[LeArc] Contest Rate Sheet 8 May 2002
Joseph L. Rossmiller
[email protected]
Wed, 08 May 2002 10:55:00 -0500
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Contest Rate Sheet
8 May 2002
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Edited by Ward Silver, N0AX
SUMMARY
o Armed Forces Day this weekend!
o Anatolian WW RTTY contest ownership in dispute -- rules confusion
o MRRC changes Ohio QSO Party dates
o New Awards Reflector
o Unbypassed rectifiers generate interference while you're transmitting
BULLETINS
o This information was submitted too late for Contest Corral. It's not
really a contest, but I know a lot of contesters like to participate.
The Army, Air Force, Navy, Marine Corps, and Coast Guard are
co-sponsoring the annual Military/Amateur Radio communications tests in
celebration of the 52nd Anniversary of Armed Forces Day. Although the
actual Armed Forces Day is celebrated on Saturday, May 18, 2002, the
Armed Forces Day Military/Amateur Crossband Communications Test will be
conducted on May 11, 2002 (local) so as not to conflict with the Dayton
Hamvention which is on the same weekend (17-19 May, 2002) as the actual
Armed Forces Day. For more information, including an extensive list of
station schedules and frequencies, see
http://www.asc.army.mil/mars/afd/mars_afd.htm. (Thanks, John N1KB)
BUSTED QSOS
o Anatolian WW RTTY Contest - there is a dispute as to who is sponsoring
this contest; ANARAD or TA9J. Ismail Cakmak TA9J has been the contest
manager in past years, but is no longer a member of ANARAD. Depending on
whose rules you choose to follow, the contest runs from 1800 UTC Friday
17 May to 2100 UTC Saturday 18 May, 2002 (TA9J's rules) or from 0000 UTC
Saturday 18 May to 2359 UTC Sunday 19 May 2002 (ANARAD). Otherwise, the
rules are the same with logs due on 1 July (TA9J) and 1 December
(ANARAD). The ANARAD web site rules are at
http://www.qsl.net/ta4kg/rtty/kurallar.html. TA9J's rules are available
via the SM3CER web site at http://www.sk3bg.se/contest/anwwryc.htm. Note
that the ownership of the Anatolian WW PSK31 Contest scheduled for
November is also affected. I apologize for any confusion -- note that
the rules printed in May QST "Contest Corral" list ANARAD as the
sponsor.
ANNOUNCEMENT & NOTICES FOR 8 MAY TO 21 MAY
Logs are due for the following contests:
o May 1, 2002 BARTG Spring RTTY Contest - email to:
[email protected], paper logs to: John Barber, GW4SKA, PO Box 611,
Cardiff CF2 4UN, Wales
o May 1, 2002 Russian DX Contest - email to: [email protected],
paper logs to: Russian DX Contest, P.O. Box 88, 123459 Moscow, Russia
o May 1, 2002 CQWW WPX Contest, SSB - email to: (Cabrillo only)
[email protected] (non-Cabrillo) [email protected], paper logs to: (see
http://home.woh.rr.com/wpx/ for info)
o May 5, 2002 UBA Spring Contest, SSB - email to: [email protected] , paper
logs to: Lode Kenens, ON6KL, Oudestraat 8, B-3560 Lummen, Belgium
o May 5, 2002 EU Spring Sprint, CW - email to: [email protected] , paper
logs to: Paolo Cortese, I2UIY, PO Box 14, 27043 Broni (PV), Italy
o May 7, 2002 Missouri QSO Party - email to: [email protected], paper
logs to: James I. Kinser, N0AJ, 2147 Encino Drive, Florissant, MO
63031-7627 USA
o May 7, 2002 QCWA QSO Party - paper logs only to: Dick Newsome, W0HXL,
2924 North 48th Street, Omaha, NE 68104-3726 USA
o May 7, 2002 222 MHz Spring Sprint - email to: [email protected],
paper logs to: 222 MHz Spring Sprint, ETDXA/KG4ENR, Jeff J. Baker, 8218
Foxworth Trail, Powell, TN 37849, USA
o May 10, 2002 MARAC County Hunter Contest, SSB - E-mail
(US):[email protected], (non-US) [email protected], paper logs to: (US)
Duane Traver, WV2B, 99 Oregon Hill Rd., Lisle, NY 13797-1002, USA,
(non-US) Scott Nichols, VE1OP, 387 Rudderham Rd., Point Edward, NS B2A
4V6, Canada
o May 10, 2002 EA RTTY Contest - email to: [email protected], paper logs
to: EA RTTY Contest Manager, Antonio Alcolado, EA1MV, PO Box 240,
E-09400 Aranda de Duero (Burgos), Spain
o May 11, 2002 DX YL to NA YL Contest, CW - paper logs only to: Jeanie
Parker, WA6UVF, 28400 Vista del Valle, Hemet, CA 92544, USA
o May 14, 2002 QRP ARCI Spring QSO Party - email to:
[email protected], paper logs to: Randy Foltz, K7TQ, Attn: Spring QSO
Party, 809 Leith St., Moscow, ID 83843, USA
o May 15, 2002 432 MHz Spring Sprint - email to:
[email protected], paper logs to: 432 MHz Spring Sprint,
ETDXA/KG4ENR, Jeff J. Baker, 8218 Foxworth Trail, Powell, TN 37849, USA
o May 18, 2002 DX YL to NA YL Contest, SSB - paper logs only to: Jeanie
Parker, WA6UVF, 28400 Vista del Valle, Hemet, CA 92544, USA
o May 18, 2002 TARA Spring Wakeup PSK31 Rumble - Post results at:
http://www.qsl.net/wm2u/score.html, paper logs to: Ernest Mills, WM2U,
9 Morningside Dr., Ballston Lake, NY 12019-1531, USA
o May 18, 2002 Helvetia Contest - email to: [email protected], paper logs
to: Hermann Stein, HB9CRV, Bruelmatten 13, CH-4410 Liestal BL,
Switzerland
o May 20, 2002 Michigan QSO Party - email to: [email protected], paper
logs to: Mad River Radio Club, c/o Dave Pruett, 2727 Harris Road,
Ypsilanti, MI 48198, USA
o May 21, 2002 YU DX Contest - email to: [email protected],, paper logs to:
Savez radio-amatera Jugoslavije, YU DX Contest, P.O. Box 48, 11001
Beograd, Yugoslavia
The following contests are scheduled:
Nevada QSO Party - CW/SSB/RTTY - sponsored by the Frontier Amateur Radio
Society from 0000Z, May 11 to 0600Z, May 12. Frequencies: 160 -- 6
meters, CW 15 kHz and SSB 25 kHz above General class band edge.
Exchange: RST and S/P/C or Nevada county. QSO Points: SSB -- 1 pt,
CW/RTTY -- 2 pts. Score is QSO Points x Nevada counties or S/P/C
counted only once. Logs must be emailed or postmarked by June 15th to
[email protected] or to NW7O, Jim Frye, 4120 Oakhill Ave., Las Vegas, NV
89121-6319.
Oregon QSO Party -- CW/SSB - sponsored by the Central Oregon DX Club,
1400Z, May 11 to 0200Z, May 12. Frequencies: CW 1815 kHz and 40 kHz
above band edge, SSB 1855, 3900, 7240, 14280, 21390, 28390 kHz, no
repeater QSOs. Exchange: RS(T) and OR county or S/P/C. QSO Points: SSB
-- 1 pt, CW -- 2 pts. Stations may be worked once per band/mode and in
each county. Score is QSO points x OR counties or S/P/C + OR counties
counted only once. 50 bonus points for working K7O. 100 bonus points
for working K7ZZZ. Logs must be emailed or postmarked by June 10 to
[email protected] or to Oregon QSO Party, c/o K9QAM, 23083 Maverick Ln,
Bend, OR. 97701.
FISTS Spring Sprint -- CW -- sponsored by the FISTS International CW
Club from 1700Z - 2100Z, May 11. Frequencies: 80 - 10 meters, work US/VE
stations, once per band. Categories -- SOAB-QRP (<5W), SOAB-QRO and
Club. Exchange name, RST, state/province/DXCC country; members send
FISTS number, nonmembers send power output. QSO Points: FISTS members --
5 pts, nonmembers - 2 pts. Score is QSO points � SPC (count each only
once). For more information - http://www.FISTS.org. Send paper logs
only within 30 days to Dan Shepherd, N8IE, 1900 Pittsfield St.,
Kettering, Oh 45420.
CQ-M International DX Contest -- CW/SSB/SSTV - sponsored by the Krenkel
Central Radio Club from 2100Z, May 11 to 2100Z, May 12. Frequencies:
160 -- 10 meters including satellites, which count as a separate band;
remain on a band for at least 10 min. Categories: SOSB (CW, SSB, Mixed,
Satellites), SOAB (CW, SSB, Mixed, QRP -- must sign "/QRP"), MS-Mixed,
SWL-Mixed, WWII Veteran, SSTV, Victory. Exchange: RS(T) and serial
number. QSO Points: Using P-150-C award countries, own country -- 1 pt,
same cont. -- 2 pts, different cont. -- 3 pts. Score is QSO points x
countries counted once per band. For more information -
http://www.mai.ru/~crc/cq-m/cqmain_e.htm. Logs must be emailed or
postmarked by July 1 to [email protected] or to CQ-M Contest Committee,
Krenkel Central Radio Club of Russia, PO Box 88, Moscow, 123459, RUSSIA.
50 MHz Spring Sprint, sponsored by the Eastern Tennessee DX Association
from 2300Z, May 11 to 0300Z, May 12 Fixed and Rover categories.
Exchange is Grid Square only, count 1 pt per QSO. Score is QSO Points x
Grid Squares, score each sprint separately. Rovers and Microwave
sprints total all points and all grids worked from each grid. For more
information -- http://www.etdxa.org/vhf.htm. Logs must be emailed or
postmarked within 4 weeks of the contest to [email protected] or
Jeff J Baker, 8218 Foxworth Trail, Powell, TN 37849 USA.
His Majesty King of Spain Contest, CW, sponsored by the Union de
Radioaficionados Espa�oles (URE) from from 1800Z, May 18 to 1800Z, May
19 (SSB is June 22-23). Frequencies: 160-10 meters using IARU Region 1
bandplan. Categories: SOAB, SOSB, and MS. Exchange: RST and serial
number or EA province. QSO Points: 1 pt per QSO. Score is QSO points x
EA provinces counted once per band. For more information, send email to
[email protected]. Logs must be emailed or postmarked by 25 June (SSB by 30
July) to [email protected] or [email protected] or Vocalia Concursos URE, Apartado
Postal 87, 12200 Onda, Castellon, Spain.
Anatolian RTTY Contest, sponsored by the Anatolian Radio Amateurs
Association from 0000Z, May 18 to 2400Z, May 19. Frequencies: 80 -- 10
meters. Categories: SOAB, MS, SWL. Exchange: RST + serial number. QSO
Points: Own country -- 5 pts, Same continent -- 10 pts, different cont.
-- 15 pts. QSOs with TA2KW, TA3KA, TA4KG, TA7KB count 150 pts on 20-10
meters and 300 pts on 80-40 meters. Score is QSO points x DXCC entities
+ call areas in TA, VK, VE, JA, and USA counted once per band. For more
information - http://www.www.qsl.net/ta4kg/rtty/kurallar.html. Logs
must be emailed or postmarked by 10 December to [email protected] or
to PO Box 97, S�ke 09200, Turkey.
NEWS & PRESS RELEASES
The lists of Logs Received for the 2002 ARRL International DX CW Contest
and 2002 ARRL January VHF Sweepstakes have been posted at
http://www.arrl.org/contests/claimed/. If you find an error in your
listing, please have your Cabrillo log file and receipt number available
when you contact me at 860-594-0232 or by email at [email protected]. If
your entry is missing, please contact me at the above numbers. Logs
received after the deadline for submission, received with an invalid
format or with missing information may be re-classified as Checklogs.
(Thanks, N1ND)
Bill Feidt NG3K has located and posted the VK4EMM Contest Band Plan Web
pages which describe band plans around the world. This is useful stuff,
particularly for the phone contesters and Dxers. John VK4EMM was kind
enough to send Bill copies of the the files. You can get to them from
http://www.ng3k.com/Contest/ under "World Contesting Bandplan", toward
the bottom of the page. (Thanks, Bill NG3K)
>From N7WA regarding the popular 3830 claimed-score submittal web page
located at http://www.hornucopia.com/3830score/ - "A new era has begun
for producing contest summaries. In the past, it would be neccessary for
individuals to collect and format the data at periodic intervals and
then mail out the results. The Web Submission form by Bruce/WA7BNM was a
big improvement as it allowed the data to be parsed and imported by
software. The next logical leap is to have a database itself produce
reports and we are close to that that point. The data being input into
the Web Submission pages is going into a database and reports can be
produced at whim. The possibilities are endless. For now, while the
system gets fine-tuned and Bruce refines the system, I will continue
sending out the summaries as e-mail. We hope you will continue your fine
tradition of comments and input.
One downside, if you don't use the Web-page submission forms, it's
really going to be hard to show your results in the summaries. For now,
Bruce is manually inputting that data but it's slow and demanding
process and probably not something that can go on for long. This doesn't
mean you can't post your own results to 3830, it just means that they
will be delayed for now and may not get into summaries in the future.
It's a lot of work to manually input contest data and a job I have
seriously been considering giving up. Now that the technology is
available to make that job unnecessary, I really implore that you use
the Web-page submission forms IF you want to be in the summaries. Best,
Dink" I think we can all figure out who the "individuals" were that had
to collect and manipulate the emailed scores in the past -- a big tip of
the cap to WA7BNM and N7WA for putting this service together. (Thanks,
Mike N7WA)
The Mad River Radio Club has decided to change the previously announced
date for the 2002 Ohio QSO Party from August 31 to August 24, 2002. It
will run from 1600Z August 24 to 0400Z August 25. Rules are the same as
last year. The the web site for full information has changed to
http://www.mrrc.net/oqp. (Thanks, Jim K8MR)
While there are several DX and contesting reflectors around, award
enthusiasts have not had this luxury. There is now an awards reflector
- any licensed HAM and SWL with a genuine interest in this part of our
hobby is invited to join the list. More details can be found at:
http://users.pandora.be/egbert.hertsen/awardlist.htm. (Thanks, Egbert
ON4CAS)
TECHNICAL & TECHNIQUE
Unbypassed Diodes May Cause Interference During Transmit
The first challenge of using a second radio effectively is the ability
to listen while the other radio is transmitting. Obviously, some
filtering may be required -- particularly if you are running high
power. There are many good solutions available for both homebrew and
purchased filters that can handle exciter power. However, lurking in
your shack are interference generators that you will NEVER hear when
using a single radio -- because you don't listen while you transmit. I
am referring to the many unbypassed rectifiers in switches and control
equipment.
A rectifier junction makes a dandy harmonic generator when a signal of
more than a few hundred millivolts is applied across it. Even a
100-watt radio is capable of driving a rectifier to this level. I
discovered this phenomenon the hard way and found the culprits in my
rotor control box. Transmit or receive filtering will do NOTHING
against this type of interference because the generator (the rectifier)
is not filtered and the noise is "in-band". For example, a rectifier
being driven by a strong 3.510 MHz signal will generate harmonics at
7.020, 14.040, and 21.080 -- all right in a busy band - regardless of
how much filtering is applied at any of those frequencies.
RF gets into and out of these boxes on their control lines or even
directly through plastic cases. The best solution is to bypass the
rectifiers by soldering a 0.001 uF capacitor directly across the diode.
It costs only pennies and is easy to do. As a bonus, this may also
knock down TVI being generated the same way that filters won't help.
Check the schematics of those accessories in your shack. You will be
surprised at how many little PN junctions are just waiting for a loud
signal to come along.
CONVERSATION
Q: What's the difference between an amplifier and some contesters
digging the base for a new tower?
A: One has a lid with some holes in it, the other has a hole with some
lids in it. (Thanks, Mike N2MG)
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
The Contester's Rate Sheet wishes to acknowledge information from the
following sources:
WA7BNM's Contest Calendar Web page -
http://www.hornucopia.com/contestcal/
ARRL Contest page - http://www.arrl.org/contests/)
SM3CER's Web site - http://www.sk3bg.se/contest/
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THE ARRL CONTEST RATE SHEET is published every other Wednesday (26 times
each year), by the American Radio Relay League--The National Association
For Amateur Radio--225 Main St, Newington, CT 06111; tel 860-594-0200;
fax 860-594-0259. Editor: Ward Silver, N0AX.
The ARRL Contest Rate Sheet offers a useful source of timely information
for both the active and casual contester. The Rate Sheet includes
information about events during the following two-week period,
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