Contester's Rate Sheet for November 5, 2003

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Contester's Rate Sheet
5 November 2003
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Edited by Ward Silver, N0AX

SUMMARY
o JIDX and Sweepstakes Phone, plus WAE RTTY
o 7J4AAL's 80-meter Monster (not Godzilla)
o New release of RoverLog by N1MU
o Russian-English Ham Dictionary by RV3GM and DARC Multi-Language CD
o Getting Close to the Band Edges
o Got Your Ears Cleaned Out?

BULLETINS
o No bulletins this issue

BUSTED QSOS
o The email address for logs for the High Speed CW Contest (no, that's
not Sweepstakes) had a bogus HTTP header in front of it. The correct
address is hsc-contest@dl3bzz.de. (Thanks, Mike N2MG)
o I mistakenly omitted the notice for the 50 MHz sprint in the last
issue after running it the previous two issues. To add insult to
injury, I had to go and disparage 10-meter and VHF propagation.
Sometimes, you just step in it with both sneakers. From all accounts,
activity for the new Sprint was good despite the omission - thanks to
the Southeastern VHF Society for sponsoring the new contests. (Thanks,
Skip, KG4QDZ)
o Dan N1ND points out that there is no need to convert Cabrillo logs
to ADIF in order to submit to LOTW. LOTW accepts signed Cabrillo
logs.

ANNOUNCEMENT & NOTICES FOR 5 NOVEMBER TO 18 NOVEMBER 2003

Logs are due for the following contests:

November 9 - YL Anniversary Party, CW, email to: wa6uvf@pe.net, paper
logs to: Jeanie Parker, WA6UVF, 28400 Vista del Valle, Hemet, CA
92544, USA

November 10 - FISTS Fall Sprint, email to: W8PIG@yahoo.com, paper logs
to: Dan Shepherd, N8IE, 1900 Pittsfield St., Kettering, OH 45420, USA

November 12 - Tennessee QSO Party, email to: w9wi@w9wi.com, paper logs
to: Tennessee QSO Party, c/o Doug Smith, W9WI, 1385 Old Clarksville
Pike, Pleasant View, TN 37146-8098, USA

November 15 - California QSO Party, email to: cqp@contesting.com,
paper logs to: NCCC, c/o Al Maenchen, AD6E, 3330 Farthing Way, San
Jose, California 95132, USA

November 15 - Pennsylvania QSO Party, email to:
paqsolog@nittany-arc.org, paper logs to: PA QSO Party 2003, P.O. Box
614, State College, PA 16804-0614, USA

November 16 - Oceania DX Contest, Phone/CW  ,  Phone E-mail:
phoctest@oceaniadxcontest.com  ,  CW E-mail:
cwoctest@oceaniadxcontest.com, paper logs to: Oceania DX Contest, c/o
Wellington Amateur Radio Club Inc., PO Box 6464, Wellington 6030, New
Zealand

November 16 - YL Anniversary Party, SSB, email to: wa6uvf@pe.net,
paper logs to: Jeanie Parker, WA6UVF, 28400 Vista del Valle, Hemet, CA
92544, USA

November 17 - RSGB 21/28 MHz Contest, SSB/CW, SSB E-mail:
2128ssb.logs@rsgbhfcc.org, CW E-mail: 2128cw.logs@rsgbhfcc.org, paper
logs to: RSGB-G3UFY, 77 Bensham Manor Road, Thornton Heath, Surrey CR7
7AF, England

November 18 - ARCI Fall QSO Party, email to: rfoltz@turbonet.com,
paper logs to: Randy Foltz, K7TQ, Attn: Fall QSO Party, 809 Leith St.,
Moscow, ID 83843, USA

November 18 - Illinois QSO Party, email to: jfunk@adams.net, paper
logs to: RAMS, c/o John Matz, KB9II, 7079 West Ave., Honover Park, IL
60103, USA  

The following contests are scheduled:

Note that the following abbreviations are used to condense the contest
rules summaries:
SO - Single-Op; M2 - Multiop - 2 Transmitters; MO - Multi-Op; MS -
Multi-Op, Single Transmitter; MM - Multi-Op, Multiple Transmitters; AB
- All Band; SB - Single Band; S/P/C - State/Province/DXCC Entity; HP -
High Power; LP - Low Power; Entity - DXCC Entity

HF CONTESTS

Japan International DX Contest - Phone, from 0700Z Nov 8 to 1300Z Nov
9. (see January QST, p 97, or
www.jzap.com/je1cka/jidx/jidxrule-e.html)
Japan International DX Contest (JIDX) - CW, sponsored by Five-Nine
Magazine from 0700Z Nov 8 -- 1300Z Nov 9. Frequencies: 80 -- 10
meters. Categories: SOAB and SOSB (HP >100W, LP), MO, Maritime Mobile.
Exchange: RST + JA prefecture number or CQ Zone. QSO Points: 80 or
10-meters - 2 pts, otherwise 1 pt. Score: QSO Points x JA prefectures
+ JD1 provinces (JA stations use DXCC entities). For more information
-- http://je1cka.jzap.com/jidx. Logs due Dec 31 to jidx-ph@jidx.org or
JIDX PHONE/CW Contest, c/o Five-Nine Magazine, PO Box 59, Kamata,
Tokyo, 144-8691 Japan.

European DX Contest (WAEDC) - RTTY, from 0000Z Nov 8 to 2359Z Nov 9.
Same rules as WAEDC Phone and CW, everyone works everyone except own
country. QTC can only be exchanged between continents. Frequencies:
80-10 meters according to Region I band plan. Categories: SOHP, SOLP,
MS, SWL. Packet or spotting nets allowed (SO stations not using
spotting assistance will be noted). SO operate 36 hrs max., up to
three off periods of 1 hour min. Exchange: RS(T) and serial number.
Score 1 pt/QSO and 1 pt/QTC. Total score: QSOs + QTCs x WAE countries
and DXCC entities. Mults on 80 m count x4, on 40 m x3, otherwise x2. A
QTC is a report sent from a non-EU station back to an EU station of
QSOs that took place earlier in the contest (RTTY QTC can be exchanged
between any continents). A QTC contains the time, call sign, and QSO
number of the station being reported (e.g. 1307/DL1AA/346). A QSO may
only be reported once and not back to the originating station. A
maximum of 10 QTCs can be sent to a single station. The same station
can be worked several times to complete this quota, but only the
original QSO has QSO point value. Keep a list of QTCs sent. For
example, QTC 3/7 would indicate that this is the third series of QTCs
sent, and seven QSOs are reported. For more information: 
http://www.waedc.de/. Logs due Dec 15 to waedc@darc.de or to WAEDC
Contest Manager, Bernhard Buettner DL6RAI, Schmidweg 17, 85609
Dornach, Germany.

OK/OM DX Contest - CW, sponsored by the Czech Radio Club (CRC) from
1200Z Nov 8-1200Z Nov 9. Frequencies: 160-10-meters. Categories:
SOAB-HP (>100W), SOSB-HP, SOAB-LP, SOSB-LP, SOAB-QRP (<5W), MS, SWL,
packet spotting allowed for all categories. Exchange: RST plus serial
number or OK/OM district. QSO Points: EU to OK/OM - 1 pt, non-EU to
OK/OM - 3 pts. Score: QSO points x OK/OM districts (OK/OM stations use
WPX prefixes) counted once per band. For more information:
http://okomdx.radioamater.cz/rules03en.htm. Logs due Dec 1 to
okomdx@crk.cz or OK-OM DX Contest, CRK, PO Box 69, 113 27 Praha 1,
Czech Republic. 

1st Annual Radio Club of America CW QSO Party, 2300Z-0700Z Nov 8.
Frequencies: 3.650 to 3.700 MHz, 100 watts max. Exchange: RST, QTH,
name, equipment used. RCA members sign their calls "/RCA". For more
information: http://www.radio-club-of-america.org/. Logs to
mraide@rochester.rr.com or Mike Raide W2ZE, 21 Canandaiqua Street,
Shortsville, NY 14548.

ARRL November Sweepstakes - Phone, 2100Z Nov 15 - 0300Z Nov 17.
Frequencies: 160 - 10 meters, work stations only once. Categories:
SOAB-LP (A), HP (B), QRP (Q), SO-Unlimited (U), MS (M), School Club
(S). Exchange: Serial number, Category (precedence), Call, Check (last
two digits of first year licensed), and ARRL section. QSO Points: 2
pts/QSO. Score: QSO points x sections (counted only once). For more
information: http://www.arrl.org/contests. Logs due 17 Dec to
ssphone@arrl.org or to November SS Phone, ARRL, 225 Main St,
Newington, CT 06111.

North American Collegiate ARC Championship - Phone (runs concurrently
with Phone Sweepstakes)

RSGB 1.8MHz Contest - CW, from 2100 Nov 15 to 0100Z Nov 16.
Frequencies (MHz): 1.820-1.870. Categories: SO only. Exchange: RST+
serial number + UK district. QSO Points: 3 pts/QSO + 5 bonus points
per UK district. Score: QSO points. For more information:
http://www.rsgbhfcc.org/. Logs due 16 days after the contest to
2nd160.logs@rsgbhfcc.org or RSGB - G3UFY, 77 Bensham Manor Road,
Thornton Heath, Surrey CR7 7AF, England.

VHF CONTESTS

ARRL International EME Contest, 0000Z Nov 15 - 2400Z Nov 16.
Frequencies: any band at or above 50 MHz. Categories: SOAB, SOSB, MO,
Commercial. Exchange: signal report. QSO Points: 100 pts/QSO. Score:
QSO points x W/VE call areas + DXCC entities (counted once per band).
For more information: http://www.arrl.org/contests. Logs due 30 days
after the contest to emecontest@arrl.org or EME Contest, ARRL, 225
Main St, Newington, CT 06111. 

NEWS & PRESS RELEASES

Mailing of certificates for the 2003 ARRL DX contest began and should
be complete by now. The log-handling email robot was updated for the
November-January contests and test messages are being sent through it.
Russ K2TXB has joined the ARRL Contest Department's list of authors.
Russ will be doing the 2003 EME Contest write-up. (Thanks, Dan N1ND)

If you feel like your 80-meter antenna just isn't adequate, why not
have a look at this one from 7J4AAL in Hiroshima and remove all doubt:
http://www.nn.iij4u.or.jp/~mak-oxv/engtop.htm. It's 59.4 meters tall
and works as full size rotary dipole antenna to 1.9MHz band using the
whole boom as an element. Feel like a little stroll along a 100' boom?
(Thanks, George K5TR, Jan SM2EKM and others)

RoverLog version 1_6_0 has been released by N1MU. RoverLog is a
full-featured VHF/UHF/Microwave contest logging program with automatic
voice and CW keying, rig and GPS receiver interfacing, and many other
contest aids. The new version integrates band information and notes to
the lookup database, saves and restores window locations on exit and
startup, plus more. More information is available at
http://roverlog.2ub.org/. (Thanks, Tom N1MU)

Oleg RV3GM has completed his Russian-English Ham Radio Dictionary,
which includes an audio cassette. It is organized as lessons and as a
lookup list. It includes all the phrases for extended QSOs, some radio
components, and most types of equipment and antennas. The cost is $15.
For payment methods, contact Oleg directly at master72@lipetsk.ru.

The DARC (http://www.darc.de/) sells a CD-ROM entitled "Radio
Amateur's Conversation Disc" that not only has the text of words,
numbers, and phrases in various languages,  it also has everything
linked to audio files you can play on the computer, so you can
actually hear what it sounds like. (Thanks, Ken WM5R)

RESULTS AND RECORDS

The 2003 ARRL Field Day Results have been posted for ARRL Members at
http://www.arrl.org/contests/results. Along with the expanded
write-up, there are numerous photographs, an interesting sidebar on
propagation by K9LA, several statistical tables, and the sortable
database. It will be available to non-members in early November.
(Thanks, Dan N1ND)

Do the ARRL contest result writeups leave you grinding your teeth,
"Why, my buddy tripled his score from last year and he doesn't even
get a comma!"? Then you could make a difference next year by offering
to do a "regional" writeup in any of your favorite contests. This
would be supplementary information about the goings-on in your area,
added to the Web results. It doesn't take a lot of time and your
efforts will be appreciated. Just drop N1ND@arrl.org a note and let
him know what contest interests you.

Results for the FISTS "Coast-to-Coast" contest are on the Web at
http://www.tomochka.com/k7fff/c2c2003/c2c03results.html. (Thanks, Paul
NG7Z)

Jon N0JK writes to let us know that Al Ward, W5LUA has a more current
and complete VHF/UHF/Microwave record list here
http://www.arrl.org/qst/worldabove/dxrecords.html. This replaces the
link published last week.

Check that mailbox because the 2002 CQ WW SSB plaques have all been
shipped with CW is right behind. If you don't get the walnut you
deserve, contact John, K1AR at k1ar@contesting.com.

The results of the UBA HF DX Contest can be found at
http://www.uba.be/frameset_uk.html. Select "HF" and "Contest Results".
(Thanks, Marc, ON7SS)

The September SSB Sprint Results are now available on the NCJ Web site
at http://www.ncjweb.com/sprintresults.php. Log Checking Reports are
also available with an email to ssbsprint@ncjweb.com. (Thanks, Jim
K4MA)

TECHNICAL & TECHNIQUE

With all these phone contests filling up the bands, it's easy to find
yourself clunking into the band edges. If you are unsure of your rig's
frequency calibration, it might be a good idea to do some checking
against WWV. The 2003 ARRL Frequency Measuring Test is coming up on
Nov. 20th, as well. The Oct 2002 QST article about measuring frequency
and what the main VFO display is telling you is available for download
at http://www.arrl.org/w1aw/fmt/0210051.pdf. As a rule of thumb,
assume a CLEAN signal is 3 kHz wide and that the dial frequency shows
the carrier frequency. That means on USB you should be no closer than
3 kHz to the upper band edge (or on LSB, no closer than 3 kHz to the
lower band edge). Most radios have adequate suppression of the carrier
and unwanted sideband such that you could tune as close as 1/2 kHz to
the lower band edge on USB and upper band edge on LSB. However, that
assumes that your displayed frequency is accurate to within +/- 100
Hz. Examples of OK band edge frequencies include 14150.5 and 14347 kHz
on USB and 7153 and 7299.5 kHz on LSB. You can get closer if you are
confident of your VFO calibration and signal characteristics.

If you're winding toroids for a filter or impedance matching project,
Biagio Barberino has made available a handy inductance calculator for
Amidon cores at http://web.cheapnet.it/biagio68/toroidi/toroidi.htm.
Although the site is in Italian, there is an English version of AmiTor
at the bottom of the page. (Thanks, Brian KB9BVN)

Yuri VE3DZ relays information about the automated WQ5L QSL information
server. "Send e-mail to qsl-info@datasync.com with a blank subject
line. In the body of the nessage list the calls for which you need
info, one per line. For example:
  XX9AX
  VK2AR
  TG/KA9FOX
The information is packaged in a reply email!

A recent Towertalk "thread" on antenna support rope (thread seems a
little thin for that topic) turned up a couple of strong
recommendations:
   3/16" Dacron-covered Kevlar from The Wireman
   5/16 "Trucker Twine" from Home Depot
There was a side note from Seab AA1MY about using the inexpensive 4"
nylon clothes line pulleys from Home Depot. Drill out the 1/4" rivet
axle and replace it with a 1/4"-20 galvanized shoulder bolt. That will
enable you to add/subtract a support or open a pulley without having
to cut the wire when a support fails.

Here's an interesting and fun award idea, "How about a Continents X
Languages award starting at a score of 6? For example, if you work
Europe in English, German, and Spanish, that counts as 1 continent X 3
languages for a total of 3. Working all six continents in the same
three languages you would have a score of 18." Any sponsors out there?
 Berlitz? (Thanks, Don KD1XU)

Rick N6XI points out that "WLOGCONV (http://www.qsl.net/ka5wss) is
also helpful if you need to use old logs in a new logging program.
WLOGCONV can eat TRLOG, CT, NA, Cabrillo and other log formats, then
spit out ADIF files. Some assembly required in the use of Find and
Replace All, but still very nice."

"Figure out what you need and go the next size up." Courtesy of Brad
KI0OT's dad.

CONVERSATION

Got Your Ears Cleaned Out?

In the course of preparing an article for eHam.net
(http://www.eham.net/articles/6873) it occurs to me that while
contesters are likely to use all of their radio's features, we're not
all born knowing how to optimize a receiver's strong-signal
performance. I learned about receiver dynamic range and
intermodulation the hard way - by using a Heathkit SB-303 during major
contests. Late on those Sunday afternoons, I just couldn't get away
from the random beeps and boops that the mixer overload was placing in
the IF pass-band. Yikes!  

I was reminded of how important good receiver performance is when I
got to play with a new Orion receiver in CW Sweepstakes. Even without
going into great depth on the controls, I was able to work weak
stations in the heat of Saturday afternoon that I'd have had a
difficult time with on a lesser receiver. So here's some reminders
that will help your ears a LOT in the upcoming contests.

The biggest villain of all is the Noise Blanker. Most noise blankers
operate by sensing wide-bandwidth pulses in the receiver's IF. They
look at an entire band, not just what is coming through the narrow
filters further down the receiver's signal path. A strong nearby
signal can confuse a noise blanker to the point of nearly shutting
down a receiver or causing what sounds like severe over-modulation
over many kHz. Unless you have really strong local line noise, turn
your noise blanker OFF. If the band is full of strong signals, noise
blankers are useless or worse.

The attenuator seldom gets a workout, but it can be your biggest
friend when dealing with strong nearby signals. It's surprisingly easy
for a strong signal to drive a receiver's RF amplifier or mixers into
non-linearity known as overload. This creates spurious intermodulation
products, known as "crud," up and down the band. 10 dB of attenuation
cures a surprising number of ailments at the cost of just a couple of
S-units of signal strength. Try turning the preamp OFF (this may mean
turning IPO or AIP ON in Yaesu and Kenwood receivers) and cranking in
some attenuation. You may find that interference drops dramatically
when your receiver is no longer being overloaded. Remember that the
goal is to maximize signal-to-noise ratio, not necessarily absolute
signal strength.

Late breaking news - RF Gain controls are not welded in the full-on
position! This makes your receiver very sensitive, but also leaves
your IF (and sometimes the RF) amplifiers susceptible to overloading.
Experiment with backing off the RF Gain to see if it doesn't improve
your receiver's performance in a strong signal environment. Even
during casual operating, backing off the RF Gain can dramatically
reduce background noise. 

Does your receiver have Passband Tuning, IF Shift, Variable Bandwidth
or similar controls? And all those new DSP features you paid for can
clean up noise and attenuate low-frequency or high-frequency audio,
too. There's no time like the present to find the receiver's manual
and learn what these controls do. Experiment with changing the AGC
settings or even (gasp!) turn it OFF and use the RF Gain control
instead.

Your checklist for good receiver performance on HF contest weekends
should include turning Preamp OFF, Noise Blanker OFF, RF Gain 70-80%
(and USE it), and finding your attenuation control. If someone comes
on frequency to complain that "you're tearing up half the band", a
useful reply might be, "Try turning off your Preamp and Noise Blanker
and check again."  At least you're trying to be helpful.

73, Ward N0AX

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

The Contester's Rate Sheet wishes to acknowledge information from the
following sources:
WA7BNM's Contest Calendar Web page -
http://www.hornucopia.com/contestcal/ ARRL Contest page -
http://www.arrl.org/contests/
SM3CER's Web site - http://www.sk3bg.se/contest/