[Elecraft] ARRL DX: 100!

[Tom Hammond NØSS]

John:

CONGRATULATIONS ON YOUR FIRST CONTEST, and almost your first HF operation, 
it appears.

I've deleted the text of your message but enjoyed reading it THOROUGHLY!

Contesting is a completely different manner of operating from just about 
any other operating. Fast 'n furious, little time to really sit & think, 
REALLY works to develop your proficiency in whatever mode you are using, 
makes you LISTEN and CONCENTRATE. Forces you to pick the most appropriate 
band to use in order to maximize your signal into the DX location(s), and 
to maximize QSL rates.

For a newbie contester, 40M can be a can of worms. Most (thought not 
totally all) DX stations TRANSMIT way down in the band... usually around 
7040-7060, but sometimes down as low as 7030. They LISTEN for US stations 
UP in the US phone band (7150-7300), and they also listen for calls from DX 
stations on their own frequency. So, US stations must first FIND the DX 
('down' in the band) they want to work, listen for him to give the 
frequency he's listening on, set their rig to SPLIT operation, and then 
move their TX frequency UP in the US band to call the DX station. It's an 
'active' operation when working DX in a contest on 40M. There are a few DX 
countries which can operate IN the US ham bands, but most cannot.

On all the other bands virtually all contest DX-to-US QSOs are made 'on 
frequency', where you hear 'em, you call 'em, you work 'em.

Time, and repeated operation will help you to exorcise those pesky 
'nervous' demons... it just takes doing it over and over, but they'll 
disappear much more quickly that you expect, once you get into the 'rhythm' 
of operating.

Though I'm not certain you were serious about a couple of your questions, 
I'll attempt to respond to them anyway:

Multipliers - In most DX contests, a 'multiplier' is a new country worked. 
In some contests you count a new country multiplier only once, no matter 
how many bands you work it on, in other contests, if you work the same DX 
country in 5 bands, you then have five mults. When all the shouting and 
hair pulling's done, the final score is #QSOs X Mults = Final Score. 
Sometimes it's don't on a band-by-band basis... 10M QSOs X 10M Mults = 10M 
Score, 15M QSOs X 15M Mults = 15M Score, ... Then all the band-scores are 
tallied for the final score. You must read the rules for each different 
contest to tell how the scores are developed. Some contests use SCP 
(States, Countries, Provinces), others might use counties, member numbers, 
just about anything THAT contest considers to be THE defining item in THEIR 
contest. The CQ WPX contest counts different callsign PREFIXES as its 
multipliers.

DXCC - An Award given by the ARRL to an operator who has worked and 
CONFIRMED (via QSLs) 100 different 'countries'. There are also 
'endorsements' for # DXCC countries worked above the 100 level. One K2 
owner, who will probably announce his success sometime in the near future, 
has worked nearly 300(!!!) DXCC countries since having built his K2 a year 
or so ago. I'll not mention his call, and allow him to do that a bit later.

Good luck, and again, congratulations for your first DX, and your first DX 
contest as well.

73,

Tom Hammond   N0SS