[SFDXA] GAZETTE nl#116

[Bill Marx]

> Jim's GAZETTE
> Newsletter #116
> 20 February 2002
>
> Please feel free to forward this newsletter to any and all interested parties, or to reproduce it in
> any other publication. All we ask is that you give credit where it is due.
>
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>
> SHORT NOTES: The WPX contest drew a crowd. The highest score I've seen came from 3Z0WPX. This special callsign was based in
Poland. Four operators in a
> multi/2 transmitter setup (Chris SP7GI provided the antenna farm and rigs), made over 2500 Q's and 4.7 million points. That's a
genuine WOW! It doesn't look like
> that short CW Sprint hurt this bunch of guys!
>
> 3Z's result lends credence to AA5AU's claim as to the total number of RTTY operators around the world. Don made 11,660 Q's in 2001
with 3306 unique call
> signs. That's a bit high because it counts KI6DY and KI6DY/0 as two stations. 1312 of these were US/VE, 1984 were DX. Interesting
numbers!
>
> Troy W4AJJ took me to task about Pactor. Hi! He asked me to tune to 7080 daily at 3-5 PM where I'd find half a dozen Pactor
stations hang out for QSO's in both
> I and II. (See more about
> Pactor below).
>
> Bryan G3GOT thinks PSK is the 'second childhood' mode (as opposed to Kindergarten!). 'PSK creates a great feeling of nostalgia
among those of us who are old
> enough to have been there before,' says he. And, adds, 'It's good to know there are still people in ham radio who can type more
than 599 TU 73.' Bryan is just one
> of many old-timers who returned to their rigs after long absence because of PSK's basic appeal. I saw this on the screen moments
ago, ' . . . PSK created a real
> revival in my ham radio interest level.'
>
> Don't miss this historic event! Bill NA2M reminds us of a happening the likes of which has not taken place for 1001 years. At
8:02PM EST on 20 February, the
> time/date will be in perfect harmony-20:02 20/02 2002. Don't wait up for the next one (1001 years down the road)!
>
> Here's a good propagation education site. K9LA, who does the ARRL propagation bulletin has a website at
www.arrl.org/tis/info/k9la-prop.html.
>
> KG4DX (Guantanamo) will be active 22-27 February. Op will be Bill W4WX. HR3 (Honduras) will be very busy 16 February-3 March.
KB0CY, KB9DPF and
> W3QA will be on as time allows while involved in a medical mission. PSK, CW and SSB 40-10 meters. QSL home callsigns.
>
> The 21st Annual ARRL/TAPR Digital Communications Conference will be 13-15 September in Denver. Papers must be submitted by 5
August. Details at
> www.tapr.org/dcc.
>
> I don't understand why the VP8 group risked their lives to go to S. Sandwich and S. Georgia, but despite all that nature could
throw up against them, they made
> 70,428 QSO's in about eleven days on air activity.
>
>
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>
> There has been a mass of comment about two dimensions of the contest logging problem. The first problem is not new. Fact: too few
of the participants in a contest
> file a log. All the heavy-hitters do, of course, but to the casual contester, there is little if any incentive to file. Unlike
one's income tax return, there is neither penalty nor
> reward attached to the filing process. Most simply pass it by. Thus the inventory of check-logs is small and insufficient to the
task. Phil GU0SUP points out that in
> ANARTS only three G-stations submitted logs, a tiny fraction of those who played in the contest.
>
> It's an uphill battle, for two reasons. First, the same small group of super-stars wins most of the prizes, over and over again.
They love it and deserve it, but their
> dominance demotes most of the entrants from the 'I want to win' category to the 'I just want to play' group. So they have a little
fun and go on about their lives.
>
> The second reason is equally serious. John VK4CE writes, 'It's no wonder that submission rates are down. I've had my WPX 2002 log
returned by the robot two
> times, so far. The frustration of having to do this over and over will lead me to join the ranks of those who do not bother.' Ah,
the price of progress. John suggests that
> the robots get thrown overboard! Shelby K4WW chimes in with a comment about the famed robot, suggesting that 'it' doesn't know
what 'it' means. HI Sadly, a
> string of Emails will solve that problem NOT! As they say, 'back to the drawing board!'
>
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>
> Peter G3PLX strikes again! His habit of reprocessing old ideas and technology and dressing them in new clothing led to very
significant progress in our digital arena.
> AMTOR was one example, PSK31, the latest and perhaps the most significant. Now he enters a brand new field and, though it relates
directly to a current digital
> development, it has broad application to the entire amateur spectrum.
>
> I found out something of this quite accidentally. First, Fred OH/DK4ZC Emailed some comments about Pactor II and the rumored III.
Pactor and its use is a
> controversial issue in DL, to say the least. In any event, the next thing I knew he forwarded a copy of a memo between G3PLX and
Les VK2DSG. Les had
> recorded the sounds of Pactor III on 20 meters and sent them to Peter, who by coincidence had been watching the same 2.4 kHz-wide
signal pattern on 80 meters.
> Interesting.
>
> As soon as I had read the note, I contacted Peter for permission to reprint his remarks. He responded generously and added
additional commentary. He argues,
> simply and logically, that we have erred in allocating frequencies by mode name. This method has been overtaken by technology and
its various applications. Here,
> then, is Peter's Law of Allocation. BROADER BANDWIDTH CAUSES MORE QRM THAN IT SUFFERS-thus, any band plan should put modes of
similar
> bandwidth in the same space. This is THE NATURAL LAW of allocation.
>
> This would place Pactor III, along with SSTV, in the SSB portion of any band. Any new mode, and there will no doubt be several,
would go above, below or within
> the existing digital allocation depending entirely upon the width of the signal.
>
> Don't miss reading the entire article. Find it at www.n2hos.com/digital/peter.html. Your comments are welcome and will be added to
the string.
>
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>
> Oh, it's nice to be back on the air. The new rig finally made it from Ten-Tec and I wasted no time in hooking up the Jupiter. It's
merely a Pegasus with a traditional
> front-end. I found the knobs and dials so forbidding that I immediately exercised the option to put all the controls on my laptop
computer. Hi! Back when I first
> received the Pegasus, I was really confused by the thought that I would not touch the transceiver except to turn it on or off.
Now, habit hath reversed itself-and I'll
> never use the front-end hardware again.
>
> Mario IZ1AVA was the first contact. Then, old faithful 4X6UO was on 20 meters to welcome me back. Arie, regardless of conditions,
booms into this area most
> evenings at about 00:30 GMT onwards.
>
> Within two days I had worked three new countries, so now I'm up in the stratosphere with 103 in PSK mode. I might even catch up
with my RTTY count some day.
> Whenever it happens, I will have enjoyed the chase!
>
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>
> Note: This letter is a bit early because of travel requirements.
>
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>
> 73 de Jim N2HOS jem@n2hos.com
> http://www.n2hos.com/digital
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