[HCRA] 10 Meter Contest This Weekend

[Matt Wilhelm (W1MSW)]

Hello Fellow HCRA Members,

This is a reminder that the 10 meter contest is this weekend and we will
again be participating not only as individuals, but also as a club. The
band has had some great openings over the last couple months, so there is
some potential to see quite a bit of activity during the contest.

A couple of things to remember:

   - For HCRA to get credit for your score, you must have "Hampden County
   Radio Association" spelled out in the "CLUB" field in the cabrillio file
   you submit to ARRL after the contest (ex. CLUB: Hampden County Radio
   Association)
   - If you use ANY assistance (ie Cluster Network, Facebook, QRZ.com,
   Telephone, etc), you need to change your operating category to Multi-Single
   instead of Single-Op.
   - Work on setting up logging NOW and not 10 minutes before the contest.
   - READ THE RULES!!!  It can seem daunting, but they're not too
   complicated, just detailed.  Knowing what to expect makes all the
   difference in the world.
   - If you don't understand something, let us know and we'll do our best
   to explain and help get you going.
   - DD gift cards will be awarded to anyone who scores over 100K.
   - HAVE FUN!  Don't get hung up on the equipment that you have compared
   to what others are using or how everyone else is doing.  Just focus on your
   own operating and try to do better than the year before or if you've never
   operated in the contest, set a baseline to try to beat next year.  We do
   this because it's fun!

When the contest is over, please send me your claimed score and QSO
breakdown so we can update the HCRA page. Below are few useful links for
more information. Again, don't hesitate to ask questions if there is
something you don't understand. Also, if you need a place to operate or
want to try HF for the first time, let us know and we might be able to find
a station where you can guest op.

KK1W's 10 Meter Contest Tutorial:
http://www.hcra.org/2012/11/20/arrl-10-meter-contest-tutorial/

General Rules for all ARRL Contests:
http://www.arrl.org/general-rules-for-all-arrl-contests

10 meter contest rules in addition to the general rules:
http://www.arrl.org/10-meter

Contest basics for those new to contesting:
http://www.arrl.org/contest-basics

A deeper look into contesting:
http://www.arrl.org/contest-toolbox-tutorials

GL ES 73 DE W1MSW