[nrv-hams] How to operate November sweepstakes

[Kay Craigie]

November Sweepstakes, phone, begins at 2100 UTC on Saturday, November 19,
and ends at 0259 UTC Monday, November 21. It uses the 160, 80, 40, 20, 15,
and 10 meter bands.

Although it's a challenging contest to operate, it is a great way to log
lots of states. Here's the 25-cent version of how to operate in this contest
for fun.

The ARRL web site guide to Sweepstakes is at http://www.arrl.org/sweepstakes
.

Work stations in the USA and territories (including Alaska, Hawaii, US
Virgin Islands, Puerto Rico) and Canadian provinces.

Work each station only once. That is, you can't work the same station again
on a different band.

The exchange (what you send, what the other station will send to you) is

Serial number (starting at 1)

Precedence (operating category)
   A = 150 watts or less, single operator, no use of DX cluster or other
assistance
   B = Over 150 watts, single operator, no use of DX cluster or other
assistance
   Q = QRP, 5 watts or less, no use of DX cluster or other assistance
   M = multiple operators (any power level)
   U =  Unlimited (any power level, use of DX cluster or other assistance is
allowed)
   S = School club

Your callsign

Check. (The last two digits of the year you were first licensed.) 

Your ARRL Section

For example, for my first contact in the contest I would send the following:

1 Bravo November 3 Kilo November 83 Virginia

That's my contact #1, my category (B, single operator over 150 watts), my
callsign in phonetics, the last two digits of the year I was licensed
(1983), and my ARRL Section (Virginia)

The only thing I change for other contacts is the serial number.

Most of us in the NRVARC will be Precedence (category) A, B, or Q, depending
on our power level.

If you are in the contest just for fun to work other states, you really
don't have to log all the gobbledygook the other station sends you. You just
need the callsign, band, date, time of day in UTC, and state.

A hint about ARRL Sections and states - Except for California, the ARRL
Section will have the state's name as part of the Section name (Eastern
Pennsylvania, North Texas, South Florida, Western Washington, etc.). If the
Section name does NOT have the state's name in it, it's a California
Section. Many contesters don't say the whole Section name, however. They'll
use an abbreviation - the same abbreviations used on Field Day. "West
Central Florida" becomes "Whiskey Charlie Foxtrot" and Virginia becomes
"Victor Alpha." It's okay to send either "Virginia" or "Victor Alpha."

If you have ever done any formal traffic handling, you know the terms
Precedence and Check, and you see that the Sweepstakes exchange looks a lot
like the preamble of a radiogram. This is because Sweepstakes began as a
traffic-handling contest. Today the only remaining sign of that origin is
the format of the exchange and the terms Precedence and Check.

When you call a station in a phone contest, avoid using cute phonetics.
Stations calling CQ in a contest want to log contacts accurately, as fast as
possible. Having to translate "Nipping 3 Kangaroo Noses" into N3KN is
probably more trouble than I'm worth, and they'll ignore me.

Have fun! 73 - Kay N3KN