[ETS/PARC List] ARRL 10 Meter Contest this weekend

[Drew Moore]

This weekend brings an opportunity for Technician licensees to exercise
their HF privileges and have fun at the same time. The ARRL 10 Meter
Contest is set to begin at 0000 UTC on Saturday December 13 (this is
Friday evening in the US) and runs through 2359 UTC on Sunday, December
14 <http://www.arrl.org/contests/rules/2008/10-meters.html>.

"Anyone having tuned across 10 meters lately might think the band is
uninhabited," said ARRL Contest Branch Manager Sean Kutzko, KX9X, "but
on Friday afternoon, activity will increase dramatically. We're at the
bottom of the solar sunspot cycle, so the worldwide band openings of a
few years ago won't be happening, but the 10 Meter Contest brings
hundreds -- or more! -- of stations to the band."

Kutzko said that the contest "concentrates the activity, so all sorts of
interesting contacts take place via local line-of-sight, sporadic-E and
all kinds of scatter modes -- even meteor scatter!"

If you would like to try your hand at HF operating, Kutzko recommends a
radio that can operate SSB (and CW, if you know Morse code) from 28.000
to about 28.500 MHz, as that's where most of the contest activity takes
place; SSB activity will be between 28.300-28.500 MHz (listen to beacon
stations located between 28.200-28.300 MHz to check for band openings).

If you need an antenna for 10 meters, ARRL Contributing Editor H. Ward
Silver, N0AX, suggests using a full-size CB mobile whip trimmed to about
98 inches in length, but a dipole is also easy to make, he explains:
"Cut two pieces of wire (any size from #12 to #20) to a length of 98
inches and strip the end of a piece of RG-8X or RG-213 coax. Solder the
shield braid to one length of wire and the center conductor to the
other. Stretch out the wires and attach each free end to an insulator,
such as a piece of PVC pipe or Plexiglass. You've just made a dipole!"
You should then attach some thin cord or rope to the opposite side of
each insulator and then hoist the dipole up in the air between a couple
of trees or whatever supports you have -- it doesn't have to be very
high. Check out this article on how to make dipoles on the ARRL Web
site.

Once you tune into the contest, Kutzko said, you'll hear stations
calling "CQ Contest" and giving their call sign. Another station will
call them and they'll transmit a short message called the exchange. US
and Canadian amateurs give a signal report (just "59" will do fine) and
their state. If you hear a DX station, likely to be from South America
or the Pacific -- they'll give the signal report and the sequential
serial number (starting with 001) of the QSO in this contest (if you are
their 187th QSO, you will receive "187" as part of their exchange to
you). For example, if K7CEX hears W5KFT, the sequence might go like
this:

CQ Contest from W5KFT
W5KFT from K7CEX
K7CEX you are 59 in Texas
W5KFT from K7CEX you are 59 in Washington
Thanks, CQ Contest from W5KFT

"Your best chances of making a contact are during the middle daylight
hours of Saturday and Sunday, due to propagation considerations," Kutzko
advises. "But I do have to warn you -- this simple contest can keep you
busy for hours as you chase new states and even different countries!
There is no need to sit on the sidelines for this fun event -- get on
the air and enjoy your Technician license to the fullest!"