[SFDXA] The ARRL Contest Update for September 26, 2012

Wed Sep 26 08:03:44 EDT 2012

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The ARRL Contest Update

September 26, 2012
Editor: Ward Silver, NØAX <mailto:rate-sheet at arrl.org>
/Contest Update/ Archive <http://www.arrl.org/contests/update/>
Contest Calendar <http://www.arrl.org/contests/calendar.html>
ARRL Home Page <http://www.arrl.org/>
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IN THIS ISSUE

  * Digging Digital - CQ World Wide RTTY <#Contests>
  * Big State Bashes - California and Texas QSO Parties <#Contests>
  * The Webinars - They're Back! <#News>
  * Wavemaking at Stanford <#Newsweek>
  * Late Call from Lithuania <#Sights>
  * You've Got Plaque! <#Results>
  * Tabletop Exercises <#Tech>
  * Maker Machine Madness <#Techweek>
  * Lowering the Broom <#Conversation>

NEW HF OPERATORS - THINGS TO DO

Here comes a pair of major state QSO parties - California and Texas. The 
Texas QSO Party <http://www.txqp.net/> is this coming weekend and the 
California QSO Party <http://www.cqp.org/> is the following weekend. 
These are great contests for new HF operators in North America - both 
are domestic (meaning modest stations do quite well) and there is enough 
activity to keep the weekend interesting without intense crowding. You 
may also hear some Chinese stations mixed in with the Californians - 
this is the weekend for the Worked All Provinces of China 
<http://www.mulandxc.org/> contest - the first-ever Chinese DX contest!

BULLETINS

There are no bulletins in this issue.

BUSTED QSOS

K3EST's has been a member of the WRTC Sanctioning Committee for 16 
years, not 26. Your editor is losing his ability to subtract, 
apparently. (Thanks, Bob W6RGG)

The /QST/ edition of Contest Corral for September should have listed the 
CQ WW RTTY Contest and Texas QSO Party as starting on Sept 29^th . The 
online PDF version <http://www.arrl.org/contest-calendar> is correct. 
(Thanks, Dick WØRAA)

CONTEST SUMMARY

Complete information <#Contests> for all contests follows the 
Conversation <#Conversation> section

*Sep 29-30*

  * SKCC Straight Key Sprint-- (Sep 26)
  * 902 MHz Fall VHF Sprint
  * CQ WW RTTY Contest
  * Texas QSO Party

*Oct 6-7*

  * ARRL EME Contest
  * ARS Spartan Sprint--CW (Oct 2)
  * OK1WC Memorial Contest (Oct 2)
  * 432 MHz Fall VHF Sprint (Oct 3)
  * SNS and NS Weekly Sprints--CW, Digital (Oct 5)
  * DX/NA YLRL Anniversary Party (Oct 5)
  * PSK Rumble - The Fall Classic
  * Worked All Provinces of China
  * EPC Russia DX Contest--Digital
  * Oceania DX Phone Contest
  * Worked All Britain HF Contest--Phone
  * California QSO Party
  * EU Autumn Sprint--Phone
  * RSGB 21/28 MHz Contest

NEWS, PRESS RELEASES, AND GENERAL INTEREST

The World Wide Radio Operator Foundation <http://www.wwrof.org/> (WWROF) 
has assumed sponsorship of the popular PVRC Webinar series beginning 
with "A Look at the Upcoming PA & CA QSO Parties". PA QSO Party chairman 
Mike Coslo N3LI and CA QSO Party representative John Miller K6MM will 
provide an overview of their upcoming QSO parties. The webinar will be 
presented on Monday, Oct 1 at 9 PM EDT and registration 
<https://www2.gotomeeting.com/register/925057098> is free as always. 
(Thanks, Ken K4ZW)

Terry VE3AWE is a "cliff dweller" who is very active from his apartment 
in Toronto - watch for him from the GTA section in Sweepstakes. (Photo 
by Mike VE3GFN)

This year's package of Sweepstakes information (rules, records, 
writeups, forms, etc) is now available online at the ARRL Sweepstakes 
web page <http://www.arrl.org/sweepstakes>. This is a great introduction 
and reference to the oldest of the domestic contests, held on the first 
and third weekends of November. (Thanks, Sean KX9X)

All 58 California counties should on the air during the upcoming 
California QSO Party as shown in this activity map/cheat sheet 
<http://www.cqp.org/Counties-Plan-2012.html>. There are also some new 
club contesting rules <http://www.cqp.org/Rules.html> designed to (1) 
encourage county expeditions and mobile operations in the rarer 
California counties and (2) to clarify how proportional points are 
awarded for club totals when a club member participates in a multi 
operation. In addition, Ontario (VE3, not the southern California city) 
remains a single multiplier for CQP. The partition of Ontario into four 
different RAC sections does not affect CQP scoring. (Thanks, Bob N6TV 
and Alan K6SRZ)

The web site for the Stew Perry Top Band Distance Challenge 
<http://www.kkn.net/stew> has been successfully moved to its new host, 
just in time for the Oct 20/21 Stew Perry Warmup. (Thanks, Tree N6TR)

Also on October 20-21, Jamboree on the Air 
<http://www.scouting.org/jota> (JOTA) is getting closer. The Scouting 
website has been updated with a great deal of supporting content. They 
have also just posted a promotional video <http://youtu.be/s2ef3PJQ4vQ> 
directed at hams letting them know what it is and how to get involved. 
Right on the heels of School Club Roundup 
<http://www.arrl.org/school-club-roundup> during the preceding weekdays, 
JOTA is a great opportunity to introduce ham radio to kids and young 
adults. (Thanks, National Jamboree on the Air Organizer, Jim K5ND 
<mailto:jim.wilson at scouting.org>)

Do you think all that electricity helped? That's the N7WA mobile station 
parked at the Grand Coulee Dam visitor area during a round-the-state 
ramble in the recent Washington State Salmon Run contest. (Photo by N7WA)

 From the AMSAT <http://amsat.org> News Service bulletin ANS-260 comes 
an article <http://thespacereview.com/article/2155/1> that discusses how 
CubeSats have captured the attention of space agencies and universities 
world-wide due to the significant amount of science that can now be 
packed aboard.

If you sometimes use paper to log contest contacts, Charlie KX7L 
reports, "For turning old paper logs into ADIF, I've used something 
called Fast Log Entry <http://df3cb.com/fle/> (FLE) by DF3CB. It's very 
simple. You enter the date, mode and band once and they stay the same 
for subsequent QSOs until you change it. Then just enter time and call 
for each QSO. You don't even need to enter the whole four digits of 
time, just the minutes will do if that's all that changed. It's free and 
simple. ADIF2CABR 
<http://www.dxzone.com/cgi-bin/dir/jump2.cgi?ID=27508>, by SP7DQR looks 
pretty good (converting ADIF to Cabrillo format). You can pick which 
ADIF fields get converted into the Sent and Received exchanges. If you 
enter the received mult as a comment in FLE (enter '#' after the call, 
then the comment) then you can tell ADIF2CABR to use the CMT field."

*Web Site of the Week* - /Stanford Magazine /recently featured a great 
article, "Members Make Waves 
<http://alumni.stanford.edu/get/page/magazine/article/?article_id=55978>", 
about the W6YX club, perched high in the hills above the Palo Alto 
campus. In an interview, the club's current trustee, Dave W6NL, recounts 
some of the club's history which includes famous names like Packard, 
Villard, and Terman. (Thanks, Steve K6AW and Bob N6TV)

WORD TO THE WISE

*/3830/* - what is this 3830 business, anyway? Before the web, there was 
75 meters. After the contest participants would gather near 3830 kHz to 
exchange scores, excuses, and embellishments. The collected scores would 
then wend their way through the contest community by various media. An 
email reflector named "3830" was created by Trey N5KO (then WN4KKN) in 
the early-1990s, the name recognizing the over-the-air, post-contest 
watering hole. A few years later, Bruce WA7BNM created a claimed-score 
reporting website <http://www.hornucopia.com/3830score/> that sent 
collected information to the email reflector and Dink N7WA added the 
score compilations, completing the electronic claimed-score posting 
system we all use today.

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SIGHTS AND SOUNDS

One very interesting story of examples of how ham radio has proven to be 
significant in technology and politics is this video story 
<http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NZtBsUQ9nkA> of the Lithuanian revolt 
and QSOs with the ham station in the parliament building that helped 
keep the world informed. (Thanks, Dave W6NL)

Frank W3NV causes a lot of double-takes with his Sweepstakes check of 28 
- as in 1928! He paid Tim K3LR a visit recently, taking this turn at the 
20 meter position. (Photo by K3LR)

The Van Allen Belts - regions of high-energy charged particles trapped 
in the Earth's magnetic field - live up above the ionosphere. Learn more 
about these interesting features of our planet's immediate vicinity in 
this NASA Earth Observatory article 
<http://earthobservatory.nasa.gov/IOTD/view.php?id=78985>.

Things get a little scary around the 1-minute mark in this controlled 
demolition video <http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hPmXEuSHwKY> of a tower 
being dropped in place. Just before the 2-minute mark, watch the antenna 
at the top waving "bye-bye"! (Thanks, Tim K3LR)

RESULTS AND RECORDS

‎2011 ARRL EME Contest certificates went out the door recently. CW 
Sweepstakes certificates will be following them today (Wednesday) and 
Phone Sweepstakes certificates shortly thereafter, just in time for 
motivating you during this year's contests! You'll like the return of 
the stickers including the new post-adjudication Clean Sweep stamp as 
seen at right! Plaques will be shipping soon, too. (Thanks, ARRL Contest 
Branch Manager, Sean KX9X)

The preliminary results for the September CW Sprint 
<http://www.ncjweb.com/sprintcwprelim.php> are now posted online. 
Congratulations to Trey N5KO on another victory. (Thanks, CW Sprint 
Manager, Tree N6TR)

Shown here getting his 3x810 rig ready for the Classic Exchange contest, 
Mike W7DRA enjoys operating tube gear in all of the contests. (Photo by 
W7DRA)

Results for the 2011 running of the Arizona Statehood QSO Party 
<http://www.azqsoparty.org/> are now online for your viewing pleasure. 
Plaques and certificates will be following shortly!

The 16^th Amateur Radio Direction Finding World Championships 
<http://www.arrl.org/news/ardf-update-a-baker-s-dozen-of-medals-for-ardf-team-usa> 
were recently held in Serbia. The USA team really stepped up this time, 
bringing home 13 medals, including the first-ever American gold medals! 
ARDF, quite popular around the world, has been attracting more and more 
attention stateside - watch for more ARDF action in your area or help 
your club sponsor an event!

OPERATING TIP

*/Contest Elbow/* - that painful outcome of resting your arm on the 
elbow while you tune the radio for a long contest. Veteran of many hours 
at the rig, Ken K6LA/VY2TT suggests, "The best solution for forearm 
soreness problems is football elbow pads. I cut the cloth lengthwise and 
add Velcro straps across the pads to keep them on but loose enough to be 
comfortable." Game on!

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TECHNICAL TOPICS AND INFORMATION

As the fall contest season continues to ramp up to full intensity, there 
has been lots of discussion about table height for contesting. Most 
tabletops are placed 29-31 inches from the floor but always seem just a 
little "too" one way or the other. The solution may lie right under you 
- in an adjustable chair. A small footrest can go a long way towards 
improving operator comfort as well. Gary K9GS identified an alternate 
solution, "You can buy very heavy duty adjustable leveling feet that 
will give you several inches of adjustment. Again Google is your friend 
but you can probably start with Rockler <http://rockler.com/>, Woodcraft 
<http://woodcraft.com/>, or Lee Valley <http://leevalley.com/> to find 
what you need." Jim K8MR has "...installed a slide-out keyboard shelf 
which rests the keyboard 24 inches above the floor. This works out to be 
almost literally in my lap." He also suggests, "Use a chair without 
arms, or at least a chair wide enough that you can drop your arms by 
your side without using the arm rests. It is much more 
relaxing...(and)...your wrists will not be bending sideways. Have enough 
extra cables on your radios that you can slide them to the very front 
edge of desk. With this, there is only an inch or two of forward motion 
required to move between the keyboard and the radio...(or)...radios can 
also be shoved back to a more conventional position, with your arms 
resting on the desktop. Change of position is always a good thing." He 
also notes that armless chairs help you stay awake!

Many counties provide the National Electrical Code (NEC) as a 
downloadable PDF file such as this 2008 version 
<http://www.garnernc.gov/Publications/Inspections/2008%20National%20Electrical%20Code.pdf>, 
since it is written into their inspection code requirements. (Thanks, 
Steve W3AHL)

A tale of telephone RFI on 10 meters from Eddy VE3CUI/VE3XZ recounts his 
amazement of discovering that "the coiled handset cord while I was 
seated was immune to RFI but as soon as it was outstretched, it must 
have acted like a resonant (antenna) on 10 meters!" It just goes to show 
that anything can act as an antenna - either receiving or transmitting!

An ordinary spark plug and a high-value non-inductive resistor (carbon 
composition or metal oxide) provide some inexpensive protection for 
static charge building up on your antenna. (Thanks, K2AV)

The graphic at right shows a method of draining charge from an antenna 
while also providing some protection against high voltages from static 
electricity. The basic idea is presented on the K2AV Folded Counterpoise 
<http://www.w0uce.net/K2AVantennas.html> antenna website. The value of 
the 5-Mohm resistor is not critical and just needs to be high enough to 
minimize its effect on antenna impedance while surviving normal 
operation. Power ratings of 2 watts or better are generally recommended 
in this application. The spark plug can be mounted directly to a 
grounded plate, as well.

Based on some reasonable assumptions about converting materials into 
cost-per-dB, Tom W8JI came up with a reasonable order of progression for 
low-band station builders:

 1. A good TX omni antenna
 2. Good basic RX antennas that fit your location
 3. An amplifier
 4. Better RX antennas or bigger amp, depending on your results at this
    stage
 5. After the legal power limit is reached and if people still have
    problems hearing you, only then comes transmitting antenna gain

Dave K6LL reminds us of a method 
<http://lists.contesting.com/archives/html/Towertalk/1998-11/msg00371.html> 
for testing coax loss even with an antenna connected. It takes advantage 
of an antenna's likelihood of presenting a high-impedance at some 
out-of-band frequency to act as a nearly open circuit. Dave presents a 
formula for converting the resulting SWR into line loss. The lower the 
SWR at the high-impedance frequency, the higher the loss.

Along with VE3CUI's discovery on transmitting RFI, Dale K9VUJ also 
discovered that receiving RFI can be caused by anything. "I myself a few 
years ago had a random sporadic noise, crackling and very strong 
especially on the lower bands. One day I had the receiver volume turned 
up so I could hear it in another room and while I was walking though the 
kitchen I heard the "crackle crackle" while I walked. I went to the 
basement and started looking all around. What I found was the metal wire 
that is used to hang suspended ceiling tile was barely touching a metal 
electrical conduit above the tile and any amount of vibration would 
cause static in the radio."

Bob W9RAS recently completed building the ARRL Handbook 250-watt 
solid-state amplifier design by K4XU. He uses it on HF and 6 meters. 
(Photo by W9RAS)

The round "flip-top" containers for chewing gum lozenges make great 
small-parts holders for toolboxes and on the workbench. The labels peel 
right off so you can easily see what's inside and the small flip-up 
hatch makes it easy to get out one part at a time.

What is the worst radio location in the world? Well, it's not actually 
on /this/ world, according to the /Popular Science/ 
<http://www.popsci.com/> article "Satellite Radio" in the October 2012 
issue. The worst place turns out to be on the dark side of the Moon but 
the noise floor is really, really low!

*Technical Web Site of the Week* - 3D printing is a technology that is 
going to be increasingly common in ham radio as evidenced by this 
Makezine review 
<http://blog.makezine.com/2012/09/09/makes-3d-print-shop-weekend-day-1/> 
of 15 different consumer-grade 3D printers. Consider that just a few 
years ago, these were high-end industrial products costing five figures 
and up. Now we have "consumer grade" and more than a dozen available 
plus online plans for building your own. (Photo of Charlotte hamfest)

CONVERSATION

Lowering the Broom

Not to mix a metaphor or anything but there is a lot of low-hanging 
fruit to be swept up in this year's ARRL November Sweepstakes 
<http://www.arrl.org/sweepstakes>. The contest's manager, Larry Hammel 
K5OT observes that we will "be surprised at the number of opportunities 
that exist in both modes on the all-time records list 
<http://www.arrl.org/contest-records>!" Of course, there are the four 
new Ontario sections to push the top scores up by three more multipliers 
- a built-in bonus of nearly four percent!

The two new Low-Power categories added in 2011 still have 111 
section-level records unclaimed in Multi-op, Low Power and 54 in 
Unlimited, Low Power. (That includes both Phone and CW.) Where there is 
/really/ a lot of opportunity is in the School Club category. At the 
section level, there are 49 CW records for which an entry has never even 
been submitted and 31 on Phone! Don't you have a high-school or college 
club nearby that might like to claim a record of their own? Even if the 
club is not formally organized, the multi-operator categories are wide open.

Larry has done quite a bit of review in the Sweepstakes records and 
you'll see a more extensive article by him in the upcoming issue of the 
National Contest Journal <http://ncjweb.com/>. In the meantime, a visit 
to the online records would certainly be in order, don't you think?

Here's a sneak preview of the new Sweepstakes certificates that are on 
their way to the mailboxes of happy contesters across the land - nice!

Speaking of those clubs, you have some great opportunities to motivate 
some young radio aficionados with the School Club Roundup 
<http://www.arrl.org/school-club-roundup> on October 15-19 that is 
followed by Jamboree On The Air <http://www.scouting.org/jota> (JOTA). 
Invite some of these potential hams to your shack for a few hours of 
radio time and see if a few of them might not like to put in a few hours 
during Sweepstakes. A challenge with another local group is a good 
motivator, too! I also recommend a post-contest pizza party.

For personal efforts, shooting for a record is a great way to stay 
engaged throughout the contest and fight off fatigue. Make an 
hour-by-hour chart of your best effort, then add the record line and see 
how close you can get this year. Maybe you'll be able to add your own 
call sign to the list. A note to contest managers - if your club 
sponsors a contest, be sure to keep your record list up to date. It 
attracts participation and makes the results more interesting when you 
can talk about new records being set.

The unique "clean sweep" of Sweepstakes multipliers has always been 
represented by "the broom". Many a time, a station is one of the rarer 
sections will hear "Thank for the sweep!" as a final section is logged 
and checked off the list. The new clean sweep stickers are also being 
added to Sweepstakes certificates this year - maybe you'll see one in 
your mailbox soon? Why not hand out specially-decorated brooms to your 
club's high achievers? It makes a great program event at the annual 
holiday party!

Crossing off each section as you log them is one of contesting's great 
traditions, whether you are computer logging or not. The list was 
printed at the bottom of the paper entry forms - it was great to send in 
a log with all sections marked off! The excitement of the new Ontario 
sections, expectations for high-band activity, and a whole raft of 
records within reach should have every broom-wielding clean sweep mug 
chaser counting the days to the first and third weekends in November. 
Let's lower our brooms to the noise floor and get to work!

73, Ward NØAX

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CONTESTS

*26 September through 9 October*

An expanded, downloadable version of QST's Contest Corral in PDF format 
<http://www.arrl.org/contest-calendar> is available. Check the sponsor's 
Web site for information on operating time restrictions and other 
instructions.

*HF CONTESTS*

SKCC Straight Key Sprint--CW from Sep 26, 0000Z to Sep 26, 0200Z. 
Monthly on the 4th Wednesday UTC. Bands (MHz): 1.8-28, 50. Exchange: 
RST, QTH, name, SKCC nr or power. Logs due: 5 days. Rules 
<http://www.skccgroup.com/sprint/sks>

CQ WW RTTY Contest--Digital from Sep 29, 0000Z to Sep 30, 2400Z. Bands 
(MHz): 3.5-28. Exchange: RST, CQ zone and State/VE area (US/VE). Logs 
due: Nov 1. Rules <http://www.cqwwrtty.com/>

Texas QSO Party--Phone,CW,Digital from Sep 29, 1400Z (multiple operating 
periods, see website). Bands (MHz): 1.8-28, 50,144, Frequencies (MHz): 
CW--20 to 50 kHz above band edge; Phone--25 kHz above edge of General 
segment. Exchange: RS(T), county or S/P/C. Logs due: Oct 31. Rules 
<http://www.txqp.net/>

ARS Spartan Sprint--CW from Oct 2, 0200Z to Oct 2, 0400Z. Monthly on the 
first Monday evening local time. Bands (MHz): 3.5-28. Exchange: RST, 
S/P/C, and power. Logs due: 2 days. Rules <http://www.arsqrp.blogspot.com/>

OK1WC Memorial Contest--Phone,CW from Oct 2, 1600Z (see website). First 
through fourth Monday of each month. Bands (MHz): 3.5, 50, 144, see 
website for bands. Exchange: RS(T) and serial. Logs due: 7 days. Rules 
http://www.hamradio.cz/ok1wc

SNS and NS Weekly Sprints--CW,Digital from Oct 5, 0200Z to Oct 5, 0300Z. 
Weekly on Thursday evenings local time. Bands (MHz): 1.8-14. Exchange: 
Serial, name, and S/P/C. Logs due: 2 days. Rules 
<http://www.ncccsprint.com/>

DX/NA YLRL Anniversary Party--Phone,CW,Digital from Oct 5, 1400Z to Oct 
7, 0200Z. Bands (MHz): 1.8-28. Exchange: Serial, RST, and 
section/province/country. Logs due: 30 days. Rules <http://www.ylrl.org/>

PSK Rumble - The Fall Classic--Digital from Oct 6, 0000Z to Oct 6, 
2400Z. Bands (MHz): 1.8-28, 50. Exchange: Name and call area (see 
website). Logs due: Oct 31. Rules <http://www.n2ty.org/>

Worked All Provinces of China--Phone,CW from Oct 6, 0000Z to Oct 6, 
2359Z. Bands (MHz): 3.5-28. Exchange: RS(T) and serial or province 
abbreviation. Logs due: Oct 31. Rules <http://www.mulandxc.org/>

EPC Russia DX Contest--Digital from Oct 6, 0400Z to Oct 7, 0359Z. Bands 
(MHz): 1.8-28. Exchange: EPC member nr or serial and grid square. Logs 
due: Oct 22. Rules <http://www.epc-ru.ru/>

Oceania DX Phone Contest--Phone from Oct 6, 0800Z to Oct 7, 0800Z. Bands 
(MHz): 1.8-28. Exchange: RS and serial. Logs due: Nov 7. Rules 
<http://www.oceaniadxcontest.com/>

Worked All Britain HF Contest--Phone from Oct 6, 1200Z to Oct 7, 1200Z. 
Bands (MHz): 14-28. Exchange: RS, serial, DXCC entity or WAB area. Logs 
due: Oct 28. Rules <http://www.worked-all-britain.co.uk/>

California QSO Party--Phone,CW from Oct 6, 1600Z to Oct 7, 2200Z. Bands 
(MHz): 1.8-28, 50,144. Exchange: Serial and state/prov/"DX" or CA 
county. Logs due: Oct 31. Rules <http://www.cqp.org/>

EU Autumn Sprint--Phone from Oct 6, 1600Z to Oct 6, 1959Z. Bands (MHz): 
3.5-14. Exchange: Both call signs, serial, name. Logs due: 15 days. 
Rules <http://www.eu-sprint.com/>

RSGB 21/28 MHz Contest--Phone,CW from Oct 7, 0700Z to Oct 7, 1900Z. 
Bands (MHz): 21,28. Exchange: Serial and UK district. Logs due: Oct 22. 
Rules <http://www.rsgbcc.org/>

*VHF+ CONTESTS*

ARRL EME Contest--Phone,CW,Digital from Oct 6, 0000Z to Oct 7, 2359Z. 
Bands (MHz): 2.3G+. Exchange: Call signs, sig rpt, acknowledgement. Logs 
due: Jan 1. Rules <http://www.arrl.org/contests>

------------------------------------------------------------------------

902 MHz Fall VHF Sprint--Phone,CW,Digital from Sep 29, 7 AM to Sep 29, 1 
PM. Bands (MHz): 902+. Exchange: 6-character grid locator. Logs due: 4 
weeks. Rules <http://www.svhfs.org/>

432 MHz Fall VHF Sprint--Phone,CW,Digital from Oct 3, 7 PM to Oct 3, 11 
PM. Bands (MHz): 432. Exchange: 4-character grid square. Logs due: 4 
weeks. Rules <http://www.svhfs.org/>

Texas QSO Party--Phone,CW,Digital from Sep 29, 1400Z (multiple operating 
periods, see website). Bands (MHz): 1.8-28, 50,144, Frequencies (MHz): 
CW--20 to 50 kHz above band edge; Phone--25 kHz above edge of General 
segment. Exchange: RS(T), county or S/P/C. Logs due: Oct 31. Rules 
<http://www.txqp.net/>

OK1WC Memorial Contest--Phone,CW from Oct 2, 1600Z (see website). First 
through fourth Monday of each month. Bands (MHz): 3.5, 50, 144, see 
website for bands. Exchange: RS(T) and serial. Logs due: 7 days. Rules 
<http://www.hamradio.cz/ok1wc>

PSK Rumble - The Fall Classic--Digital from Oct 6, 0000Z to Oct 6, 
2400Z. Bands (MHz): 1.8-28, 50. Exchange: Name and call area (see 
website). Logs due: Oct 31. Rules <http://www.n2ty.org/>

California QSO Party--Phone,CW from Oct 6, 1600Z to Oct 7, 2200Z. Bands 
(MHz): 1.8-28, 50,144. Exchange: Serial and state/prov/"DX" or CA 
county. Logs due: Oct 31. Rules <http://www.cqp.org/>

LOG DUE DATES

*26 September through 9 October*

  * September 29, 2012 Ohio State Parks on the Air
    <http://parks.portcars.org/ospota/wp-content/uploads/2012/04/ospota-rules-12april2012.pdf>
  * September 30, 2012 AGCW Straight Key Party
    <http://www.agcw.org/en/?Contests_and_CW-activities:Straight_Key_Party_%28HTP%29>
  * September 30, 2012 IARU Region 1 Field Day, SSB (see society websites)
  * September 30, 2012 Brazil Independence Day BPSK31 CDX Contest
    <http://brcontest.com/resultado/indday/2012/INDDAYENGL.htm>
  * September 30, 2012 Scandinavian Activity Contest, CW
    <http://www.sactest.net/blog/rules/>
  * October 1, 2012 Colorado QSO Party
    <http://ppraa.org/downloads/coqp/2012%20COQP%20Rules%2012-1.pdf>
  * October 1, 2012 Kansas QSO Party <http://www.ksqsoparty.org/rules/>
  * October 1, 2012 SARL VHF/UHF Analogue/Digital Contest
    <http://www.sarl.org.za/public/contests/SARL_2012_Contest_Manual_issue_10.pdf>
  * October 1, 2012 Russian RTTY WW Contest
    <http://www.qrz.ru/contest/detail/93>
  * October 1, 2012 Hawaii QSO Party
    <http://hawaiiqsoparty.org/HIQSOPartyRules-2012.html>
  * October 1, 2012 CIS DX QPSK63 Contest
    <http://www.epc-ru.ru/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=1371&Itemid=282>
  * October 3, 2012 Tennessee QSO Party <http://tnqp.org/wp/?page_id=11>
  * October 4, 2012 MI QRP Labor Day CW Sprint
    <http://www.qsl.net/miqrpclub/contest.html>
  * October 6, 2012 FOC QSO Party
    <http://g4foc.org/Default.aspx?pageId=1143601>
  * October 7, 2012 WAB 144 MHz QRO Phone
    <http://wab.intermip.net/Contest%20Rules.php#OtherRules>
  * October 8, 2012 AGCW VHF/UHF Contest
    <http://www.agcw.org/en/?Contests_and_CW-activities:VHF-UHF_Contest>
  * October 8, 2012 QCWA Fall QSO Party
    <http://www.qcwa.org/2012qso-party.htm>
  * October 9, 2012 G3ZQS Memorial Straight Key Contest
    <http://www.fists.org/operating.html>

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ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

ARRL Contest Update wishes to acknowledge information from WA7BNM's 
Contest Calendar <http://www.hornucopia.com/contestcal> and SM3CER's 
Contest Calendar <http://www.sk3bg.se/contest>.

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