[SMCARA] November Sweepstakes

[Tom Shelton]

November brings the oldest contest in the US.  The ARRL November Sweepstakes celebrates its 79th birthday.

CW: First full weekend in November (November 3-5,2012) from 2100 UTC on Saturday (5:00PM Local) to 0259 UTC on Monday (10:00PM Sunday Local) - Note: Clocks get set back Saturday morning at 2:00 AM, which changes the local offset for UTC.

Phone: Third full weekend in November (November 17-19, 2012) from 2100 UTC on Saturday (6:00PM Local) to 0259 UTC on Monday (10:00PM Sunday Local).

The exchange is one of (if not the) longest in any contest.  You'll need to exchange the following info:

The other station's call

A sequential serial number

Your Precedence: "Q" for Single Op QRP (5 Watts output or less); "A" for Single Op Low Power (up to 150 W output); "B" for Single Op High Power (greater than 150 W output); "U" for Single Op Unlimited Single-Op Unlimited High Power and Single-Op Unlimited Low Power both send "U"), "M" for Multi-Op (Multiop High Power and Multiop Low Power both send "M"), or "S" for School Club;

Your Callsign;

Check: The last 2 digits of the year of first license for either the operator or the station.

ARRL/RAC Section: Here in St. Mary's County, that would be MDC

Exchange Example: NU1AW would respond to W1AW's call by sending: W1AW 123 B NU1AW 71 CT, which indicates QSO number 123, B for Single Op High Power, NU1AW, first licensed in 1971, and in the Connecticut section.)

Two BIG changes from previous SS: 

First, because of an administrative change at the Radio Amateurs of Canada (RAC), the Ontario Section has been split into four new sections: Ontario North (ONN), Ontario South (ONS), Ontario East (ONE) and the Greater Toronto Area (GTA). With the elimination of the Ontario Section and the addition of these four new Sections, the total number of Sections required for a Clean Sweep has increased from 80 to 83 (80  -1 +4 = 83). We stongly recommend you update your favorite contest logging software before Sweepstakes to ensure you can log the new sections properly.

View a map of the new VE3 sections here. http://www.arrl.org/files/file/Contest%20-%20General/VE3-Section-Boundaries.jpg

Second, logs are due FIFTEEN days after the event is over. Paper logs are still accepted, but electronic Cabrillo logs are preferred.

For more info on Sweepstakes:

http://www.arrl.org/sweepstakes

http://www.arrl.org/files/file/Contest-Operating-Guides/2012/2012-ARRL-SS-OpGuide.pdf

PVRC has put together an excellent presentation for planning your sweepstakes effort (ignore the contest club stuff): http://pvrc.org/SS/pvrc_sweepstakes_2012.ppt


Logging programs: (Make sure whatever you're using includes the new Ontario sections).

GenLog (A very basic, easy to use logger): http://www.qsl.net/w3km/

N1MM (A full feature, very powerful, but more difficult to use logger): http://n1mm.hamdocs.com/tiki-index.php?page=HomePage

As always, if you need help with getting set-up for the contest, or for submitting your logs, I'm only a phone call or e-mail away.  Please don't contact me during the contest as I'll be busy, in an RF kind of way.
Sent from my Verizon Wireless BlackBerry