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■ 5JØA CQWW CW 2007 Expedition ■ ARRL Contest Advisory CommitteeWWW.GiURUMELE.Hi2.RO Update—Part 2 ■ 160 Meter Receiving Antennas ■ Selecting Band Pass Filters and Switching Hardware ■ Fall 2007 RTTY Sprint Results

Background Photo: Bob, KØKR (shown here at W7ZQ) completes his two part update on the CAC in this issue. Middle Photo: David, K1TTT makes the case for using the Real Time Contest Scoreboard on page 26. Bottom Photo: Tom, K3WT relates his first timer experiences at 5JØA for CQWW 2007.

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Ten-Tec is more than just a manufacturer of Amateur Radio equipment. Our legendary service department repairs almost everything we’ve ever built. Customer support representatives are active hams that can provide the advice you need to obtain the right equipment and set up your station the way it should be. No one in the industry matches our risk-free trial period for new equipment. When you buy Ten-Tec, you get our entire company in the box with your new radio. Ask a friend who owns “us”. Proudly MADE IN USA!

1185 Dolly Parton Pkwy., Sevierville, TN 37862 Sales: 800-833-7373 We accept Visa, MC, American Express and Discover. Office (865) 453-7172. FAX (865) 428-4483. Sales: Mon-Fri 8:00-5:30 (Eastern Time), [email protected]. Service: Mon-Fri 8:00-5:00 (Eastern Time), www.tentec.com [email protected], (865) 428-0364. Shipping is additional. TN residents add 9.5% sales tax The National Contest Journal Volume 36 Number 2  March/April 2008 Table of Contents

National Contest Journal (ISSN 0899-0131) is published bimonthly in January, March, May, July, September and November by the American Radio Relay League, 225 Main 4 Editorial Al Dewey, KØAD Street, Newington, CT 06111-1494, USA. Periodicals postage paid at Hartford, CT and at additional mailing offices. POSTMASTER: Send address changes to: National Contest Journal, 225 Main St, Newington, CT 06111-1494, USA. FEATURES

Publisher 5 Top Band Contesting: My 80/160 Meter Receive Antenna Evolution American Radio Relay League Julius Fazekas, III, N2WN 225 Main Street, Newington, CT 06111 tel: 860-594-0200 WWW.RADiOSCAMATORUL.Hi2.RO fax: 860-594-0259 (24-hour direct line) 7 Receiver Parameters for Contesters Electronic Mail: [email protected] World Wide Web: www.arrl.org/ Peter E. Chadwick, G3RZP Editor Al Dewey, KØAD 9 Contesting on a Business Trip: My B1Z Experience [email protected] R. Scott Wright, MD, KØMD Managing Editor Rick Lindquist, N1RL 12 An ARRL November Sweepstakes Log Spreadsheet Analysis Tool [email protected] Roger Roth, KØMPH NCJ WWW Page Bruce Horn, WA7BNM, Webmaster www.ncjweb.com 14 The 5JØA San Andres Island 2007 CQ WW CW Contest Operation ARRL Officers Tom Menas, K3WT President: Joel M. Harrison, W5ZN Executive Vice President: David Sumner, K1ZZ 18 Update: The ARRL Contest Advisory Committee—Part 2 Contributing Editors Bob Neece, KØKR Gary Sutcliffe, W9XT—Contest Tips, Tricks & Techniques Paul Schaffenberger, K5AF—Contesting on a Budget 22 NCJ Profiles Jon Jones, NØJK—VHF-UHFWWW.GiURUMELE.Hi2.RO Contesting! Scott Robbins, W4PA Carl Luetzelschwab, K9LA—Propagation Don Hill, AA5AU—RTTY Contesting Scott Robbins, W4PA­—NCJ and Station Profiles 25 Announcing Contest University 2008! Bill Feidt, NG3K—DX Contest Activity Announcements Bruce Horn, WA7BNM—Contest Calendar 26 Real-Time Contest Scoreboard Pete Smith, N4ZR—Software for Contesters David Robbins, K1TTT Don Daso, K4ZA—Workshop Chronicles Kirk Pickering, K4RO—Contesting 101 ARRL CAC Representative 29 Selecting Band-Pass Filters and Switching Hardware Ned Stearns, AA7A 7038 E Aster Dr, Scottsdale, AZ 85254 Ethan Miller, K8GU [email protected] North American QSO Party, CW Bruce Horn, WA7BNM 4225 Farmdale Ave, Studio City, CA 91604 COLUMNS [email protected] North American QSO Party, Phone 32 Propagation 39 VHF-UHF Contesting! Bruce Horn, WA7BNM 4225 Farmdale Ave, Studio City, CA 91604 Carl Luetzelschwab, K9LA Jon K. Jones, NØJK [email protected] North American QSO Party, RTTY 34 Contest Tips, Tricks & Techniques 41 DX Contest Activity Announcements Shelby Summerville, K4WW Gary Sutcliffe, W9XT Bill Feidt, NG3K 6500 Lantana Ct, Louisville, KY 40229-1544 [email protected] 36 Workshop Chronicles 42 RTTY Contesting North American Sprint, CW Boring Amateur Radio Club Don Daso, K4ZA Don Hill, AA5AU 15125 Bartell Rd, Boring, OR 97009 [email protected] 37 Contesting 101 44 Contest Calendar North American Sprint, Phone Jim Stevens, K4MA Kirk Pickering, K4RO Bruce Horn, WA7BNM 6609 Vardon Ct, Fuquay-Varina, NC 27526 [email protected] 38 Contesting on a Budget North American Sprint, RTTY Paul Schaffenberger, K5AF Ed Muns, WØYK PO Box 1877, Los Gatos, CA 95031-1877 [email protected] Advertising Information Contact: Janet Rocco, tel 860-594-0203; CONTESTS fax 860-594-0303; [email protected] NCJ subscription orders, changes of address, and reports of 45 Contest Results—October 2007 RTTY Sprint missing or damaged copies should be addressed to ARRL, 225 Ed Muns, WØYK Main St, Newington, CT 06111 and be marked NCJ Circula- tion. ARRL members are asked to include their membership control number or their QST mailing label. Letters, articles, club newsletters and other editorial material ADVERTISING INDEX should be submitted to NCJ, 14800 38th Pl N, Plymouth, MN 55446. Alfa Radio Ltd.: 21 International Radio INRAD: 8 The NA Sprint and NA QSO Parties are not sponsored by Array Solutions: Cover II KØXG Systems: 43 ARRL. ARRL: 43 microHAM America: 11, 24 Yearly Subscription rates: In the US $20 Atomic Time: 25 Radioware & Radio Bookstore: 28 US by First Class Mail $28 Better RF Company, The: 40 RF Parts: 33, 35 Elsewhere by Surface Mail $32 (4-8 week delivery) Bencher: 21 SuperBertha: 28 Canada by Airmail $31; Elsewhere by Airmail $40 Clark Electronics: 17 Ten-Tec: 1 All original material not attributed to another source is copyright © 2007 by The American Radio Relay League, Inc. Materials ComTek Systems: 40 Teri Software : 13 may be excerpted from the NCJ without prior permission DX Engineering: 38 Texas Towers: COVER III provided that the original contributor is credited, and the NCJ is identified as the source. Elecraft: 13 Top Ten Devices: 17 In order to insure prompt delivery, we ask that you periodically FlexRadio Systems: 3 Unified Microsystems: 35 check the address information on your mailing label. If you find Green Heron Engineering LLC: 11 W2IHY Technologies: 4 any inaccuracies, please contact the Circulation Department immediately. Thank you for your assistance. Icom America: COVER IV Writelog for Windows: 21 Idiom Press: 35

MarchArticles.indd 2 2/5/2008 11:34:18 AM FlexRadio – The Radio of the Future Built in Texas Made in the USA

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Packet Spots and Contesting do use packet myself — and claim it, of Line scores for the increasingly popular At a recent Minnesota Wireless Asso- course — whenever I do a casual effort NAQP and Sprint events will remain in ciation (MWA) meeting, I had a chance to and am trying to maximize my contribution NCJ as long as I am editor. chat briefly with Tod Olson, KØTO, about to our club’s score in the shortest possible Second, contesters appreciate good, NCJ. As many of you know, Tod was the time. After all, I am a competitor and don’t strong technical articles aimed at how founder and first editor ofNational Contest want to put myself at a disadvantage. To they can improve their contest stations. Journal. I asked him if heWWW.RADiOSCAMATORUL.Hi2.RO had any advice be honest, however, I would not miss it if Articles on innovative antenna designs as I started my term as editor. Without the use of spotting networks was disal- seem to be especially popular. I believe hesitation he said, “Don’t be afraid to talk lowed during contests. When I am doing recent NCJ editors have done a great job about things that are controversial.” a full-time contest effort, I truly prefer to of rounding up these kinds of articles of With this thought in mind, I would find them myself. When the contest is over, interest to contesters, and I hope to be like to weigh in on a very longstanding, you’ll find me back on the cluster as I try to able to do the same. spirited and often ugly discussion on work that new country or DXpedition. Finally, issues of interest to contesters the CQ-Contest Reflector related to the will continue to be debated as long as use of packet in contesting. This subject Going Forward our radiosport passion exists. Although, has been debated before, and it will be I’ve had a chance to think a little about Internet reflectors are certainly timelier debated again. I believe PacketCluster is what NCJ should look like going forward. and give everybody a chance to add their a great tool for chasing DX but, to be hon- One thing I did was to read the comments two cents, I don’t feel that this rules out a est, I simply do not like what it has done from previous NCJ editors, published in print publication like NCJ as a contester’s to contesting. the Nov/Dec issue. We really owe a debt forum. I believe NCJ remains a good I guess I’m in the “a boy and his radio” of gratitude to these guys, especially those medium for providing well-reasoned camp. To my way of thinking, turning the WWW.GiURUMELE.Hi2.ROearly editors who got NCJ off the ground arguments on both sides of issues of inter- dial and finding the multipliers yourself without the benefit of word processing, est to contesters. is a key component of contest strategy, e-mail, electronic publishing and other and I believe we’ve lost some of that. technology we now take for granted. Contesting 101 The use of packet, in my opinion, really Another thing I did was order the NCJ Many of us have been contesting longer favors the big stations. Pity the little pistol CD that contains all past issues. It was than we can remember. Many of the things who happens to have tuned the dial and really interesting to browse through some we talk about in NCJ, including the termi- found a new mult only to be blown away of those early issues. nology, are second nature to us. On the by a packet-induced pileup once the new Finally, I had the opportunity to read other hand, these things can sometimes station is spotted. hundreds of comments from NCJ sub- be a little intimidating to someone who’s The ugly side of packet spotting has to scribers in a recent readers’ survey the new to our ranks. With this issue, we wel- do with using it but not claiming it. This, League conducted. come aboard Kirk Pickering, K4RO, who of course, is cheating. Discovering these What did I conclude from all of this as has agreed to write a new NCJ column, rascals and ostracizing them from contest- far as NCJ is concerned? “Contesting 101.” A pillar of the Tennessee ing can be a complicated process. First, contesters like line scores. Many, Contesting Group, Kirk has a way of ex- So, what if we simply removed the use including me, had a hard time when these plaining things in a clear, friendly manner. of packet/spotting networks from a few were removed from QST. Although I totally If you’re a relative beginner to contesting major contests on a trial basis? I would not understand the business case for doing and have a question, comment or sugges- propose shutting the cluster down during this in a more far-reaching publication tion for his column, please let Kirk know contests. I’m not even sure how you’d do like QST, it tells me that we don’t want to about it via e-mail, [email protected]. that. Besides, it does provide a valuable consider taking a similar step with NCJ. tool for DXers and other non-contesters. But what if some contest sponsors simply disallowed reading or posting of spots for a change? It would be interesting to see what this would feel like in a major contest. I am not naive enough to believe that eliminating packet from contesting will happen soon. Assuming that it’s going to be around for a while, the issue of what category packet users should be put in will continue to be a matter for debate. To me, this is clear: If you have people all over the world filling up your band map for you and telling you where to place your VFO, you are not a single operator. If the single operator assisted class were ever to be eliminated to help address some of the “use it, but don’t claim it” issues, I would hope that these competitors would be thrown into the multi-operator class rather than included with the single ops. Having said all this, I must admit that I 4 March/April 2008 NCJ

MarchArticles.indd 4 2/5/2008 11:34:19 AM Top Band Contesting: My 80/160-Meter Julius Fazekas III, N2WN Receive Antenna Evolution [email protected]

Real estate-challenged contesters can improve their receiving capabilities on 160 meters by employing some simple, creative solutions.

Background WWW.RADiOSCAMATORUL.Hi2.RO My first experience on 160 was in the mid-1970s in New York, using an old World War II-era RAO-3 receiver. Just working someone outside the state was a thrill. I moved to a modified Yaesu FTDX560 and did somewhat better hearing “DX” — meaning New England. My transmitting antenna was a long wire; I didn’t have a separate antenna for receiving, however. Returning in 2003 from a 22-year ham radio hiatus, my interest in the low bands, 80 and 160, endured. So did the appeal of attaining 5-Band DXCC and contesting. I started out with a Yaesu FT-757 — not ideal, but enoughWWW.GiURUMELE.Hi2.RO to whet my appetite. In 2004, I talked myself into building an Elecraft K2. Now, I could finally hear stations I had only seen others report on the reflector. One nice feature of the K2’s 160-meter module is a separate receive antenna jack, although I didn’t take advan- tage of it right away. Other radios offer this feature. If yours does not, adding a relay to switch between transmit and receive antennas might do the trick. I started getting serious about contest- ing in late 2004, but I discovered there were lots of changes to absorb. My “antenna farm” was on 0.4 acres in Oak Ridge, Tennessee, which had only a few trees of decent height. I could haul a verti- The typical feed system for my wire verticals. Each of the five radials are brought 1 cal wire up 70 feet, and I could load it on into a single connection, and the ⁄4-inch Heliax feed line is wrapped around a 160. It worked well on 80, and countries 52-ounce coffee can. started rolling in, along with new states and even some DX on 160! Unfortunately, I lost that particular antenna support in a was hard on the ears. Something had to contesting.com/_topband/. You’ll have storm. C’est la vie! be done. We all face noise of one type or to hunt a bit, but there’s a wealth of info About this time, I met my future wife. another. A decent receive antenna will help here. She had a nice place in rural Grainger minimize some of it. Unfortunately, there Another worthwhile reference is County, Tennessee. For some strange are a lot of potential noise sources, from ON4UN’s Low-Band DXing by John De- reason she really enjoyed being around consumer electronics, power lines and voldere, ON4UN. You can also just join a me and found my hobby interesting. I equipment as well as the contester down contesting and/or antenna reflector and managed to convince her that my 60-foot the road. Even the best receive antenna ask. vertical of scrap aluminum tubing was a system will not be able to minimize certain All of this information can be over- thing of beauty that deserved to be on her noise. Keep this in mind when you evaluate whelming and disheartening, especially property. She helped me put it up and set your antenna system. when you see the size of the Beverages out the radials. Fortunately, an amazing amount of the big-gun contest stations use. There My plan was a serious effort in the ARRL information is available on this subject. are some nice small antennas, however, contests — the ARRL International DX The ARRL Antenna Book provides some like the K9AY terminated loop and, even Contest (CW) and the 160-Meter Contest. basics, but I looked online for more ideas. smaller, a rotatable loop (see www.qsl. The vertical was base loaded on 160, and These sites are really worth bookmarking net/kc2tx/loopschematic.htm). Both are it also served as my receive antenna. as antenna references: easy to build or buy. Some larger rotat- • The Hard Core DX “Antenna Special” able receiving loops seem to be popular Verticals and Noise page, www.hard-core-dx.com/nordicdx/ with Standard AM Broadcast Band DXers There’s just one word for my base- antenna/ (BCLers). They don’t get much mention loaded vertical on receive: Noisy, mostly • The site of antenna expert L.B. Cebik, within the ham radio community, but they the general atmospheric variety. I didn’t do W4RNL, www.cebik.com/radio.html may bear further investigation. One in badly for my first 160-meter contest, but it • The Top Band Reflector, http://lists. particular, by Steve McDonald, VE7SL, NCJ March/April 2008 5

MarchArticles.indd 5 2/5/2008 11:34:20 AM caught my fancy (see www.imagenisp. balun on his Web site, www.w8ji.com/ at least one inexpensive band-pass filter ca/jsm/loop.html). core_selection.htm. kit at http://kitsandparts.com/univbpfil- After I procrastinated to within a week of During the 2006 season, I found a cou- ter.asp, and well-documented commercial the 2005 ARRL 160-Meter Contest, there ple of unused 135-foot lengths of ¼-inch filters atwww.arraysolutions.com/Prod - really wasn’t any time to play with a new Heliax for less money than coax. The ucts/wx0bbpf6.htm. antenna. At that point, I was having a hard ¼-inch Heliax connectors are not as easy enough time getting the transmit antenna to find nor as cheap as ½-inch connectors. In addition, I’ve tried a 48-foot wire verti- matched. A couple nights before the con- I found I could easily use these with PL- cal and a 66-foot aluminum vertical. Both test I accidentally connected my 45-foot 259s and UG9 adapters. This stuff winds were noisier than the T in either a single 80-meter T vertical instead of my 160-me- real nicely and stays put. I wound 12 turns or dual-element configuration. Adding a ter vertical. When I switchedWWW.RADiOSCAMATORUL.Hi2.RO to the correct around a Folgers can; additional turns to 20-foot wire top hat to the wire vertical low- antenna, man, was it noisy! Hmmm. take up extra cable length should not pres- ered the noise considerably. None of the So, I connected the 80-meter antenna to ent a problem. Some of my coffee cans antennas were tuned for 160 nor matched the K2’s receive antenna jack and started have been in use for almost three years to the feed line. I also wonder if the top hat switching between the two. Signals just and show no signs of UV breakdown. acts as a corona attenuator? popped out while using the 80-meter an- Actually, I have two Ts phased for 80 tenna, and noise was way down. On the meters, switchable in two directions. They Directivity and Phasing other hand, everything was louder on the have a little gain and some decent F/B on The main limitation of my present ar- 160-meter antenna, signals and noise. 80. For 160, I left the system as is and rangement is a lack of directivity. This is The 80-meter antenna became my receive used it as my receive antenna. I was hop- the next important step as I see it. There antenna for 160, and it worked well. ing for some directivity; maybe I picked are several options: a short bidirectional The 80-meter antenna has remained up a little. The balun seemed to be more Beverage, K9AY (large loop, four direc- the same for two seasons now. It is made effective, as the antenna was a bit quieter tions) and a phased vertical array. of plastic-coated AWG 12 automotive than I recalled from the previous season. I I really like the way my 80-meter Ts wire, which was cheap when I bought it. definitely heard better this time around. perform, and I’d like to try phasing them, Personally,WWW.GiURUMELE.Hi2.RO I prefer coated wire for anten- especially for receiving on 160. This method nas, if only for the additional abrasion and Preamps and Receive Antennas should be explored using other antennas, corrosion protection, not to mention less I started to play with other options that dipoles, short verticals and loops. Several worry about someone getting an RF burn. could remain in place year round. Using commercial products are available that In my case, the antenna is cut slightly long the 40-meter inverted V required kicking could potentially improve the performance for 80 and tuned with a mica capacitor at in the preamp. I don’t know about others’ of your antennas. I picked up a used the base to resonant on the CW end of the opinions, but I have to be really desperate MFJ-1025 that shows some promise as a band. The vertical section is approximately to turn on the preamp during a contest on phasing unit. You’ll find units by other manu- 45 feet, while the top hat is approximately 160. The strength of some signals coupled facturers and even some homebrew pas- 34 feet overall. with the density of stations can be over- sive designs online. In any case, I advise whelming. Using the attenuator usually experimenting with any setup to determine Radials and Feed Lines makes much more sense. A 40-meter the optimum settings well before a serious For radials, I use a combination of wire dipole or V might be okay by adding some contest effort. The last thing you want to be and aluminum gutter guard. The gutter temporary “tails” to increase the length. doing is fiddling with settings in the heat guard is approximately 6 inches wide and For a 160-meter contest scenario, the of the ’test, unless it’s state number 50 or 20 feet long, and I use four sections of it receive antenna should not require using DXCC entity number 100. tied to an aluminum plate. Also attached a preamp, in my opinion. The presence Jim Monahan, K1PX, sometimes uses are between 16 and 20 35-foot AWG 18 of several thousand signals, many aug- a horizontal loop for omnidirectional radials. The radial system is all on top of mented by amps, many emanating from reception, as do others in the BCL com- the ground and left in place until mowing nondirectional antennas and all crammed munity. These are pretty simple to install season. The gutter guard needs to be into 100 kHz or less at the same time, is on a roof, in an attic, on poles in the back- weighted down as it floats in a wind. It’s challenging enough for most of us. Adding yard or even circling a room. A potential fragile stuff, but it doesn’t kill the grass. too much gain can be unpleasant at best. problem with indoor installations is man- The feed line I used first was a com- Judging from a variety of articles I’ve seen, made noise. bination of 9813 and RG. I constructed if you need to use a preamp, consider a choke balun using eight turns of coax installing a band-pass filter between the Results and Conclusions around an empty 52-ounce plastic Folg- antenna and the preamp. Basically, this With the arrangements I described, I’ve ers coffee container. It was a pain to keep will act as a preselector and should help been able to work 75 countries on every the choke tightly wrapped, even with tape minimize potential out-of-band interfer- continent except Asia and all US states and tie wraps, and I have doubts as to how ence. Some articles on this topic that I with 100 W or less. Multipliers can make effective it was. found interesting include these: or break you on 160. Working all states Perhaps an even easier-to-construct • www.arrl.org/tis/info/pdf/9805044. is possible during the ARRL 160-Meter balun I used — and one I plan to use pdf Contest, provided you can hear them. Be- more often —is wound on a binocular fer- • www.arrl.org/tis/info/pdf/9806039. ing able to nudge signals of the ambient rite core. I wind 1:1 isolation transformers pdf noise can make a big difference. on BN-43-202 binocular cores (you could • www.dallas.net/~jvpoll/Filter/ Look carefully at the potential antenna probably use 61, 73 or 77 material as well). TheAMBrickWall.html resources available at your QTH. Be cre- I used three turns for each, primary and ative with your existing antennas; adapt secondary. My junk box has some AWG 20 I’ve built the band-pass filter version them for receiving on 160 meters, for Teflon-coated, silver-plated wire that I can from the articles “Clean Up Your Signals example. Keep it simple! Once you find snake into the apertures. These transform- with Band-Pass Filters” (parts I and II) in an antenna that works for your situation, ers are simple to wind, and they’re small May and June 1998 QST and available to build on it. In contesting, the simplest im- and effective. Noted 160-meter operator ARRL members online. I plan to use it with provements can be all the edge you need Tom Rauch, W8JI, discusses this type of a pair of K9AY loops this season. There’s to grow your score.

6 March/April 2008 NCJ

MarchArticles.indd 6 2/5/2008 11:34:20 AM Peter E. Chadwick, G3RZP Receiver Parameters for Contesters Senior Member, IEEE [email protected]

In some ways the receiver requirements of the con- tester tend to be the same as for the DXer, although Table 1 Number of signals at various noise Levels in 2002 and in 2007 using a there are some notable exceptions. For example, dipole at 7 MHz the contester requires similar signal-handling and selectivity capabilities,WWW.RADiOSCAMATORUL.Hi2.RO among others, but needs Number of Signals, Jan 2002 Number of Signals, Oct 2007 somewhat different ergonomics. The DXer can spend Time –10 to –20 to –30 to –10 to –20 to –30 to time adjusting various controls, while the contester UTC –20 dBm –30 dBm –40 dBm –20 dBm –30 dBm –40 dBm will avoid anything that slows the rate. To this end, 00-01 there is some argument about the efficiency of menu- 01-02 driven controls. 02-03 1 12 12 2 3 6 Basic RF performance requirements remain some- 03-04 2 1 8 what similar for the DXer and the contester, however. 04-05 This even applies at VHF/UHF, although sensitivity 05-06 1 2 is more important at those frequencies than at HF. 06-07 1 4 3 2 Because of the number of signals that have to be 07-08 1 1 3 handled by the contester’s receiver, dynamic range 08-09 09-10 2 has become the magic buzz word. The problem is 10-11 defining what is meant by the term. 11-12 In April/May 2002 QEX I wrote an article on the 12-13 requirements for HF receivers based on a series of 13-14 received signal-levelWWW.GiURUMELE.Hi2.RO measurements. The recent re- 14-15 1 1 2 view of the Elecraft K3 (see “The Elecraft K3 — First 15-16 2 2 Impressions,” NCJ, September/October 2007) cites a 16-17 1 3 18 1 9 claimed blocking dynamic range of 140 dB. This led 17-18 5 5 20 5 9 me to question the utility of such performance and 18-19 2 8 23 5 10 to prepare this article. 19-20 1 4 18 8 To check the validity of the 2002 measurements, 20-21 2 6 27 3 13 which were made more or less at the peak of the 21-22 6 25 13 22-23 1 3 23 3 11 sunspot cycle, they were repeated during a 24 hour 23-24 2 5 7 portion of the 2007 CQ WW SSB contest. The results on 7 MHz — "the worst case” in Eu- rope, especially with all the broadcasters —indicate that a dynamic range of about 100 dB is still all that Table 2 is needed. What is more important is where it starts. Noise floor and signal levels measured during a Having operated in a number of US locations over the 20-hour period in 2007 last 25 years (both ends of California, Connecticut, New Hampshire, Iowa, Wisconsin and Illinois), I’ve Number of Signals always been struck by how relatively quiet the bands are — especially 40 meters — in comparison to how Time Noise Floor –10 to –20 to –30 to they sound in Europe. UTC (dBm) –20 dBm –30 dBm –40 dBm 0215 –96 2 3 4 There are four varieties of dynamic range to con- 0230 –100 3 6 sider in any receiver. The most obvious is the range 0300 –99 1 2 8 of wanted signals it can handle. This is a function of 0315 –98 2 1 6 its gain control range — usually the AGC range — 0505 –102 1 2 which generally easily exceeds 100 dB. The blocking 0530 –102 1 2 dynamic range is the difference between the sensitiv- 0610 –99 3 2 ity and the input level at which receiver gain starts 0640 –103 2 2 to decrease. The intermodulation-limited dynamic 0715 –102 1 1 2 range, usually defined as two-thirds of the differ- 0730 –100 1 3 ence between noise floor and third-order intercept 0945 –100 2 point, defines the performance of the receiver in the 1440 –101 2 presence of multiple input signals. The phase noise- 1530 –95 2 limited dynamic range is a function of the cleanliness 1620 –99 1 8 of the frequency synthesizer or local oscillator(s). 1640 –100 1 9 In conjunction with the selectivity-defining filters, it 1700 –96 5 7 determines performance with respect to strong off- 1730 –95 3 9 frequency signals. For further explanation of these 1800 –95 5 10 parameters, see any recent edition of The ARRL 1920 –95 8 Handbook for Radio Communications. 1935 –102 5 Intermodulation distortion (IMD) is reduced theo- 2015 –102 3 11 retically by a factor of 3 dB for each 1 dB the input 2045 –95 1 13 signal is reduced. In practice, it can be anywhere 2130 –100 13 between 1 and 4 dB, and it can vary depending on 2200 –98 3 9 the receiver input level. The usual assumption of 2215 –97 2 11

NCJ March/April 2008 7

MarchArticles.indd 7 2/5/2008 11:34:21 AM a 3 dB decrease in IMD for each 1 dB The Measurements appear adequate for SSB and some 10 dB decrease in input level is a good starting lower for CW. Most modern HF receivers Table 1 shows the number of signals point, however. are capable of noise figures of around 10 to at various levels in 2002 and in 2007, Phase noise-limited dynamic range 15 dB, which corresponds to noise floors in measured on a dipole at 7 MHz. The (PNDR), sometimes called “reciprocal a 500 Hz bandwidth of –137 to –132 dBm. basic noise levels, measured at an SSB mixing,” is more insidious, however. Phase So, an input attenuator of around 15 dB can bandwidth, correspond reasonably with noise is measured in terms of its power in be used without degrading sensitivity, and what would be expected from the ITU-R a 1 Hz bandwidth, so the wider the receiver this will improve the input intercept point curves for radio noise in a “quiet rural bandwidth, the greater the phase noise an of the receiver by 15 dB. Thus the +42.5 location.” It’s interesting to note that these off-frequency signal causes. It is increased dBm — statistically unlikely to be needed have changed comparatively little in five by 10 ∆f, where ∆f is theWWW.RADiOSCAMATORUL.Hi2.RO bandwidth. For anyway, because the two signals have to be log years. The number of strong signals is a 2.5 kHz bandwidth then, the phase noise in the correct frequency and temporal rela- significantly lower, however, reflecting will be the phase noise at that particular tionships to cause interference — becomes worse propagation at the moment (solar offset from the carrier in dBc/Hz, plus 34 +27.5 dBm. Note that this is an absolute minimum between cycles 23 and 24). The dB. What does this mean? worst-case analysis. noise floor was measured using a Yaesu Although the larger number of IMD Assume a receiver with a phase noise FT-102 — a receiver having very good products from signals in the –20 to –30 performance of –130 dBc/Hz at an offset phase noise performance, and the levels dBm range is more likely to fall on the of 10 kHz and a 2.5 kHz bandwidth. The of the various signals within ±0.5 MHz us- wanted channel, they will also be some noise from a signal 10 kHz away from the ing a spectrum analyzer. The use of a step tuned frequency will be –130 + 10 2500 30 dB weaker. The reality is that an overall log attenuator between the antenna and the intercept point of around +17 or +18 dBm or –96 dB. In other words, a signal 96 dB FT-102 demonstrated that IMD was not a will suffice most of the time, unless really above the receiver noise floor will raise problem, because the noise moved dB for big antennas are used. In that case, the that noise floor by 3 dB. Unlike the case dB with the attenuator. of IMD, reducing the signal by 1 dB only probable remedy is greater attenuation. reduces the noise floor by 1 dB. Although It can be seen that the requirement for Because of CW’s narrower bandwidth, in the caseWWW.GiURUMELE.Hi2.RO of IMD, two strong signals handling a greater number of strong sig- IMD noise needs to be lower for this mode in the range –20 to –30 dBm produce a nals corresponds with a higher external than for SSB, while phase noise needs to limited amount of interference, and many noise floor, and that the largest instan- be better on SSB because of its effective signals between –30 and –40 dBm pro- taneous difference between unwanted integration over a wider bandwidth. duce little problem, the phase noise from signal and noise is of the order of 92 dB. these signals produces far more problems. If phase noise is not a limiting factor, then So What Do We Need? Two strong signals between –20 and –30 the added noise caused by phase noise There’s an old rule: “If you interfere with dBm each will produce phase noise in the should be 10 dB better, or –102dB. In a me, it’s your lousy transmitter! If I interfere above case at between –116 and –126 2.5 kHz bandwidth this corresponds to with you, it’s your lousy receiver!” Your dBm. Because there are two signals and a spectral density of –136 dBc/Hz. Most receiver may well be able to provide 70 the noise from each will add, however, the modern transceivers will meet this within dB rejection of a station 5 kHz away, but total noise becomes somewhere between about 20 kHz of the tuned frequency. unless the IMD and phase noise from the –113 and –123 dBm. What about Receiver IMD? other station are that far down, you will Ten signals between –30 and –40 dBm get interference. Very few transceivers each produce noise at –126 to –136 dBm. IMD raises the receiver noise floor, are that good, especially those employing Because there are 10 signals, the total because if you have enough signals, all 12 V PA stages. noise is in the range –116 to –126 dBm, IMD products tend to form noise, just as From the results depicted in the tables, adding to the –113 to –123 dBm already adding enough colors yields white light. it seems that something around 100 to there. From all this, it can be seen that With two signals, only one IMD product 105 dB of total dynamic range is about phase noise adds to the noise floor in an can fall on the wanted frequency, and it all that most people will need. There may insidious fashion. may be shown1 that n signals will produce well be exceptions, especially where 2 Straightforward gain compression or 1.5n –2.5n + 1 possible products. The there is another amateur station close by, blocking does not present as much of a next question is: How good an intercept but this is not that common. The majority problem as phase noise, unless the perfor- point is needed? of modern equipment appears to offer mance is very poor. Measurements show If we assume two signals at –10 dBm this approximate level of dynamic range that relatively few occasions exist where producing an IMD product at –115 (ie, be- performance. The real question is where 0 dBm appears at the receiver front end, low noise floor on CW), an input intercept the dynamic range starts. An antenna at- and when such a signal does appear, the point of +42.5 dBm is needed. tenuator appears to be a useful approach phase noise effects cause problems first. The received noise is high enough that a to having a relatively low-cost (and low- There might be exceptions in a multi-multi noise floor of –107 dBm to –110 dBm would power) approach to the receiver front-end problem. High intercept points and low site, but in those instances, bandpass 1 Chadwick, P. E., “Phase Noise, Intermodulation noise floors do not go well with low-power filters are commonly used to protect the and Dynamic Range,” RF Technology Expo, receiver(s). Anaheim, California, 1986. requirements.

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8 March/April 2008 NCJ

MarchArticles.indd 8 2/5/2008 11:34:21 AM Contesting on a Business Trip: R. Scott Wright, MD, KØMD My B1Z Experience

I have been a ham operator for nearly 31 years but a contester for very few of them. I regret that I didn’t start contesting earlier, since it’s a lot of fun, it expands your ham radio knowledgeWWW.RADiOSCAMATORUL.Hi2.RO and skills and it allows you to meet many more people from around the world. My experience of meeting and operating with the B1Z club illustrates what a special and considerate community ham radio operators can be. In May 2007, I was due to be in Beijing, China, for a medical conference as a spe- cial guest of the Chinese government. In 2006, I had been invited to participate in the first Asian-Pacific Summit on Emerg- ing Healthcare Strategy (APHS). I was quite busy that year and wasn’t spending much time thinking about 2007 or doing Amateur Radio. My life wasWWW.GiURUMELE.Hi2.RO simplified after November 2006, however, and I suddenly found myself with more time and interest to operate ham radio. By Thanksgiving the contest bug had bitten me, thanks to the Elmering of K4IU, my colleague at the Mayo Clinic. By March 2007, I realized I’d miss the CQ WPX CW Contest because of the Figure 1 — Assembling one of the three Yagis used at B1Z for the WPX contest. meeting in China. I didn’t even consider (Left to Right): BD1VF, BD4IZL, BG1CHS, BG1QXU participating in the contest from China until K4IU suggested it. After some consider- All was set for the weekend of contesting ation, I decided that maybe I should try activity. combining business with pleasure — the The APHS meeting organizers were in- APHS summit and the CQ CW WPX. trigued by my request to attend their meet- ing and the radio contest. They enlisted a Licensing Challenges Chinese medical student to accompany I contacted my Chinese and American me as a translator and for a car and driver hosts and inquired about procuring a tempo- to take me to the event. rary radio license and permission to operate the WPX from the Beijing club station. I soon Meeting the B1Z Team heard from Fanbin, BA1RB. He was willing Initially I was nervous about doing a con- to host me, provided he returned from the test in another country. Many questions ran Scarborough Reef expedition in time for through my mind: Would I understand their the WPX. This was the first of many acts logging program? Would I be able to deliver of kindness and hospitality our fellow radio the QSOs they needed? Would my CW be enthusiasts in China extended to me. We good enough? Would the language barrier continued to make arrangements. Through be too difficult to overcome? Figure 2 — Scott, KØMD, and Fanbin, my Beijing hosts, I applied for a Radio Sport As the weekend neared, I learned that BA1RB. license (the Chinese equivalent of a US the B1Z club would be meeting at one Amateur Radio license). I found significant of its two club contest stations, BY1TX the morning of the contest and arrived at help on the ARRL Web site about how to (the other is BY1RX). BY1TX is located the B1Z contest station after 7. It was a apply. I e-mailed copies of my US amateur license, a listing of my frequency and power 80 km away from Beijing in the Chinese bit of a drive, and we had been instructed privileges, a personal photograph and the mountains. Fanbin provided some direc- to look for the antennas when we were dates I would be in China. tions to me and to my accompanying nearby. The antennas turned out to be Initially, the application was rejected for Chinese medical student, who went by easy to spot. unclear reasons. Inquiries were made to the the English name Johnson. Fanbin told me If location is everything, the B1Z club CRSA and the application was revised to al- that B1Z used WriteLog for contesting, a has the location. It’s in a rural neighbor- low approval. Because my US hosts feared I program I was very familiar with. The club hood on a mountaintop where one can see would cancel my participation at APHS, they had decided to have me operate the 20 for several miles. We drove up a winding went through a second channel in Beijing meter station so I could maximize the op- drive approximately one mile to the top, to inquire about the license. It was granted portunity to work stations in the Western and I knew we had arrived because there quickly after that. The B1Z club was notified Hemisphere and the US. were several automobiles with identifying of the approval before I saw the license. We left our hotel around 5 o’clock on call sign logos on the rear windshields. Six NCJ March/April 2008 9

MarchArticles.indd 9 2/5/2008 11:34:24 AM DXpeditions work the pileups! It’s chal- lenging to say the least. Off and Running in WPX At 0800, we switched the WriteLog program from KØMD/BY1TX to the BY1TX CQ WPX mode, and I started making con- tacts. It was a blast! I enjoyed being on the receiving end of the pileups. Propagation was tough that morning, and all of the WWW.RADiOSCAMATORUL.Hi2.ROstations had lower run rates than Fanbin wanted. I initially thought it was just me, but it turned out that all of the HF stations were having trouble due to poor propagation. Breakfast was delivered to me around 0900 local time (0100 UTC). I was hungry by then since I’d had nothing to eat at the hotel before departing. Time went quickly, and soon my shift was over. At the end of the shift (1230 local time), I was taken down the mountain to a hotel/restaurant where a hot lunch was served to all of the club members (see Figure 7) except to those staffing the 15 meter station, which stayed active. It was a warm and joyous WWW.GiURUMELE.Hi2.ROtime of fellowship. The food was delicious. There were 25 to 50 photographs taken of me, and I took some of my own. At the end of the lunch, a group photo was taken. It was great to meet a second operator who had gone to Scarborough Reef. He was “the CW man” as described Figure 3 — The BY1TX 160 meter quarter-wave vertical used at B1Z. by Fanbin. He told me that for the next low band DXer or contester would be im- Scarborough Reef DXpedition, he’d listen men also were outside building an antenna for KØMD. I am eagerly awaiting the next (see Figure 1). pressed. The BY1TX 160 meter vertical is an awesome antenna that any contest DXpedition! The atmosphere reminded me of a Field That afternoon we were back at the rigs Day site, with more than 30 hams already club would love to have (see Figure 3). A third tower holds a 10-15 meter Yagi. Later trying to maximize our WPX score. Later in there and ready for the contest. Fanbin the day, I was awarded a BY1TX badge to presented himself, and I was honored to in the day, they erected a quarter-wave 80 meter vertical. symbolize my induction into their club as a meet him and thank him for making my guest operator and honorary member. participation possible (see Figure 2). The B1Z club is a serious group of HF The B1Z setup is something to be ad- contesters who hold to the philosophy of Final Thoughts having first-rate antennas. Several Bever- mired. The club station has a huge tower Late in the evening I had to leave the with a three-element 40 meter Yagi and a ages were available to enhance low band reception; it seemed they could extend contest due to work commitments at the 20 meter Force 12 Yagi (a large number APHS conference. I was sad to depart of their Yagi antennas are Force 12 mod- them for miles. The view from atop their location was breathtaking. such a wonderful and warm group of fellow els). A second tower holds a 160 meter hams. The B1Z operators were gracious quarter-wave vertical. Wow! Any serious The club had several HF rigs, including an ICOM IC-736, a Kenwood TS-940, a and warm and invited me to return to par- Yaesu FT-990 and a JRC HF transceiver. ticipate with them anytime I am in China. They were operating at 0800 local time on I hope I have such an opportunity. My 10, 15, 20 and 40 meters. The 20 meter position would later double on 80, while the 40 meter rig would double on 160. Each station is physically separated by some distance, and the 20/80 meter sta- tion was up the hill from the others. This minimizes interference and keeps all in great shape during a contest I was assigned to operate the 20 me- ter station for the first day of the contest morning. Fanbin oriented me and asked me if I would like to try some DXing prior to the start of the contest. I think I was able to work 10 stations as KØMD/BY1TX (see Figure 4). I could not hear any North Figure 5 — Several of the B1Z group Figure 4 – Scott, KØMD, familiarizes American stations as the JA operators had members relax during a mid-contest himself with the 20 meter position prior strong signals into China that morning. I meal. (Left to Right) BD4IZL, BD6CD, to the start of the contest. gained a new appreciation for how the BD1WSY 10 March/April 2008 NCJ

MarchArticles.indd 10 2/5/2008 11:34:30 AM operating skills grew from interacting with them. I spent time in the late afternoon lis- tening to the stations as a back-up logger. RT-21 UNIVERSAL DIGITAL ROTOR CONTROLLER This offered an opportunity to see some of the other operators repeat my own habits Don’t you wish . . . and mistakes, but I also saw how superior NEW! Your rotor had Point-and-Shoot? operators work. Patience is a virtue, in life Your rotor had a large, accurate, and in contest DXing. bright, adjustable LCD display? The B1Z group is a collection of out- Your rotors could be slaved standing contest and DX operators. I ap- together for the ultimate in stacked preciated their hospitalityWWW.RADiOSCAMATORUL.Hi2.RO and am grateful array versatility? that they allowed me to work with them and Your rotor had PWM speed control learn from them. If you have the chance and would ramp up/down when to visit China, I encourage you to make NOW WITH USB turning large arrays? time to see B1Z. Their kindness, hospital- NEW FEATURES: ity, station setup and operating skills are The RT-21 gives you all of this and it works with your exist- among the best Amateur Radio has to USB and EIA232 interfaces th ing rotors. offer. Having been there lends a new and Computer command accuracy to 1/10 degree special meaning to working the B1Z group Variable display intensity Also Available in contests. Should you work B1Z in the DX Improved ramp control and flexibility RT-21D with VFD display contests, please say “Hi!” from KØMD. Enhanced computer interface and setup IP networking with GH Everyware Satellite tracking with GH Tracker AMATEUR NET - $559.00

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NCJ March/April 2008 11

MarchArticles.indd 11 2/5/2008 11:34:31 AM An ARRL November Sweepstakes Roger Roth, KØMPH Log Spreadsheet Analysis Tool

I have been entering the ARRL Novem- What Does The Tool Do? check 58, rather than 57, the latter ac- ber Sweepstakes for nearly 50 years, and • Imports any Cabrillo file of up to 1500 counting for only about 3.7 percent of all sometimes I’ve wonderedWWW.RADiOSCAMATORUL.Hi2.RO how I could QSOs stations worked. On CW some 82 per- better my previous year’s performance. • Reports contest date, mode and con- cent of stations worked reported checks Better band plan strategy? Does SO2R test exchange between 50 and 80, while on SSB, it was really help? Should my wire antennas be • Reports total QSOs, QSOs running, about 68 percent. We are getting gray, pointed at Ohio (Minnesota conventional QSOs S&P, second radio QSOs and folks! One optimistic sign was that 9 per- wisdom) or should I consider California QSOs by band cent reported checks that fell within the too? Does every other station have a • Reports number of band changes past seven years. check of 57 (same as mine . . . a very good • Reports total QSOs in each class: Q, Some 30 percent of QSOs were with year for Chevys) or is my perception off? A, B, U, M and S sections in the vicinity of Ohio and within Where have I been? Simply put, I needed • Displays the distribution of check by the domains of many of the largest contest more data to determine my approach to year clubs. Having antennas “aimed” at Ohio is future contests. • Reports the number of stations good, but we shouldn’t ignore the other 70 Questions like these prompted me to worked in the top 17 sections percent scattered around North America. write a Sweepstakes log analysis tool. • Shows a timeline indicating band, The second radio doesn’t work for me. I’d recently retired from engineering and 10-minute QSO rate and running rate Mostly I need lots of practice, but there are was feelingWWW.GiURUMELE.Hi2.RO the need to sink my teeth into hardware issues with my station. a technical project. So I created an MS What Did I Learn? Each year is different. The top section Excel spreadsheet, ssSummary.xls. I have I took several years’ worth of SS logs list is not the same each year, and the some Excel experience, and most hams and created reports. Among other things, “ideal” band plan changes with the sun- have Excel. I learned that more stations reported a spots. Make a plan, but pay attention to

Figure 1 — An example of the analysis tool output for the KØMPH SS log

12 March/April 2008 NCJ

MarchArticles.indd 12 2/5/2008 11:34:32 AM A picture is worth a thousand words... current conditions. Future Enhancements Some possible future enhancements: • Increase capability to 2000 QSOs • Report number of QSOs by ARRL With the Division, to give a better understand- ing of activity in various regions TM • Improve method of calculating ANTENNA MODEL main and second radio QSOs and run- wire antenna analysis program for Windows® you get true 3D far field patterns that are far ning QSOs. Some inaccuraciesWWW.RADiOSCAMATORUL.Hi2.RO exist. more informative than conventional 2D patterns or wire-frame pseudo-3D patterns. • Add running time. Now you can have all the advantages of the MININEC code and Sommerfeld-Norton ground too, down to 0.02 wavelengths above ground. No split load, split source, or equiva- Give it a Try lent monotaper element approximations are needed. Enjoy superior graphing and 2D far To try the spreadsheet tool for yourself, field plot comparison capability. visit http://home.comcast.net/~k0mph/ Describe the antenna to the program in an easy-to-use spreadsheet-style format, and then and click on the “Sweepstakes Contest with one mouse-click the program shows you the antenna pattern, front to back ratio, front Analysis Spreadsheet” link. Import your to rear ratio, input impedance, efficiency, SWR, and more. log using Excel’s text import wizard. See An optional Symbols window with formula evaluation capability can do your calculations for the “Instructions — Read Me File” for more you. A Match Wizard designs Gamma, T, or Hairpin matches for Yagi antennas. A Clamp details. You may download the instructions Wizard calculates the equivalent diameter of Yagi element clamps. Yagi Optimization finds and ssSummary.xls to your computer, so Yagi dimensions that satisfy performance objectives you specify. Major antenna properties you can use this tool independent of the can be graphed as a function of frequency. Internet. There is no built-in segment limit. Your models can be as large and complicated as your Happy contesting! system permits.

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® www.elecraft.com • 831-662-8345 E LECRAFT P.O. Box 69, Aptos, California 95001-0069 Elecraft is a registered trademark of Elecraft, Inc. NCJ March/April 2008 13

MarchArticles.indd 13 2/5/2008 11:34:33 AM The 5JØA San Andres Island Tom Menas, K3WT 2007 CQ WW CW Contest Operation

DXpeditions. From the time I was first operating, computer networking, equip- licensed in 1962, I had read about DX- ment and antenna plans. peditions but never thoughtWWW.RADiOSCAMATORUL.Hi2.RO I’d actually A Web search revealed that the Florida go on one. The exploits of Gus Browning, DX/Contesting Group, led by Bill, W4WX, the Colvins and others conjured images and his team had been to San Andres in of exotic locales with pileups just waiting 2004. He generously shared information to contact me. College, work and family regarding that experience during several always took priority, however. Finally, with e-mail exchanges and a couple of tele- both of our children moving out and estab- phone calls. lishing themselves in the work world, I had Rafael of the Red Crab Apartments con- time to seriously consider a DXpedition. firmed that two units would be available. My first close brush with being part of a Rob, HK3CW, our key person in Bogotá, DXpedition came when I was invited to join offered us a “ham” discount for using his fellow members of the Twin City DX Asso- firm, Satto Translations, to apply for the ciation (TCDXA) and Minnesota Wireless license using a special call sign for the Association (MWA) — Vlad, NØSTL, Ron, contest, as well as for individual licenses. NØAT, Bill, WØOR, Tony, KMØO, and Tom, Figure 1 — Team 5JØA (L-R): Vlad, Rob certainly went above and beyond the WØZR — on their 2005 CP6CW DXpedi- NØSTL; Bill, WØOR; Ron, NØAT, and Tom, call of duty on our behalf. tion to Bolivia.WWW.GiURUMELE.Hi2.RO While I initially signed on, K3WT Bill got a line on a combination of rela- for a variety of reasons I ultimately decided tively inexpensive flights using Northwest not to go. and Copa airlines from Minneapolis via I watched from the sidelines as they Miami and Panama City. We’d debated the prepared, departed and triumphantly merits of routing through Bogotá instead returned. “Wait till next year,” I said to of Panama City but settled on the latter myself. city because customs clearance would At an end-of-year 2006 lunch with Bill, be in San Andres itself. Customs turned WØOR, critical mass was achieved. We out to be non-factor; we hired a porter to decided on San Andres Island for a variety shepherd us through customs — a key of factors. It was relatively easy to get to, it strategic move. was tropical — a definite draw for us frigid The group decided to go forward with Minnesotans — and, while not a truly rare the purchase of the tickets, a deposit on DXCC entity, it was uncommon enough to the apartment and applications for the generate interest within the DX/contesting necessary Colombian licenses. communities for the 2007 November CQ We spent the next months having bi- World Wide CW Contest. weekly team conference calls and person- The die was cast. My initial hurdle was to al meetings as we nailed down the myriad convince my wife to share my “vision.” This tasks to carry out the trip. We consulted happened without incident — or without Figure 2 — The station: Vlad, NØSTL frequently with Bill, W4WX, about where too much of one. (left), at the run station with Ron, NØAT, we should set up the station, our options Several months passed before we took at the multiplier station. for installing the antennas we wanted to the next step of seeing if others might be bring (no, we could not run a coaxial cable interested. Conversations with Ron, NØAT, across the road to the beach), how we and Vlad, NØSTL, revealed that they were could get 220 V power for our amplifier champing at the bit to go on another DX and so forth. outing. Tony, KMØO, had already made We requested a variety of call signs but plans to operate that weekend from Thai- were told that only San Andres residents land as XU7MWA, so he was unable to were eligible for an HKØ prefix. Instead, we participate. So the cast of characters was had to choose from 5JØ or 5KØ, although set. The four of us would go. we could still append HKØ/ to our US call signs. As with many governments, the Planning issuance of Amateur Radio licenses in In June we agreed formally to move Colombia involves not only the federal gov- forward. I had already begun to research ernment but the national radio club. After accommodations and licensing, so I was many communications with Rob, HK3CW, charged with fleshing out those details. as our emissary between the Colombian Bill, WØOR — who had handled the logis- Ministry of Communications and the LCRA tics of getting his earlier crew to and from (La Liga Colombiano de Radioaficiana- Bolivia — took on the same responsibility dos), we were able to obtain the 5JØA call for our DXpedition. Vlad, NØSTL, and Ron, Figure 3 — The 5JØA QTH at the Red sign for use during the CQ WW. NØAT, would wait to see if accommoda- Crab Apartments: The station was The other three operators had par- tions, flights and licensing worked out located in the lower apartment on the ticipated in prior DXpeditions and been at before contributing their skills to develop right side of building. the receiving end of a pileup. For my part, 14 March/April 2008 NCJ

MarchArticles.indd 14 2/5/2008 11:34:40 AM I was somewhat apprehensive about my out the windows. We attracted a fair share across and into our computer keyboard. ability to measure up to their skills and did of onlookers as we crammed our luggage Ron, NØAT, found that the little creatures not want to be the weak link. So I did what and ourselves into the taxis. just swarming over some long-forgotten any competitor would do. I practiced in the After a 4 or 5-mile drive along the throat lozenges left in his luggage from a months beforehand with Morse Runner, southeastern shore, we arrived at the Red prior phone contest. the excellent contest simulator created Crab, where we received a warm welcome It didn’t take us long to decide that being by Alex Shovkoplyas, VE3NEA. Morse from Lucy, our housekeeper, and her son locked in a heat chamber was a far better Runner is an outstanding training aid that Alfonso, the groundskeeper and general fate than being subjected to an onslaught I urge all to try to hone your operating handyman. Since no one else was staying from our insect friends. skills, whether for a DXpedition or operat- in the four-unit building, we had our pick Ron, NØAT, and Vlad, NØSTL, began ing from home. WWW.RADiOSCAMATORUL.Hi2.ROof rooms. We designated the ground-floor assembling the station equipment and apartment as our station location; this computers. Establishing a dialup Internet First Steps Abroad gave us access to the adjacent empty connection wound up taking a couple of The date was finally at hand. There we lot. Almost immediately, however, we dis- days as we needed the correct access were on a hot and humid day in the trop- covered that only the bedrooms were air codes and so forth. Once online, we found ics less than 48 hours removed from the conditioned. The common room, where our station’s RF played havoc with the tundra that’s called Minnesota. You have two picnic tables and benches had been modem. Ferrite cores on each cable fixed to picture us: Four geeky-looking folks with set up for us, most definitely was not. that problem. 16 pieces of luggage, each weighing close “No problem,” we thought. “We’ll just We initially planned to have three sta- to the 50 pounds-per-bag airline limit. Two open the windows to let the ocean breezes tions: A run station, a multiplier station and golf bags contained our antennas. cool us.” a spotting station. Murphy altered those It turned out to be a three-ring circus. Wrong! Yes, opening the windows did plans. Bill, WØOR, had recently purchased First, the van driver who should have provide a refreshing breeze. The downside a used Yaesu FT-1000MP and was looking picked us up did not show because he was that we had to contend with mosqui- forward to putting it through its paces as thought we were coming the next day. So toes and a very persistent species of ant the multiplier rig. Alas, that was not meant we had to fendWWW.GiURUMELE.Hi2.RO for ourselves with the taxis- unique to San Andres. The ants respected to be. The luggage gods at the airlines in- tas. We ended up getting two cabs. The neither humans nor equipment as we set tervened by delivering a blunt force trauma golf bags sat on our laps, partly extending up camp in their fiefdom. They marched blow to the main tuning knob, rendering the rig inoperative. Fortunately, all of the other rigs arrived intact. Table 1 The run station had an ICOM IC- A portion of the 5JØA operator schedule during the 2007 CQ WW CW 756PROIII teamed with an ACOM 1010 Contest, November 23-25 amplifier, which performed admirably. An ICOM IC-7000, intended to be the LOCAL spotting rig, was enlisted to serve as the TIME UTC SLEEP MULT RUN SPOT multiplier rig. 19 00 NØSTL WØOR NØAT K3WT 20 01 NØSTL WØOR NØAT K3WT Antennas! 21 02 K3WT NØSTL WØOR NØAT With equipment in place, the first task

Evening 22 03 K3WT NØSTL WØOR NØAT was to get on the air as soon as possible. 23 04 K3WT NØAT NØSTL WØOR We did that by temporarily erecting a But- 00 05 K3WT NØAT NØSTL WØOR ternut HF2 (40 and 80 meters) on the front 01 06 WØOR K3WT NØAT NØSTL lawn with a minimal number of radials on 02 07 WØOR K3WT NØAT NØSTL the ground. The terrain consisted of about one foot of sandy soil over coral bedrock

Night 03 08 WØOR NØSTL K3WT NØAT — certainly not the best RF ground. While 04 09 WØOR NØSTL K3WT NØAT in Minnesota and viewing some images 05 10 NØAT WØOR NØSTL K3WT that Bill, W4WX, had taken on his visit, 06 11 NØAT WØOR NØSTL K3WT we thought we could set up our verticals 07 12 NØAT K3WT WØOR NØSTL across the road on the beach, possibly 08 13 NØAT K3WT WØOR NØSTL even in the surf. But the “little” two-lane 09 14 NØSTL NØAT K3WT WØOR road in reality was the San Andres ver- 10 15 NØSTL NØAT K3WT WØOR sion of a north-south Interstate, the beach

Morning 11 16 NØSTL WØOR NØAT K3WT frequently in use and the surf strong. Beach- 12 17 NØSTL WØOR NØAT K3WT side antennas definitely were out! Spot operator was in charge of filling band maps with Internet spots The HF2 played like gangbusters on 40 or with spots from his radio. He does not transmit. Spot operator also but dismally on 80; at least we were on the was in charge of turning antennas, fixing things, talking to visitors (in air that first evening. While we were passing Spanish) and getting beverages for the other two ops. The spot shift is out Qs on 40 and some on 80, we began to when you eat. assemble the more complex Butternut HF9 Anyone could swap shifts with anyone else. If you wanted less operating vertical in the dimly-lit and oppressively hot time, someone would oblige. living room. Ron, NØAT, began muttering After your second spot shift, you were in charge of waking up the about the number of small screws, washers Notes sleeping op, taking into consideration the amount of lead time he and nuts, so I lent a sympathetic ear and took needed. over the task of completing the assembly. I think Ron was really saying that he wanted to If you got up early from your sleep time, you can relieve the spot op get in some operating time. Anyway, by bed- early, so the spot op could get to sleep early, then move into your mult time the HF9 was essentially completed. position at the top of the hour The next day, Wednesday, two teams fin-

NCJ March/April 2008 15

MarchArticles.indd 15 2/5/2008 11:34:41 AM ished all antenna work. Vlad, NØSTL, and I For a 160 meter receiving antenna, we Ron quickly discerned two things: There was were tasked with setting up the SpiderBeam mounted a K9AY 160 meter receiving loop a problem at the feed point, and he was not in the empty lot, which turned out to be not 30 feet up in a coconut tree (Why did we going out in the dark to figure it out. So, he quite so empty (more on that in a bit). Bill, leave that slingshot at home; it took almost sagely dispatched Vlad, NØSTL, to do the WØOR, and Ron, NØAT, worked to perma- 10 tries to position the supporting rope). troubleshooting. It wasn’t long before we nently install the HF2 and HF9 and erect an More than 90 percent of the time, the K9AY heard a great shout from outside, and Vlad inverted L for 160 meters. loop outperformed the 160 meter inverted L excitedly bolted (and that’s the operative While our “empty” lot was clear of build- on receive, so it was a great addition. The word) into the room. ings, it was flush with a thicket of waist-high inverted L used a counterpoise six feet above During the week a coating of salt mist had brush. We knew we couldn’t assemble the ground. Because of the poor ground, we had formed, creating a path for the two terminals beam unless we had a clearing.WWW.RADiOSCAMATORUL.Hi2.RO Thinking like plenty of RF floating around the shack when of a capacitor to short in a brilliant flash of a local, I borrowed a machete lying near a we operated 160. At best, we had to shut off flame — a real fireball. That event served to coconut tree and spent an hour and a half the run station computer and log 160 meter remind us that it was time to button up the Indiana Jones-style clearing several paths contacts on the multiplier station PC. run station and finish packing. to the beam site and making a clearing to set up the beam — and I have the blisters Operator Scheduling How Did We Do? to prove it. One thing that Ron, NØAT, brought to Well, not so bad — which, in polite Min- As a joke, Vlad and I concocted a story that the operation — based on his prior DXpe- nesotanese, means we did “pretty well.” we’d encountered a snake, but that I’d used dition experience — was to establish an The good news was that we logged nearly the machete to sever its head. You should operator schedule, which he developed 6000 QSOs. The bad news was that 500 of have seen the looks on the faces of Ron, before we even left for San Andres. Get- those were dupes, many apparently resulting NØAT, and Bill, WØOR. They would have to ting agreement beforehand permitted us to from confusion over our call sign. We were anchor the guys of the 160 meter inverted L focus on setting up the station and operat- frequently spotted as “HJØA,” not as 5JØA. along with the horizontal wire to some trees ing. The beauty of his schedule was that This definitely was a factor in slowing our in the empty lot. After keeping up their anxiety every operator got to operate at various rate. Table 2 provides a picture of our net level for 15 WWW.GiURUMELE.Hi2.ROor 20 minutes, we let them in on times across a variety of bands. This way, contact breakdown. the joke. Talk about sighs of relief. everyone got to operate the run station By day’s end, all antennas were in their during peak periods. The schedule rotated final positions. The 160 meter inverted L was through a pattern of sleep, mult, run, spot, Table 2 5JØA results lashed to the railing of the upper deck and mult, run, spot, sleep. Table 1 will give you extended vertically with a 25-foot fiberglass an idea of how it worked out. mast. On top of that was a deep sea fishing Over in a Flash Band Contacts Zones Countries rod (60 feet at the tip). At the other end of 160 61 10 22 the building on that same level we installed On the last day of our visit, the 160 meter 80 494 18 67 the HF2 with counterpoises cut at 66 and 33 inverted L unceremoniously heralded the end 40 1607 30 108 feet respectively. This provided a significant of our activity in a rather humorous manner. 20 1626 28 97 improvement over the ground-mounted con- In the wee hours, Ron, NØAT, was working a 15 1448 24 93 figuration. We mounted the HF9 in the front sked with some Europeans when the ampli- 10 75 10 14 yard with a number of radials. fier suddenly shut down. An astute person, Total 5312 120 401

Some Thoughts on Learning the Local Culture and on DXpedition Planning

A DXpedition should not be solely them to play poker. The next day, they were going to do, it struck me that we a DXpedition. As much as possible, showed up with determined looks on were ham radio ambassadors and that participants should make an effort to their faces. They wanted to play for most people did not “get it.” I encountered enhance their experience by reaching money! questions such as. “What is ham radio?” out to the locals. Here are some things Another great experience I had and “Oh, I thought they didn’t do that we tried. resulted from cajoling by Bill, WØOR, anymore.” We made the decision to ask our to do some snorkeling along the coral Even those who were familiar with housekeeper, Lucy, to prepare local fare, formation across the road from the ham radio still could not comprehend why so we could sample authentic cuisine. Red Crab. Be ready to step out of your we were going on this trip. “Why do you In doing so, we not only got to sample comfort zone a little. want to do that?” we heard, or, “How are some interesting dishes but got to know To cap off the week, we hired you going to do that?” and, “Just where is Lucy much better. Manrique, the local taxi driver, to take us San Andres Island?” Drawing on his past DXpedition on a tour of the island. It seemed as if he One early decision was to establish experience, Ron, NØAT, brought along knew everyone there, and he showed us a Web site, www.frontiernet.net/~5j0a, a variety of items he’d received from many things the typical tourist might not to document our trip for members of vendors at his work to pass out in have seen. the ham radio community. We turned appreciation. Big hits were a small In summary, take some time to enjoy to that site and added a link entitled pocket knife, a tape measure, a key what your DXpedition locale has to offer. “Understanding Ham Radio.” This section chain, a multi-blade screwdriver and a It’ll be worth it. aimed to answer the sorts of questions pack of playing cards. Small gifts like The Web to the Rescue non-hams might have about ham radio these can open doors to the local culture Planning and preparing for an event in general and regarding our radio that otherwise might remain closed. like a DXpedition takes many months. expedition in particular. This turned out The playing cards proved quite a hit This certainly involves sharing the to be a big help in explaining the entire with Lucy’s nine-year-old son and his excitement with non-hams (relatives, process. Check it out. You may want to nine-year-old cousin. Because I could co-workers, acquaintances and friends). do something similar for your contest speak Spanish, they asked me to teach When explaining to non-hams what we DXpedition.

16 March/April 2008 NCJ

MarchArticles.indd 16 2/5/2008 11:34:41 AM In addition, operating before and after the contest as HKØ/ using our home call signs, we made more than 3500 QSOs. So, we definitely passed out some needed K1FZ Receive Antenna Transformers contacts. In terms of providing “a rare one,” we High efficiency wound ferrite toroid transformers with isolated 50 ohm windings had been asked by Joe, W8GEX, if we for minimum noise transfer. Color coded binding post for Beverage wire(s) and could operate on 60 meters, which we ground connections. Teflon and silver SO-239 coax connectors used. did by using the 160 meter inverted L Each unit is individually calibrated to eliminate variations found and the PROIII with Ron, NØAT, at the in mass production. mic. Some 30 stations wereWWW.RADiOSCAMATORUL.Hi2.RO among those making first-ever 60 meter QSOs with KB-1 Single wire Beverage transformer. (Variations available for EWE) $59.95 San Andres. KB-2 Two wire, two direction Beverage transformer. $129.95 High Points Of course, operating the contest KB-3 Two wire end termination transformer. (For two wire switchable systems). $79.95 was a highlight of the trip, but there was much more. The camaraderie was KB-4 Distribution transformer. Two and three ports available. Combine phased something only those who have been Beverages or distribute Beverage signal to multi/multi contest positions. $99.95 on a DXpedition can experience. The KB-5 Pennant, flag and delta antennas. $69.95 memories of San Andres — from the gracious people to the tropical locale — are something we’ll all hold on to. The endless pileups were a joy that can’t be Clark Electronics matched. The first-ever 60 meter QSOs 65 Patterson Hill Rd., Belfast, ME 04915 USA certainly were noteworthy too. Tel (207) 338-0474 • [email protected] All of thisWWW.GiURUMELE.Hi2.RO lays the groundwork for future DXpeditions. If you haven’t been on one, ya gotta do it! It’s a thrill of a lifetime. Thanks to all who contacted us, and we’ll see you next time, wherever that might be.

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NCJ March/April 2008 17

MarchArticles.indd 17 2/5/2008 11:34:42 AM Update: The ARRL Contest Bob Neece, KØKR [email protected] Advisory Committee — Part 2

The first installment of this two-part ters staffers, has jurisdiction over contest The short answer to this frequently discussion on the ARRL Contest Advisory rules and awards. While the CAC might expressed desire is, “Variety trumps unifor- Committee (CAC) in the Jan/Feb 2008 be consulted on an advisory basis as to mity.” Contest X already exists. Those who NCJ covered the originsWWW.RADiOSCAMATORUL.Hi2.RO and purposes of the desirability and effect of possible rule are especially fond of it are free to focus ARRL advisory committees and the rules or award changes, the Awards Committee upon it. On the other hand, many opera- that govern their workings, what the CAC makes any ultimate determination. tors are partial to Contest Y just the way it does and does not do, CAC work flow and Second, discussion of the issues cat- is. Why deprive them of their enjoyment? recent matters the CAC has considered. egorized below is intended primarily for The special characteristics of each con- Views expressed in these articles are educational purposes, to assist in analyz- test require corresponding adaptations in solely the author’s and do not necessarily ing the issues. It should not be taken to technique and equipment. The challenge reflect the position of the CAC, any of its indicate that the CAC has studied these of making those adaptations is desirable, other members or the ARRL. or similar issues, or as a predictor of po- providing a worthwhile stimulus and foster- sitions that the CAC or the League might ing valuable innovation. Recurring Criticisms take in the future. Like it or not, some contests favor cer- From time to time, I hear criticisms of the tain geographical regions. Homogenizing ARRL as a contest sponsor and expres- Pattern 1: “My favorite operating the rules might well effect dramatic, unin- sions of dissatisfaction with the CAC as event is Contest X. I wish the ARRL tended changes in the relative competitive an arm of the sponsor. A case-by-case would change League-sponsored Con- positions among the regions. Altering the analysis of these complaints is beyond test Y to make it more like Contest X.” fundamental nature of a contest means the scope WWW.GiURUMELE.Hi2.RO of this article. What I can do score records and worthy traditions fly out here, however, is offer some general Suzanne O'Neill the window. The list of important consider- observations that might lead to a better ations goes on. understanding of the issues these criti- This is not to say that rule changes, cisms reflect. even revolutionary ones, should not be Many negative comments about the considered, and it most assuredly is not CAC stem from a misunderstanding of a reflexive endorsement of the status the CAC’s prescribed role. In the broadest quo. It is to say, rather, that each and sense, the criticisms seem to reflect the every ramification of a rule change must notion that somebody, somewhere should be evaluated in depth and weighed judi- have the power and the will to step in to ciously before the change can be made in remedy perceived deficiencies in League- a responsible way. sponsored contests and to implement desired innovations. The hope seems to Pattern 2: “When I enter a contest, I be that a properly enlightened and ener- want to do X. Doing X suits my personal gized CAC should be that “somebody.” As I situation and my operating strengths or explained in Part 1, however, this miscon- preferences. But there is no category strues the CAC’s primary role, which is to of competition specifically for those serve as requested in an advisory capacity who do X. Other entrants are doing Y. to the ARRL Board of Directors. There is an existing category for Y. It is In Part 1 I also noted that, despite the not fair that I should have to compete CAC’s limited primary role, there remains with entrants who are doing Y. I wish, room — subject to the rules and within therefore, that the ARRL would create practical limits — for the CAC to promote a new category of competition and a improvements in the world of contest- related award for those who do X.” ing. To serve in this way, of course, the This line of thinking creates a slippery CAC must analyze whether, on balance, slope. Soon enough, X becomes so nar- a contemplated change would be wise row that only one station or operator fits and feasible. With this in mind, I think it the category. To a substantial extent, that useful to comment on the substance of has already occurred. To prepare for my some of the complaints or desires I hear contest forum presentation at the 2007 expressed relative to League-sponsored Rocky Mountain Division Convention, events. With respect to HF contesting,1 I reviewed the results of several recent many complaints or expressed desires League contests, DX and domestic. This fit within three discernable “patterns,” re- analysis revealed that in some major flected below. Before addressing these, I League-sponsored contests, a majority — offer two caveats. in some instances, a large majority — of First, issues such as those reflected certificates were awarded for categories in patterns 1 and 2 cannot be resolved with only a single entrant. Data from the without changes in the rules govern- 2006 ARRL International DX Contest ing ARRL-sponsored contests or in the Bob, KØKR, attaches a feed line to one (phone) illustrate this phenomenon (see awards structure for such events. As noted of a pair of experimental 75/80 meter table and sidebar). earlier, the ARRL Awards Committee, rotary antennas on the 180-foot tower The increased percentage of sole- composed exclusively of ARRL Headquar- at W7ZQ. entrant awards to DX participants as 18 March/April 2008 NCJ

MarchArticles.indd 18 2/5/2008 11:34:43 AM compared to W/VE entrants in part reflects others. Perfect logical symmetry, though, with pattern 1, pattern 2 or both. Some the relatively large number of geographical cannot be achieved without substantially contesters believe the League, in its units on the DX side coupled with sparser expanding the matrix. The more catego- sponsorship of contests, is utterly wed- ham populations in many DXCC entities. ries, however, the less important each ded to tradition. Under this view, there The fact remains that most certificates becomes. What's more, logic should not is perceived to be little or no rational went to entrants without competition in be the ultimate goal. The goal should be to basis for some of the rules or the awards their particular categories. Is this truly have categories that are a reasonable and structure for League-sponsored events. “competition”? practical fit for the way the preponderance Blind adherence to precedent is said to of participants play the contest. dominate. The CAC has been accused of Category Creep? Is there room for improvement? The reflecting the League’s perceived rigidity There was a time whenWWW.RADiOSCAMATORUL.Hi2.RO a contester answer is “Yes.” It will be difficult, though, in this aspect. picked an available category and strove to resolve any infelicity in the category Those who say such things should to do everything possible to excel within structure on a piecemeal basis. Instead, reconsider their ability as historians. it. There is still something to be said for the time might come when an overall re- Some League-sponsored contests have this philosophy. The extensive matrix of evaluation and reform of the matrix — with a 70-year or longer record of success. In variables that includes single band, all a view toward controlling its size — will would be neither fair nor accurate to say band, assisted, unassisted, low power, become appropriate. that the rules of those contests were chis- high power, QRP, single operator and Looking further, preparing certificates, eled in stone from inception. This article multi operator criteria already greatly domestic and international mailing ex- does not purport to chronicle the many fragments competition. Perhaps it’s not pense and related League staff overhead changes, large and small, instituted over an overstatement to suggest that there for an event such as the ARRL Interna- the years. Over and over, the rules have has been an out-and-out proliferation of tional DX Contest definitely are not trivial adapted to new insights or technological categories. One keen observer has called considerations. Where does one find ad- developments. Innovations that spring to this phenomenon “category creep.” ditional room in an already tightly stretched mind include the creation of categories Is further fragmentation a good thing budget? for QRP, assisted operation, single-band or a bad one?WWW.GiURUMELE.Hi2.RO One way to develop a bal- A viable alternative for those with an operation and M/2. Given such a lengthy anced perspective on this issue is to ask, abiding passion to create a new category history of success, changes must be “If the contemplated new category were is to sponsor and administer it themselves made only with due thought and with created, how many entries might the cat- and to fund appropriate awards. Clubs an understanding of the full spectrum of egory be expected to draw?” If the answer have done this to recognize achievement ramifications. is “many,” perhaps it’s worth a serious among their members. This also can be From my perspective within the CAC, I look. Should the answer be “one or two,” done on a regional, national or interna- have seen no evidence that representa- perhaps the contemplated category’s time tional basis to honor achievements among tives are bound by tradition. The CAC has not arrived. The challenge is to weigh entrants in the desired new category. includes some pretty sharp minds. Its fairness and parity of competition against members have shown themselves to be the risk of diluting competition to the point Pattern 3: “The League, the CAC more than willing to think outside the box, of meaninglessness. or my CAC representative — as the even in startlingly radical and revolutionary Is the existing matrix of competitive case may be — is unresponsive to the ways. I have observed neither reticence categories in League-sponsored contests needs of contesters and has not done to challenge tradition nor any tendency to perfect in its logical consistency? The anything for contesting.” sidestep novel ideas coming from within or answer is “No.” Separate QRP or assisted I have found that, in many instances, outside the CAC. The merits and feasibil- categories, for example, exist at some criticisms that follow this pattern are out- ity of any proposal — and the wisdom of points in the matrix but are absent at growths of frustration over experiences the status quo — are equally fair game.

Analyzing Data from the 2006 ARRL International DX Contest (Phone)

In reviewing the results of recent likely would be higher than in the QSOs on either mode will receive League-sponsored operating SOU categories.) I assumed that certificates.” I chose to ignore the events, I examined printable line each such top score was a certificate effects of this rule for the purposes scores from the ARRL Web site. To winner. Rule 8.2.5 of the “Rules for of this analysis. Then I counted develop the table data, I marked the the ARRL International DX Contest,” the number of scores marked as top score in each single-operator however, causes the actual number described. Finally, I counted instances unassisted category for each of certificate recipients among DX in which the top score was also the ARRL/RAC Section and for each entrants to be significantly higher only score reported in that category. DXCC entity. (The percentage of than the number determined via the The results have been tabulated sole-entrant certificate winners in described methodology. It provides, separately for ARRL/RAC sections and assisted and multiop categories “DX entrants making more than 500 for DXCC entities.

Category — All Power Top Scores in Categories Scores in Categories with Percentage of Certificates Classes with at least One Entrant only One Entrant Awarded to Sole Entrants Single Operator 313 161 51.4% Unassisted — W/VE Single Operator 367 244 66.5% Unassisted — DX Totals 680 405 59.6%

NCJ March/April 2008 19

MarchArticles.indd 19 2/5/2008 11:34:43 AM Each feature, new or old, receives pretty offer remote-operator timeshares of his change, proponents may overlook the thorough scrutiny. There is enough collec- contest super station? contest sponsor’s need to maintain or tive wisdom, experience and diversity of Ought we to prohibit such innovations achieve a judicious accommodation of perspective to ensure that few facets go and their advantages, or should we create competing interests. Quite a few propos- unrecognized or are not fully evaluated. new categories of competition for them? als for changes in contest rules or awards As noted, some complaints about the Would it be practicable to detect, say, a have been directed to me by members CAC seem to stem from misapprehen- violation of a prohibition against the use of my division. In their zeal to express sions regarding the authority and role of of a strategically advantageous remote their wishes or frustrations, proponents the CAC. For example, some contesters receiver? As of this writing, the ARRL have tended to neglect an assessment complain that they never hear from the Programs and Services Committee (PSC), of a sizable range of possible unintended CAC. This is a bit like saying,WWW.RADiOSCAMATORUL.Hi2.RO “I never hear to which the CAC answers, has not asked consequences. My first response often is, from my member of Congress.” In theory, the CAC to study any of these specific “Did you consider whether your proposal citizens are expected to correspond with questions. It is possible, however, that might have [described] effects?” In many the honorable lady or gentlemen. League these and many other unresolved ques- instances, the response has been, “Oh! I members can adopt a similar procedure tions will keep the CAC busy in 2008 and didn’t think about that.” to bring their concerns or wishes to the well beyond. To maximize its persuasive power, a pro- attention of their ARRL Division Director posal for a contemplated change should or CAC rep.2 Taking Greater Advantage of the CAC not ignore possible negative consequenc- Some contesters apparently believe as a Resource es. Rather, the proposal should confront that the CAC ought to be an ever-vigilant, ARRL Division Directors are in the those consequences, assess the degree yet innovative, guardian angel, one that strongest position to determine or influ- to which they might be minimized or man- makes regular reports of its activities to the ence contest rules, awards, events and aged and advocate why, on balance, the contesting community. Some even insist the like. For that reason, contesters are positives of the proposed change should that CAC reps should communicate sepa- strongly advised to communicate with their be seen to outweigh the negatives. rately with contesters in their divisions. ARRL Division Director regarding their A contester’s proposal for change can As already explained, however, the wishes and concerns. In a few instances, be communicated to the ARRL Division CAC functionsWWW.GiURUMELE.Hi2.RO primarily — although not however, a smidgen of dissonance may Director or to the CAC rep through any exclusively — in an advisory capacity to exist between the position and authority of convenient medium. There is much to the Board of Directors on an on-call ba- a director on the one hand and the direc- be gained, however, from submitting the sis. Any direct CAC communication with tor’s level of interest in or familiarity with proposal in writing. Experience teaches members ordinarily is initiated to collect the complexity of contesting issues on the that it is easier to formulate and to ex- information or opinions needed to develop other. In those cases, a CAC rep might be press a thorough and balanced approach a response on an assigned matter. This able to help. in writing. typically takes the form of task-specific, “Members wishing to express their opin- CAC members are not monks in a online surveys of contest clubs or their ion on a matter being studied by [the CAC, cloister. They are accessible. They have members. No budgetary support is avail- or that otherwise falls within the scope of the knowledge and experience to serve able for other methods. the CAC’s role] are encouraged to commu- as a useful sounding board. The result There are, of course, plenty of burning nicate with their Division representative.”3 might not be precisely what an individual issues beyond those I’ve summarized. Contesters with proposals or concerns contester expects or desires in every Patterns 1, 2 and 3, however, typify com- might benefit by taking advantage of this case, but it should nonetheless provide plaints that recur with notable frequency. official encouragement. A CAC rep might valuable perspective and insight. Write, provide a bit of review and comment on a call or e-mail your ARRL Division’s CAC Conceivable Issues for Future CAC proposal or even some help in framing it. rep. If you believe a rep from another divi- Attention The rep might be willing to help refine the sion might have a particular interest or Affordable technology exists today to proposal by providing, for example, edito- background in the topic that concerns you, permit a contester, sitting with a laptop rial suggestions, substantive comments or don’t be shy about contacting that person computer almost anywhere on the planet, alternative perspectives. as well. CAC reps are interested, involved to operate — simultaneously or almost Testing a proposal against the experi- and enthusiastic, so institutional barriers simultaneously — a potentially large num- ence and perspective of a CAC member among them are low. ber of remote transmitter or receiver sites. might even garner a sponsorship that All the CAC reps I’ve known have the If SO2R represented a breakthrough in could result in the matter’s being taken up best interests of ham radio in general and contest capability, imagine the spectrum of by the CAC at large. In any event, involve- contesting in particular foremost in mind. new categories and techniques that might ment of a CAC rep is apt to cause the The committee is always receptive to qual- become possible through simultaneous proposal to receive a better reception from ity input and ideas from any responsible, geographically diversified Internet remote its ultimate audience, the directors. thoughtful source. operations. There is yet another benefit to running a Is something about contesting on your It does not take an especially fertile proposal by the CAC rep and, perhaps, by mind? Is the signal-to-noise ratio on the imagination to conjure up potential cat- the CAC chairman. It is possible that the various reflectors not to your liking? Ran- egories such as single operator multi, multi proposal duplicates or overlaps a previous dom complaining on a reflector can be an single multi, or multi multi multi. In single one. If the proposal is similar to one the enjoyable pastime in itself, but as an avenue operator multi, for example, a single opera- CAC has addressed in the past year or so, of influence it packs too little punch. Take tor would use transmitter facilities, receiver it is unlikely that the CAC or the PSC would advantage of the CAC as a resource to facilities or both concurrently at two or be willing to reopen the question unless a explore or address the issue. Most, if not more sites, irrespective of the operator’s substantial change in circumstances has all, CAC reps accepted their appointments location. Does any mid-continent US con- occurred. Early on, therefore, proposal out of a genuine desire to be of service. As tester think that an Internet controlled and proponents should inquire of their CAC I said in Part 1, I believe that any proposal linked receiver, situated in, say, W1 land, representatives or the CAC chairman as of merit will eventually find an appropriate would not help to penetrate the East Coast to whether the matter already has received audience. The suggestions offered here are wall during Europe runs in a DX contest? CAC attention. intended to improve the process of commu- Who will be the first ham entrepreneur to In their fervor to advocate a particular nication and to expedite action on thought- ful, potentially worthwhile proposals. 20 March/April 2008 NCJ

MarchArticles.indd 20 2/5/2008 11:34:43 AM ARRL Life Member Bob Neece, KØKR, has represented the ARRL Rocky Mountain Division on the Contest Advisory Commit- tee since 2004. He entered his first radio contest, the Novice Roundup, in 1963 — the same year he joined the League. He has served as ARRL Volunteer Counsel since 2003. Bob again wishes to thank Ward Silver, NØAX, and former DXAC Chairman and ARRL Membership Services Department Manager WayneWWW.RADiOSCAMATORUL.Hi2.RO Mills, N7NG, for their invaluable insights and assistance in the preparation of this article.

Notes 1Readers concerned about rover rules or controversies involving VHF/UHF contesting might wish to consult their ARRL Division representative to the VHF/UHF Advisory Committee (VUAC). While not a traditional advisory committee, the VUAC is charged with considering VHF/UHF contesting issues. The Board minutes authorizing the VUAC, however, do not appear to restrict the committee to contest issues. 2See www.arrl.org/contests/cac.html for a listing of CAC members and their respective divisions as well as contact information. See www.arrl.org/divisions/WWW.GiURUMELE.Hi2.RO for a listing of ARRL officers and Division Directors as well as contact information. 3Rule 7 of the “Rules and Regulations Concerning Advisory Committees,” which are 241 Depot Street part of the “ARRL Articles of Association, By- Antioch, IL 60002 Laws, Rules and Regulations,” as amended through July 22, 2006. These are available via the ARRL Web Site, www.arrl.org/aabl. 847-838-3195 html.

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MarchArticles.indd 21 2/5/2008 11:34:44 AM NCJ Profiles Scott Robbins, W4PA

Leslie Dann The winter contest season has come and gone, the winners and losers chalking up their results or misfortunes and think- ing the old Brooklyn Dodgers fans’ war cry “Wait ’til next year!” The big winner for this winter’s contest seasonWWW.RADiOSCAMATORUL.Hi2.RO was the entire hobby with the January 4 announcement that the first Cycle 24 sunspot had been sighted. This tickles my funny bone. We spot stations during contests via the Inter- net to facilitate radio contacts; others spot the sunspots to achieve the same result. This issue we profile a contester with 50 years’ ham radio experience who in 2007 both retired from the ARRL HQ staff and was elected to the CQ Amateur Radio Hall of Fame. I first met Rick Lindquist, N1RL, on the air in various contests when he was KX4V in Virginia in the 1980s and I was an acne-scarred teenager creating havoc for the neighbors with 500 W of CW (those old c1980 TV WWW.GiURUMELE.Hi2.ROcable boxes with 20-foot-long cables instead of wireless remotes were fantastic RFI receptors). We both became Rick Lindquist, N1RL, at his modest station in Feeding Hills, Massachusetts. involved in the business side of ham radio in the mid-1990s, and once Rick became news editor at ARRL it was my true call- ing to make sure any mention of Ten-Tec, all-too-short color-coded wires — was essentially an additional IF strip with peak no matter how insignificant, was brought supplying 6.3 V to a 2.5 V filament. Frank’s and null capabilities, and that made all the to his attention for potential hyping on the seat-of-the-pants guess on the trans- difference. At this point, I had something ARRL Web site. Usually this was met with former’s filament winding, based on the like $50 invested in ham radio. My older a polite refusal and an explanation for the unit’s estimated antiquity, was off by 3.8 brother Dave, who later took up ham radio 100th time that the hobby news end of the V. Swapping a 1614, essentially a metal himself, and I used to scour the town for ARRL wasn’t in charge of promoting the military 6L6, cured the problem. I could discarded radios and TVs, which we’d haul equipment manufacturers. Drat! But you key again! home. Mom greeted our return with much can’t blame a guy for trying. The ham at the other end of the block hand-wringing — possibly less concerned Here’s Rick’s story, in his words. — there were hams all over town back that we’d electrocute ourselves by plug- then — supplied both the correct tube and ging in one of our finds to see “what made I always wanted to be “on the radio,” but my first contact. Mercifully, he was on 40 it tick” than that we were cramming even my Amateur Radio debut 50 years ago this AM phone, while I was on 40 CW. I could more “dirty old junk” into the basement. April lacked any semblance of grace and send pretty well with my AT&T hand key, (Sometimes she’d throw it out when we elegance (my broadcast radio debut years but I really couldn’t copy code worth a flip! weren’t looking.) later wasn’t much better). I was going to How I came to enjoy CW contesting is, as say it “bombed,” but stay tuned. Flicking Paul Harvey loves to intone, “the rest of Is Ham Radio a Blast or What? the power switch on my very first transmit- the story.” Although she once taught herself ter — a homebrew (translation: haywired) At this point, a real ham radio receiver Morse code and would use the CB we’d single-tube crystal oscillator — I watched was key, no pun intended. Because I got installed in the family car,* Mom didn’t in dismay as it began transmitting before I’d essentially no parental subsidy for my have a clue as to what all those tubes, laid a hand on the key. Only hours earlier, hobby endeavors, a pre-World War II coils and wires (equipment enclosures my Novice license had arrived bearing Philco console radio, sans cabinet but with were an unaffordable luxury) in my attic my new call sign, KN2RHJ. I was eager the huge speaker (remember, the field coil ham shack did or how it all worked. She’d to join the fray that was then the 40-meter was the filter choke), was all I had. Hey, it watched a lot of Sci-Fi on TV, though, so Novice band. was free. I’d jiggered a bit of feedback in she had an idea. Troubleshooting in vain, I despaired the IF strip to put a little tone on the CW Several years before my brother Dave of ever making my first contact. I’d spent signals, but it had no bandspread to speak got into ham radio, he celebrated his months cobbling together this contraption of, and it easily overloaded. Nonetheless, 17th birthday by blowing up his room. entirely from salvaged parts, most compli- I made a number of contacts transmitting Fortunately he was not in the room when ments of my Elmer, Frank, W2MMT (SK), into an indeterminate piece of wire and the stoppered jar of black powder he’d who lived up the street in Oradell, New listening on the Philco, 12-inch speaker ginned up earlier that day went high order Jersey, where I grew up. Until the day my and all. (he’d added phosphorous to the mix; do ticket arrived, it had worked fine into a 40 Eventually my folks took pity and okayed the chemistry). Studying for a test down W light bulb. an emergency appropriation from my “col- the hall, the blast shocked me out of my As it turned out, the reclaimed power lege savings” to buy a used Hallicrafters stupor, and for a millisecond or two, I was transformer Frank had given me — care- S-20R I’d seen advertised. The receiver certain the Russians had dropped “The fully showing me how to decode its now came with a Heath QF-1 “Q multiplier,” Big One” on New York City. 22 March/April 2008 NCJ

MarchArticles.indd 22 2/5/2008 11:34:45 AM Mother had other notions. Oblivious to never really participated beyond maybe ARRL November Sweepstakes from the debris field littering the hallway just working a station or two. So-called “incen- VY1JA in Canada’s Yukon Territory. J outside my brother’s door, she fingered tive licensing” had come and gone in the and his wife, Ann, were in the process of my ham radio shack on the next floor as late 1960s, but I was still limping along with building a new house on their property, the probable source. Who knew a 6L6-807 a General ticket and a straight key and, of so he was happy to turn the reins over to transmitter might be capable of generat- course, logging by hand. Any contesting me. After appropriately outfitting ourselves ing such explosive force? Buck Rogers or was slooooow going. for weather a bit more harsh than what Flash Gordon, perhaps. I jotted down the lengthy SS exchange we normally experience in Western Mas- for reference and worked a few stations, sachusetts, my wife, Jean, N1MJC, and Acne and Outrageous TVI: A Beatable including Ernie, N1SW, a perennial SS I flew to Whitehorse after overnighting in Combo WWW.RADiOSCAMATORUL.Hi2.ROparticipant who lived nearby at the time Vancouver. My impression in the 1950s was that (he’s now your go-to guy for the RI mult). At J’s QTH, which is several miles out- many older, established hams considered He likely doesn’t remember this, but side of Whitehorse along a very sparsely us pimply faced newcomers with our “N” Ernie took a few minutes to call and en- populated highway, we set up in the two call signs just a bother. Get your General, courage me to give SS a go. He said it was cottages J and his wife had built on their kid. We’ll show you the ropes then. There lots of fun, and he was correct. Over the property. One contained all the radio gear; were exceptions. 30+ years since, I’ve rarely missed taking we ate and slept in the other. Woodstoves More than once, I called Frank — likely part in SS CW, although I’m sure my early meant stoking the fires on a regular basis. just as he was sitting down to supper after scores were abysmal. While living in Maine Outside temperatures ranged from the a day of carpentry — to ask yet another I also discovered the joys of the then- teens into the 20s, but we had to open dumb question about link coupling, build- restricted 160-meter band. In due course, the windows occasionally to keep com- ing an antenna tuner from broadcast radio the ARRL November Sweepstakes CW fortable. parts (he taught me the trick of pulling out and the ARRL 160-Meter Contest became A gracious and generous host, J had de- every other plate from the broadcast set must-do annual events for me. Along ployed his Ten-Tec Omni V and Ameritron units to lower the capacitance and hike the the way, I got quite proficient at CW and AL-80B amp into the “shack” — the closer voltage ratingWWW.GiURUMELE.Hi2.RO to a more favorable range) earned my Amateur Extra ticket (any of the two cabins to the outhouse. The and curing my rampant TVI. Learning cause-effect relationship between these sole antenna at the time was a centerfed, about radio from oldtimers and through two events is purely speculative). which J called a “V beam.” Attached to an castoff, outdated books (a teacher had approximately 100-foot tower at its feed Ham Radio Becomes my Profession given me a shopworn 1952 edition of The point, the two legs, at maybe a 75-degree ARRL Handbook for Radio Amateurs) and After teaching high school in Maine for angle, each extended some 450 feet gen- magazines in those early years instilled a couple of years, I got back into radio erally toward the US. A manual antenna in me an appreciation for making do with broadcasting, a career path to which I’d tuner enabled all-band operation. Owing what was at hand, and it has served me initially been drawn through my interest to its sheer length, this antenna had gain well. in electronics. Since I was mathematically in some direction! Frankly, I didn’t achieve any grand oper- challenged, however, engineering was out. Before the contest J had cautioned me ating milestones during my early years in I joke that I frittered away the best years that a visit from the aurora borealis — ham radio, although at one point in 1964 of my career in radio. Being on the radio “Lady Aurora” — not only was likely but I was among those rare radio amateurs and, briefly, in TV news was great fun, pretty much inevitable. When she arrived, holding three US call signs at the same but in the smaller markets, no one gets he warned, it would mean a radio blackout. time (K2RHJ, W8EXK and K1YHK). DX wealthy. A position at Virginia Tech as a “Don’t expect to win the plaque!” he said. meant working Ohio or Wisconsin on the radio-TV writer/producer was a step up; The contest took off at full gallop; several old 40-meter Novice band. After I’d up- later I worked as a training representative stations, including a few friends, already graded and got a VFO, I found it wasn’t too at a US Army defense facility. were on frequency to put the scarcest hard to work real DX on 15 or 20. At least In 1995, I was writing for The Roanoke mult into their logbooks. Ten meters turned a couple of on-air acquaintances — one Times in Virginia, doing an early morning out to be the money band that year, and I in Bavaria, another in Bulgaria — became on-air radio news gig and just wrapping logged nearly as many contacts there as pen pals; we corresponded in German, our up a master's degree when I spotted an on 15, 20 and 40 combined (80 was flat other common language besides Morse ad in QST. ARRL Headquarters was in dead; I didn’t even bother). Although I was code. One thing was clear, however: CW need of a “Product Review” editor. I put still moving along at a nice clip, jet lag took not only was an easy homebrewer’s mode, in for it and ended up with the job, which its toll, and shortly after 0700 — some 10 it “got out” better. proved to be a tough but enjoyable learn- hours of operating — I was literally falling On occasional weekends back then, I’d ing experience. asleep at the key and had to QRT. hear stations frantically sending “CQ TEST As things evolved, I subsequently as- When I returned a few hours later, condi- CQ TEST.” Huh? “What were they testing?” sumed the duties of ARRL’s news editor, tions already were in steep decline. Before I wondered naively. What a bother! The and about three years later, Amateur SS wrapped up Sunday evening, I was band was full of them, and none of them Radio news became my sole focus. For reduced to S&P because I couldn’t raise wanted to work me. Hrrummpf! several years I largely single-handedly a reply. One operator sent “YESSS” when wrote and edited The ARRL Letter, and I I called him, and I was happy to make his How I Learned to Stop Complaining inaugurated the ARRL Audio News Web day. By Monday evening, the sky overhead and Love the Contest and podcast, which let me keep a hand was blood red with aurora — the most By the 1970s and living in Maine, I’d in newscasting. Just before retiring from spectacular display I’ve ever witnessed. finally graduated from gear that looked like the ARRL staff in 2007, I learned I’d been J could not have been any more something out of a Hogan’s Heroes epi- named to the CQ Amateur Radio Hall of astounded than I when, Lady Aurora sode to mostly all commercial equipment. Fame, a singular honor. notwithstanding, VY1JA took the plaque One November weekend, I turned on my for Canada that year. Missing Quebec SS From the Frozen North Hammarlund HQ-170C to a cacophony of kept me from a clean sweep (I operated “CQ SS, CQ SS.” By then, I knew about In 2001 I fulfilled a longtime dream by VE2CUA in the 2002 SS CW), but I did the ARRL November Sweepstakes, but I’d having the opportunity to operate the work my own section, thanks to VY1MB.

NCJ March/April 2008 23

MarchArticles.indd 23 2/5/2008 11:34:45 AM Being at the helm of VY1JA for the 2001 ARRL November CW Sweeps was the highlight of my years as a radio amateur. At present I keep my hand in the Ama- teur Radio profession by serving as the managing editor of NCJ and authoring the occasional “Product Review” for QST. Microsoft certified for Windows Vista, XP and 2000 I also am a substitute teacher at the local junior high. Some of my oldest friends micro KEYER II™ is the most are those I got to know through Amateur powerful All-in-One interface and WWW.RADiOSCAMATORUL.Hi2.ROintegrated sound card for the Radio, and we still keep in touch via the single radio operator and the only airwaves. interface of its kind to provide At home in Western Massachusetts I microphone switching for full maintain a low ham radio profile. Three function voice operati o n. micro KEYER II wire antennas adorn the trees on my half- micro KEYER II™ works with any Windows-based logging or control program for CW,voice, acre lot; there are no towers or verticals. I FSK and digital (RTTY, PSK31, SSTV, OLIVIA, MFSK, WSJT, etc.) operation - AND - works seamlessly with WinDRM. It includes a radio control interface that supports all standards no longer own an amp. Quite often I oper- (RS-232, CI-V, Kenwood and Yaesu TTL), a powerful CW memory keyer with K1EL's WinKey, ate QRP for SS CW and occasionally even a Digital Voice Keyer, support for dual receiver transceivers, automatic for the ARRL 160-Meter Contest, and I’ve microphone selection, and a buffer/sequencer for amplifier or LNA control. NEW! done pretty well. In 2000, I took the plaque as the New England Division’s top single- micro KEYER™ is the standard of comparison op QRP operator in the SS CW. for All-In-One multi-mode USB interfaces for Mobile CW is another facet of Amateur CW, voice, RTTY and PSK31 operation -a Radio that I’ve enjoyed for more than 25 favorite of contesters and DXpedition years now, and one year, when I was operators world wide. With a single USB port KX4V and living in Southwest Virginia, and a sound card, micro KEYER™ can provide WWW.GiURUMELE.Hi2.ROcomplete radio, DVK, CW, FSK, AFSK, PSK and I did SS CW /m from Flat Top Mountain micro KEYER audio interface for any Windows compatible near Beckley, West Virginia. I’m a regular contest or general purpose logging program without the need to change cables or in the New England QSO Party, typically reconfigure when changing modes. micro KEYER™ includes a radio control interface that running several Maine counties. Top mo- supports all standards (RS-232, CI-V, Kenwood and Yaesu TTL), a powerful CW memory bile station plaques — 1991, 1992 and keyer with K1EL's WinKey, a Digital Voice Keyer, and a buffer for PA keying. 1993 — from the Virginia QSO Party also decorate my wall. DIGI KEYER™ is a high performance digital It’s been a distinct pleasure getting to interface and USB sound card for amateur know so many radio amateurs across radio digital modes including RTTY, PSK31, the US and abroad, especially during my MFSK, Olivia, WSJT, APRS, PACKET, and more. DIGI KEYER™ includes a radio control years at ARRL HQ. If we haven’t yet en- interface that supports all standards countered one another on the air, I hope (RS-232, CI-V, Kenwood and Yaesu TTL), DIGI KEYER we can do so soon. support for dual receiver transceivers, and a buffer/sequencer for amplifier or LNA control.

*The tale of how my mother, unable to free the m icro m icro DIGI CW USB KE YER II KEYER KEYER KEYER I-face II USB Interface II™ is a low cost, CB set’s mic from the glove box, still managed Integrated WinKey YES YES NO YES NO high performance USB interface to talk to us one night on her way home from with optic ally isolated radio work is the stuff of Northern New Jersey CW Memories YES YES NO YES NO control, CW, PTT and transformer 11-meter legend. FSK Memories YES YES Y ES NO NO isolated audio for data mode

PS/2 Keyboard Support YES YES Y ES YES NO operation. USB Interface II™ includes a radio control interface True FSK Port YES YES Y ES NO * that supports all standards (RS- Integrated USB Sound YES NO Y ES NO NO 232, CI-V, Kenwood and Yaesu TTL), support for application Two Channel Audio YES NO Y ES NO NO generated CW and AFSK/PSK Voice Keyer Support YES YES NO NO NO compatible with co ntest or

Microphone Switching YES YES NO NO NO general purpose logging programs as well as mode-specific software. Power Amplifier Keying YES YES Y ES NO NO Unlike mass market computer LNA Sequencer YES YES Y ES NO NO "USB to serial converters," USB II * FSK compatible with EXTFSK for MMTTY and RTTYrite Software FSK for WriteLog is carefully designed to be "RF quiet" and provide maximum microHAM CW KEYER™ is a USB radio control isolation for minimum hum and RF interface and CW keyer using the K1EL WinKey and interference. microKEYER technology. CW KEYER provides the unmatched radio control and CW features of microKEYER in a small package for those with no need for microKEYER's voice or digital capabilities. CW Keyer is the ideal companion to a laptop USB Interface II and portable radio (K2, IC-706, FT-857, TS-480, etc.) for portab le For more information contesting or a "single and prices on all CWKEYER suitcase" DXpedition. microHAM products see:

North and South America World Wide 24 March/April 2008 NCJ www.microHAM-USA.com www.microHAM.com

MarchArticles.indd 24 2/5/2008 11:34:47 AM Announcing Contest University 2008!

Make plans to attend Contest University 2008, Thursday, May 15, 8:30 AM until 5:30 PM at the Crown Plaza Hotel, Dayton, Ohio.

Contest University (CTU) was such a  DXpedition Contesting: Setting Goals Web huge success in 2007 WWW.RADiOSCAMATORUL.Hi2.ROthat it will be back and Total Concentration on Winning  Propagation: Sunspots and What We bigger and better this year. Building upon  LUNCH: Extreme Shack Makeover Have to Look Forward To the success of last year’s program, CTU  Logging and Accuracy + Contest His-  What Your Signal Sounds Like in 2008 will take place Thursday May 15, tory and Records Europe 2008, from 8:30am until 5:30pm, at the  SO2R: What the Future of Contesting  Answers to Questions Crowne Plaza Hotel, downtown Dayton. Could Look Like That’s the day before Dayton Hamven-  Basic Contesting: How I got Started — For registration details, visit the Contest tion® 2008 officially opens. Don’t miss this Tracking Improvements, Getting Better University 2008 Web Site, www.contes- rare opportunity to gain knowledge that  Station Layout and Design tuniversity.com. You must register online. might otherwise take you years of practice,  VHF Contesting No registrations will be taken at the door. trial and error or lost time to learn. Get the  HFTA: How to Use It and What You ICOM America is the flagship sponsor of edge to improve your scores and put your Will Learn from It Contest University 2008. station in the winner’s circle today!  Sourcing your Station Needs on the New for 2008 Those who attended CTU 2007 can take advantageWWW.GiURUMELE.Hi2.RO of “graduate-level” courses this year. You must have attended CTU 2007 to be eligible for CTU 2008 Gradu- ate School. 2008 Contest Professor Instructors for CTU 2008 were still being lined up as this issue of NCJ went to press, but the CTU 2007 faculty list is representa- tive of the knowledge level of those who will conduct classes at Contest University 2008. Last year’s instructors included Jim, K8MR; Dean, N6BV; Randy, K5ZD; Dick, N6AA; Dave, W9ZRX; Andy, N2NT; Jeff, N5TJ; Mark, N5OT; Doug, K1DG, and Mark, MØDXR. Contest University 2008 Curriculum Two sessions will run most of the time — beginner’s topics and an advanced topic. Some of these are subject to change, however. The list of topics from 2007 provides an idea of the scope of subjects CTU 2008 will cover:

 QSO Parties: Strategy  SO Unassisted: Maximizing your CW and SSB Skill Set  Antennas for USA Contests: Using Wire Antennas for Best Performance  RTTY Contesting  Mobile Contesting  Single Operator Assisted: Hints for Part-Time Efforts  Antennas for DX Contests  Computers  Hints and Kinks to Help you Win: Maximizing a Station on a Budget  Chokes and Filters: Multi-Operator Considerations  Starting Out in Contesting: What works?  Software Logging Programs

NCJ March/April 2008 25

MarchArticles.indd 25 2/5/2008 11:34:48 AM David Robbins, K1TTT Real-Time Contest Scoreboard [email protected]

Why? Many contesters have long complained outside of radio contesting circles. Logger coupled with a separate automatic that contesting is one of the very few sports or manual score-posting program followed where you compete almost completely in The History in the 2005-2006 time frame. This was the dark with respect to WWW.RADiOSCAMATORUL.Hi2.ROhow your competi- A few years back, a group of inter- later integrated into N1MM Logger and tion is faring. This removes the “he’s right ested contesters started development with now is part of the installation package. on my tail” or “he’s pulling away” incentive Bruce, WA7BNM, of a standard method to Gerry, W1VE, picked up the server work found in most sports. Amateur Radio con- collect results in real time. We decided to and extended it to WriteLog and Win-Test testing also lacks spectator appeal. use XML (eXtensible Markup Language) in 2006 and 2007 and added many more A real-time scoring system was used for the submission format because of the contests. It’s now running on a dedicated during the last World Radiosport Team built-in flexibility and easily available tools server supplied by Dave, KY1V, on its own Championship (WRTC) to attract specta- in most programming languages (see domain, www.getscores.org/. There are tors. Basically a Web site was updated with sidebar, “What is XML?”). The status of links on that site to the loggers that sup- anonymous scores that were impossible this effort is on Bruce’s Web site, www. port it, plus details on how to set them up. to associate with any particular team. I hornucopia.com/xml4contestresults. Some specialty systems also have been believe this added to the event’s appeal html. A basic test of concept with N1MM tested for particular contests using other WWW.GiURUMELE.Hi2.RO

Figure 1 — A real-time scoreboard display during hour 2 of the 2008 ARRL RTTY Round-Up 26 March/April 2008 NCJ

MarchArticles.indd 26 2/5/2008 11:34:49 AM technology, but so far these have failed to get much of a following. What is XML? Spreading the Word! In my opinion, a big reason for real-time XML is short for “eXtensible Markup Language.” XML is really a misnomer of sorts, since it’s not so much a language as a standard way of creating a definition of scoring is spectator appeal, plus the po- a language. Basically what you do is describe the content, format and other attributes tential to “convert” spectators to competi- of the data you want to store in a document or transfer over a network. The definitions tors — or at least participants. Making it are called Document Type Definitions (DTD). This is what is on WA7BNM’s Web site, possible for non-contesters to watch your where the real-time scoring work began. score in real time is much better than tell- The DTD for real-time scoring includes definitions of such items as contest name, ing them on Monday thatWWW.RADiOSCAMATORUL.Hi2.RO you worked 5000 call sign, entry class, QTH, QSO, multiplier, band, mode and other score-related contacts and 150 mults. By then it’s too data. The result of using the DTD to format the score from a logger looks like this: late to get them involved. If you can lure them to look at the real-time scoreboard good the activity is now, and this just might entice them to get on the air. At the very ARRL-10 least, you might convince them to come K1TTT and see just how in the world you can K1TTT make all those contacts so quickly. cal groups compete against each other. Yankee Clipper Contest Club When it’s all working, you could filter by just club name or just country or region K 5 and compete against others on a more 8 level playing field — all in real time! You WWW.GiURUMELE.Hi2.RO WMA don’t have to wait until Sunday night for MA the 3830 net, the following week for the FN32LL 3830 reflector scores or next year for the published results. You have real scores now to compete against. 2 1 Other Technology 2 Webcams provide a great way to let 1 outsiders glimpse what’s going on, and 4 streaming audio permits others to hear 2 what a single competitor is doing. Showing the real-time competition status lends the 24 feeling that this is really a head-to-head 2007-12-07 11:29:42 competition, not just a bunch of guys making lots of contacts on the radio. This For more details on XML, visit Wikipedia, http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Xml. was used to good effect in the last WRTC. Even though you couldn’t tell who was who during the competition, you could see that it was a real race. A scoreboard that a client-side program. It would also be voice repeaters and packet to a worldwide identifies the stations is even more fun, possible to integrate score retrieval with Internet system has sparked its share because you know whom to cheer for and logging programs so they could get and of heated discussions, so has real-time can compare real-time performance. Using present the competition score directly score reporting. Most of these discus- a real-time scoreboard with these other without the need for a Web browser. The sions center on the perceived disclosure technologies is even better; if someone results can be filtered to show only a par- of operating strategy. Let’s start by looking can see your score, then view your sta- ticular entry class and geographic region, at some history. tion on a webcam and/or listen in, that’s a club or any of the other identifiers the In the beginning, you could stop and chance to really get them hooked. database collects. listen to the competitors to determine their How the logger generates the score and rate, what they’re working, serial number, How it Works transmits it to the Web site is up to the which bands they’re using and so forth. To make a real-time scoreboard pos- logger. For N1MM Logger we decided to Much as earlier voice and packet spotting sible, the logging program must generate separate transmission to the Web site from nets did, this sort of activity takes away a score output — with or without band XML generation. This was done to prevent from operating time, causes distraction breakdown information. The score is Internet failures or delays from impacting and only really worked for those contests converted to XML, which is uploaded to a the logger’s performance. So, N1MM Log- in which you could hear the other guy’s Web site, parsed and saved in a database. ger generates the XML and broadcasts it transmitted serial number. As early and When someone views the Web page, the on the local machine’s network while a current technology has eased access database is queried, and the scores for separate program grabs it and uploads it to to DX spots, so does using the Internet the requested contest are filtered. When the Web site every couple of minutes. to collect real-time score information. It the scores are ready, they are converted removes the distraction factor, since you Controversy? Not Here! into an HTML page that’s sent back to the no longer have to take time from making browser for the user to see. What would a new concept in contest- contacts to find — and listen to — the Score filtering and sorting could take ing be without some controversy? Much competition, assuming you’re interested place on a server — as it is now — or via like the development of DX spotting from in how they’re doing.

NCJ March/April 2008 27

MarchArticles.indd 27 2/5/2008 11:34:49 AM Some ops think it gives away strategy. Rebuttal: Anyone really interested in fig- uring out your strategy can find you and listen to you on the air, although, as al- Ultimate Antenna Systems ! ready noted, this can waste their time and cause them to fall behind. Likewise, if they The Ultimate Antenna The Ultimate Tower spend enough time watching the scores to figure out what you’re doing, they’re O.W.A. SuperBertha still not operating to full potential. So, a •OWA Optimized Wideband Array monobanders • Aesthetic rotating monopoles from 10ft to 215ft scoreboard is not necessarily something • Low SWR across entire cw and ssb band • No guy wires...easier to raise and lower antennas that top single ops will wantWWW.RADiOSCAMATORUL.Hi2.RO to track. They can contribute their scores as a target for • Maximum gain, F/B, and clean pattern across • Entire pole rotates...Mount multiple antennas the not-so-super ops to aim for, but the real entire cw and ssb band, direct 50 ohm feed at multiple heights...Perfect for stacks competition knows what to do and won’t • Superior electrical design by WA3FET • No guy wires...fits on “postage-stamp lot” be watching. In the multi-op arena where I have used • Superior mechanical design by K3LR • No guy wires...vandal resistant real-time scoring the most, it’s a bit more • Same winning antennas used by the K3LR superstation • Rotor at ground level...easier maintenance interesting. There we can have someone who isn’t operating at the time check the 40M4OWA-48 Choose your height scoreboard and let our operators know that Full sized 40m four element yagi We customize your SuperBertha’s the competition is pulling away or lagging 48 foot boom height up to 215ft behind on certain bands. While it doesn’t 20M6OWA-48 Choose your antennas help our operating, it may give us a warning 20m six element yagi Multibanders, Multibander stacks, that we aren’t doing something right and 48 foot boom Monobanders or Monobander stacks provide an incentive to push harder. 15M7OWA-48 Choose your windload Live scoringWWW.GiURUMELE.Hi2.RO should not be allowed to change strategy, however. For instance, 15m seven element yagi SuperBertha is designed to say you see that the competition is not run- 48 foot boom EIA-TIA-222-G ning a big rate but is racking up multipliers 10M8OWA-48 Get your SuperBertha! like crazy. Okay, they are S&P, but should 10m eight element yagi Because you deserve the ultimate you also be searching instead of keeping 48 foot boom antenna system...SuperBertha! a frequency and running — even if it is slower? Sometimes the answer is “yes,” because it’s possible that the multipliers SuperBertha.com Scott Johns W3TX 814-881-9258 [email protected] the competition is working are the same ones likely to call you later in a run; while the other guy is running up and down the band grabbing spots, you’ll get called by a rare multiplier that isn’t CQing. Later, while you’re still running and racking up the Qs, the competition may be stuck in a huge pileup for that same rare multiplier. So, letting the scoreboard drive real-time strategy can be bad. Just like using DX spots, you have to evaluate it in light of your own strategy. In any case, having the real-time competitive thrill is much more fun than finding out Sunday night you just barely lost or were so close that you should have spent just a bit more time dredging up some additional QSOs instead of closing down to sleep or eat. Of course, as with DX spotting, there will be the perpetual complainers and periodic CQ-Contest arguments. Watch for complaints about posting fake scores to discourage the competition. Some will assert that “stolen strategies” make the entrant assisted instead of single op. There certainly will be frequent calls to shut down the scoreboard during contest weekends. To be sure, very emotional arguments will accompany all of these contentions. The more scores that get posted, the more interesting it will be. So, in the up- coming contests, please contribute your score and pass the link on to friends and non-contesters who may be interested.

28 March/April 2008 NCJ

MarchArticles.indd 28 2/5/2008 11:34:49 AM Ultimate Antenna Systems ! Selecting Band-Pass Filters and Ethan Miller, K8GU Switching Hardware [email protected] The Ultimate Antenna The Ultimate Tower O.W.A. SuperBertha Most modern competitive contest sta- 40 dB is common. The last 110 dB or so pass filters constructed of discrete compo- tions, regardless of category, operate has to come from filtering. nents. At high power levels stubs tend to • ptimized ideband rray monobanders • Aesthetic rotating monopoles from 10ft to 215ft OWA O W A transmitters and receivers in close proxim- With low power, we can get away with be less expensive than discrete band-pass • Low SWR across entire cw and ssb band • No guy wires...easier to raise and lower antennas ity. Over the past three decades,WWW.RADiOSCAMATORUL.Hi2.RO a dizzying 10 to 15 dB less than that in the way filters. They also have the advantage of • Maximum gain, F/B, and clean pattern across • Entire pole rotates...Mount multiple antennas array of products, articles, CQ-Contest of filtering. On the other hand, the task being periodic structures. That is, they can threads, books and book chapters have worsens if we cannot get 40 dB of path be designed to work well at harmonically- entire cw and ssb band, direct 50 ohm feed at multiple heights...Perfect for stacks been devoted to the topic of reducing loss due to nearby high-gain or multiband related frequencies. In practice, filters built • Superior electrical design by WA3FET • No guy wires...fits on “postage-stamp lot” interference encountered in this situation. antennas. From 100 to 120 dB of stop- from discrete components are usually • Superior mechanical design by K3LR • No guy wires...vandal resistant This in itself suggests that no single solu- band attenuation is quite manageable with capable of greater attenuation than stubs tion is right for all problems. a combination of filters, however. Some — generally speaking — although the • Same winning antennas used by the K3LR superstation • Rotor at ground level...easier maintenance This article presents a systems engi- of this will be handled by your receiver’s power-handling capability offsets that. For 40M4OWA-48 Choose your height neering approach to reviewing the state internal band-pass filters. exciter power levels (ie, <200 W), discrete of the art in interference reduction for all filters tend to be quite economical. Full sized 40m four element yagi We customize your SuperBertha’s Filters 48 foot boom height up to 215ft types of stations and budgets. It includes Receive-only filters often are very useful a selection of references that, while not There are three places in the station for nailing down specific problems, such 20M6OWA-48 Choose your antennas exhaustive, should ensure casual and to install filters: After the transceiver but as those encountered with nearby AM 20m six element yagi Multibanders, Multibander stacks, serious station builders ample access before the amplifier (see references 1, broadcast stations and multi-multi stations. 48 foot boom Monobanders or Monobander stacks to additional information. Two publica- 12, 15, 20 and 21), after the amplifier (see They are somewhat less common than 15M7OWA-48 Choose your windload tions are important complements to this references 5, 9 and14) or immediately in transmitting filters in most stations. A big 15m seven element yagi SuperBertha is designed to article. TheWWW.GiURUMELE.Hi2.RO first is Managing Interstation front of the receiver — if the transceiver advantage of receiving filters is that they 48 foot boom EIA-TIA-222-G Interference by George Cutsogeorge, supports it (see references 2, 11, 13 and are often designed to be less sensitive to 10M8OWA-48 Get your SuperBertha! W2VJN — a natural extension of his NCJ 22). Each of these locations has advan- the termination impedance over a wide 10m eight element yagi Because you deserve the ultimate articles. The other is Low-Band DXing by tages and disadvantages. All three loca- range of frequencies (see reference 11). 48 foot boom antenna system...SuperBertha! John Devoldere, ON4UN. The chapter on tions are potentially important in solving Figure 1 compares a homebrew 40-me- contest station engineering contains good interference problems. ter W3NQN 200 W transmitting filter information on filtering techniques. Transmitting filters require substan- (see references 20 and 21), a 40-meter SuperBertha.com Scott Johns W3TX tial components, which increases their W3NQN RX filter (see reference 22), the 814-881-9258 [email protected] Evaluating Your Needs cost. They operate in both the receive I.C.E. Model 405 (see “List of Vendors” The first step is solid engineering. Inter- path and transmit paths, however. This for more information on this and other station interference can be caused by leak- reduces the level of unwanted harmonic referenced suppliers) and the Dunestar age and common mode currents as well and broadband power transmitted and Model 600 measured with vector network as by coupling via the antenna system. helps to protect the receiver from adjacent analyzers. No stubs were available at the A complete discussion of common mode transmitters. time of measurement. This level of perfor- problems is beyond the scope of this ar- There are two types of transmitting mance is representative of the other bands ticle, but Jim Brown, K9YC, has prepared filters: Transmission line stubs and band- in each filter series. The W3NQN RX filters an excellent resource on the topic. According to conservative estimates, this can occur at 50 mW - about 17dBm although you may be able to push this

higher. Recall that PdBm = 10log10 P (in watts) + 30. I’ve used an oscilloscope and a small 50-Ω dummy load to determine this to the first order. As Cutsogeorge explains, you also can use a 50-Ω peak detector or, even better, an RF voltmeter. These techniques can also be used to determine the path loss between antennas, although for maximum dynamic range and accuracy, a network analyzer is the tool for the job. Several sta- tions have reported satisfactory operation without filtering, however, especially at low power. At 1.5 kW (62 dBm) output, de- pending on the quality of your transceiver and amplifier, the available power in the second harmonic ranges from about 10 to 20 dBm. Compare this to the noise floor of many receivers, which can exceed –130 dBm. We’ll need 150 dB of attenua- tion to push that harmonic into the noise floor, although contest QRM may reduce this requirement as the noise floor rises. Path loss between the transmitting and receiving antennas is a big help — 30 to Figure 1 – Insertion loss on 40 meters for four common band-pass filters (see text) NCJ March/April 2008 29

MarchArticles.indd 29 2/5/2008 11:34:55 AM were built by KØTO. The W3NQN 200 W filter was homebrewed by the authorusing nominal capacitance values and paying no particular attention to tuning. Actual perfor- Rig A mance with properly tuned filters should 10 exceed this level on the 80-meter side. 15 At first glance, it may seem that the 6 x 2 20 Leakage Path W3NQN filters are definitely the top Switch choice. This should come as no surprise, 40 given their relative cost in the commercial 80 filter market. The switchingWWW.RADiOSCAMATORUL.Hi2.RO requirements 160 are not modest, however (more on this below). Furthermore, as Frank Donovan, W3LPL, has pointed out on the TowerTalk Rig B e-mail reflector, http://lists.contesting. com/archives//html/Towertalk/2008-01/ msg00141.html, network analyzer mea- Figure 2 – Signal leakage path in a typical SO2R antenna-switching arrangement surements do not always tell the entire story: If the transceiver or antenna is not well matched to the filter, the effectiveness of the system is reduced. This situation is very much installation specific and difficult to evaluate in advance. The components for the W3NQN filters have been difficult to obtain in small quan- tities. Fortunately,WWW.GiURUMELE.Hi2.RO the toroid cores now are available from “The Toroid King.” I substi- tuted Panasonic KGE-type high-voltage capacitors for the Tusonix parts specified. The quoted Q of these capacitors exceeds 400 at 1 MHz for all values used, so loss is not a big concern. In his QST and QEX articles, Wetherhold expressed concern about the temperature stability of the capacitors in his filters, something that WØUN also emphasized in a personal note. I have not noted any problems with my filters using the Panasonic capacitors at 100 W and reasonable VSWR, although I have not measured the temperature rise. In this instance, ignorance may be bliss. Switching In a contest category other than multi multi, filters and stubs need to be switched in order to be useful. The I.C.E. Model 419, Dunestar Model 600, and Array Solutions Figure 3 –A two-tiered switching system improves isolation. Filter MAX commercial filters include inte- gral switching that can be driven manually or automatically through band decoders. Several enterprising amateurs, includ- ing Brian Bartlett,VK4UW, and John Loftus, VK4EMM, have constructed the W3NQN filters and variants that employ integral switching. Filters furnished or constructed in a single-band form are slightly more challenging. Figure 2 depicts two parallel signal paths between radios A and B. One is the antenna + filter path; the other is the leakage path through the 6×2 switch. The path with lower isolation will domi- nate. In his booklet W2VJN discusses a high-isolation switching arrangement that places an A/B switch for each band with a six-position switch at each radio, sketched in Figure 3. A number of com- mercial solutions implement switching using the topologies of both figures 2 and Figure 4 – Dedicating radios to specific bands is a simple, inexpensive way to increase isolation and reduce switching complexity at the same time. 30 March/April 2008 NCJ

MarchArticles.indd 30 2/5/2008 11:35:04 AM 3 with varying degrees of isolation. tend to perform better in close quarters. 4. Bruggemann, Mark. “6×2 Coaxial Remote Mark Bruggemann, K5LXP, and Ron W8MJI uses FT-1000MPs, but he carefully Antenna Switch.” Available at www.qsl.net/ Rossi, KK1L, have posted details of their designed his antenna systems to have k5lxp/projects/CoaxSwitch/CoaxSwitch. more isolation as well. html. 6×2 switches on their Web sites. Mea- 5. Cutsogeorge, George. “Band Switching Stubs sured worst-case isolation at 30 MHz for Of course, the antenna system goes a for the Single-Op Two-Radio Station.” NCJ. both of these devices is on the order of 30 long way toward relieving in-band interfer- September/October 1996. and 40 dB, respectively. These are quite ence. One stock reply to this question is 6. Cutsogeorge, George. “Radio Proximity a bit lower than the numbers W2VJN has to exploit cross-polarization isolation. For Effects.” NCJ, November/December 1996. reported and those of many commercial many smaller stations where antennas 7. Cutsogeorge, George. “Using Double products. Using such a switch by itself are close together, what really matters is 1/8-Wave Stubs.” NCJ, January/February 1998. may render as overkillWWW.RADiOSCAMATORUL.Hi2.RO the attenuation polarization rather than mutual coupling. 8. Cutsogeorge, George. “High-Power Harmonic achieved by the W3NQN filters or double Generally speaking, keeping offending Filters.” NCJ, November/December 1998. stubs. If necessary we can reduce the antenna elements at right angles can 9. Cutsogeorge, George. Managing Interstation impact of inadequate isolation from a 6×2 minimize this. Another technique is to de- Interference. International Radio. 2003. switch by switching independent sets of sign antenna arrays such that they never 10. Devoldere, John. Low-Band DXing, 4th ed. beam toward each other, such as towers in ARRL. 2005. filters at each radio before switching the 11. Donovan, Frank, R. David Hawes and Gale antennas. a circle with fixed antennas pointed away Steward. “W3LPL Receiving Bandpass Switching need not be automatic. from the center. Multi-multi stations long Filters.” NCJ, September/October 1981. One common switching technique is to have utilized non-resonant and distant 12. Gordon, Lew. “Bandpass Filters for use a two-way switch on each antenna receiving antennas for in-band operation. Transmitters.” NCJ, March/April 1987. and a multi-position switch to select the The Beverage is a good choice for this, 13. Jordan, David. “6-Band RX Bandpass Filter.” especially given its directionality. Self-published. March 2007. Available at www. band for each radio. This is essentially a yccc.org/Articles/YCCC_6B_RX.pdf. manual version of the Top Ten Devices The Bottom Line 14. Lass, Fred. “Multi-Transmitter Filters.” NCJ, product. A simpler, less-expensive way to May/June 1984. (Reprinted from YCCC use manual switching is to restrict each The bottom line is this: Plots of filter Scuttlebutt) radio to a subsetWWW.GiURUMELE.Hi2.RO of bands. For instance, insertion loss do not tell the entire story, 15. Pfann, Peter. “100 W — Bandpassfilter nach radio A operates on 160, 40 and 15, while especially for single-operator two-radio W3NQN.” In German. Bavarian Contest Club. Available at www.bavarian-contest-club.de/ radio B operates on 80, 20 and 10. This (SO2R) station designs, where switching projects/bandpassfilter/100W-BP.pdf. arrangement lets you operate on any pair flexibility is desirable. The leakage path 16. Pruett, Dave. “K8MQP Multi-Multi in the of adjacent open bands and buys a lot of through switches can be the dominant 2007 Michigan QSO Party.” NCJ, November/ isolation. While this doesn’t offer the flex- coupling mechanism and limit the effects December 2007. ibility that some of the other systems do, it of filters. Independent sets of band-pass 17. Rauch, Tom. “Receiver Tests.” Available at is an inexpensive solution. A variant of this filters at each radio before the amplifier www.w8ji.com/receiver_tests.htm. 18. Robbins, Dave. “K1TTT Technical Reference: is system, shown in Figure 4, is presently improve the apparent isolation of switches Filters.” Available at www.k1ttt.net/technote/ in use at K8GU/9. and clean up the signal provided to the techref.html#filters. amp. Although low to moderate levels 19. Rossi, Ron. “KK1L 2×6 Switch.” Available In-Band Operation of interference often are tolerable, filters at http://home.comcast.net/~kk1l/ I frequently get this question: Can you both before and after the amplifier may kk1l_2x6switch/. be necessary to push interference into the 20. Wetherhold, Ed. “Clean Up Your Signals design filters that allow me to operate with Band-Pass Filters — Part 1.” QST. May two stations within a band? Suffice it to noise floor. This article did not discuss filter 1998. say this is one of the great engineering reliability, but this may prove to be the most 21. Wetherhold, Ed. “Clean Up Your Signals challenges in contesting. Such a set of important consideration for yourstation. with Band-Pass Filters — Part 2.” QST, filters was designed by Sinisa, YT1NT, for Because the number of variables is large, June 1998. Ranko, 4O3A, for WRTC 2006 in Brazil. the best solution for most stations will be 22. Wetherhold, Ed. “Receiver Band-Pass Filters Having Maximum Attenuation in Adjacent The key elements of this system were found iteratively. Bands.” QEX, July/August 1999. switchable crystal filters for every 1 kHz of the 40-meter band and a modified Drake The author thanks the following indi- List of Vendors R4C receiver. Inrad sells crystal front-end viduals for providing assistance, hardware, Array Solutions — switches and filters: www. filters for certain segments of the bands insight and stimulating discussion regard- arraysolutions.com/ Digi-Key — capacitors, discrete components: as well. Short of that effort, there are also ing band-pass filters and switching: KØAD, www.digikey.com non-filter considerations. KØTO, NØFP, WØUN, NO9Z, K9AN, Dunestar Systems — filters: www.dunestar. According to DavePruett, K8CC (see KK1L, N8ET, K8GL, K8CC, R.F. Drayton com "K8MQP Multi-Multi in the 2007 Michi- and A. Gopinath. DX Engineering — switches: www. gan QSO Party," NCJ, Nov/Dec 2007), dxengineering.com the K8MQP michigan QSO Party team References Industrial Communication Engineers — filters: 1. Bartlett, Brian, and John Loftus. “Band- www.iceradioproducts.com operated simultaneously on 40 CW and Kits and Parts dot com (“The Toroid King”) — 40 SSB. Tom Rauch, W8JI, reports he Pass Filters for Contesting.” NCJ, January/ February 2000. toroid cores: www.kitsandparts.com can operate within a few kilohertz of his Lodestone Pacific — toroid cores: www. 2. Brock-Fisher, Tony. “Automatically-Switched transmitted signal on 160 meters. In each lodestonepacific.com Receiver Band-Pass Filters.” NCJ, May/ Micro-HAM — switches: www.microham. case, the first priority is a clean transmitted June 1995. signal, a function of transmitter-amplifier com/ 3. Brown, Jim. A Ham’s Guide to RFI, Ferrites, Top Ten Devices — switches and stubs: www. synergy. The K8MQP group has found that Baluns, and Audio Interfacing. Self-published. qth.com/topten/ older, non-synthesized transceivers, such Available at www.audiosystemsgroup.com/ as the Drake C-Line and Ten-Tec Corsair, RFI-Ham.pdf.

NCJ March/April 2008 31

MarchArticles.indd 31 2/5/2008 11:35:04 AM Propagation Carl Luetzelschwab, K9LA

Tough Fun in the ARRL 10-Meter of Lone Star ops, the signals from Texas sachusetts, New Hampshire, Connecticut, Contest were generally very strong. New Jersey and Virginia —many after a Although we’re at solar minimum be- The five DX entities I worked were KP4, couple of repeats because signals were tween Cycles 23 and 24, I have to admit CX, XE, ZS and LU. All were weak and on at my noise level, generally quite low on I really enjoyed the time I spent in last the direct short path. Beaming short path 10 in my rural location. December’s ARRL 10-MeterWWW.RADiOSCAMATORUL.Hi2.RO Contest. wasn’t necessarily the case for many of The close-in states — Michigan, Ohio, Even though it was tough going for me the stateside QSOs, however. Many con- Indiana and Illinois — were worked via and others up north, I’ve always enjoyed tacts were made with my antenna either ground wave. It is rather easy to work the the 10-Meter Contest at solar minimum. pointing southeast or southwest to areas big contest stations like K8CC, W9RE,

This year was no different. of higher F2 region ionization. These were K9QVB and WB9Z on 10 meter ground I ended up logging 190 QSOs with sta- scatter paths. wave, even though signals are weak. It’s es- tions in 35 states, 2 Canadian provinces I worked quite a few W7s. Arizona, Ne- pecially easy when there isn’t a lot of QRM, and 5 DX entities. I made 21 QSOs Friday vada, Wyoming, Oregon and Washington such as 10 meters at solar minimum. evening, 84 QSOs on Saturday and 85 went into the log, much to my delight. I I missed a lot of QSOs due to very short QSOs on Sunday. Due to the “weak-signal” even worked VE7 and South Dakota. I was burst-type openings, where I might get a advantage of CW, I made 75 percent of my disappointed not to work — or even hear, partial or even a full call sign only to have QSOs on CW. for that matter — anyone in California. the station disappear before completing Of the 190 QSOs, 67 (35 percent) were I didn’t work many East Coast stations. the exchange. These sounded like meteor with stations in Texas. Many stations in the I more or less expected that at solar mini- pings, and I’m guessing some of these US northern tier reported a similar pipeline mum due to the short distance between were more likely due to F2 irregularities in to Texas. NotWWW.GiURUMELE.Hi2.RO only was there an abundance them and me. I did manage to work Mas- the ionosphere.

Figure 1 — F2 and Es MUFs for three general areas of the US during the period including the 2007 ARRL 10-Meter Contest. The horizontal axis is the day of the month, with the contest dates (December 8 and 9) underscored.

32 March/April 2008 NCJ

March Columns.indd 32 2/5/2008 11:16:05 AM Figure 2 — The sun on the second day From of the 2007 ARRL 10-Meter Contest: Sunspot Region 978 is visible on the left. MILLIWATTS to KILOWATTS sm

More Watts per Dollarsm WWW.RADiOSCAMATORUL.Hi2.RO

Figure 3 — The 10.7 cm solar flux for the period leading up to • Wattmeters and including WWW.GiURUMELE.Hi2.ROthe 2007 ARRL 10-Meter • Transformers Contest. • TMOS & GASFETS • RF Power Transistors • Doorknob Capacitors • Electrolytic Capacitors

On Friday evening around 10 o’clock I F2 region MUF for ionosondes on the West • Variable Capacitors heard NA5TR (in Texas, of course) report Coast, in the Southwest, and on the East to another station that he already had Coast. The three plots on the right are for • RF Power Modules logged 300 QSOs with stations all over the Es MUF at the same ionosondes. As ex- the country. I have to admit that was de- pected from the scores, the Southwest had pressing to hear; remember, I only made • Tubes & Sockets the best Es opening at the beginning of the 21 QSOs on Friday evening. contest (0000 UTC on December 8), with Es NA5TR’s progress report on Friday MUFs over 30 MHz for many hours. • HV Rectifiers night highlighted the fact that the south- What about F2 propagation? Sunspot ern states were the biggest recipients of Region 978 rotated into view on December above-average propagation. For example, 6 (see Figure 2). Did it help? The 10.7 cm K5TR with WM5R at the mic (SO PH HP) solar flux was certainly headed the right in Texas claimed 1709 QSOs and 52 way as seen in Figure 3. ORDERS ONLY: multipliers. K1TO (SO CW HP) in Florida But nothing jumps out from the F2 claimed 894 QSOs and 62 multipliers. Both ionosonde data to suggest the extra EUV 800-RF-PARTS • 800-737-2787 had their best hours right at the beginning (extreme ultraviolet radiation) helped. Se Habla Español • We Export of the contest on Friday evening and to a Regardless, the F2 MUF was high enough lesser extent on Saturday evening. in all three areas to likely provide some F 2 TECH HELP / ORDER / I NFO: 760-744-0700 These great openings were undoubtedly scatter propagation during the afternoon due to sporadic E (E ), as historically E hours. s s FAX: 760-744-1943 or 888-744-1943 has a good probability of occurring in the In summary, operating the ARRL early evening hours in December. A look 10-Meter Contest at solar minimum makes An Address to Remember: at ionosonde data from December 1-10 you exercise your understanding of all confirms this. www.rfparts.com propagation modes — sporadic E, F2 scat- Figure 1 shows six plots. The contest ter, ground wave, possibly meteor scatter E-mail: dates (horizontal axis) are underscored. and perhaps even normal F2. To my way of The three plots on the left are for the thinking, that’s what makes it fun. [email protected]

NCJ March/April 2008 33

March Columns.indd 33 2/5/2008 11:16:07 AM Contest Tips, Tricks & Techniques Gary Sutcliffe, W9XT

Contesting Web Resources — Part 2 In Part 1 of this series we started looking to be www.k8nd.com/Radio/SO2R/ for stations specializing in that aspect. at some of the resources available on the K8ND_SO2R.htm, recommended by Randy, K5ZD, is a well-known contester World Wide Web for contesters. The top- Steve, GW4BLE, and Tom W7WHY. In and former NCJ editor. His site, www. ics covered included web sites dedicated addition to having links to equipment for k5zd.com, comes recommended by to contesting. We also lookedWWW.RADiOSCAMATORUL.Hi2.RO at sites that SO2R stations, it has an extensive series AA4NU and others. Like most sites there had current information of interest such of pictures of stations using this contesting are pictures and descriptions of his sta- as planned activities for DX contests and confi guration. tion. He has a couple of unusual things to propagation data. Part 2 will continue Peter, PC2A, passed along the URL for check out. KK9V liked the audio fi les from with other Web sites of potential interest the PI4CC Contest Club, www.pi4cc.nl/ several contests. His site is also home to to contesters. tech-info/, because he likes the technical the Super Check Partial fi les that Randy section — and especially the information maintains. These are the fi les used by Technical & Station Building on building low-cost stations. logging programs to list potential matching Anyone who experiments or reads about Although Dave, W5UN, is best known call signs as you type them in. antennas is familiar with the work of LB, for his moonbounce work, some of the Some other big-gun station Web sites W4RNL whose articles frequently appear technical information on his Web site, recommended were www.k3lr.com, in QST and elsewhere. His Web site, www. http://web.wt.net/~w5un, is of interest to www.k5rc.com, www.nq4i.com, www. cebik.com/, contains articles covering those who operate the lower frequencies. w0aih.com, www.nk7u.com, www. every conceivable aspect of antennas, I especially like his technique for putting k4ja.com, www.kc1xx.com, and www. and one could easily spend days reading PL-259 coax connectors on half-inch k9ns.com. everything WWW.GiURUMELE.Hi2.ROthat is available here. aluminum-jacket hard line. Contesting club Web sites also are a The K1TTT site, www.k1ttt.net, has lots source of information. Many clubs post of information on a variety of subjects, and Blogs archives of their newsletters on line. See it provides links to numerous other Web Blogs are perhaps best known for their the sidebar, “Major Contest Web Sites,” resources. One section includes some political commentaries. If you are already for a listing. contesting-related software K1TTT wrote tired of the presidential election campaign Finally, let’s not forget the Web page that you can download for free. Perhaps that started a year ahead of November’s for the magazine you are holding in your the best part is the technical reference general election, you might want to switch hands, NCJ, www.ncjweb.com! Besides section, which has a broad scope. Some to some blogs dedicated to contesting. lots of other information, there is an NCJ of the material is original and some con- The blog of Scot, K9JY, http://k9jy.com/ index of articles going back to 1973. sists of archived e-mail discussions. This blog, is heavy on contesting tips, some- site was recommended by N1XS/5 and thing that fans of this column should enjoy. Acknowledgements K6TD. In September 2007 he had a new contest As usual, thanks to those who make Everyone reading this is probably a tip every day of the week. A separate sec- “CTT&T” work — the contributors. This regular visitor to the ARRL Web site, www. tion has documentation for the WriteLog time AA4NU, GW4BLE, HA6NN, KK9V, arrl.org, to get the latest Amateur Radio contest logging program. K6TD, K7ZO, K6VVA, K9NW, K9WX, news. Among a ton of other information Scott, W4PA, has an easy-to-read blog, and resources, the League’s Web site http://w4pa.journalspace.com/ where provides the rules for all ARRL-sponsored he discusses contest-related activities contests as well as comprehensive post- and opinions. Major Contest Club Web Sites contest summaries. Digging a little deeper The Ham Blogs site, http://ham-blogs. Florida Contest Group: uncovers a perhaps less-known League net/, is dedicated to listing ham-related www.fl oridacontestgroup.org resource — the TIS or Technical Infor- blogs, sorted by continent and topic. Frankfort Radio Club: mation Service. The TIS pages include Contesters seem to be slow to be getting www.gofrc.org articles from ARRL publications as well as on the blog bandwagon, though. The con- Mad River Radio Club: other original articles on a slew of subjects. testing section lists mostly blogs from the www.madriverradioclub.org There’s also a searchable index to articles 2006 WRTC. It might be worth checking Minnesota Wireless Association: published in QST, QEX, Ham Radio & from time to time to see if any new gems www.w0aa.org NCJ. Some articles are available for down- show up. North Coast Contesters: loading in PDF format. Vitor, PY2NY, fi nds www.northcoastcontesters.com Northern California Contest Club: the ARRL Web site’s extensive reviews Personal Contester Web Sites www.nccc.cc of new radios and equipment invaluable. Many Internet Service Providers (ISPs) Potomac Valley Radio Club: Some ARRL Web site pages are available provide subscribers with space for mod- www.pvrc.org only to League members. estly sized Web sites, and other com- Society of Midwest Contesters: If you want to get the most out of your panies and organizations offer free or www.w9smc.com oscilloscope, you will want to visit the low-cost Web hosting for non-commercial South East Contest Club: Oscilliscope Tutorial site, www.oscil- sites. It is not surprising that many hams http://secc.contesting.com loscope-tutorials.com, suggested by have put together their own sites. Southern California Contest Club: Kevin, K6TD. Once you are up to speed Mal, N7MAL, likes www.qrz.com and http://sccc.contesting.com on your ’scope, you might move on to the Google for looking up contest winners. Tennessee Contest Group: Spectrum Analyzer site, www.spectrum- He also gets station ideas from them. Mal www.k4ro.net/tcg.html analyzer.info. uses the results from Sweepstakes and Yankee Clipper Contest Club: The defi nitive source for SO2R (single state QSO parties to research domestic www.yccc.org operator, two radio) station design has contests and, of course, DX contest results

34 March/April 2008 NCJ

March Columns.indd 34 2/5/2008 11:16:07 AM From KØRC, NS3T, N1XS/5, N3RD, N7MAL, sm N7MQ, PC2A, PY2NY, W4PA and W7WHY MILLIWATTS to KILOWATTS sent in suggestions for their favorite con- More Watts per Dollar sm test Web sites. Topic for May-June We’ll discuss call sign recognition next SCAF-1 time. How important is call sign recogni- Audio tion? Does it help your score, and how? What do you do to keep your call sign rec- Filter ognized by other contesters?WWW.RADiOSCAMATORUL.Hi2.RO Do you use Super Check Partial or other similar tools Make your receiver listener friendly! Variable during contests? Do you say “Hi!” to con- cut-off audio low-pass filter, 96 db rolloff per testers you know during an event? Do you octave! Cut-off range frequency 450 Hertz to keep a list of names and call signs handy, 3.5 kHz. Absolutely real time, NO delay— so you can greet others in a contest? perfect for QRQ CW and no monitor Send in your ideas on these subjects problems. Use for CW, Digital modes, and as well as suggestions for future topics. SSB, with headphones or speakers. Super- simple operation, yet wonderfully effective. Contact me via e-mail, [email protected], Sample audio files on our web site. Available or snail mail, 3310 Bonnie Ln, Slinger, as a kit or preassembled. WI 53086. Be sure to get them to me by Quality March 10. Keyers: Transmitting Logikey K5, & Audio Tubes Super • COMMUNICATIONS WWW.GiURUMELE.Hi2.ROCMOS-3, CMOS-4 • BROADCAST Our keyers simply are the best keyers • INDUSTRY available — Period. More user friendly by far, more features. Extremely powerful • AMATEUR memory functions, yet easy to learn. Extended paddle input timing reduces Immediate Shipment from Stock errors and increases your speed. Can 3CPX800A7 3CX15000A7 4CX5000A 813 emulate many earlier designs for timing 3CPX5000A7 3CX20000A7 4CX7500A 833A feel, but with full feature set. Use with both Unified 3CW20000A7 4CX250B 4CX10000A 833C positive and negative keyed rigs. Built-in 3CX100A5 4CX250BC 4CX10000D 845 Microsystems monitor included. Full beacon capability. 3CX400A7 4CX250BT 4CX15000A 866-SS UM 3CX400U7 4CX250FG 4X150A 872A-SS For full details see our web site. 3CX800A7 4CX250R YC-130 5867A Forget that built-in keyer in your 3CX1200A7 4CX350A YU-106 5868 transceiver. You deserve far better. 3CX1200D7 4CX350F YU-108 6146B We have one waiting for you. 3CX1200Z7 4CX400A YU-148 7092 3CX1500A7 4CX800A YU-157 3-500ZG 3CX2500A3 4CX1000A 572B 4-400A Antenna Rotor Enhancements: 3CX2500F3 4CX1500A 807 M328 / TH328 3CX3000A7 4CX1500B 810 M338 / TH338 TailTwister & Ham-M 3CX6000A7 4CX3000A 811A M347 / TH347 Do you own one of these fine rotors? Bring 3CX10000A7 4CX3500A 812A M382 it into the 21st Century! Rotor-EZ adds a – TOO MANY TO LIST ALL – unique “Auto-Point” capability plus brake delay, end-point protection, optional complete computer-control capability for New! USB Interfaces logging and contesting programs, and more! Free your PC serial ports. USB to CW/PTT & USB to VK-64 versions. See our web site for full details of ORDERS ONLY: VK-64 Combo Voice/CW Keyer Voice keyer and full feature CW memory keyer in a this “must have” enhancement. 800-RF-PARTS • 800-737-2787 single package. Front panel operation or control Se Habla Español • We Export through your laptop or PC. BCD-10 Band Decoder TECH HELP / ORDER / I NFO: 760-744-0700 Use band port signals from selected Yaesu® rigs or PC printer port for automatic antenna switching as you change bands. FAX: 760-744-1943 or 888-744-1943 XT-4 CW Memory Keyer Battery powered and small size for VHF rover, FD, DXpeditions and vacations. 4 memories. Yaesu DXA and An Address to Remember: XT-4BEACON - CW Beacon IDer Easy to program IDer for VHF beacons. Low power. SDX series rotors www.rfparts.com Selectable speeds 5-25 WPM. Add affordable plug-in computer-control E-mail: Visit our web site for new products. capability for far less. See our web site for full details! [email protected] Unified Microsystems PO Box 133 Slinger, WI 53086 262-644-9036 www.unifiedmicro.com

NCJ March/April 2008 35

March Columns.indd 35 2/5/2008 11:16:09 AM

UNIFIED_MICROSYSTEMS-1.p... Tuesday, May 31, 2005 09:03 page 1 Composite Workshop Chronicles: Don Daso, K4ZA Finding the Right Wrench [email protected]

It can be uncomfortable to write about The company now offers what it calls one company and its products because “Double-X” pliers — in standard needle someone might get theWWW.RADiOSCAMATORUL.Hi2.RO idea that you or nose, bent nose and duck bill versions. some relatives own stock and just got The “double-joint” feature allows the jaws dividend checks in the mail. That said, to open wider than the handle, yet the tool I concede to finding the products that itself stays narrow enough to reach into GearWrench, www.gearwrench.com, confined spaces. offers to be really special and in some instances unique. All of these items ap- Other Useful Tools peared in stores just in time for holiday GearWrench recently rolled out a cush- shopping, prompting my observations and ioned-handle ratchet. It has all the features this column. Consider this a mini product cushioned-handle tools are known for — review. real hand comfort and the amazing ability Probably the most popular and well- to pick up dirt and grease and retain it, Figure 1 — GearWrench ratcheting-gear known GearWrench product is its name- seemingly forever. It’s the first ratchet I’ve end wrenches sake ratcheting box-end wrenches. Now seen with a label on the handle saying, available from numerous manufacturers “ON” and “OFF.” and retail outlets, the basic design offers The company also recently has come providing eight different size wrenches- several advantagesWWW.GiURUMELE.Hi2.RO to the tower climber out with a line of screwdrivers. Surely, and an electronic torque wrench. The and antenna builder. With their thin heads, you’d think, the world does not need an- company’s newest offering, the “X-Beam” these wrenches are wonderful for working other set of screwdrivers. You’re probably wrench, features a 90-degree twist in the in tight spaces, and their ratchet action right, but as a tool guy, I sit up and pay handle, allowing you to apply full pressure occurs in 5-degree steps instead of the attention. They appear to be well made, on the body of the wrench, not the knife 15 to 30 degrees a typical end wrench and the cushioned handles are a cross edge of the tool. Clever, indeed! Take a requires. between round and tri-lobal designs. look at what GearWrench has to offer. I Finding these wrenches locally may be There are now “stubby” versions of the believe you’ll find something worth having problematic, as there are now versions GearWrenches, Quad wrenches-two tools in your toolbox! from various manufacturers — a simple reversing wrench and an offset version. Close examination will reveal the differ- ence. With the simple version, you turn the wrench over to change its direction. The offset version has a small lever to change direction, and the head is angled at 15 degrees — clearance that can be most helpful indeed. I have both types and find the offset ones more useful. Pass-Thru Rachets Other GearWrench tools of note include the XL “Pass-Thru” ratchet. As its name implies, this is a socket wrench that drives from the outer edge instead of from the Figure 2 — GearWrench “Pass-Thru” ratchet center. Just one look is not enough to convince you how cool this is. Once you use it, you’ll really like it! Granted, not every situation will require or warrant its use, but for circumstances where you need its features, this tool is terrific. It’s the first swiveling head ratchet that truly works, because it has a locking mecha- nism. Once you’ve positioned the head at the angle needed, release the button, and voilà, it’s like having a drawer full of fixed-angle drivers. Double-Jointed Pliers It’s always intriguing to see what other tools successful companies come out with. While its ratcheting wrenches put GearWrench on the toolbox map, there have been some recent notable additions. Figure 3 — GearWrench “Double-X” pliers 36 March/April 2008 NCJ

March Columns.indd 36 2/5/2008 11:16:09 AM Kirk Pickering, K4RO CONTESTING 101 [email protected]

Hello, contesters, new and old! Last No- ing is that there is always room for growth. It’s You Against the Clock vember, I heard that NCJ Editor Al Dewey, I’ve heard from folks who have been con- KØAD was looking for someone to write a testing for more than 40 years, and they still All contests have one feature in common: column to help contesting newcomers. Al learn something new during every event. The operating period is finite. There is a had received feedback that the magazine There are many opportunities for learning. start time and an end time, and your goal should include more information for new Whether it is operating technique, antenna is to use the intervening hours as efficiently contesters. If you fall intoWWW.RADiOSCAMATORUL.Hi2.RO that category, design, propagation knowledge or station as possible. Using your time wisely is one let me know what you would like to see on construction, only your imagination can limit of the most effective ways to improve your these pages. This way, we can tailor this how far you can take it. contest scores. The best operators use column to suit your needs. every minute prudently, and they’re always When you think about it, everyone is Play By the Rules concentrating on making the next QSO. One a contesting novice relative to someone, There’s no doubt that contesting can be tactic is to use as much of the available op- and there is a lot of ground we could cover. lots of fun. So where to begin? My recom- erating time as possible. If a contest allows Since you’re reading NCJ, you’ve likely mendation is to find the nearest contest 10 hours of operating time, operate for 10 already discovered that contesting has and start making QSOs. We need to get hours. If a contest allows 48 hours, operate something to offer you. My guess is that, one thing straight right from the begin- for as much of that time as you can. In future columns we’ll explore methods to use each as NCJ readers, most of you are not brand ning, however. Before diving in, read and minute to maximum advantage. new to contesting, but no question is too understand the contest rules, then follow basic. Please send me your questions or them every time. This is vitally important. Identifying Call Signs comments via e-mail, [email protected], or Contesting is a sport of honor. The only via my call book address. I look forward to real thing of value we can “win” — besides Another feature all contests share is hearing from you. personal satisfaction — is the respect of the need to quickly and accurately identify WWW.GiURUMELE.Hi2.ROour peers. participating stations. Determining a sta- Why Contest? It’s really quite simple. Play by the rules tion’s call sign is perhaps the single most A good place to begin is to pose the each and every time. Don’t be tempted important skill for a contest operator to question, Why get involved with Amateur to cheat because “nobody is watching.” develop. The goal is to decipher a station’s Radio contesting at all? People enter the The truth is, many are watching, and your complete call sign the moment it’s trans- sport of radio contesting from many differ- reputation is at stake. While cheaters are mitted. Whether in “search-and-pounce” ent places typically for the same reason: rarely ostracized publicly, the climate is (S&P) mode or “running,” the quicker you It’s a lot of fun. While this may seem changing, and more are discovered every become at identifying call signs, the faster obvious, it’s important to keep in mind. year. Play by the rules from the start, and you can complete one contact and proceed There are many different ways to have you’ll be on the right path towards earning to the next. The best contesters can identify fun contesting, and not everyone’s idea of respect from your contesting peers. a station with one call, regardless of signal fun is the same. Some of us get a kick out strength. Some can even identify a station of the simple exchange — “Can you hear Learn By Operating when one of the characters is wiped out by me now? Yes I can!” In contests, we can One myth I’d like to dispel is that there are QRM, QSB or QRN, based on acute timing experience that feeling again and again, “secrets” to contest operating. I first heard skills, their knowledge of active call signs and it’s a nonstop thrill. this concept from Randy, K5ZD, about 10 and propagation. For some operators, fun is staying up all years ago in Dayton, but it took me a long How Do I Get Started? night to the point of utter exhaustion, scrap- time to understand just what he was say- ing QSOs out of the noise level. For oth- ing. After a few years of contest operating, There are so many contests to choose ers, fun consists of running high rates for I looked at the winner’s scores and thought, from nowadays that just about every week- hours on end. Still others find joy in serious “There has to be some secret that I’m miss- end presents an opportunity to hone your competition, and some from the satisfac- ing.” The truth is that there were dozens of contest skills. Read through the contest tion of winning. There are those who enjoy things the winners were doing that were calendars available on the Internet, such mixing radio contesting with travel. Some beyond my comprehension at the time. I as WA7BNM’s “Contest Calendar,” www. find gratification in building the ultimate sta- figured that if I read enoughNCJ articles and hornucopia.com/contestcal/, and look tion, while others enjoy building teams and Internet posts, I’d eventually uncover their for events that feature your favorite modes competing in the multi-operator categories. secrets and be on my way to the winner’s and/or bands. Study the rules and deter- The point is to find out what rings your bell circle. Now, don’t get me wrong. Reading mine the exchange. Turn on your radio and and then go after it. Some contesters seem NCJ is very important, and there are lots of find the band with the most activity. Set up to like a challenge, and there are plenty of things we can learn from our peers on the a blank log page with columns to record challenges in contesting. Internet. But, the real way to learn the secrets the exchange information or use one of the Certain aspects of contesting may not be of contesting is to operate in contests. This is many contest logging programs available. considered “fun” by some standards. Fierce how you’ll acquire contesting skills. Tune the bands and find stations partici- QRM, exhaustion, frequency fights, poor Like learning to play a musical instru- pating in the contest. Listen to a few QSOs conditions and geographic disadvantages ment, there are no shortcuts. In general, to get a feel for the rhythm of a contact. Then, can test a contester’s spirit. Contesters efficiency and accuracy are the goals of wait no longer! Call someone, and make a manage to find joy in the operating, even the contest operator. Proficiency requires QSO. Log the contest exchange information, under adverse conditions. Whether driven practice, period. It is through time in the then make another contact. You’re now on by determination or competition, contesting operating chair making contacts that you’ll your way to learning the skills and experienc- has a special appeal. Something keeps us discover the techniques and subtleties of ing the thrills of contest operating. coming back. Successfully dealing with the contest operating. While we’ll certainly dis- Please share your comments and sug- challenges of contest operating can result cuss specific contesting techniques here, gestions. This is your column. Until next in great personal satisfaction. there’s simply no substitute for time spent time, 73 and happy contesting! One facet of contesting many find appeal- in the operating chair.

NCJ March/April 2008 37

March Columns.indd 37 2/5/2008 11:16:10 AM Paul Schaffenberger, K5AF Contesting on a Budget [email protected]

Measuring Success: Using Test Equipment to Save Time and Money

When the call for input went out on this Along with several other respondents, values I might need should I design and subject, I was truly gratified by the quick N3BB, mentioned the importance of a build a tuner for that antenna but lets response. It’s apparentWWW.RADiOSCAMATORUL.Hi2.RO that contesters good volt-ohm meter (VOM), digital or ana- me see how those values change when not only are good operators, they invest log. John, W4AU, prefers a large analog I alter the antenna’s length and/or loca- a lot of time and resources in testing and model. He likes the fact that he can discern tion. In a sense, it’s a very crude antenna measurement. It’s all part of being suc- changing values more readily than he can analyzer. cessful. with a digital unit. I use a digital model that The respondents’ numero uno time and has an audible continuity tester I’ve found Quote of the Day money-saving device was an antenna invaluable in looking for internal breaks in Marty, W8AKS, says his MFJ antenna analyzer. Folks mentioned how these insulated antenna wire. analyzer wins hands down as his best test devices help save trips up and down the gear investment. “I lived for seven years tower — in my case, that’s two flights to Some Personal Favorites in a motor home,” he writes. “Without the the attic, so I can retract the fiberglass Perhaps my best investment ever was a 259B to set antennas in an ever-changing poles that support my stealth antennas. matched pair of RF ammeters. I use them environment, I would have been in a pad- Users say an antenna analyzer lets them to measure current balance with my open ded room…” make many initial adjustments on the feeders. These meters have been helpful Just think of the time and money that ground and final changes with just one in adjusting leg lengths to achieve current modest investment saved! trip up the WWW.GiURUMELE.Hi2.ROtower. Face it, we’re not getting balance, but they’ve been a valuable learn- Many thanks to all of you, including any younger, and anything we can do to ing tool too. I’ve discovered that changing N2WN, N3BB, W4AU, AA4NU, W7WHY, save wear and tear on the body helps. an antenna’s leg length to achieve bal- W8AKS and K8JQ for your enlightening Tom, W7WHY, also notes how effective ance on one band may make it worse on comments. an antenna analyzer can be to measure another. This has taught me to appreciate The topic for the June-July 2008 column: stubs for SO2R stations. the dynamics of the antenna environment “Tools of the Trade.” What do you consider I was surprised at the diversity of ana- and how different objects, such as trees the most important and cost-saving tools lyzers in use. Mentioned multiple times and buildings, affect the antenna differ- you have around the shack. It may be that were the MFJ-259B and the Autek RF-1. ently on different bands. curled needle-nose pliers that gets you Julius,N2WN, uses the American QRP I’ve also discovered the importance of into tight spots, a power tool, a pneumatic Micro908 (www.amqrp.org) antenna having a simple reference antenna tuner. slingshot for launching wires into trees or analyzer, built from a kit. Steve, K8JQ, I built a switchable L-network tuner with even soldering equipment. Share your built the N2PK Vector Analyzer (www. a huge inductor and capacitor that can thoughts on what you find valuable, and let n2pk.com) and has used it to create a handle just about any kind of load. It not us know where you get the best deals. shortened 160-meter antenna. He also only allows me to measure the range of 73, Paul, K5AF found the analyzer is relatively immune from local broadcast station interference, an important characteristic when working with 160-meter antennas. Steve is follow- ing the development of a 1-GHz spectrum analyzer/tracking generator/vector ana- lyzer on a Yahoo discussion group, and he hopes to build one later this year. DXE NCJ Ad 06 3/21/06 3:07 PM Page 1 Other Handy Time Savers Accurate measurement of simple things like power and SWR also are important to the group. A few criticized the accuracy Build a Better Antenna with DX Engineering! of some of the cross-needle SWR/power meters on the market, but these are very handy since you can measure both factors High quality components to help you simultaneously and see at a glance where you stand. Billy, AA4NU, likes the Autek build the best amateur antenna possible! WM-1 as his visual cue. Billy also does something that not many • 5KW/10KW Baluns of us do anymore. He has a couple of old • Stainless & Aluminum Clamps Heath SB-610 station control units and monitors his CW waveform and his SSB • Vertical and HF Receive Antennas When You Want audio envelope. This eliminates the trial- The Best! and-error method of making sure every- Secure Online Ordering: www.DXEngineering.com thing is set up correctly. Jim, N3BB, also Order by Fax: 1-330-572-3279 24 hrs./7 days considers an oscilloscope an important Order by Phone: 1-800-777-0703 Mon.-Fri. 8:30 am-4:30 pm EST piece of test equipment and has pur- Product Support Line: 1-330-572-3200 Mon.-Fri. 8:30 am-4:30 pm EST chased an old HP dual-channel unit.

38 March/April 2008 NCJ

March Columns.indd 38 2/5/2008 11:16:10 AM VHF-UHF Contesting! Jon K. Jones, NØJK

Quagi Antennas Design and Construction with a quad-style loop. The forward gain immediately increased from 6.4 dBd to Back in the 1980s and early 1990s the 9.8 dBd — a dramatic improvement for “Quagi” was a popular VHF antenna de- an antenna rated by the manufacturer at sign. It was relatively easyWWW.RADiOSCAMATORUL.Hi2.RO and cheap to 13 dBd.” build, and the gain was good, considering Wayne goes on to describe the ad- the boom length. The Quagi is forgiving of vantages of the Quagi over conventional small errors in construction and requires Yagis. no special matching devices. Many of the “The use of a quad-style driven element “older” Yagis had low feed-point imped- and reflector offered several advantages, ances. As a consequence, they required including good gain, good immunity to the use of devices like the T-match or noise resulting from static buildup, and gamma match, which can introduce sig- extreme ease of construction and imped- nificant loss. The quad loop driver of the ance matching. After many designs were Quagi, on the other hand, can be directly tried and rejected, the classic 8-element fed with 50-Ω coax. and 15-element designs were selected for Since the evolution of computer-mod- publication. Later additional designs for eled antennas, the Quagi seems to have 1296 were developed.” fallen by the wayside. Still, the Quagi is a Wayne detailed the original 8-element great antenna for a first-time construction design in his article “The VHF Quagi,” Figure 1 — The 144 MHz N6NB “Classic” project for WWW.GiURUMELE.Hi2.ROnewcomers to VHF contesting which appeared in April 1977 QST. His 8-element Quagi, which exhibits a gain and for rover/portable use. You can build February 1978 QST article, “The Long- of 11 to 12 dBd. See Table 1 for element a Quagi very inexpensively, often for less Boom Quagi,” described an improved dimensions and spacing. The reflector than $10. A commercial Yagi can cost 15-element Quagi for 432 MHz (it’s avail- and driven loop are made of #12 wire. considerably more. For example, an 8-ele- able to ARRL members at www.arrl.org/ The elements are 1/8-inch aluminum or ment 2 meter N6NB Quagi with a 13.75 members-only/tis/info/pdf/8702020. brass rods. foot boom yielding approximately 12 dBd pdf). Wayne’s article “Reproducible Quagi gain will cost $10 to $20 to construct. A Antennas For 1296 MHz” appeared in Au- These materials all worked great, but 9-element M2 2M9SSB Yagi with a 14.5 gust 1981 QST. Visit the ARRL Technical fiberglass and PVC pipe are best, in my foot boom yielding approximately the same Information Service Web site’s “Other VHF opinion. gain will run nearly $170 plus shipping. Antennas” page, www.arrl.org/tis/info/ Quagi can be stacked, and KFØM has (That said, M2 makes excellent VHF Yagis other-v.html, for additional references fashioned an array comprised of four that many VHF contest ops use, myself and information. W5UN 432 MHz Quagis. included.) Building One Using One Some Quagi History Table 1 contains design plans for the I have used Quagis in VHF contesting Here’s how Wayne Overbeck, N6NB, 144 MHz N6NB “Classic” 8-element 144 while portable. In 1988 I used a 220 MHz describes the design and development of Quagi, while Figure 1 depicts a completed Quagi in the single-op portable category the Quagi on his Web site, commfaculty. antenna and Figure 2 diagrams the ele- from Arkansas. I placed #2 overall in this fullerton.edu/woverbeck/quagi.htm. ment configuration. Quagis are built on category, and my score remains the ARRL “The Quagi was originally designed non-conductive booms! Delta Division record. With 10 W and av- on the K6YNB/N6NB backyard antenna I have used wood, fiberglass and PVC erage conditions I was able to make 300 range in 1972, with the assistance of Will pipe and once even constructed a 432 to 400-mile contacts into Dallas/Ft Worth Anderson, WB6RIV/AA6DD. Later work MHz Quagi on a thick cardboard boom. and into Chicago from northwest Arkan- on the larger Quagi designs was done in sas. John Lock, KFØM, used 2 meter, 220 a city park and on a beach in an attempt MHz and 432 MHz Quagis to achieve high to get away from reflections and obstruc- scores in the VHF contests from Kansas tions that made the task of optimizing the Table 1 in the 1980s. I used an 8-element 432 antenna design in a small backyard more Design measurements of the 144 MHz Quagi at HC8N for AO-10 satellite difficult. MHz N6NB “Classic” 8-element Quagi contacts. “What originally inspired the develop- ELEMENT MEASUREMENTS In short, the Quagi antenna can be very ment of the Quagi antenna was the need Reflector loop 86-5/8 in useful for rovers or single-op portables, for a low-cost, high-gain antenna for moon- Driven loop 82 in and they can still give a good account of bounce communications. Some of the Directors 35-15/16 to 35 in themselves for the home contest station. commercial antennas then available fell 3/16 in steps far short of their advertised gain figures, SPACING Rule Changes in the ARRL VHF Contests especially at 432 MHz. After a series of R to DE 21.0 in attempts to improve the performance of DE to D1 15.75 in Some new ARRL VHF contest catego- one particular commercial 11-element D1 to D2 33.0 in ries went into effect for the rover class, Yagi, attention was focused on the driven D2 to D3 17.5 in starting with the January 2008 ARRL VHF element — which had an especially inef- D3 to D4 26.1 in Sweepstakes. ARRL Contest Branch Man- ficient gamma match. On a hunch, the D4 to D5 26.1 in ager Sean Kutzko, KX9X, has provided driven element was removed and replaced D5 to D6 26.1 in some clarifications:

NCJ March/April 2008 39

March Columns.indd 39 2/5/2008 11:16:11 AM • There now are three (3) classes of rovers: Rover, Limited Rover and Unlim- ited Rover. • Unlimited Rover scores do not count toward club competition. The VUAC and the Programs and Services Committee have agreed on this provision. The revised rules have generated spirited discussion on the VHF Contest Reflector. It will be interesting to see how WWW.RADiOSCAMATORUL.Hi2.ROthese changes influence things. Sporadic E in the January VHF Sweepstakes

Sporadic E (aka “E skip” or Es) can turn a dull VHF contest into a lively affair. Es put in an appearance during the January 2007 Figure 2 — Element configuration for the N6NB 8-element 144 MHz Quagi ARRL VHF Sweeps and may have made a return appearance this year.

It’s well known that Es has diurnal peaks. During the summer E skip season, it oc- curs most commonly in mid-morning with a smaller peak in the evening.

Quiz time: What time of day is Es most likely to appear in the January VHF WWW.GiURUMELE.Hi2.ROSweepstakes? Answer: Unlike “summer” Es, “winter” Es is most likely to appear during late afternoon to early evening.

Figure 3 — Computer modeling techniques were applied to Quagi design, diagrammed here, with significant improvements. W5UN designed the 11-element “W5UN Quagi97” on a 24-foot boom with a claimed gain of 13.56 dBd. ComTek Systems NEW! 2 el. Vertical Switch

Secure Online Ordering PVS-2 for 2 el. Vertical Specify band Offers selectable end fire or broadside directions Figure 4 — Sporadic E during a typical winter day STACK - 2 for tribanders 80-10 SYS-3 STACK YAGI SWITCH RCAS-8 REMOTE ANTENNA SWITCH Use with: Transmit Voice & CW messages in your IC-7800 IC-756PROIII VFA-4 Set of 4 vertical feedpoint assemblies IC-756PROII IC-746PRO IC-7800, IC-756PROIII or IC-756PROII while the SPECTRUM SCOPE stays alive. Ideal for RR-4 Aluminum 60 hole Radial Rings chasing DX and contesting (746PRO CW only). Save the finals in your linear amp while tuning COMTEK THE 4-SQUARE EXPERTS with the Tune button. Sends 30 wpm pulsed ACB-160 ACB-80 tone at 50% duty cycle for amp tuning. Saves ACB-40 ACB-20 stress on finals & power supply. ACB-15 ACB-10 Standard 8-pin plug and jack for Heil Pro-Set. CALL FOR PRICES

The BetterRF Co. ComTek Systems 44 Crestview Lane, Edgewood NM 87015 P.O. Box 470565, Charlotte, NC 28247 The company that brought you the 706 TUNE Control Tel: (704) 542-4808 FAX (704) 542-9652 800-653-9910 • 505-286-3333 fax: 505-281-2820 $74.95 + $5.00 S/H e-mail - [email protected] www.BetterRF.com ($10 Foreign) Web: http://www.comteksystems.com

40 March/April 2008 NCJ

March Columns.indd 40 2/5/2008 11:16:21 AM DX Contest Activity Announcements Bill Feidt, NG3K

ARRL DX SSB Contest (March 1-2, 2008) Call Sign Entity Class Operators CW6V Uruguay M/S CX6VM, ZP5AZL, N3BNA EA8OM Canary Is SOAB LP DJ1OJ FJ/AH8DX WWW.RADiOSCAMATORUL.Hi2.ROSt Barthelemy SOAB AH8DX HI3C Dominican Rep M/S HI3CCP, HI8ROX, HI3K HKØ San Andres M/? WF5W, W5PF, K5WAF, NM5G, W5PR, N4AL J37K Grenada SO AC8G P4ØA Aruba SOAB KK9A S21YV Bangladesh SOAB KX7YT TO5A Martinique SOAB HP F5VHJ VP9/W6PH Bermuda SOAB LP W6PH WP4I Puerto Rico SOSB 20M WP3C Z35T Macedonia SO Z35T ZD7X St Helena SO LP KCØW

Thanks to AC8G, AH8DX, DJ1OJ, F5VHJ, HI3CCP, K5DX, KK9A, KX7YT, W6PH, WP3C, Z35T, ZD7X, ZP5AZL See www.ng3k.com/Misc/adxs2008.html for further details

CQ WPX SSBWWW.GiURUMELE.Hi2.RO Contest (March 29-30, 2008)

Call Sign Entity Class Operators 9M8Z East Malaysia ??? SM5GMZ BX5AA Taiwan SOAB HP BX5AA CN2R Morocco SOSB 20M W7EJ FJ St Barthelemy M/? WB2NVR, WA2VQW, N2DVQ, N2DHH HI3C Dominican Rep M/S HI3CCP, HI8ROX, HI3K IH9YMC African Italy SO IH9YMC IR9P Sicily M/S Sicilia Team Contest KP2/W6DXO Virgin Is SO W6DXO LY 7A Lithuania M/M KTU RC ops NHØDX Mariana Is ??? JL3RDC P4ØA Aruba SOAB KK9A TO5A Martinique SOAB HP F5VHJ V25V Antigua SO HP GØVJG WP3C Puerto Rico SOSB 20M WP3C YJØAX Vanuatu M/2 VK4TI, VK3TZ, VK4VCC ZD7X St Helena SOLP KCØW ZM2M New Zealand M/2 ZL2AL, ZL2ST, ZL2LF, ZL2FAR, ZL2QM ZPØR Paraguay SO ZP5AZL

Thanks to BX5AA, F5VHJ, GØVJG, HI3CCP, IH9YMC, IR9P, JL3RDC, KK9A, LY4L, SM5GMZ, VK4TI, W6DXO, W7EJ, WA2VQW, WP3C, ZD7X, ZL2AL, ZP5AZL See www.ng3k.com/Misc/wpxs2008.html for further details

NCJ March/April 2008 41

March Columns.indd 41 2/5/2008 11:16:22 AM Don Hill, AA5AU RTTY Contesting [email protected]

Improving S&P Techniques (see photo). Of the three, the FFT and it’s a new station, call, make the contact Maximizing Search-and-Pounce (S&P) XY scope are best as they enable the and get out of there. But it doesn’t always efficiency is one of the best ways to im- operator to tune in received signals exactly turn out that way. prove your score. S&P is an important on frequency. Waterfall displays are not Not only do you have to tune fast; it’s part of contest strategy. Almost anyone accurate enough for S&P on RTTY. The equally important to recognize potential can sit on a frequencyWWW.RADiOSCAMATORUL.Hi2.RO and call CQ, but XY scope is like using an oscilloscope for obstacles to making a contact quickly. if you aren’t getting many replies, run out tuning. As you tune upon a signal with the Many times you’ll have to weigh the value of stations to work or need to find new MMTTY XY scope, the ellipses for mark of a contact versus the time needed to multipliers, you must search for new sta- and space tones should follow the same make the contact. This happens when you tions. I’ve spent countless hours thinking, direction as the tuning dial on the radio. In tune upon a signal that’s being hammered practicing, and analyzing the art of high- other words, if you are moving your dial left by QRM, a station with a big pileup or one impact S&P. It takes more physical and to right, the ellipses in the XY scope should that’s too weak to copy. Your decision may mental effort than calling CQ — running, move clockwise until they are horizontal be based on whether the new station is a but practicing solid S&P techniques will and vertical, and counter clockwise when multiplier or high-point contact. reap rewards. In the 2008 ARRL RTTY moving the dial from right to left. If you find There are occasions when you’ll want Roundup, 37 percent of my nearly 1850 this isn’t the case, reverse the way the XY to spend the extra time to make a contact. contacts were made S&P, including 34 of scope tunes in the MMTTY setup. Having New multipliers are always worth the extra my 110 claimed multipliers. the ellipses in the XY scope moving in the effort. If a weak station doesn’t hear you There are three basic steps to S&P. same direction as your dial makes tuning after one or two calls, place the call sign on Tune in the station quickly, analyze the RTTY signals easier and thus faster. the bandmap and check back later. activity onWWW.GiURUMELE.Hi2.RO frequency, make the contact The idea behind fast S&P tuning is to Breaking a pileup can be time consum- (or not) and move on to the next station. tune directly to a signal without going past ing, but it’s always worth a try. There are The more quickly you make the contact it, then take your hand off the dial. If you techniques you can use to get through a (or not), the better your success rate at concentrate hard on doing this, eventually pileup, even when running low power. One S&P. I say “or not” because in some cases it will become second nature. You don’t move that works well is to wait for every- you’ll come across a dupe or onto a situ- want to accidentally move the VFO after one else to call, then slip in your call sign ation where you feel it’s better to move on you have tuned in the signal, so take your just once at the end. If you transmit your without making a contact. The faster you hand off that dial! The next step is obvious. call sign more than once and the running make these determinations, the better You read the screen to determine what’s station comes back to someone else or you’ll be at S&P. going on. Is the signal you have tuned that even to you in the meantime, you’re wast- On RTTY, the first step is crucial: Tun- of a run station or another S&P station? In ing everyone’s time. This technique takes ing the signal quickly. The emphasis is on RTTY contesting today, certain techniques practice, but it’s the most effective tool for speed. Before anything else can happen, make this determination easier. Most run getting through a pileup. you must precisely tune in the signal of stations will place a “CQ” at the end of their Many times you may not be aware of a the run station. Speed is paramount. If you CQ message. So, if you’re lucky, you’ll see pileup until you answer a CQ, drop your tune too slowly or are off frequency, your a call sign followed by “CQ.” carrier and realize others are calling as decoder will not have a chance to print the If the station is a dupe, move away well. If you don’t make it through the first signal and allow you to ID the run station quickly to the next contact. Do not linger time, try this: After the run station confirms before it stops sending. When this hap- to see what the other station is doing. If the QSO in progress and drops his signal, pens you have to wait for another CQ to see who it is, and valuable time is lost. The importance of getting spot-on fre- quency in a hurry is so you can take your hand off the tuning knob to use for other functions — such as pressing a key on the keyboard or turning an antenna. Two things greatly assist the tuning process. One is the tuning rate of your VFO dial. The second is your RTTY tun- ing indicator. One complete turn on a VFO tuning dial equaling 500 Hz of spectrum seems optimum for RTTY. Experiment with different tuning rates until you find what works best for quick and precise tuning. You want fine tuning but not to the point of wearing out your hand just getting to the next signal. Being able to tune in signals quickly also depends on the quality of your RTTY tuning indicator. A majority of RTTY contesters are using the MMTTY engine, and the tuning indicators that come with MMTTY are excellent. MMTTY offers three separate tuning The XY Scope and FFT tuning indicators supplied with MMTTY are excellent for indicators: FFT, XY scope and waterfall quick S&P tuning.

42 March/April 2008 NCJ

March Columns.indd 42 2/5/2008 11:16:22 AM wait a moment before transmitting. Listen start calling CQ — or, just move up the to the other stations key up first. Most band and call the multiplier directly. Many will send “DE” in front of their call signs. times the multiplier station will find you. KØXG Systems Directly after you see “DE,” send your own According to a short study I did a few call sign three times instead of two. It’s a years ago, most people S&P starting from Antenna trick Ron Stailey, K5DJ, taught me years the low end of the band, so odds are the ago, and it seems to work well. multiplier you’re fishing for is also tuning Rotation One of the most challenging and reward- up the band. On 80 meters it may be dif- and ing S&P techniques is the equivalent of the ferent because it’s usually easier to start Control “double” when duck hunting — bagging S&P at 3600 kHz and work down. Fishing two ducks with one shell.WWW.RADiOSCAMATORUL.Hi2.RO In contesting, for and catching an S&P multiplier is quite Systems this scenario can occur when two stations rewarding. are trying to run the same frequency. This Besides all the physical elements of happens more often than you might think, S&P, it’s the mental discipline that sets especially on the higher bands where apart good S&P operators. It’s too easy the two stations either are not hearing to be lazy in S&P, especially when you’re each other or are fighting for the same tired. The biggest thing that has helped frequency. Regardless, the ultimate in S&P me in S&P is something my good friend • Guyring is working two run stations with one call. George Johnson, W1ZT, told me a couple bearings for By timing your call and having both come of years ago. During contests, he keeps a rotating back to you, you can work both stations note posted in front of him that says, “Go towers. with one report. If the two stations are in a get that next contact!” real dogfight, however, it’s a waste of time In the very next contest I started thinking • Large ground mounted if your first attempt doesn’t work. about Go get that next contact! I used it rotating bases for turning the Sometimes while tuning the band you extensively and set a new world low-power whole tower. will see a newWWW.GiURUMELE.Hi2.RO multiplier that’s also in S&P record in the 2006 ARRL RTTY Roundup. mode. When this happens you can always Go get that next contact! now is an integral • Large elevated rotors for try to “fish” for the multiplier. After you part of my S&P strategy. Good hunting! rotating towers on towers. come across a needed multiplier working a run station, move up in frequency and • Accessories for mounting antennas to rotating towers. • New rotor control system for

tracking and aligning multi stacked antennas. • Turn, align and track all your antennas with one Computer control system. Auto band selection from your radio.

Shortwave Listeners (SWL-ers) have long enjoyed this most popular guide to World Band Radio. There are more than 100 countries reaching out every day with news, music and entertainment. Make Passport your guide! • When and Where: shortwave program guides • 112 radios rated – accessories, too Visit Our Web Site! • Tools for better listening www.KØXG.com • Passport Preparedness • AND a channel-by-channel guide to World Band Schedules KØXG Systems The national association for ARRL AMATEUR RADIO 1117 Highland Park Dr. SHOP DIRECT or call for a dealer near you. ARRL Order No. 1122 — Only $22.95* ONLINE WWW.ARRL.ORG/SHOP ORDER TOLL-FREE 888/277-5289 (US) *shipping $8 US (ground)/$13 International Bettendorf, IA 52722 NCJ 3/2008 (563) 355-7451

kØxg@kØxg.comNCJ March/April 2008 43

March Columns.indd 43 2/5/2008 11:16:23 AM Contest Calendar Compiled by Bruce Horn, WA7BNM

Here’s the list of major contests of possible interest to North American contesters to help you plan your contesting activity through May 2008. The Web version of this calendar, www.hornucopia.com/contestcal/, is updated frequently and lists contests for a 12-month period. Please notify me via e-mail, [email protected], of any corrections or additions to this calendar. Good luck, and have fun! WWW.RADiOSCAMATORUL.Hi2.RO March 2008 Georgia QSO Party 1800 UTC, Apr 12 to 0359 UTC, Apr 13 ARRL Int’l DX Contest, SSB 0000 UTC, Mar 1 to 2400 UTC, Mar 2 and 1400 UTC-2359 UTC, Apr 13 Open Ukraine RTTY 2200 UTC-2359 UTC, Mar 1 (Low Band) SKCC Weekend Sprintathon 0000 UTC-2400 UTC, Apr 13 Championship and 0000 UTC-0159 UTC, Mar 2 Holyland DX Contest 0000 UTC-2359 UTC, Apr 19 (Low Band) and 0800 UTC-1159 UTC, TARA Skirmish Digital Prefix Mar 2 (High Band) Contest 0000 UTC-2400 UTC, Apr 19 DARC 10-Meter Digital Contest 1100 UTC-1700 UTC, Mar 2 Feld Hell Sprint 1500 UTC-1700 UTC, Apr 19 ARS Spartan Sprint 0200 UTC-0400 UTC, Mar 4 EU Spring Sprint, SSB 1600 UTC-1959 UTC, Apr 19 AGCW YL-CW Party 1900 UTC-2100 UTC, Mar 4 Michigan QSO Party 1600 UTC, Apr 19 to 0400 UTC, Apr 20 NCCC Sprint 0330 UTC-0400 UTC, Mar 7 EA-QRP CW Contest 1700 UTC-2000 UTC, Apr 19 (20-10m) and RSGB Commonwealth Contest 1000 UTC, Mar 8 to 1000 UTC, Mar 9 2000 UTC-2300 UTC, Apr 19 (80m) and AGCW QRP Contest 1400 UTC-2000 UTC, Mar 8 0700 UTC-1100 UTC, Apr 20 (40m) and Oklahoma QSO Party 1400 UTC, Mar 8 to 0200 UTC, Mar 9 1100 UTC-1300 UTC, Apr 20 (20-10m) and 1400 UTC-2000 UTC, Mar 9 Ontario QSO Party 1800 UTC, Apr 19 to 0500 UTC, Apr 20 EA PSK31 Contest 1600 UTC, Mar 8 to 1600 UTC, Mar 9 and 1200 UTC-1800 UTC, Apr 20 SOC Marathon Sprint 1800 UTC-2400 UTC, Mar 8 YU DX Contest 2100 UTC, Apr 19 to 0500 UTC, Apr 20 Idaho QSO Party 1900 UTC, Mar 8 to 1900 UTC, Mar 9 and 0900 UTC-1700 UTC, Apr 20 North AmericanWWW.GiURUMELE.Hi2.RO Sprint, RTTY 0000 UTC-0400 UTC, Mar 9 Run for the Bacon QRP Contest 0100 UTC-0300 UTC, Apr 21 SKCC Weekend Sprintathon 0000 UTC-2400 UTC, Mar 9 SKCC Sprint 0000 UTC-0200 UTC, Apr 23 UBA Spring Contest, CW 0700 UTC-1100 UTC, Mar 9 SP DX RTTY Contest 1200 UTC, Apr 26 to 1200 UTC, Apr 27 NSARA Contest 1100 UTC-1500 UTC, Mar 9 and Helvetia Contest 1300 UTC, Apr 26 to 1300 UTC, Apr 27 1700 UTC-2100 UTC, Mar 9 Florida QSO Party 1600 UTC, Apr 26 to 0159 UTC, Apr 27 Wisconsin QSO Party 1800 UTC, Mar 9 to 0100 UTC, Mar 10 and 1200 UTC-2159 UTC, Apr 27 CLARA and Family HF Contest 1700 UTC, Mar 11 to 1700 UTC, Mar 12 and 1700 UTC, Mar 15 to 1700 UTC, Mar 16 May 2008 NCCC Sprint 0230 UTC-0300 UTC, Mar 14 10-10 Int’l Spring Contest, CW 0001 UTC, May 3 to 2359 UTC, May 4 10-10 Int’l Mobile Contest 0001 UTC-2359 UTC, Mar 15 10-10 Int’l Spring Contest, Digital 0001 UTC, May 3 to 2359 UTC, May 4 Russian DX Contest 1200 UTC, Mar 15 to 1200 UTC, Mar 16 7th Call Area QSO Party 1300 UTC, May 3 to 0700 UTC, May 4 Feld Hell Sprint 1500 UTC-1700 UTC, Mar 15 Portuguese Navy Day Contest 1500 UTC, May 3 to 1500 UTC, May 4 Virginia QSO Party 1800 UTC, Mar 15 to 0200 UTC, Mar 17 Indiana QSO Party 1600 UTC, May 3 to 0400 UTC, May 4 9K 15-Meter Contest 1200 UTC-1600 UTC, Mar 16 New England QSO Party 2000 UTC, May 3 to 2400 UTC, May 4 Run for the Bacon QRP Contest 0200 UTC-0400 UTC, Mar 17 ARI Int’l DX Contest 2000 UTC, May 3 to 1959 UTC, May 4 NAQCC Straight Key/Bug Sprint 0030 UTC-0230 UTC, Mar 20 ARS Spartan Sprint 0100 UTC-0300 UTC, May 6 BARTG Sprint RTTY Contest 0200 UTC, Mar 22 to 0200 UTC, Mar 24 CQ-M Int’l DX Contest 1200 UTC, May 10 to 1159 UTC, May 11 SKCC Sprint 0000 UTC-0200 UTC, Mar 26 VOLTA WW RTTY Contest 1200 UTC, May 10 to 1200 UTC, May 11 NCCC Sprint 0230 UTC-0300 UTC, Mar 28 FISTS Spring Sprint 1700 UTC-2100 UTC, May 10 CQ WW WPX Contest, SSB 0000 UTC, Mar 29 to 2359 UTC, Mar 30 SKCC Weekend Sprintathon 0000 UTC-2400 UTC, May 11 MARAC SSB QSO Party 0000 UTC, May 17 to 2400 UTC, May 18 April 2008 His Maj the King of Spain YLRL DX-YL to NA-YL Contest, Contest, CW 1200 UTC, May 17 to 1200 UTC, May 18 CW 1400 UTC, Apr 4 to 0200 UTC, Apr 6 Manchester Mineira All America SP DX Contest 1500 UTC, Apr 5 to 1500 UTC, Apr 6 CW 1500 UTC, May 17 to 2359 UTC, May 18 EA RTTY Contest 1600 UTC, Apr 5 to 1600 UTC, Apr 6 Feld Hell Sprint 1500 UTC-1700 UTC, May 17 QCWA Spring QSO Party 1800 UTC, Apr 5 to 1800 UTC, Apr 6 Run for the Bacon Contest 0100 UTC-0300 UTC, May 19 Missouri QSO Party 1800 UTC, Apr 5 to 0500 UTC, Apr 6 NAQCC Straight Key/Bug Sprint 0030 UTC-0230 UTC, May 22 and 1800 UTC to 2400 UTC, Apr 6 CQ WW WPX Contest, CW 0000 UTC, May 24 to 2359 UTC, May 25 Yuri Gagarin Int’l DX Contest 2100 UTC, Apr 5 to 2100 UTC, Apr 6 MI QRP Memorial Day CW Sprint 2300 UTC, May 25 to 0300 UTC, May 26 ARS Spartan Sprint 0100 UTC-0300 UTC, Apr 8 SKCC Sprint 0000 UTC-0200 UTC, May 28 NAQCC Straight Key/Bug Sprint 0030 UTC-0230 UTC, Apr 9 YLRL DX-YL to NA-YL Contest, SSB 1400 UTC, Apr 11 to 0200 UTC, Apr 13 JIDX CW Contest 0700 UTC, Apr 12 to 1300 UTC, Apr 13 Radio Maritime Day 1200 UTC, Apr 12 to 1200 UTC, Apr 13 EU Spring Sprint, CW 1600 UTC-1959 UTC, Apr 12

44 March/April 2008 NCJ

March Columns.indd 44 2/5/2008 11:16:23 AM Contest Results — October 2007 Ed Muns, WØYK RTTY Sprint

Editors note: This report was prepared bands on an average of every two QSOs. it doesn’t seem right to be able to work for the Jan/Feb issue but held over due to All but one had low error rates and lost it again. Others complain that it’s boring space considerations. We apologize if it very few QSOs. to work the same stations multiple times. did not reach you prior toWWW.RADiOSCAMATORUL.Hi2.RO the March RTTY We encourage participants to request Still others believe this unique rule is not in Sprint. In the future, October RTTY Sprint their log checking reports (LCRs) and the basic spirit of contesting. The majority results will always be included in the Jan learn from them. E-mail rttysprintmgr@ agree, however, that the legal dupe rule /Feb issue.—KØAD ncjweb.com to obtain an LCR for this is preferable to low activity, which defeats event. the spirit of contesting to an even greater The 40 logs submitted for the 14th “Legal Dupe” Rule Redux degree. North American RTTY Sprint contained Activity — ie, the availability of running 113 different call signs. The log count Discussion and debate continue regard- stations plus stations answering CQs — is was down from March 2007 but on a par ing the “legal dupe” rule. Some dislike it, an important component of any contest. with October 2006, which attracted 41 feeling that once they’ve worked a station Without adequate activity, a contest can submissions. In recent years, we’ve seen about half as many logs for the October event as compared to March. Two other Top 10 Scores Top 10 Multipliers RTTY contests the same weekend may Call Sign Score Bnd Chgs Qs Lost K5AM 33 have contributed to lower participation in WØYK 9504 142 8 K6LL 33 the Sprint.WWW.GiURUMELE.Hi2.RO Conditions didn’t seem very K6LL 8778 7 0 WØYK 33 good at the start, and most RTTY activity W6YX 7904 4 3 W6YX 32 involved the other two contests. After the K5AM 7887 4 2 W7WW 28 first half-hour, though, the sprinters found W7WW 6944 73 1 K6TD 27 each other and got the rhythm going. K6TD 5832 84 2 K7WM 25 The SWACC team bested NCCC #1 this K7WM 5550 2 4 NA7XX 25 time by 28 percent. NCCC was a bit opti- KE5OG 4704 78 4 NP3D 25 mistic about how many teams they could NA7XX 4425 2 8 W7WHY 25 KØHW 4368 35 1 field and appended “#1” to the name of the NP3D/W2 3975 51 2 partial team of seven that ultimately par- K7OX 3480 5 4 Top 10 Low Power ticipated. SWACC pulled nine participants NTØF 3404 14 4 KE5OG 4704 into the game and once again prevailed in W7WHY 3325 8 2 KØHW 4368 the rivalry between these two teams. VE3JI 3264 6 1 NTØF 3404 Assemble a team for the next RTTY VE3JI 3264 Sprint in March 2008 and give these two KEØWO 3045 N6EE 2880 regulars some competition, plus more Top Single Radio stations to work! N5ER 2286 Call Sign Score Bnd Chgs Qs Lost W6ZL 2109 Logging Errors K6LL 8778 7 0 K5HDU 896 W6YX 7904 4 3 KC4HW 810 We received three Golden Logs. These K5AM 7887 4 2 are more common with lower numbers of K7WM 5550 2 4 QSOs, but K6LL achieved an error-free NA7XX 4425 2 8 Top QRP K7OX 3480 5 4 log with 266 QSOs. This is a real chal- NN7SS 1520 W7WHY 3325 8 2 lenge in a Sprint that allows “legal dupes,” W5KDJ 297 provided at least three QSOs intervene in VE3JI 3264 6 1 WA6BOB 3264 1 3 both logs. It’s not enough to watch your Golden Logs own recent log entries; you must also pay WK6I 3250 3 4 N6EE 2880 4 3 Call Sign QSOs attention to other stations’ serial numbers KØJJR 2730 4 0 K6LL 266 to determine if they also have the required W6SX 2508 6 3 WNØL 32 intervening QSOs. Several participants N5ER 2286 7 1 VE3KI 19 may be surprised to find apparent legal W6ZL 2109 2 1 dupes removed from their logs because Top 10 Band Changes the other station did not have at least three WØYK 142 intervening QSOs. Top 10 QSOs K6TD 84 Not surprisingly, some SO2R entrants KE5OG 78 had higher numbers of QSOs removed WØYK 288 W7WW 73 K6LL 266 during log checking, presumably due to the NP3D 51 W7WW 248 NN7SS 37 distraction of managing two radios while W6YX 247 adhering to the Sprint QSY and legal dupe KØHW 35 K5AM 239 KEØWO 22 rules. Just as the Sprint builds contest skill K7WM 222 NTØF 14 in general, it is especially challenging for K6TD 216 W7WHY 8 the SO2R operator and helps develop KE5OG 196 that particular skill as well. Six stations KØHW 182 operated SO2R this time, some changing NA7XX 177

NCJ March/April 2008 45

March Contests.indd 45 2/5/2008 12:39:44 PM Team Scores Overall Scores (Grouped by Call Sign District) SWACC Call Sign Name QTH QSOs Mults Score Team K6LL 8778 W1UE DENNIS MA 67 18 1206 SWACC K5AM 7887 W7WW 6944 NP3D/W2 ANDREI NY 159 25 3975 K7WM 5550 K2PAL* ALEX NY 16 10 160 KE5OG 4704 KØHW 4368 N3KHK* JOHN MD 4 2 8 K7OX 3480 WA6BOB 3264 KC4HW* JIM AL 54 15 810 Sweet Home ACG#1 W1UE 1206 WWW.RADiOSCAMATORUL.Hi2.ROK4HMB* JOE NC 34 11 374 Total 46,181 K5AM MARK NM 239 33 7887 SWACC NCCC #1 KE5OG* BILL TX 196 24 4704 SWACC WØYK 9504 N5ER* JOHN AR 127 18 2286 W6YX 7904 K5HDU* MIKE TX 64 14 896 K6TD 5832 W5KDJ** WAYNE TX 33 9 297 WK6I 3250 N6EE 2880 WØYK ED CA 288 33 9504 NCCC #1 W6SX 2508 W6YX MIKE CA 247 32 7904 NCCC #1 NN7SS 1520 K6TD KEVIN CA 216 27 5832 NCCC #1 Total 33,398 WA6BOB BOB CA 136 24 3264 SWACC WK6I JEFF CA 130 25 3250 NCCC #1 Sweet Home ACG#1 N6EE* RON CA 120 24 2880 NCCC #1 KC4HW 810 W6SX HANK CA 114 22 2508 NCCC #1 W6ZL* DAVE CA 111 19 2109 WWW.GiURUMELE.Hi2.ROK6LL DAVE AZ 266 33 8778 SWACC become very boring in a hurry. Supplying W7WW RED AZ 248 28 6944 SWACC an artificial means to increase activity is K7WM WAYNE AZ 222 25 5550 SWACC the reason behind the legal dupe rule in NA7XX GRIZ MT 177 25 4425 the RTTY Sprint. It has been employed K7OX GARY WA 145 24 3480 SWACC in at least two other contests. The Inter- W7WHY TOM OR 133 25 3325 net Sprint allows dupes after just one NN7SS** BURT WA 80 19 1520 NCCC #1 intervening QSO. This raises the activity WA7SHP KEVIN OR 78 14 1092 level high enough that operator skill is unconstrained and competitors can truly KØHW* JIM SD 182 24 4368 SWACC NTØF* DON IA 148 23 3404 test their contesting ability. The NCCC KEØWO* DEAN IA 145 21 3045 Sprints, which run Thursday evenings for KØJJR JOE MN 130 21 2730 30 minutes, use an identical legal dupe KØXU* JIM NE 66 11 726 rule. (See “Mid-Week Contest ‘Fix’ — the AK9D* PHIL KS 59 10 590 Thursday Night NCCC Sprint,” elsewhere KIØY MARK MO 52 10 520 in this issue.) WNØL* LANCE NE 32 9 288 The best way to render the legal dupe rule unnecessary is to significantly in- VE3JI* IAN ON 136 24 3264 crease participation. While RTTY contest- VE3KI* RICH ON 19 15 285 VE3RCN* KEVIN ON 27 9 243 ing activity by and large increases at an VE3TPZ* JIM ON 0 1 0 impressive rate each year, RTTY Sprint participation still lags. This may be due VA7CPC* CHARLES BC 19 8 152 to its difficulty relative to other contests, but that also means it’s a great event to * Low Power sharpen your skills, no matter your profi- ** QRP ciency level. It benefits everyone to get others in- volved in this contest. One way to do this Share your thoughts on this or other ways Sprint and continue to improve your abil- is to form a team — either from among to get more people involved in this contest ity to effectively operate this challenging local club members or from any group of with the RTTY Sprint manager. It will be contest. The strategies and tactics you regional contesters. much easier to see the RTTY Sprint reach develop and master are adaptable to If there’s enough interest in an awards its full potential if everyone pitches in to other contests. Operators at all skill levels programs — certificates, plaques and the increase participation. benefit immensely from what they learn in like for individuals and teams — perhaps Meanwhile, accept the legal dupe rule Sprints. Moreover, it’s a lot of fun! See you that would help to boost participation. as an important characteristic of the RTTY all on March 9.

46 March/April 2008 NCJ

March Contests.indd 46 2/5/2008 12:39:44 PM WWW.RADiOSCAMATORUL.Hi2.RO

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