[SFDXA] The ARRL Contest Update for February 26, 2014

Wed Feb 26 14:03:45 EST 2014

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The ARRL Contest Update

February 26, 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/>
Ad <http://www.arrl.org/nladclick.php?n=cu&i=2014-02-26&t=t>
IN THIS ISSUE

  * Full Bands Ahead - ARRL DX Phone Contest <#Contests>
  * Beaming North - Idaho and Wisconsin QSO Parties <#Contests>
  * Become Doctor DX <#News>
  * Regenerating Interest in Early Radio <#Newsweek>
  * Antenna System Design Webinar <#Sights>
  * ARRL Sweepstakes - Initial Results Online <#Results>
  * HV - Switch to Safety! <#Tech>
  * Radial Literature Bus <#Techweek>
  * The Boundary Problem - Part Two <#Conversation>

NEW HF OPERATORS - THINGS TO DO

Technician operators really enjoy the fun of operating 10 meter phone 
during the ARRL International DX Phone Contest, coming up this weekend. 
With solar flux plenty high enough to open the polar paths, this will be 
a great time to see what your HF phone privileges can do! Speaking of 
privileges - you might want to download a copy of the US Amateur Bands 
chart <http://www.arrl.org/graphical-frequency-allocations> and there is 
another specifically for Technicians 
<http://www.arrl.org/files/file/Ham%20Radio%20License%20Manual/Tech%20Band%20Chart.pdf>.

BULLETINS

The date for Kids Day is wrong on the 2014 ARRL printed calendar - it is 
21 June and always on the third Saturday of June.

BUSTED QSOS

Nothing seriously awry last time!

CONTEST SUMMARY

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

*Mar 1-2*

  * ARRL International Phone DX Contest
  * Open Ukraine RTTY Championship
  * OK1WC Memorial Contest
  * ARS Spartan Sprint--CW
  * YL CW Party
  * John Rollins Memorial DX Contest--CW (Mar 5)

*Mar 8-9*

  * NS Weekly Sprint--CW (Mar 7)
  * Worldwide EME Contest
  * RSGB Commonwealth Contest--CW
  * Straight Key Weekend Sprintathon
  * AGCW QRP Contest--CW
  * QRP ARCI HF Grid Square Sprint--CW
  * EA PSK63 Contest
  * Idaho QSO Party
  * North American RTTY Sprint (Mar 9)
  * Wisconsin QSO Party (Mar 9)

NEWS, PRESS RELEASES, AND GENERAL INTEREST

DX University <http://www.dxuniversity.com/%E2%80%8E> will again conduct 
a DXing session at the International DX Convention 
<dxconvention.org/%E2%80%8E> at the Convention Center in Visalia, 
California on Friday, April 4th, 2014. Presenters will include DX 
University faculty members AA7A, K7CU,K7UT, K9LA, N7NG, and W3UR. 
Morning topics are tailored to the less-experienced DXer, including 
putting a DXing station together, basic propagation, utilizing resources 
and actual operating. The afternoon session will consist of a seminar on 
more advanced DXing and DXpeditioning topics. Register for either or 
both sessions on the DX University website

Just before the ARRL DX CW Contest, ol' Sol had a busy week. This photo 
of coronal loops 
<http://www.nasa.gov/content/coronal-loops-in-an-active-region-of-the-sun/>was 
taken between Feb 8th and 10th in extreme ultraviolet by the NASA SODO 
satellite. (Photo courtesy of NASA)

Jim AD1C reports that the Country (CTY) Files 
<http://www.country-files.com/cty-2402-24-February-2014/> were updated 
on 24 February 2014. Installation instructions 
<http://www.country-files.com/cty-2402-24-February-2014/> are posted -- 
with all the commemorative prefixes on the air, be sure your files are 
up to date before the ARRL DX contest this weekend!

QRZ DX <http://dxpub.net/%E2%80%8E> reports that Icom America 
<http://icomamerica.com/> has announced a firmware upgrade for their 
IC-7700 transceiver. This update provides enhanced user interface, 
refined operational controls, improved audio and voice functionality and 
more. The firmware upgrade will be free to download on-line around March 20.

With the ongoing conversion of the Internet from IPv4 to IPv6 addresses, 
maybe ham radio could get in the swing of things and extend our 
two-character prosigns to four-characters! Just think of the 
possibilities as the currently overloaded prosigns are extended:

  * KNNU - Call only...hey, not you!
  * AROW - End of message, oh wait...
  * ASMI - Stand by and I mean it!
  * SKEE - We already use this one

And when you're done sending these new prosigns, you might want to 
punctuate them with this big red online button 
<http://instantrimshot.com/classic/?sound=rimshot>!

The 17 February cover of Time magazine <http://www.time.com/> announced 
"It promises to solve some of humanity's most complex problems. It is 
backed by Jeff Bezos, NASA, and the CIA. Each one costs $10,000,000 and 
operates at 459 degrees below zero. And nobody knows how it actually 
works." The CEO of the manufacturer of the D-Wave 
<http://www.dwavesys.com/%E2%80%8E> Two, by all accounts an amazing and 
mysterious device, quoted several times in the article, is none other 
than Yankee Clipper Contest Club member Vern W1VB. Despite Vern's 
personal history, WRTC-2014 <http://wrtc2014.org/> Co-chair, Doug K1DG, 
states "For the record, WRTC2014 will /not/**be using a D-Wave Two for 
log checking and SDR-recording QSO verification. But I can neither 
confirm nor deny that a prototype D-Wave Three has been installed at the 
WRTC2014 HQ hotel's log-checking suite." Doug sounds a bit uncertain.

We lost some friends in the contesting world over the past couple of 
weeks. First came news that three-time WRTC competitor and six-time High 
Speed Telegraphy world champion Anti HA3OV and his wife were killed in 
an automobile accident. A few days later we learned that Don VE3RM had 
died as well. Don trained hundreds of new hams in Ontario and was a 
fixture at the Dayton Hamvention contest suites every year. As Glenn 
K6NA reminds us - enjoy the company of your friends, life is short.

*Web Site of the Week* - It was 101 years ago that Edwin Armstrong 
demonstrated his "regenerative detector" and changed receiving and 
receivers -- and ham radio -- forever. The story is outlined in this 
/Electronic Design/ magazine article 
<http://electronicdesign.com/blog/armstrong-and-sarnoff-101-years-ago> 
including an opportunity to copy the sounds of alternator-generated 
signals as Armstrong heard them, nearly a century ago.

WORD TO THE WISE

"Never trust a meter that reads zero." Contributed by Bill W6WRT.

Ad <http://www.arrl.org/nladclick.php?n=cu&t=i&i=2014-02-26&p=0>
SIGHTS AND SOUNDS

The World Wide Radio Operators Foundation <http://wwrof.org/> (WWROF) 
will be hosting a webinar presentation 
<https://www2.gotomeeting.com/register/539188354> at 2000 UTC on March 
8th by Bill Karle VE4KZ on /Antenna System Planning/. While many of us 
are locked in the middle of winter, it's never too early to begin 
thinking about spring and new antennas or improvements to an existing 
system. Join Bill as he looks at a typical ham station, assesses antenna 
needs, develops a solution, constructs, and then reviews performance. 
(Thanks, Ken K4ZW)

If you were on the air on Feb 24th, you no doubt experienced the effects 
of this X4.9 solar flare 
<http://www.nasa.gov/content/first-moments-of-a-solar-flare-in-different-wavelengths-of-light/>, 
photographed here just as it was starting at a variety of wavelengths by 
the NASA SODO satellite. (Image courtesy of NASA)

Here's a neat story 
<http://news.yahoo.com/blogs/this-could-be-big-abc-news/robotics-ceo-12-old-wiz-smart-ph-ds-194012375.html> 
about 12-year-old Rohan Agrawal KG6LXV who is cutting a wide swath 
through the Silicon Valley robotics community. Watch for a lot more from 
Rohan! (Thanks, Patty KS7L)

Pete NSØD sends a link to this video <http://imgur.com/63n1BT8> showing 
a handy way to make sure your CD is really, really, really erased. 
Rewrites? Not so much.

RESULTS AND RECORDS

The initial results <http://arrl.org/contest-results-articles> for CW 
and Phone weekends of ARRL November Sweepstakes have been posted online. 
The articles (CW by Kelly VE4XT and Phone by Steve N2IC) feature 
category winners, Top Ten tables, Division Winners, and Region Leaders. 
So that we might all understand and possibly justify falling short of 
the Clean Sweep, the highly entertaining Rare Section rankings are also 
available.

Preliminary results 
<http://ncjweb.com/naqp-scores/preliminary/cwnaqp012014-prelim.txt> for 
the January CW North American QSO Party are now available. Please report 
any problems directly to the contest manager, Chris KL9A 
<mailto:cwnaqpmgr at ncjweb.com>. Similarly, preliminary results 
<http://ncjweb.com/sprint-scores/preliminary/sprintcwfeb2014prelim.txt> 
for the February CW Sprint are also now available and the contest's 
management at the Boring Amateur Radio Club 
<mailto:cwsprintmgr at ncjweb.com> is standing by for any issues you may 
notice. (Thanks, NCJ Editor, Kirk K4RO)

If you are chasing band-mode counters for the ARRL Centennial QSO Party, 
a leaderboard <https://centennial-qp.arrl.org> is now posted online and 
updated regularly!

California QSO Party <http://www.cqp.org/index.html> committee member, 
John K6MM, writes in that "I just posted the final results 
<http://www.cqp.org/Results.html> for the 2013 California QSO Party, 
including downloadable certificates. Over 800 logs were processed within 
90 days after the log submission deadline of October 31, 2013. As in the 
Winter Olympics, several new records <http://www.cqp.org/Records.html> 
were set during CQP 2013! 37 plaques and 40 bottles of wine will be 
given to the qualifying Top Dogs."

Hey - look at this cool store in the Pittsburgh airport! Awwww...no 
radio stuff...not even a little. (Photo by NØAX)

Helmut DF7ZS has published the final results for the 2013 WAE SSB DX 
Contest <http://www.darc.de/referate/dx/contest/waedc/2013/ssb/> with 
"some very close results in the top scores, but also some very clear 
winners on the first places." The final WAE database had 311,538 QSOs 
and 262,684 QTCs from 1,326 entrants, a total of 17,188 call signs in 
the logs. 199,799 QSOs could be directly crosschecked log-to-log, 90,616 
verified indirectly by "tracking active call signs in the database that 
have not submitted a log." Thanks go to DF1QR, DL2NBY, DJ4MH and DL6MHW 
for log checking and software updating. (Thanks, Daily DX 
<http://dailydx.com/>)

You can find the CQ World Wide winners <http://www.cqww.com/winners.htm> 
over the years for any location or category online. Hours of fun and it 
settles all those after-the-meeting arguments! (Thanks, CQ WW Director, 
Randy, K5ZD)

OPERATING TIP

Phone contesting (or emergency net control, for that matter) is a very 
physical activity with a lot of wear and tear on the vocal cords and 
your "hollerin' parts". Minimize stress on yourself (and others in the 
same house or EOC) by setting your audio and mike gain to levels that 
are comfortable for listening and speaking. The louder you yell, the 
worse your audio gets, making it hard to understand, so you tend you 
yell louder, and...well, you get the idea. Speak softly and submit a big 
log! (I know several ops who take the opposite tack and do okay, though...)

Ad <http://www.arrl.org/nladclick.php?n=cu&t=i&i=2014-02-26&p=1>
TECHNICAL TOPICS AND INFORMATION

Safety was a topic of discussion on the Amps reflector 
<http://lists.contesting.com/mailman/listinfo/Amps> recently, leading to 
some good advice from Jim W8ZR. "Be sure to wear safety glasses if you 
are working on an RF deck and the HV fuse is visible and uncovered. If 
it blows, tiny pieces of glass fly everywhere. It's probably a good idea 
to slip a loose-fitting piece of fiberglass spaghetti over the fuse to 
catch the pieces." Vic K2VCO recounted some personal "adventures" and 
suggested this simple rule for working around high voltages: "Clean up, 
put the tools away, make sure you have plenty of space and time to work 
-- first. And do it in the morning!"

They say an army marches on its stomach - well, so does a Multi-Multi 
station! This is the K3LR refrigerator about an hour before contest 
time. It was considerably emptier on Sunday! (Photo by NØAX)

In the endless quest for flat surfaces onto which stuff may be put, 
Instructables contributed this useful and sturdy shelving design 
<http://www.instructables.com/id/Industrial-Pipe-Shelving-Built-In/> 
that uses industrial pipe and fittings.

Tim K3HX found a website called Tubebooks <http://www.tubebooks.org/> 
with links to lots of books on vacuum tube technology. Solid-state may 
be coming on strong but there are a lot of tubes still generating lots 
of watts on the ham bands!

Recent tips on putting in and pulling out ground rods sure got 
everyone's attention! Glenn WØGJ asks, "Ever drive a wobbling ground rod 
with a sledge hammer? (I) miss about 80% of the time!" Your editor 
couldn't agree more. Even though I prefer to use a fence post driver to 
get the rod started (talk about good exercise!) the hammer has to be 
used for the final foot or so. And the tired-er I get, the more likely 
this is to produce a Looney Tunes-like 
"boooIINNNGGGGgggzzzzwobbidawobbidawobbida..." Glenn has just the ticket 
for keeping that rod steady - a simple steadying jig 
<http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0sLv4LLVPbA>. At least that way, you'll 
know it's you missing and not the rod moving!

Frank KR1ZAN found this interesting Macworld article 
<http://www.macworld.com/article/2096123/advice-from-an-apple-tech-the-right-tools-for-the-job.html#tk.rss_all> 
on tools for computer repair. He found the magnetizer-demagnetizer and 
variable temperature heat gun of particular interest but the article 
mentions enough different tools that there is something for every shop.

*Technical Web Site of the Week* - Ground radials are plenty important 
and there is a lot of literature on them but it's sprinkled all over the 
web, it seems. Ross KB8NTY has done us all a big favor by collecting 
links to them in a single place - his own website 
<http://www.rossradio.net/>. Thanks, Ross!

CONVERSATION

The Boundary Problem - Part Two

In the previous issue, I defined several terms and ideas that form the 
foundation on which today's radiosport competitions - contests - are 
built. How precise should the definitions and rules be? When asked by a 
journalist "What is complementary to truth?" renowned physicist Neils 
Bohr is said to have replied, "Clarity." Contest sponsors must 
continually balance the need for broad understanding with the need for 
verifiably (and enforceably) precise definitions and rules.

Even in the snow, the DX comes rolling in on the 15 meter stack at K3LR. 
Maybe that garage is where he keeps all the multipliers! (Photo by NØAX)

Each contest sponsor adds certain constraints to the basic definitions. 
For example, ARRL contests and CQ Worldwide limit the physical size of a 
station to a circle 500 meters in diameter. Interestingly, neither 
places any restriction on vertical size, which allows antennas on 
buildings hundreds of feet high and the famous W7RM Foulweather Bluff 
station with transmitting antennas on a cliff and receiving antennas 
down below on a beach.

Let's start with the classic /Single-Operator/ category in the ARRL 
International DX Contest and see how each term applies without trying to 
be exhaustive and ignoring power sub-categories:

*Boundary* - all equipment must be contained within a circle 500 meters 
in diameter.

*Station* - Total transmitter power output is limited to 1500 watts for 
a single signal. In addition, the rules prohibit the use of automated 
multi-channel decoders, such as CW Skimmer, although this technology 
item is grouped with information constraints in rule 2.1.1 of the HF 
Contest - General Rules 
<http://www.arrl.org/general-rules-for-arrl-contests-below-30-mhz>.

*Operator* - Only one operator is allowed to manipulate equipment inside 
the station boundary during the contest period. There are no 
restrictions on the means by which the operator performs the manipulation.

*Information* - Two kinds of information are covered in the rules; RF 
and data.

  * RF may be transmitted and received for scoring credit only on the
    bands and mode allowed in the contest. Only one transmitted signal
    at time is permitted.
  * No data about the operation of other stations participating in the
    contest may cross the station boundary by any means, wired or
    wireless, with the exception of data required to perform equipment
    control functions.

The other single-operator categories are created by either relaxing or 
adding constraints:

/Single-Operator Unlimited/ eliminates the boundary-crossing restriction 
on data about the operation of other participating stations. You may now 
use publicly available spotting information from the Internet or listen 
to a spotting net, for example. Station equipment may now include an 
automated multi-channel decoder such as a CW Skimmer.

/Single-Operator Single-Band/ is the same as /Single-Operator/ but 
restricts RF signals crossing the station boundary to a single band. 
Note - that restriction also prohibits operating on another band for 
soliciting stations to come work you on the contest band.

How about the Multioperator categories?

/Multioperator, Single Transmitter/ starts with the rules for Single-Op 
Unlimited and extends them by allowing more than one operator to 
manipulate the station equipment. The restriction of only one 
transmitted RF signal at a time is still in place. Additionally, limits 
are placed on the number of bands on which that signal may be 
transmitted during a 60-minute clock hour. ie, band-change rules. Note 
that any number of transmitters can be used during the contest by either 
single- or multi-operator participants, just one at a time.

/Multioperator, Two Transmitter/ allows one or two simultaneous RF 
signals and requires them to be on different bands, again with limited 
numbers of band changes.

/Multioperator, Multitransmitter/ increases the number of signals to one 
per band and removes all band change restrictions

These categories should more accurately be "Single-Signal" or 
"Multisignal" categories since the rules say nothing about the number of 
transmitters used for a single call sign!

Having figured out how to re-picture our basic contest categories in 
these terms, where do we go from here? Perhaps a map would be useful - 
let's unroll it and plot a further course next time.

73, Ward NØAX

Ad <http://www.arrl.org/nladclick.php?n=cu&t=i&i=2014-02-26&p=2>
CONTESTS

*26 February through 11 March 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 International Phone DX Contest--Phone, from Mar 1, 0000Z to Mar 2, 
2359Z. Bands (MHz): 1.8-28. Exchange: RS and state, province, or power. 
Logs due: Apr 21. Rules <http://www.arrl.org/contests>

Open Ukraine RTTY Championship--Digital, from Mar 1, 1800Z - See 
website. Multiple time periods. Bands (MHz): 1.8-28. Exchange: Regional 
abbreviation and serial. Logs due: Apr 30. Rules 
<http://uarl.com.ua/openrtty>

OK1WC Memorial Contest--Phone,CW, from Mar 2, 1600Z - See website. 
Multiple time periods. Bands (MHz): 3.5, 7. See website for bands. 
Exchange: RS(T) and serial. Logs due: 5 days. Rules 
<http://www.memorial-ok1wc.cz/>

ARS Spartan Sprint--CW, from Mar 4, 0200Z to Mar 4, 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/>

YL CW Party--CW, from Mar 4, 1900Z to Mar 4, 2100Z. Bands (MHz): 3.5. 
Exchange: RST, serial, if YL "YL," name. Logs due: Mar 31. Rules 
<http://www.agcw.de/>

John Rollins Memorial DX Contest--CW, from Mar 5, 2300Z - See website. 
Multiple time periods. Bands (MHz): 7,14. Exchange: RS, name, and S/P/C. 
Logs due: 4 weeks. Rules 
<http://www.antiquewireless.org/awa-on-the-air.html>

NS Weekly Sprint--CW, from Mar 7, 0230Z to Mar 7, 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/>

RSGB Commonwealth Contest--CW, from Mar 8, 1000Z to Mar 9, 1000Z. Bands 
(MHz): 3.5-28. Exchange: RST and serial (Commonwealth only). Logs due: 
16 days. Rules <http://www.rsgbcc.org/hf/rules/2014/r80mcc.shtml>

Straight Key Weekend Sprintathon--CW, from Mar 8, 1200Z to Mar 9, 2359Z. 
Bands (MHz): 1.8-28, 50. Exchange: RST, QTH, name, member nr if member. 
Logs due: 5 days. Rules <http://www.skccgroup.com/sprint/sks/>

AGCW QRP Contest--CW, from Mar 8, 1400Z to Mar 8, 2000Z. Bands (MHz): 
3.5-28. Exchange: RST, serial, class, AGCW number or NM. Logs due: Mar 
31. Rules <http://www.agcw.de/>

QRP ARCI HF Grid Square Sprint--CW, from Mar 8, 1500Z to Mar 8, 1800Z. 
Bands (MHz): 3.5-28. QRP calling frequencies. Exchange: RST, 4-char grid 
square, QRP ARCI nr or power. Logs due: 14 days. Rules 
<http://www.qrparci.org/contests>

EA PSK63 Contest--Digital, from Mar 8, 1600Z to Mar 9, 1600Z. Bands 
(MHz): 3.5-28. Exchange: RST and serial or EA province. Logs due: Mar 
31. Rules <http://www.ure.es/>

Idaho QSO Party--Phone,CW,Digital, from Mar 8, 1900Z to Mar 9, 1900Z. 
Bands (MHz): 3.5-28. CW 35 kHz above band edge; Phone 7.260, 14.260, 
21.335, 28.470 MHz, plus 50, 144, 440 MHz. Exchange: RS(T) and ID county 
or S/P/C. Logs due: 30 days. Rules <http://www.idahoarrl.info/qsoparty>

North American RTTY Sprint--Digital, from Mar 9, 0000Z to Mar 9, 0359Z . 
Bands (MHz): 3.5-14. Exchange: Both call signs, serial, name, and S/P/C. 
Logs due: 7 days. Rules <http://www.ncjweb.com/NAQP-Rules.pdf>

Wisconsin QSO Party--Phone,CW,Digital, from Mar 9, 1800Z to Mar 10, 
0100Z. Bands (MHz): 3.5-28, 50+, CW 3.550, 7.050, 14.050; Phone 3.890, 
7.230, 14.290, 21.350, 28.400 MHz. Exchange: WI county or S/P/C. Logs 
due: Apr 10. Rules <http://www.warac.org/>

*VHF+ CONTESTS*

Worldwide EME Contest--Phone,CW, from Mar 8, 0000Z to Mar 9, 2400Z. 
Bands (MHz): 2.3G. Exchange: TMO/RS(T) and "R". Logs due: Jun 15. Rules 
<http://www.dubus.org/>

Straight Key Weekend Sprintathon--CW, from Mar 8, 1200Z to Mar 9, 2359Z. 
Bands (MHz): 1.8-28, 50. Exchange: RST, QTH, name, member nr if member. 
Logs due: 5 days. Rules <http://www.skccgroup.com/sprint/sks/>

Wisconsin QSO Party--Phone,CW,Digital, from Mar 9, 1800Z to Mar 10, 
0100Z. Bands (MHz): 3.5-28, 50+, CW 3.550, 7.050, 14.050; Phone 3.890, 
7.230, 14.290, 21.350, 28.400 MHz. Exchange: WI county or S/P/C. Logs 
due: Apr 10. Rules <http://www.warac.org/>

LOG DUE DATES

*February 26 through March 11*

  * February 27 - QRP Fox Hunt <http://www.qrpfoxhunt.org/winter_rules.htm>
  * February 27 - RSGB 80m Club Championship, CW
    <http://www.rsgbcc.org/hf/rules/2014/r80mcc.shtml>
  * February 28 - AGCW Straight Key Party
    <http://www.agcw.org/index.php/en/contests-and-cw-activities/straight-key-party-htp>
  * February 28 - Triathlon DX Contest
    <http://triathlon-dx-contest.gr/contest/index.php/rules>
  * February 28 - PODXS 070 Club Valentine Sprint
    <http://www.podxs070.com/o7o-club-sponsored-contests/valentine-sprint>
  * February 28 - CQ 160-Meter Contest, SSB <http://www.cq160.com/rules.htm>
  * February 28 - SKCC Sprint <http://www.skccgroup.com/sprint/sks/>
  * March 1 - BARTG RTTY Sprint
    <http://s3.spanglefish.com/s/7850/documents/contests/sprint/rules/bartg-sprint-rules-2014.pdf>
  * March 1 - SPAR Winter Field Day
    <http://www.spar-hams.org/contests/winterfd/index.php?pg=2>
  * March 1 - OMISS QSO Party <http://www.omiss.net/Facelift/qsoparty.php>
  * March 1 - QRP Fox Hunt <http://www.qrpfoxhunt.org/winter_rules.htm>
  * March 1 - CWops Mini-CWT Test <http://www.cwops.org/onair.html>
  * March 2 - Vermont QSO Party <http://www.ranv.org/vtqso.html>
  * March 2 - SARL Digital Contest
    <http://www.sarl.org.za/Document_Store/CONT_20140101_SARL_Contest_Manual_2014.pdf>
  * March 2 - North American QSO Party, RTTY
    <http://www.ncjweb.com/NAQP-Rules.pdf>
  * March 3 - FYBO Winter QRP Sprint
    <http://www.azscqrpions.com/fybo2009rules.html>
  * March 4 - Black Sea Cup International <http://bscc.ucoz.ru/index/0-21>
  * March 4 - Delaware QSO Party <http://www.fsarc.org/qsoparty/qsohome.htm>
  * March 4 - F9AA Cup, CW
    <http://www.site.urc.asso.fr/urchaut-6/om-6/131-trophee-f9aa.html>
  * March 6 - ARS Spartan Sprint <http://www.arsqrp.blogspot.com/>
  * March 8 - Wake-Up! QRP Sprint
    <http://qrp.ru/contest/wakeup/333-wakeup-eng>
  * March 9 - AWA Amplitude Modulation QSO Party
    <http://www.antiquewireless.org/awa-on-the-air.html>
  * March 9 - KCJ Topband Contest
    <http://www.kcj-cw.com/contest/14_toptest_rules_e.pdf>
  * March 9 - YLRL YL-OM Contest
    <http://ylrl.org/index.php/contests-and-dx-awards>
  * March 9 - UBA DX Contest, CW
    <http://www.uba.be/en/hf/contest-rules/uba-dx-contest-rules>
  * March 10 - North Carolina QSO Party
    <http://rars.org/ncqsoparty/index.php?id=rules>
  * March 10 - REF Contest, SSB
    <http://concours.ref-union.org/reglements/actuels/reg_cdfhf_dx.pdf>
  * March 10 - Mexico RTTY International Contest
    <http://www.rtty.fmre.mx/english/RTTY%202014%20english.pdf>
  * March 10 - Dutch PACC Contest <http://pacc.veron.nl/>
  * March 10 - FISTS Winter Sprint
    <http://www.fists.org/operating.html#sprints>
  * March 10 - SARL Hamnet 40m Simulated Emergency Contest
    <http://www.sarl.org.za/Document_Store/CONT_20140101_SARL_Contest_Manual_2014.pdf>
  * March 10 - RSGB 80m Club Championship, Data
    <http://www.rsgbcc.org/hf/rules/2014/r80mcc.shtml>

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ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

ARRL Contest Update wishes to acknowledge information from WA7BNM's 
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