[HCRA] more 10m contest stuff

[Mike N0HI]

Since it doesn't look like I'll be competing in this year's 10m contest 
(much to my dismay), I figured it wouldn't hurt to give away some of the 
stuff I had written down for this one since about 2001 or so.  The 
regulars might have more to add to this, too.  You can really boost your 
score (and the club's aggregate) by following some pretty simple tricks.

Exchange: U.S. and Canada send signal report and state/province.  DX 
stations send signal report and sequential serial number.  Maritime 
mobile stations send signal report and ITU region.  Most of us in 
Hampden County will send "599 MA" (or "59 MA" on phone).

Multipliers: Each U.S. state plus DC, Canadian provinces, DXCC countries 
(except U.S. and Canada), and ITU regions for maritime mobile stations.  
This means that working Connecticut for the first time on a mode is the 
same multiplier as working England for the first time on a mode.  To 
maximize score, work as much of the U.S. as you can, but remember to 
work and RUN Europeans as soon as they become available (they may not be 
there for long).  They count once per mode, so if you work K0RF in 
Colorado for a multiplier on phone, you can work him again for a 
multiplier on CW.  If you work 2E0SQL in England for a multiplier on 
phone, you can work him again for a multiplier on CW.  And so on.

Mode: If you are a single operator, you can enter phone-only or 
CW-only.  If you are a multiop, you are automatically in the mixed 
class.  Since CW Q's count double (2pts for a phone Q, 4 for a CW Q), 
you'll need to be making CW Q's in a multiop to be even remotely 
competitive.  Along these same lines, if you use spotting assistance 
(i.e. the cluster), you are placed into the multioperator class -- even 
if you are the only one operating!  So be careful not to log into a 
cluster node as a single op phone-only; you'll have to enter multiop and 
compete with the big dogs (who are making LOTS and LOTS of CW Q's).  All 
CW contacts must happen beneath 28.300, but that's the CW edge anyway, 
so this shouldn't be an issue.

Dupes: You may work stations once per mode.  As with any contest, 
logging dupes DOES NOT hurt your score.  In fact, telling someone he is 
a dupe and refusing to work him can actually hurt your score (not to 
mention it takes longer).  In short, work AND LOG dupes.  If you are 
using N3FJP, his software won't let you work dupes; I don't know why, 
but it doesn't make sense.  http://www.n1mm.com

Logs: Remember to submit your log by January 13.  For club affiliation, 
write "Hampden County Radio Assn".  Don't spell out "association," just 
write "Assn".  We discovered this in the past, and though I'm not sure 
if it has changed, don't confuse the robot any more than you need to.

Cluster: My node will be off the air for this contest, unfortunately.  
We cooked the server and I won't be back to fix it until the Sunday of 
the contest.  Luckily, there are thousands of other telnet nodes (and a 
few local RF nodes) that you can connect to.  AD1C has collected 
information on many of them at http://www.dxcluster.info.  Log into your 
node of choice as early as possible, as with any contest.  Set filters 
for this one -- it makes a big difference to only see spots from W1 
spotters, versus seeing DX spots you can't possibly hear from DX 
spotters.  If you want to know more about setting filters, email me and 
I'll walk you through.

Other useful stuff: Should you work a multiplier on phone that you need 
on CW too, ask him to move down there, especially late in the contest 
when multipliers are scarce.  When the band starts to die, listen for 
local stations -- usually, as a m0r0n, I head to the m0r0n frequency 
(28.412.58) and work other m0r0ns (KK1W, KX1X, et al).  CALL CQ; if you 
have only a low dipole or similar, the angles on 10 seem to steepen up 
around late-morning and you can probably get a run going if you are 
crafty enough.  Just make sure you've worked as much as you can with 
search-and-pounce first.

Don't forget to read the 10m contest write-up on the HCRA website.  Jim 
has a lot of info in a tutorial format.  This is an easy contest.  If 
you've never tried a contest before, just swing by 10 and listen.  
You'll be surprised at the number of stations (some of which will be 
DX), and also by just how easy they are to work.  Contesters are 
conditioned to pull even the weakest signals out...we want and we need 
to work you!  If you are a technician, you can still enter this one and 
be very competitive within your frequency limits during the low end of 
the cycle.  Finally, don't forget to send a summary to the club 
reflector so we can see how you did!

73' KB

-- 
Mike DeChristopher, N0HI
http://www.n0hi.net
telnet://cluster.n0hi.net