30 November 1 November 2 November 3
November 4
November 5 November 6 November 7 November 8 November 9 November 10
NEWS, PRESS RELEASES, AND GENERAL INTEREST The new Youth category for the CQ World Wide DX Contest will debut October 30 - 31 with the phone weekend. The category covers contesters age 25 or younger and applies to both the phone and CW weekends (CW, November 27 - 28). International Amateur Radio Union (IARU) Region 2 (the Americas) is one of several organizations sponsoring plaques for the top young scorers. In Region 2, plaques will be awarded to the top Youth score in each CQ WW event in North America and South America -- four in all. Youth plaques are sponsored by other entities for participants from all continents in both events. The ARRL November Sweepstakes (SS) weekends are coming up shortly. The CW weekend is November 6 - 8, while the phone weekend is November 20 - 22. Both events begin on Saturday at 2100 UTC and conclude on Monday at 0259 UTC. The SS offers operating categories for every preference. The goal for many seasoned SS operators is to complete a "clean sweep" by contacting all 84 ARRL and Radio Amateurs of Canada (RAC) Sections. Some Sections are harder to contact than others. Northern Territories (NT) is always a challenge, but there's a slim chance that snagging NT could be easier this year. Gerry Hull, W1VE (also VE1RM), is hoping to operate as VY1AAA for both weekends, using "J" Allen's, VY1JA, Yukon Territory station remotely from the US. Now in his mid-70s, Allen essentially retired from ham radio a few years ago due to health issues, but he's bounced back this year with renewed enthusiasm and working to get a station and antennas ready for Hull to operate. "VY1JA is now in re-construction," Allen says on his QRZ.com profile. "There is only a small chance that it will be done and on the air for SS CW this year. If so, signals may be weaker than in the past, with only a 100 W Omni VII and wire antennas. Plans for building an amp failed, and antenna work has taken far longer than expected." Hull said if Allen does manage to erect the antenna support tower, VY1AAA will have inverted V antennas for 20 and 40 meters, which Hull considers "the money bands from Yukon on CW." "So, hoping for good weather and good health for J, and then we might have VY1AAA on for the masses for SS CW," he said. Hull said if the CW weekend is successful, he'll consider also operating in the phone event. Logs are due within 7 days after the event is over. Certificates will be awarded in the top operator CW and Phone scores in each category in each ARRL/RAC Section and Division, and plaques will be awarded to the Overall and Division winners. Icom America is the principal awards sponsor. An operating guide that relates some of the history and evolution of these North American contests is available under "Operating Guidelines" on the ARRL November Sweepstakes page. Don't let those solar storms scare you into turning off your radios! Even with compromise antennas, you never know what you might hear. Gordon, NW7D, shared the following: "I saw on the solar weather reporting stats that we're having a G2 solar storm. I therefore thought that radio conditions would be terrible but turned the rig on anyway to see what was happening with FT8 on 20M. To my surprise, the DX was astounding, and I worked a Russian DXpedition in the country of Eswatina (formerly Swaziland), Africa. My signal report was '+00', a very strong signal for FT8 - especially for a path of 10,200 miles. Their call is 3DA0RU and they have a very interesting expedition website at https://3da0.ru/en/ The excitement of successfully working DX and contests with such a relatively small 12' antenna hasn't worn off yet for me. Having owned two previous towers and Yagis, and then subsequently three hexbeams, I thought I would be all done working serious DX after I moved to an HOA but the Scorpion antenna has enabled me to be a serious DX'er again. I am also a RTTY contester and I've been able to work about 90% of the contest stations that I could decode in two recent RTTY contests, again including a lot of DX." RESULTS AND RECORDS Mark, K6UFO, writes. "No supply chain problems here! The award certificates for the NA CW Sprint, and all three NAQP contests (CW SSB and RTTY) are available online at the National Contest Journal website." Full results for the ARRL June VHF contest have been released and are available at contests.arrl.org, as well as in the December issue of QST. In addition to the full results article, line scores and downloadable certificates are also available. OPERATING TIPS CQWW SSB 40M Frequencies: Martin, G3ZAY, reminds ops they should listen down in the Region 1 phone band, below 7200 kHz when the band is open to Europe. He notes that every year around 0500-0800 he hears stations, particularly multipliers in the Caribbean, CQing above 7200 with few takers, while they could get a Europe pileup if they'd listen below 7200. He says, "It's very frustrating!" -via The Daily DX If you're looking into improving your contest score from last year, a good suggestion is to take a look at the Log Checking Report (LCR) that many contest sponsors provide. The LCR can provide useful information on common operating and logging mistakes that occur, even with the most seasoned operators. Suggested reading - Doug Grant's, K1DG's, article "What You Can Learn from Your Log-Checking Report" in the July/August 2019 issue of National Contest Journal. ARRL members can access NCJ free with their membership. You can also access a PDF of the article. TECHNICAL TOPICS AND INFORMATION Tom, N1MM, announced earlier this month the release of a new version of N1MM Logger + (Version 1.0.9319). New features include:
If you're planning on climbing your tower to make some last minute adjustments to your system for the fall contest season, Ward, N0AX, and other seasoned tower climbers offer some advice on dealing with wasps and other stinging insects:
Be sure to check whether you are allergic to wasp venom and carry medication such as an EpiPen if you need it. Benadryl (an antihistamine) and any meat tenderizer containing papain (an enzyme that neutralizes wasp and bee venom) can also be useful if you are stung. It's also important to keep calm and don't panic or overreact if wasps are present. Have a plan and be prepared! CONVERSATION Submit your log, no matter how big or small! All contest participants, whether they are serious contesters or just casual operators, should submit their log to the contest sponsor. Submitting logs assists the contest sponsor with the scoring of the contest, as QSOs are cross-checked against the logs of stations that are worked. Additionally, contest sponsors allocate resources to contests based upon the total number of logs submitted, assisting them in gauging how much activity there is in each event. If you do make a few casual contacts in a contest, and do not submit a log, the stations you worked will not be penalized. For example, if you made a few contacts in the contest to "hand out points" to other contesters, your QSOs with them would be considered as "unique." Uniques are call signs that appear in only a few logs that were submitted by the stations that worked you. Lastly, you might be surprised at how well you might do in a contest, even if your QSO count is low. For example, I submitted a contest log that contained only 5 QSOs, which ended up not only being a division winner, but also scored in the top ten in W/VE in the category that I entered! Keep those logs coming in! That's all we've got in the log for you 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 CONTESTS 28-Oct - 10-Nov 2021 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 Oct 28, 0300z to Oct 28, 0400z; CW; Bands: 160, 80, 40, 20, 15, 10; Member: Name + Member No./"CWA", non-Member: Name + (state/province/country); Logs due: Oct 30. CWops Mini-CWT Test Oct 28, 0700z to Oct 28, 0800z; CW; Bands: 160, 80, 40, 20, 15, 10; Member: Name + Member No./"CWA", non-Member: Name + (state/province/country); Logs due: Oct 30 RTTYOPS Weeksprint Oct 28, 1700z to Oct 28, 1900z; RTTY; Bands: 80, 40, 20; [other station's call] + [your call] + [serial no.] + [your name]; Logs due: Nov 4. EACW Meeting Oct 28, 1900z to Oct 28, 2000z; CW; Bands: 80, 40; EACW Member: RST + Member No. + Nickname, EA non-Member: RST + Nickname + EA province, non-EA: RST + Nickname + DXCC prefix; Logs due: Oct 30. RSGB 80m Autumn Series, SSB Oct 28, 2000z to Oct 28, 2130z; SSB; Bands: 80; RS + Serial No.; Logs due: Oct 31. NCCC RTTY Sprint Oct 29, 0145z to Oct 29, 0215z; RTTY; Bands: (see rules); Serial No. + Name + QTH; Logs due: Oct 31. NCCC Sprint Oct 29, 0230z to Oct 29, 0300z; CW; Bands: (see rules); Serial No. + Name + QTH; Logs due: Oct 31. Zombie Shuffle Oct 29, 1600z to Oct 29, 2359z; CW; Bands: 80, 40, 20; RS(T) + (state/province/country) + (Zombie number/area code) + name; Logs due: Nov 15. K1USN Slow Speed Test Oct 29, 2000z to Oct 29, 2100z; CW; Bands: 160, 80, 40, 20, 15, 10; Maximum 20 wpm, Name + (state/province/country); Logs due: Oct 31. CQ Worldwide DX Contest, SSB Oct 30, 0000z to Oct 31, 2359z; SSB; Bands: 160, 80, 40, 20, 15, 10; RS + CQ Zone No.; Logs due: Nov 5. K1USN Slow Speed Test Nov 1, 0000z toNov 1, 0100z; CW; Bands: 160, 80, 40, 20, 15, 10; Maximum 20 wpm, Name + (state/province/country); Logs due: Nov 3. Silent Key Memorial Contest Nov 1, 0600z to Nov 1, 0859z; CW; Bands: 80, 40; RST + SK call sign you wish to recognize; Logs due: Nov 15. RSGB 80m Autumn Series, Data Nov 1, 2000z to Nov 1, 2130z; RTTY, PSK; Bands: 80; RST + Serial No.; Logs due: Nov 4. ARS Spartan Sprint Nov 2, 0100z to Nov 2, 0300z; CW; Bands: 80, 40, 20, 15, 10; RST + (state/province/country) + Power; Logs due: Nov 4. Worldwide Sideband Activity Contest Nov 2, 0100z to Nov 2, 0159z; SSB; Bands: 160, 80, 40, 20, 15, 10, 6; RS + age group (OM, YL, Youth YL or Youth); Logs due: Nov 3 Phone Weekly Test - Fray Nov 3, 0230z to Nov 3, 0300z; SSB; Bands: 160, 80, 40, 20, 15; NA: Name +" (state/province/country), non-NA: Name; Logs due: Nov 5. CWops Mini-CWT Test Nov 3, 1300z to Nov 3, 1400z; CW; Bands: 160, 80, 40, 20, 15, 10; Member: Name + Member No./CWA, non-Member: Name + (state/province/country); Logs due: Nov 6. CWops Mini-CWT Test Nov 3, 1900z to Nov 3, 2000z; CW; Bands: 160, 80, 40, 20, 15, 10; Member: Name + Member No./"CWA", non-Member: Name + (state/province/country); Logs due: Nov 6. UKEICC 80m Contest Nov 3, 2000z to Nov 3, 2100z; SSB; Bands: 80; 6-Character grid square; Logs due: Nov 3. Walk for the Bacon QRP Contest Nov 4, 0000z to Nov 5, 0300z; CW; Bands: 40; Maximum 13 wpm, RST + (state/province/country) + Name + (Member No./power); Logs due: Nov 11. CWops Mini-CWT Test Nov 4, 0300z to Nov 4, 0400z; CW; Bands: 160, 80, 40, 20, 15, 10; Member: Name + Member No./"CWA", non-Member: Name + (state/province/country); Logs due: Nov 6. CWops Mini-CWT Test Nov 4, 0700z to Nov 4, 0800z; CW; Bands: 160, 80, 40, 20, 15, 10; Member: Name + Member No./"CWA", non-Member: Name + (state/province/country); Logs due: Nov 6. RTTYOPS Weeksprint Nov 4, 1700z to Nov 4, 1900z; RTTY; Bands: 80, 40, 20; [other station's call] + [your call] + [serial no.] + [your name]; Logs due: Nov 11. NRAU 10m Activity Contest Nov 4, 1800z to Nov 4, 2200z; CW, SSB, FM, Digital; Bands: 10; RS(T) + 6-character grid square; Logs due: Nov 18. EACW Meeting Nov 4, 1900z to Nov 4, 2000z; CW; Bands: 80, 40; EACW Member: RST + Member No. + Nickname, EA non-Member: RST + Nickname + EA province, non-EA: RST + Nickname + DXCC prefix; Logs due: Nov 6. SKCC Sprint Europe Nov 4, 2000z to Nov 4, 2200z; CW; Bands: 160, 80, 40, 20, 15, 10, 6; RST + (state/province/country) + Name + (SKCC No./"NONE"); Logs due: Nov 11. NCCC RTTY Sprint Nov 5, 0145z to Nov 5, 0215z; RTTY; Bands: (see rules); Serial No. + Name + QTH; Logs due: Nov 7. NCCC Sprint Nov 5, 0230z to Nov 5, 0300z; CW; Bands: (see rules); Serial No. + Name + QTH; Logs due: Nov 7. K1USN Slow Speed Test Nov 5, 2000z to Nov 5, 2100z; CW; Bands: 160, 80, 40, 20, 15, 10; Maximum 20 wpm, Name + (state/province/country); Logs due: Nov 7. IPARC Contest CW, Nov 6, 0500z to Nov 6, 1200z; CW; Bands: 80, 40, 20, 15, 10; USA IPA Members: RST + Serial No. + "IPA" + State, non-USA IPA Members: RST + Serial No. + "IPA", non-IPA Members: RST + Serial No.; Logs due: Nov 30. Ukrainian DX Contest Nov 6, 1200zto Nov 7, 1200z; CW, SSB; Bands: 160, 80, 40, 20, 15, 10; Ukraine: RS(T) + 2-letter oblast, non-Ukraine: RS(T) + Serial No.; Logs due: Dec 7. ARRL Sweepstakes Contest CW, Nov 6, 2100z to Nov 8, 0300z; CW; Bands: 160, 80, 40, 20, 15, 10; Serial No. + Precedence (Q/A/B/U/M/S) + [your call sign] + Check + ARRL/RAC Section; Logs due: Nov 15. IPARC Contest, SSB Nov 7, 0500z to Nov 7, 1200z; SSB; Bands: 80, 40, 20, 15, 10; USA IPA Members: RS + Serial No. + "IPA" + State, non-USA IPA Members: RS + Serial No. + "IPA", non-IPA Members: RS + Serial No.; Logs due: Nov 30. EANET Sprint Nov 7, 0800z to Nov 7, 1200z; Any; Bands: Any; RS(T); Logs due: Nov 17. High Speed Club CW Contest Nov 7, 1400z to Nov 7, 1700z; CW; Bands: 80, 40, 20, 15, 10; Members: RST + HSC No., non-Members: RST + "NM"; Logs due: Nov 21. K1USN Slow Speed Test Nov 8, 0000z to Nov 8, 0100z; CW; Bands: 160, 80, 40, 20, 15, 10; Maximum 20 wpm, Name + (state/province/country); Logs due: Nov 10. Worldwide Sideband Activity Contest Nov 9, 0100z to Nov 9, 0159z; SSB; Bands: 160, 80, 40, 20, 15, 10, 6; RS + age group (OM, YL, Youth YL or Youth); Logs due: Nov 10. RTTYOPS Weeksprint Nov 9, 1700z to Nov 9, 1900z; RTTY; Bands: 80, 40, 20; [other station's call] + [your call] + [serial no.] + [your name]; Logs due: Nov 16. Phone Weekly Test - Fray Nov 10, 0230z to Nov 10, 0300z; SSB; Bands: 160, 80, 40, 20, 15; NA: Name + (state/province/country), non-NA: Name; Logs due: Nov 12. CWops Mini-CWT Test Nov 10, 1300z to Nov 10, 1400z; CW; Bands: 160, 80, 40, 20, 15, 10; Member: Name + Member No./"CWA", non-Member: Name + (state/province/country); Logs due: Nov 13. CWops Mini-CWT Test Nov 10, 1900z to Nov 10, 2000z; CW; Bands: 160, 80, 40, 20, 15, 10; Member: Name + Member No./"CWA", non-Member: Name + (state/province/country); Logs due: Nov 13. RSGB 80m Autumn Series, SSB Nov 10, 2000z to Nov 10, 2130z; SSB; Bands: 80; RS + Serial No.; Logs due: Nov 13. VHF+ CONTESTS VHF-UHF FT8 Activity Contest Nov 3, 1700z to Nov 3, 2000z; FT8; Bands: 144 MHz; 4-character grid square; Logs due: Nov 8. VHF-UHF FT8 Activity Contest Nov 10, 1700z to Nov 10, 2000z; FT8; Bands: 432 MHz; 4-character grid square; Logs due: Nov 15. Two-Meter Classic Sprint Nov 6, 1300z to Nov 6, 1330z; CW, SSB; Bands: 2; Serial No. + 4-character grid square; Logs due: Nov 9. LOG DUE DATES October 28 October 29 October 30 October 31
November 1 November 2 November 3 November 4 November 5 November 6 November 7 November 8 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 a choice of one print magazine: QST, the monthly membership journal, or On the Air, ARRL's new bimonthly publication for beginner and intermediate hams. All ARRL members can access all four ARRL magazines -- QST, On the Air, NCJ, and QEX - digitally. 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, The Daily DX, and Rick Lindquist, WW1ME. | |
 | |
Fall is a busy season for that last bit of antenna work before northern winter. Wasps and similar insects are also active but for different reasons - they are mating in preparation for wintering over and re-colonizing in the spring. During this period, towers and other tall structures act as gathering points for wasps, leading to interactions with tower climbers. Unless there is an actual nest (always check first with binoculars!), the mostly male wasps aren't aggressive at this time, but stings might occur if they are threatened. (See the "Control" section of
