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The Joy of Contesting Communications, Contesting Can Teach You How to Handle Information Quickly and Effi- Rob Brownstein, K6RB Ciently

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The Joy of Contesting Communications, Contesting Can Teach You How to Handle Information Quickly and Effi- Rob Brownstein, K6RB Ciently skills. These skills can be applied to other areas of amateur radio you might enjoy. For example, if you are interested in emergency The Joy of Contesting communications, contesting can teach you how to handle information quickly and effi- Rob Brownstein, K6RB ciently. Entering a Contest To enter a contest, you could just simply keep track of calls, exchanges and times in There’s no better time than now to join in your logbook. Alternatively, you can down- load and make multiple copies of a sample log the fun of competitive ham radio. page and use those for logging. Whether or not you ever turn in your log, your QSOs will boost the score for those you have worked. So you may decide to take a stab at a limited am radio contesting is a unique shorter events with a particular focus, such entry, get your feet wet and never submit your sport. In what other sport do experts, as low-power (QRP) operating. Some con- log. That’s okay. H amateurs and rank beginners get tests are focused on a specific geographic Nowadays, all expert contesters and many onto the same field of action at the same time area, such as the Japan International DX beginners use computer logging. There are and compete? And in what other sport do you Contest, or any number of state QSO Parties several advantages to doing so. First of all, and your competitors all benefit from mak- that emphasize contacting all counties in a your computer will immediately alert you ing points by talking with each other? There specific state. Most US states have a QSO when you are trying to call someone you have simply is no other sport like it! The experts Party. These are great events to try your hand already contacted (called a duplicate or dupe). depend upon the beginners, and vice versa. at contesting on a smaller stage. Your logging program will also prepare the Then there’s the variety. No two con- With so many contests going on, it’s digital file you submit as your entry for most tests are alike. Your strategy in the ARRL important to know what the rules are. The contests. Many good contest programs are November Sweepstakes (commonly just ARRL publishes a contest calendar in available; search the internet for “ham radio called “Sweepstakes” or even “SS”) is dif- every issue of QST. There are also numer- contest programs.” ferent than your strategy in the CQ World Wide ous Web sites that have events listed for During the contest a computer log will DX Contest (CQWW DX). In Sweepstakes each weekend. One of the most popular is give you lots of statistics in real time so you you can work a station once, regardless of the WA7BNM Contest Calendar. This is a can see how you are doing. Although you band. In CQWW DX you can try to work sta- great resource for what events take place may find it challenging to concentrate on tions once on six bands! In Sweepstakes there on any given weekend, often with links to a operating techniques while having to type are only 80 multipliers to be had, so scores contest’s official Web site. You can find the in call signs and exchange information, it increase linearly with the number of QSOs WA7BNM Contest Calendar online at www. becomes much easier with some practice. you make. In CQWW DX, there are 40 zones hornucopia.com/contestcal. — per band — and hundreds of country multi- Why contest? Aside for the competitive A Place for Everyone at the Table pliers. (We’ll explain scoring a little later!) nature of the event, contesting is a tried-and- Contest sponsors try to create level playing Have a free upcoming weekend? Okay, true way to improve your on-air operating fields for all entrants — up to a point. Most how about a few hours? There are several contests have low power, high power, single contests scheduled virtually every weekend. operator and multi-operator categories. Low Some are HF; some are VHF/UHF; some ROB BROWNSTEIN, K6RB power is usually specified as up to 100 W. are CW only; some are mixed mode; some However, a station running 100 W with several are digital mode and some are phone only. towers and multiple Yagi antennas is clearly There is a contest to suit the interests and not on a level field with another station running skill level of all hams. 100 W and a simple G5RV wire antenna. That said, many contesters with modest Getting Started stations can and do enjoy participating in Every contest has a sponsoring organiza- every contest. You can derive satisfaction by tion and a set of rules. The sponsoring orga- seeing how much your score improves each nization takes responsibility for collecting time you participate in a particular contest. entry logs, verifying scores and awarding Contesting is a great way to work toward certificates and plaques. For example, the awards such as Worked All States and DXCC. ARRL is the sponsoring organization for When you enter the fray, it’s to the benefit several contests throughout the year, includ- of other competitors, since every point you ing the ARRL DX Contest in February/ make also adds points to their scores — a March, VHF/UHF contests in January, June win-win for everybody. and September, and the premier contest for It helps to start young. Mitch (front) and It can be scary to jump into a contest the US and Canada, the ARRL Sweepstakes, Liam share operating and logging duties for the first time — regardless of station held over two weekends in November. at proud dad K6RB’s station during a capabilities. You hear loud stations working There are dozens of contests every year. recent Kids Day event. Kids Day is a other stations one after another at a fast clip. twice-a-year operating event that provides Some are major worldwide events that last young people, licensed or not, with the On phone some operators talk so fast you an entire weekend, while others are smaller, chance to enjoy Amateur Radio. can hardly understand them. On CW some January 2008 51 So When’s the Next Contest? tion for your state as part of the exchange. The other operator sends ST? meaning please Here’s a list of some upcoming contests of interest to all hams, regardless repeat your state. Sometimes he might have of previous contest experience. to send QTH? to get the other operator to January 5-6 is the ARRL RTTY Roundup — a perfect opportunity to try your understand what information he wants. (It hand at PSK31 or one of the other digital modes. KCØUCX jumped in this past would, of course, be better if all participants year and had this to say: “First time in a contest. I have been in Amateur Radio for about two years. I look forward to some of the other contests coming up. My became familiar with the names for all parts daughter really was into it watching and waiting for the next call to come in. She of the exchange, particularly complicated sat with me for over eight hours watching. I told her it’s like fishing: You have to exchanges for contests like Sweepstakes.) wait and they come in groups of three.” January 19-20 is the VHF Sweepstakes. Whether you’re at a fixed How to Speak Contest location (preferably with some altitude) or roving in your mobile, In the Sweepstakes phone contest the you can hunt for grids on 6 meters (and, of course, 2 meters and goal is, again, efficient exchanges. Anything the UHF bands) with small antennas. The photo shows a hardy that causes a repeat request wastes time. For soul, KØNR, atop Mount Herman in Colorado during the 2007 example, if your serial number is 55 and Sweepstakes. you say “Fifty five” it might be mistaken The International DX Contest (CW) is February 16-17. There’s no better way to add to your entity total. If you prefer Phone, put it as “Sixty five.” So just say “Five five.” The on your calendar for March 1-2. same holds true, as numbers become three A complete calendar of ARRL-sponsored contests is at www.arrl.org/contests/ digit figures. A serial number of “255” calendar.html. For a comprehensive list of what’s ahead for the coming month, should be spoken as “Two five five.” see “Contest Corral” in each issue of QST, and online at www.arrl.org/contests. Some sections are also problematic. My section, Santa Clara Valley, could be mis- construed as “Sacramento Valley,” or even “San Joaquin Valley” when there’s lots of stations are cranked up to 30-plus words per interference (QRM) or noise (QRN). So I minute and sound like a blur of noise. Phonetics always use the standard phonetics “Sierra Don’t be intimidated! All of these sta- A Alfa N November Charlie Victor.” A good rule of thumb: It is tions will be looking for you before the con- B Bravo O Oscar better to spend an extra second to ensure a test is over. Just take your time, find stations C Charlie P Papa first time copy than to have to spend three or without big pileups and then call and work D Delta Q Quebec four seconds going through a repeat cycle. E Echo R Romeo One thing you will notice right away is that them. You will be surprised at how quickly Foxtrot Sierra F S in contests that require a RST signal report in your paper or computer log gets filled.
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