[SFDXA] The ARRL Contest Update for December 3, 2014

Wed Dec 3 17:49:51 EST 2014

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The ARRL Contest Update

December 3, 2014
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

  * Spectrum-Spanning Fun - ARRL 160 and 10 Meter Contests <#Contests>
  * To the Moon! - ARRL EME <#Contests>
  * Stew Perry is Coming! <#News>
  * WRTC 2018 Qualifying Begins <#Newsweek>
  * Get Your Soapbox On <#Sights>
  * Megapoint Multiopers <#Results>
  * Unexpected Noise Source <#Tech>
  * Don't Burn Out With This Burn Out Detector <#Techweek>
  * This <#Conversation>

NEW HF OPERATORS - THINGS TO DO

As a new HF operator, if you only do one contest through the year, the 
ARRL 10 Meter Contest on Dec 13-14 is perfect for you on either CW or 
Phone...or both! If you are digital mode fan, the new 10 Meter RTTY 
Contest on the preceding weekend (Dec 6-7) is growing like a weed. Jump 
in with both feet and enjoy. (For you experienced operators - this is a 
great opportunity to make your station available to a Technician 
wondering what all the HF fuss is about!)

BULLETINS

For our non-W/VE friends planning an entry in the ARRL 160 Meter Contest 
this weekend, remember that you can work KH6, KL7, KP2, KP4, and all 
other US possessions since they count as ARRL sections in this contest.

If you make contest QSOs on more than one band but want to enter your 
log in a single-band category, leave /all/ /QSOs/ /in the log/! Do not 
delete them. Just make sure your Cabrillo header shows your category of 
entry as the correct single band and the contest sponsor will take it 
from there. (Check any posted of claimed scores or logs received to be 
sure you got it right.) Also, just submit your log once. Most 
email-handling log submission processes overwrite any older submissions 
with the latest log received.

And at last - don't forget the new 5-day (Dec 5) log submission deadline 
for CQ WW logs!

BUSTED QSOS

The owner of SuperBertha is W3TX, not K3TX. (Thanks, Ray NM2O)

CONTEST SUMMARY

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

*December 6-7*

  * */ARRL 160 Meter Contest--CW (Dec 5-7)/*
  * */ARRL EME Contest/*
  * CWOps Weekly Mini-CWT Tests (Dec 3)
  * TARA RTTY Mêlée
  * VU International DX Contest
  * Top Operators Activity Contest--CW
  * AWA Bruce Kelly QSO Party--CW
  * Ten Meter RTTY Contest
  * Straight Key Weekend Sprintathon
  * SARL Digital Contest
  * Great Colorado Snowshoe Run--CW

*December 13-14*

  * */ARRL 10 Meter Contest/*
  * OK1WC Memorial Contest (Dec 8)
  * ARS Spartan Sprint--CW (Dec 9)
  * NAQCC Monthly QRP Sprint--CW (Dec 10)
  * NS Weekly Sprint--CW (Dec 12)
  * 28 MHz SWL Contest
  * UBA Winter Contest
  * Holiday Spirits Homebrew Sprint--CW
  * Run For the Bacon--CW (Dec 15)

NEWS, PRESS RELEASES, AND GENERAL INTEREST

For the upcoming Stew Perry Top Band DX Challenge 
<http://www.kkn.net/stew/> on Dec 27-28, one of the contest's most 
endearing features, along with distance-based scoring, is the amusing 
collection of plaques. Lew W7AT <mailto:w7ew at arrl.net> notifies us that 
"The Boring Amateur Radio Club...actively encourages the participants to 
sponsor plaques that recognizes heroic or nearly heroic or maybe even 
the best of a meager radio situation and its efforts. You can find the 
list of not only last year's plaque winners but also the calls of the 
Radio Stalwarts who sponsored those wooden beauties." These are some 
creative plaques - this year's list includes a plaque sponsored by TF4M 
for mobile operation, for example. Lew is soliciting sponsorship of 
plaques -- contact him by email with your idea and for the cost of the 
plaque.

Now THAT, my friends, is a ROVER! This is Ed KL7UW's mobile EME station. 
I don't think Ed tries to drive with this behemoth deployed, though. Can 
you hear me now? (There are more EME rover photos in the December issue 
of "Cheesebits <http://www.packratvhf.com/news.htm>" from the Mt Airy 
VHF Radio Club.)

The World Wide Radio Operators Foundation (WWROF) is please to present 
the Webinar: "Cost of a decibel 
<https://attendee.gotowebinar.com/register/2749673335168046849>" by 
Jukka Klemola OH6LI this coming Sunday, December 7, at 19:00 UTC. 
Everybody has pondered how to improve the contest station for the best 
possible ratio of decibels to money spent. Jukka shares some highlights 
how OH4A and OHØV have been balanced for achieving the best performance 
while moderating the budget. (Thanks, Ken K4ZW)

/CQ Magazine/ has announced that John Bergman KC5LK 
<mailto:kc5lk at cq-amateur-radio.com> of Brandon, Mississippi, has been 
named the new /CQ/ Worked All Zones (WAZ) 
<http://www.cq-amateur-radio.com/cq_awards/cq_waz_awards/index_cq_waz_award.html> 
Award Manager, effective January 1. Bergman will succeed fellow 
Mississippian N5FG, who has managed the award for the past 11 years. 
Complete information on the WAZ program is available on the award's 
website. (Thanks, /CQ/ Editor, Rich W2VU)

Here's something that should really spark up some Do-It-Yourself Ham 
Projects interest - disposable electronic circuits with a T-shirt 
printer 
<http://www.gizmag.com/disposable-electronics-t-shirt-printer/34805/>! 
The Field Day XXXL size /may /get you a visit from the FCC power 
monitors, though! (thanks, Dennis N6KI)

The recent West Mountain Radio newsletter 
<http://www.westmountainradio.com/pdf/winter-2014-newsletter.pdf> 
contained a great list of ham radio apps for your smartphone. Some are 
free and some are a couple of dollars -- all are useful. Of course, 
there are many more ham radio apps out there. Just search for "ham 
radio" at your favorite app store.

You've probably heard that DX Summit has released a major upgrade to the 
popular spotting network website. Daily DX reports that Rich KY6R, has 
posted a review 
<http://ky6r.wordpress.com/2014/11/21/the-new-dx-summit/> of the new "My 
DX Summit" online. (Thanks, Daily DX <http://www.dailydx.com>)

What happened to ENIAC, the first full-scale electronic computer? It 
almost went the way of all mortal things but you can read this /Wired/ 
story <http://www.wired.com/2014/11/eniac-unearthed/> about how oblivion 
was forestalled! (Thanks, Tim K3HX)

If you wondered just how all of those issues get put together, wonder no 
more! Seriously, you'll find the little town of Bourbon, MO about 60 
miles southwest of St Louis on I-44. (Photo by NØAX)

Dave KM3T spotted an online archive 
<http://www.americanradiohistory.com/Popular-Electronics-Guide.htm> of 
searchable PDFs for a number of classic radio and electronics magazines 
such as the complete collection of /Popular Electronics/ from 1954 - 
1982 and the Hugo Gernsback original, /Radio-Craft/.

BG9XD provided one of the few Zone 23 multiplier stations in last 
weekend's CQ WW CW. You can learn more about Chenxing's western Chinese 
QTH of Xining Qinghai on his QRZ.com web page <http://qrz.com/db/BG9XD>.

No word at press time as to whether we managed to burn out 10 meters 
during the CQ WW CW although the loading was extraordinary. We'll find 
out at the end of next week in the ARRL 10 Meter Contest!

*Web Site of the Week* - The WRTC2018 Organizing Committee 
<http://wrtc2018.de> is pleased to announce the Team Selection Criteria 
<http://wrtc2018.de/en/qualifying> for the WRTC 2018. A committee led by 
Ulf DL5AXX worked very hard and had long discussions to create this new 
set of rules. Whoever the 49 Team Leaders will be, they'll have to excel 
in contests from February 2015 through November 2016. The list of teams 
also includes three Youth Teams, the 2014 WRTC champs, KL9A and N6MJ, 
and some wild card slots, too. The changes in contests and category 
weighting reflect the continuing evolution of contest operating since 
the first WRTC in 1990.

WORD TO THE WISE

Do not spend two days listening to high-speed CW and then casually turn 
on the local Sunday night folk music show featuring Celtic piping. Or at 
least prepare to be amazed at what your brain does with it! You've been 
warned. By the way, for those of you still hearing random bits of CW, 
it's called "ghost code." Some operators hear it for less than an hour 
and some for a couple of days -- the time it takes for your audio 
neurons to revert to their normal programming.

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SIGHTS AND SOUNDS

Now the Sweepstakes is over and your log is turned in - it /is/ turned 
in, isn't it? - you should hustle on over to the ARRL Soapbox web page 
<http://arrl.org/soapbox> and post your story and a maybe a photo or 
two! The contest writeup authors, VE4XT for CW and N2IC for Phone, would 
love to see the interest elements of radiosport beyond the Top Ten!

Lots of pox on the ol' boy - more sunspots are enlivening the F layer. 
Just watch the Spaceweather movie 
<http://spaceweather.com/archive.php?view=1&day=30&month=11&year=2014> 
from November 30^th to see them rotating across the solar disc to face 
our way!

How did the Chevy Camaro get its shark fin antenna? It took some hams as 
you can see in this YouTube video 
<http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=miTDQbRCwV4>. (Thanks, Steve K7LXC)

The /Ham Radio Hoarder /musical multiop is back with /Ham Shack Blues/ 
<https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Uz-siTzUbDY>! (Thanks, Gerry K8GT)

What is the best DX a human can receive without assistance of any kind? 
The Andromeda Galaxy (M31) at 2.5 million light-years away. Perhaps not 
coincidentally, at 150,000 light-years across it is also the largest 
thing that a human can see and definitely worth learning how to find 
<http://www.wikihow.com/Find-the-Andromeda-Galaxy> in the winter sky. I 
can't say you'll win any bar bets but it is certainly worth experiencing!

RESULTS AND RECORDS

How good were conditions this weekend? The top four USA Multi-Multi 
claimed scores were all over 30 million points! K3LR (38.8M), W3LPL 
(36.1M), W2FU (34.2M), and WE3C (32.6M) - yow! The record set last year 
by the K3LR team was 33.9M and that looks to be toast. By the way, less 
than 24 hours after the contest, more than 4000 logs have been submitted 
with well over 2 million QSOs! In passing, I note that should the lead 
hold up through log checking, this would be the K3LR team's 11th 
straight M/M win in the ARRL and CQ contests, but the competition is 
getting closer-r-r-r-r!

How do they do it? Here's the K5TR multi-op team of Larry K5OT (L) and 
Ralph "Gator" N5RZ (R) doing land office business during the CQ WW CW. 
(Photo by K5TR)

2013 160 Meter Contest certificates went out Friday, November 21^st and 
2013 10 Meter Contest certificates will be out the door by the end of 
this week says Matt W1MSW, ARRL Contest Manager. They will be nice and 
fresh to look at while you're trying to beat that score this year!

The Society of Midwest Contesters <http://w9smc.com> (SMC) sponsored the 
NAQP Club Challenge for 2014 and announces the results for the top three 
participating clubs: Northern California Contest Club (NCCC), Potomac 
Valley Radio Club (PVRC) and Society of Midwest Contesters (SMC)

  * First Place: PVRC, 1,374,342,967 points, 434 participants
  * Second Place: SMC, 1,097,876,133 points, 393 participants
  * Third Place: NCCC, 1,070,524,319 points, 368 participants

The clubs have agreed to continue the NAQP Club Challenge in 2015. In a 
separate intra-challenge, the SMC created five regional teams for the 
Sweepstakes contests and the surge of competitive spirit caused 
participation to jump from 108 logs in 2013 to 168 this year! 
Participating in the challenge is a great way to stimulate activity and 
get folks on the air - why not jump in with your club? Make a challenge 
to the other clubs in your area and see what happens! (Thanks, Craig K9CT)

Raw scores <http://www.cqww.com/raw.htm?mode=ph> for the 2014 CQ WW SSB 
Contest have been updated on the contest website. The new Multi-Operator 
Single Transmitter Low Power category is now called out as a separate 
listing. (Thanks, CQ WW Contest Director, Randy K5ZD)

OPERATING TIP

How accurate do you need to be? Here are two claimed scores from this 
past weekend's CQ WW CW contest in the Multi-Single category:

  * P33W - 11,095 QSOs in 210 zones and 817 countries for 32,809,569 points
  * CR3A - 10,575 QSOs in 208 zones and 819 countries for 32,353,581 points

With total multipliers an exact tie, the error rate of the teams will 
probably determine who finished first this year!

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TECHNICAL TOPICS AND INFORMATION

A recent post by Tom W8JI notes an unexpected noise source: "Phono 
(plugs) and BNC's are a little prone to having some resistance in the 
shield path as they age and a (ferrite bead) sleeve over the shield 
reduces common mode that might couple in at the connector. When I've had 
switching supply noise, the BNC's and phonos have generally been the way 
the noise has gotten in. Wiggling them changes the level when they act 
up, just like it does on a bad F connector shield connection."

Patrick NJ5G answered several questions at once by noting a link to some 
information about crimp vs. solder connections 
<http://www.davisrf.com/articles/crimp-vs-solder.pdf> by the gurus at 
Davis RF who provide BuryFlex cables and other types of wire and cable.**

No, that's not the F2 layer between North America and Europe over the 
weekend! It's a simulation of the solar magnetic fields. Learn more 
about this image at the Ames Research Lab 
<http://www.nasa.gov/ames/magnetic-field-loops-on-the-sun/> website. 
(Image courtesy of NASA)

In the previous issue, I posted a tip about mounting antenna booms on 
opposite sides of the mast to cancel out their respective wind-induced 
torque. George N4UA suggested this might not be true, so after thinking 
about it for a while, I decided he might have a point and asked Hank 
KR7X about it. Hank is a registered PE and analyzed the case for a 
2-element "shorty forty" and a typical tribander mounted on the same and 
then opposite sides of the mast. For the opposite-side case, when the 
elements are aligned so that the wind blows directly in-line with the 
boom there is some cancellation. (About one-half the torque remains and 
the fraction depends on the relative sizes of the antennas. If the 
antennas were identical, such as in a stack, then the torques would 
cancel completely.) The net torque resulting from wind blowing 
perpendicular to the booms depends on where the center of action 
(pressure) is located along the boom and /cannot/ be canceled simply by 
opposite-side mounting. So we'll have to rate that tip as "Partly True." 
Hank pointed out that the most significant torques encountered by 
amateurs come when big 80 meter and 40 meter Yagis quickly start and 
stop turning. (Thanks, Hank KR7X)

Gizmag recently ran a story about a new RF circulator 
<http://www.gizmag.com/smaller-efficient-radio-rf-circulator/34708/> 
that is smaller and more efficient, using active devices instead of 
lossy ferromagnetic material. At the moment, this is a UHF-and-up device 
but perhaps some of the principles could be applied at HF in other ways. 
(Thanks, Dennis N6KI)

More cutting-edge developments were found in a recent issue of 
/Microwave Journal/ as well-known amateur, Ulrich Rohde N1UL, 
collaborated on a paper about creating metamaterials with and other 
effects of Möbius strips 
<http://www.microwavejournal.com/articles/23303-mbius-strips-and-metamaterial-symmetry-theory-and-applications>. 
Again, this is primarily a microwave technology but maybe we'll see 
one-sided loops at VHF and lower frequencies someday!

Spotted in the latest /Circuit Cellar, /here's a new product that 70 cm 
users might employ - a low-power frequency-programmable, narrow-band 
transmitter 
<http://circuitcellar.com/industry-enterprise/product-news/new-frequency-programmable-narrow-band-transmitter/> 
that operates from 425 to 470 MHz.

David WØIM reported a handy discovery for portable antenna users. "I was 
wandering in Menards, and found some 5-foot aluminum extension 
poles...officially for a Roof Rake, or Snow Rake. One of those things us 
Northerners use to remove snow from a roof. They were $7 for 5 feet, so 
now a 25-foot mast is $35 dollars total." There are lots of seasonal 
products at hardware stores that would be expensive if purchased in low 
quantities for electronics. For example, watch for the fiberglass "snow 
stakes" that mark the edges of walkways and driveways -- they make great 
insulating material for a couple of bucks each.

Mentor Graphics and Digi-Key have announced a low-cost electronic CAD 
package for printed-circuit board layout and schematic capture. 
/Designer Schematic/ and /Designer Layout/ 
<http://www.edn.com/electronics-products/other/4437730/Mentor-meets-Digikey--low-cost-CAD-results> 
aren't free, costing about $600 together, but they are fairly powerful 
and not limited in capability like the free and student versions of 
other such software.

*Technical Web Site of the Week* - Tis the season of an annual favorite, 
the /EDN Magazine/ "Design Notes 
<http://www.edn.com/design/consumer/4437755/Christmas-light-string-bad-bulb-finder>" 
classic to help you rapidly zero in on those bad bulbs in string of 
lights! Then you can get back to the bands and work some of that great DX!

CONVERSATION

This

Overheard this weekend on the Kenai Peninsula, southwest of Anchorage, 
Alaska...

KL7RA: "/Dave, which bands are open right now?/"
NN1N (operator at KL7RA): "/ALL OF THEM!/"

The fall of 2014 has been a contest season, hasn't it? While in some 
years, solar shenanigans have clobbered at least one major contest, 
we've had a pretty good run this fall, culminating in the terrific 
conditions over this past weekend. Some records have been set that will 
no doubt stand for a long time, assuming the cycle begins falling off 
next year. Cycle 24 has been a bit of a puzzle, though, so it may just 
take its sweet time. Maybe it will get stuck! Yeah, that's the ticket! A 
permanent peak! Sure...

Scott KØMD set a new personal record of operating in a single contest 
during one weekend on two continents: one in summer (CE2) and the other 
in the frozen winter of MN (KØ)! (Photo from KØMD)

When somebody asks what the attraction of contesting is, you can point 
to your logs and show them one contact after another with stations all 
over the place, in all directions. You needn't have been a Big Gun, 
either. CW being the effective mode that it is, QRP stations were 
filling their logs, too. There were a lot of happy dances in shacks 
across the land, including by your editor who picked up three all-time 
new QRP entities along with turning on the jets and making some noise.

Everybody-works-everybody contests are special in that there are no 
regional targets and there is a maximum incentive to stay as active as 
possible. While this can make it more difficult to work something 
particularly rare, the activity levels are incredible. Your questioner 
might be surprised to find out CQ World Wide is in the top ten largest 
sporting events on the planet, only surpassed by some of the larger 
marathons.

Tell the audience that if they listen, they will be able to hear the 
world turning. (Yes, I've used that phrase before and it's true!) Higher 
bands follow the Sun, the lower bands follow the night, and 20 meters 
just gleams. Some programs like /ViewProp/ 
<http://reversebeacon.blogspot.com/2013/04/viewprop.html> can play back 
a log on a map or globe to show propagation as it changes, making the 
experience a visual one that is easier to understand by the non-ham.

If you have a good station, invite some non-contesters to do an hour or 
two with you. I'll bet you have a hard time getting them out of the 
chair once they get the hang of it! Experienced hams will fondly recall 
their own first contest with a beam antenna or a first over-the-pole 
opening of working fluttery rare prefixes just as fast as you can go! 
The upcoming 10 Meter contest is perfect for new contesters to get a 
feel for tuning, copying, and logging.

As you can tell, I'm still buzzing and from my email and various media 
streams, I can tell at lot of readers are, too. Many QSOs. Many 
multipliers. Many smiles. Why do we do it? This.

73, Ward NØAX

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CONTESTS

*December 3 through December 16, 2014*

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*

*/ARRL 160 Meter Contest/*--CW, from Dec 5, 2200Z to Dec 7, 1600Z. Bands 
(MHz): 1.8. Exchange: RST and ARRL/RAC section if US/VE. Logs due: Jan 
6. Rules <http://www.arrl.org/contests>

CWOps Weekly Mini-CWT Tests--CW, from Dec 3, 1300Z - See website. 
Multiple time periods. Bands (MHz): 1.8-28. Weekly on Wednesday, 28 to 
38 kHz above band edge. Exchange: Name and member number or S/P/C. Logs 
due: 2 days. Rules <http://www.cwops.org/cwt.html>

TARA RTTY Mêlée--Digital, from Dec 6, 0000Z to Dec 6, 2359Z. Bands 
(MHz): 1.8-28. Exchange: RST and State/Province or serial. Logs due: Jan 
1. Rules <http://www.n2ty.org>

VU International DX Contest--Phone,CW, from Dec 6, 1200Z to Dec 7, 
1200Z. Bands (MHz): 3.5-28. Exchange: RS(T) and Indian state or prefix. 
Logs due: Dec 26. Rules <http://www.arsi.info/contests/international>

Top Operators Activity Contest--CW, from Dec 6, 1600Z to Dec 7, 1559Z. 
Bands (MHz): 3.5-28. Exchange: RST, serial, and TOPS/PRO number. Logs 
due: Dec 18. Rules <http://www.procwclub.ro/TAC%20Rules.html>

AWA Bruce Kelly QSO Party--CW, from Dec 6, 2300Z - See website. Multiple 
time periods. Bands (MHz): 3.5,7. Exchange: RST, Xmtr type, power, name. 
Logs due: 30 days. Rules <http://www.antiquewireless.org>

Ten Meter RTTY Contest--Digital, from Dec 7, 0000Z to Dec 7, 2359Z. 
Bands (MHz): 28. Exchange: RST and state or province or serial. Logs 
due: 7 days. Rules 
<http://www.rttycontesting.com/ten-meter-rtty-contest/rules/>

Straight Key Weekend Sprintathon--CW, from Dec 7, 1200Z to Dec 7, 2359Z. 
Bands (MHz): 3.5-28. Monthly beginning on the second Saturday local 
time. Exchange: RST, S/P/C, SKCC nr or power. Logs due: 5 days. Rules 
<http://www.skccgroup.com>

SARL Digital Contest--Digital, from Dec 7, 1300Z to Dec 7, 1600Z. Bands 
(MHz): 3.5-14. Exchange: RST and serial. Logs due: 7 days. Rules 
<http://www.sarl.org.za/Document_Store/CONT_20140101_SARL_Contest_Manual_2014.pdf>

Great Colorado Snowshoe Run--CW, from Dec 7, 2100Z to Dec 7, 2259Z. 
Bands (MHz): 14. Exchange: RST, S/P/C, class, CQC number or power. Logs 
due: 30 days. Rules <http://www.cqc.org/contests>

OK1WC Memorial Contest--Phone,CW, from Dec 8, 1630Z - See website. 
Multiple time periods. Bands (MHz): 3.5, 7. Weekly on Monday, see 
website for bands. Exchange: RS(T) and serial. Logs due: 5 days. Rules 
<http://www.memorial-ok1wc.cz>

ARS Spartan Sprint--CW, from Dec 9, 0200Z to Dec 9, 0400Z. Bands (MHz): 
3.5-28. Monthly on the first Monday evening local time. Exchange: RST, 
S/P/C, and power. Logs due: 2 days. Rules <http://www.arsqrp.blogspot.com/>

NAQCC Monthly QRP Sprint--CW, from Dec 10, 0130Z to Dec 10, 0330Z. Bands 
(MHz): 3.5-14. Monthly on 2nd Tuesday or 3rd Wednesday local time 
(alternating). Exchange: RST, S/P/C, and NAQCC mbr nr or power. Logs 
due: 4 days. Rules http://naqcc.info

NS Weekly Sprint--CW, from Dec 12, 0230Z to Dec 12, 0300Z. Bands (MHz): 
1.8-14. Weekly on Thursday evenings local time. Exchange: Serial, name, 
and S/P/C. Logs due: 2 days. Rules <http://www.ncccsprint.com/rttyns.html>

28 MHz SWL Contest--Phone,CW, from Dec 13, 0000Z to Dec 14, 2359Z. Bands 
(MHz): 28. Exchange: Log ARRL 10 Meter Contest QSOs. Logs due: Jan 31. 
Rules <http://swl.veron.nl/swlcontest.htm>

ARRL 10 Meter Contest--Phone,CW, from Dec 13, 0000Z to Dec 14, 2359Z. 
Bands (MHz): 28. Exchange: RS(T) and US or XE State/Prov or serial. Logs 
due: Jan 13. Rules <http://www.arrl.org/contests>

UBA Winter Contest--Phone,CW,Digital, from Dec 13, 1700Z - See website. 
Multiple time periods. Bands (MHz): 1.8-7. Exchange: RS(T) and UBA 
section or serial. Logs due: 3 weeks. Rules 
<http://www.uba.be/en/hf/contest-rules>

Holiday Spirits Homebrew Sprint--CW, from Dec 14, 2000Z to Dec 14, 
2359Z. Bands (MHz): 1.8-28. Exchange: RST, S/P/C, ARCI number or Power. 
Logs due: 14 days. Rules 
<http://www.qrparci.org/contests/qrp-arci-contests/138-topbandsprint>

Run For the Bacon--CW, from Dec 15, 0200Z to Dec 15, 0400Z. Bands (MHz): 
1.8-28. Monthly on 3rd Sunday night (local). Exchange: RST, S/P/C, 
Flying Pig nr or power. Rules <http://www.fpqrp.org>

*VHF+ CONTESTS*

*/ARRL EME Contest/*--Phone,CW,Digital, from Dec 6, 0000Z to Dec 7, 
2359Z. Bands (MHz): 50-1296. Exchange: Call signs, sig rpt, 
acknowledgement. Logs due: Jan 1. Rules <http://www.arrl.org/contests>

LOG DUE DATES

*December 3-16*

  * December 4 - ARS Spartan Sprint <http://www.arsqrp.blogspot.com/>
  * December 4 - RSGB 80m Club Sprint, CW
    <http://www.rsgbcc.org/hf/rules/2014/rsprint.shtml>
  * December 4 - QRP Fox Hunt <http://www.qrpfoxhunt.org/winter_rules.htm>
  * December 5 - CQ Worldwide DX Contest, CW <http://www.cqww.com/rules.htm>
  * December 6 - YO International PSK31 Contest
    <http://www.yo5crq.ro/Rules2014EN.htm>
  * December 6 - QRP Fox Hunt <http://www.qrpfoxhunt.org/winter_rules.htm>
  * December 6 - CWops Mini-CWT Test <http://www.cwops.org/cwt.html>
  * December 7 - NCCC RTTY Sprint <http://www.ncccsprint.com/rttyns.html>
  * December 7 - NCCC Sprint <http://www.ncccsprint.com/rules.html>
  * December 10 - JIDX Phone Contest <http://www.jidx.org/jidxrule-e.html>
  * December 13 - Wake-Up! QRP Sprint
    <http://qrp.ru/contest/wakeup/333-wakeup-eng>
  * December 14 - SARL Digital Contest
    <http://www.sarl.org.za/Document_Store/CONT_20140101_SARL_Contest_Manual_2014.pdf>
  * December 14 - QRP ARCI Topband Sprint
    <http://www.qrparci.org/contests/qrp-arci-contests/138-topbandsprint>
  * December 15 - Ten-Meter RTTY Contest
    <http://www.rttycontesting.com/ten-meter-rtty-contest/rules/>

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ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

ARRL Contest Update wishes to acknowledge information from WA7BNM's 
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