The ARRL Contest Update for May 22, 2013

[ARRL Web site]

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The ARRL Contest Update

Published by the American Radio Relay League
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May 22, 2013

Editor: Ward Silver, N0AX <rate-...@arrl.org>

==> IN THIS ISSUE

- The Dots are Coming - CQ WPX CW
- Six Gets Going - UKSMG & Six Meter World Wide Club Contests
- VE7SV and K3WW - CQ Hall of Fame
- Then There Were Four!
- Loud and Proud Audio Sprint
- KCDXC Dayton CW Pileup Results
- Radio Eyes from New Mexico
- Primary Source for Secondaries
- Missed the Top Ten Again

NEW HF OPERATORS - THINGS TO DO

Those of you working on your code speed can certainly nudge it up a few
levels by giving the CQ WPX CW Contest a try this weekend. In fact,
along with WPX CW, there are several shorter CW contests. If the idea
of Southeast Asian stations gets your blood pumping, don't miss the
SEANET contest over the June 1-2 weekend!

BULLETINS

Don't forget to make sure your club's Field Day logging software has
been updated to handle the new Ontario sections of GTA, ONE, ONN, and
ONS. Non-contest clubs and emcomm groups may have missed the
announcement and the implications of the changing section list. Please
help everyone avoid unpleasant surprises on Field Day - both to the
operators and software - by making sure your event's leaders know about
the change and take the necessary steps.

BUSTED QSOS

Joanna's correct call is K6YL, not W6YL; VE3TW and VE3GFN used the call
VA3RAC; and the seventh district has 8 states, not 7. The hyperlink for
the paper on RF simulation was not encoded properly in the emailed
version of the newsletter. The correct URL is
http://icslwebs.ee.ucla.edu/dejan/researchwiki/images/3/30/Rf-sim.pdf.

CONTEST SUMMARY

Complete information for all contests follows the Conversation section

May 25-26

- CQ WW WPX Contest--CW
- QRP ARCI Hootowl Sprint--CW
- MI QRP Memorial Day CW Sprint (May 27)

Jun 1-2

- Ten-Ten Open Season--Digital
- Digifest
- LZ Open 20 Meter Contest--CW
- Maritime QSO Party
- SEANET Contest
- UKSMG Sporadic E Contest
- IARU Region I Field Day--CW
- Six Meters World Wide Club Contest
- Alabama QSO Party
- OK1WC Memorial Contest (Jun 3)
- ARS Spartan Sprint--CW (Jun 4)

==> NEWS, PRESS RELEASES, AND GENERAL INTEREST

One of the Dayton Hamvention highlights for your editor is the annual
Contest Dinner. The dinner's highlight, of course, is the induction of
new members to the CQ Contest Hall of Fame, led by CQ World Wide
Contest Director, Randy Thompson K5ZD. From the Daily DX
<http://dailydx.com> writeup of the event, the new members are:

- Dale Green, VE7SV, a world-class contester who has been hosting teams
of new and experienced contesters at his superstation for the past 20
years, and who recently helped start a contest group in Chile.
- Charles "Chas" Fulp, K3WW, also a multi-award winning contester and
past president of the Frankford Radio Club (FRC). The FRC touts Chas as
"our role model and sets the standard for other FRC members to strive
to achieve."

Your editor is fortunate to count them both as friends and is grateful
to Dale for the opportunities to spend a weekend in an operating chair
at VE7SV. Well done, gentlemen! There is a nice writeup of all Hall of
Famers on the ARRL website
<http://www.arrl.org/news/former-em-qst-em-managing-editor-joel-kleinman-n1bke-sk-inducted-into-cq-amateur-radio-hall-of-fame>,
too.

A county map is a very handy operating aid when participating in a
state QSO party, but finding out-of-state maps is a pain. Short of
putting in a special order from your travel club, Jim K8MR has found
very good ones to be available from the U.S. Census Bureau
<http://www.census.gov/geo/maps-data/maps/stcou_outline.html> website.

During the recent New England QSO Party, Dave KM3T was using the County
Finder <https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/county-finder/id477622615?mt=8>
iOS app. It geolocates you and tells you what county you are in.
Although your editor browsed a bit on the Android app site, nothing
similar popped up. The County Jail Inmate Search app looked
interesting, but that's probably not too useful to most readers.

IEEE Spectrum article "Peaceful Coexistence
<http://spectrum.ieee.org/telecom/wireless/peaceful-coexistence-on-the-radio-spectrum>"
is a good story about how spectrum regulation and management are moving
in the direction of sharing and intelligent channel selection. The
article has lots of food for thought as amateurs move into the second
century of wireless communications.

Paul W1GHZ reports that the Proceedings CD for the 2013 Eastern
VHF/UHF Conference is now available. The price including shipping is $5
USA, $7 international and you can order online
<http://www.newsvhf.com/confcd.html>.

Web Site of the Week -With N3FJP's announcement of Field Day Contest
Log 4.0 <http://www.n3fjp.com/fieldday.html> and his newly archived
versions, all of the major contest logging software is up to speed,
section-wise. Now we need to let our clubs, teams, and friends know
that "VE3" has become "GTA, ONE, ONN, and ONS"! Please relay this
information to your club's Field Day committee and to other clubs and
emcomm teams in the area, even if you're not a member - they will
appreciate the reminder or, perhaps, being alerted to the change!

WORD TO THE WISE

You might be attending the Hamvention - if you request to store a gin
pole in the hotel baggage room, flummoxing the concierge! (Thanks, Dan
K1TO)

==> SIGHTS AND SOUNDS

Contest University <http://contestuniversity.com> students take a break
in the afternoon to play Audio Sprint. It does make for a memorable
fifteen minutes - and the product of QSO points and multipliers is then
multiplied by one beelyun, so everybody makes a huge score! CTU
first-timer Dave KM3T captured this video
<http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zHpu3RqXY-o&feature=player_embedded> of
the whole thing. He apologizes for the wobbly camera work but I think
it captures the atmosphere rather nicely!

You've seen the "world at night" maps - how about the "world on-line"
map? This animation
<http://internetcensus2012.bitbucket.org/images/geovideo.gif> shows you
a day's worth of where Internet activity is happening based on the use
of the PING command to find active hosts. There is definitely a
day-night ebb and flow. Where does this map come from, you ask? The
source paper <http://internetcensus2012.bitbucket.org/paper.html> is a
great read even if you're not a total net-head. (Thanks, Steve K6AW)

While you were thinking about all those radio goodies at Dayton,
thousands were attending the DIY-equivalent of Maker Faire in the Bay
Area. EDN published a great slideshow
<http://www.edn.com/design/diy/4414726/Slideshow--Maker-Faire-Bay-Area-2013>
of the various interesting stuff - take a look!

Before there were LOLcats, we had QRLCats such as this fine selection
of felinity from Universal Radio
<http://www.universal-radio.com/cats.html>. (Thanks, Steve K7LXC)

The electromechanical phone systems of yesteryear were pretty amazing.
How did they do it? Watch this AT&T Archives video, "The Step-by-Step
Switch <https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xZePwin92cI>" - you won't be
able to stop watching!

How high is your tower? This XKCD cartoon <http://xkcd.com/482/> helps
you figure that out on a scale of the Universe.

==> RESULTS AND RECORDS

DX Multioperator certificates for the 2012 ARRL DX Phone Contest have
been shipped and ARRL Contest Branch Manager, Sean KX9X reports that he
is almost completely caught up with the certificate backlog.

The Kansas City DX Club <http://www.kcdxclub.com/> (KCDXC) Pileup
Contest was a heckuva lot of fun this year, as always, especially with
Chuck NO5W's "Morse Race" software showing the race in real-time. Not
only the current heat was displayed but the races of the top five
competitors, too! You could cheer for your "horse" to take a top-five
spot or groan as yours slipped a spot or two.

In one of the very final heats, eventual (and repeating) champ, Dave
K5GN went neck-and-neck with then-current #1 and #2 leaders Doug W9WI
and Yuri VE3DZ. It was like watching Michael Phelps and Michael Gross
go at it in the Olympic Pool. Nice job to all and a special thanks to
the KCDXC for hosting one of the most popular Dayton contest events.

CQ 160 Contest Director, Andy Blank N2NT <andy...@gmail.com> needs
your material for the contest writeup. "If you operated the 2013 CQ 160
Contest either SSB or CW, please send me a photo of you and your
station. I am looking for stations that haven't appeared in the
magazine before." Contest writeup authors are usually delighted to get
photos and stories - don't assume they are only interested in the Big
Guns!

Alberto LU1DZ writes in to let us know that the results for the 2012
WWSA Contest <http://www.wwsatest.org/> are now available online!

OPERATING TIP

The year's list of Silent Keys read aloud at the Dayton Contest Dinner
was dreadfully long this year - a very sobering presentation. Whatever
you do, take care of yourself so we don't hear your call during that
ceremony any time soon.

==> TECHNICAL TOPICS AND INFORMATION

Paul Harden, NA5N is an electronics engineer for the Very Large Array
(VLA) radiotelescope facility in New Mexico. Not limited at all to the
"ultra-highs", Paul discussed a neat new project in the recent ARRL
Propagation bulletin ARLP0019 <http://arrl.org/propagation> with
significant implications for HF operators. "My current project
<http://www.aoc.nrao.edu/~pharden/LBR/lbr.htm> is our low-band system
(60-500 MHz) and the Long Wavelength Array (LWA) for 10-88 MHz. Though
a few years away, one of the science goals of LWA is to make real-time
3D maps of the ionosphere. The prototype system clearly paints the
locations of the E/F layers and its depths as it migrates around.
Really cool, and when completed, should be made publicly available on
the web and a great tool for hams."

VOACAP Online has been recently upgraded
<http://voacap.blogspot.com/> so that the Google Maps portion is now
using the API version 3 with some new functionality added. VOACAP is a
propagation prediction program for 3-30 MHz. (Thanks, Daily DX
<http://dailydx.com/>)

The automotive power system is a surprisingly noisy environment, even
with that big battery on the bus. Varistors are used to clamp excessive
variations - this EDN article
<http://www.edn.com/electronics-products/other/4414095/Varistors-protect-automotive-electrical-systems>
shows you how they are used to do the job. You can make use of that
information in your portable or mobile station, protecting your own
gear.

The VLF station WWVB is changing their time protocol
<http://www.nist.gov/pml/div688/wwvb-030513.cfm>, possibly affecting
clocks and other instruments that use the time-and-frequency
broadcasts. Sharp-eyed reader, Dean W9WGV spotted this information.

There is more information online from EDN - this article
<http://www.edn.com/design/wireless-networking/4413442/SAW--BAW-and-the-future-of-wireless>
is on SAW (surface acoustic wave) and BAW (bulk acoustic wave) filters.
Exotic? Hardly - your wireless environment is full of them and probably
more than one of your radios!

Technical Web Site of the Week - An alternate source has emerged for HV
power transformers, along with Hammond Engineering picking up the Peter
Dahl designs. Gary K4AVC gives his customer's recommendation, saying,
"My friend Peter Eggiman of Electronic Products Design
<http://epd-inc.com/> has been making HV transformers since 1983 and
has all of the Dahl data and specs from years ago. He has a nice
manufacturing facility in Wendell, N.C."

==> CONVERSATION

Missed the Top Ten Again

Sure enough, Doctor Beldar and the Spurious Emissions (out of the) Band
appeared again at this year's Contest SuperSuite
<http://contestsupersuite.com>. They and a pair of parrotheads managed
to wreak havoc on the hit "Margaritaville" - the poor tune was buffeted
pretty badly. Why don't you give it a try at your Field Day sing-along
- watch out for those pop tops!

73, Ward N0AX

My Log's Fulla NILs (to the tune of "Margaritaville")

Tunin' for red plates
Watchin' my amp bake
Dummy resistors covered in oil.

Peakin' the loading
Sending a dot string
Smell those tubes, they're beginning to boil.

Chorus:

Missed the Top Ten again cause my log's fulla NILs
Readin' through my ... log checking report
Some people claim that it's the Skimmers to blame
But I know ... it's my own d**n fault.

I know the reason
My log wasn't pleasin'
Error rate sucks and my score's in the loo.

But I logged some beauties
Was sure came back to me
Why they aren't there I haven't a clue.

Missed the Top Ten again cause my log's fulla NILs
Readin' through my ... log checking report
Some people claim that it's the Skimmers to blame
But I know ... it's my own d**n fault.

Called in the wrong spot
Ticked off the band cops
Blew my chance, expedition went home.

But I checked the cal-en-dar
And soon I can enter
A radio contest the whole weekend long!

Missed the Top Ten again cause my log's fulla NILs
Readin' through my ... log checking report
Some people claim that it's the Skimmers to blame
But I know ... it's my own d**n fault.
Some people claim that it's the Skimmers to blame
But I know ... it's my own d**n fault.

==> CONTESTS

22 May through 4 June 2013

An expanded, downloadable version of QST's Contest Corral in PDF format
<http://www.arrl.org/contest-calendar> is available. Check the
sponsor's Web site for information on operating time restrictions and
other instructions.

HF CONTESTS

CQ WW WPX Contest--CW, from May 25, 0000Z to May 26, 2400Z. Bands
(MHz): 1.8-28. Exchange: RST and serial. Logs due: Jun 1. Rules
<http://www.cqwpx.com/rules.htm>

QRP ARCI Hootowl Sprint--CW, from May 26, 8 PM to May 26, Midnight.
Bands (MHz): 3.5-28. Exchange: RST, S/P/C QRP number or power. Logs
due: 14 days. Rules <http://www.qrparci.org/contests>

MI QRP Memorial Day CW Sprint--CW, from May 27, 2300Z to May 28, 0300Z.
Bands (MHz): 1.8-28. Exchange: RST, S/P/C, MI QRP number or power. Logs
due: 30 days. Rules <http://www.miqrp.org/>

Ten-Ten Open Season--Digital, from Jun 1, 0000Z to Jun 2, 2400Z. Bands
(MHz): 28. Exchange: Call, name, S/P/C, member numbers. Logs due: 15
days. Rules <http://www.ten-ten.org/>

Digifest--Digital, from Jun 1, 0400Z - See website. Multiple time
periods. Bands (MHz): 3.5-28. Exchange: RST and grid square. Logs due:
7 days. Rules <http://www.mixw.net/misc/DigiFest/index.html>

LZ Open 20 Meter Contest--CW, from Jun 1, 1100Z to Jun 1, 1500Z. Bands
(MHz): 14. Exchange: 6-digit serial and serial from previous QSO. Logs
due: 10 days. Rules <http://www.lzopen.com/>

Maritime QSO Party--Phone,CW, from Jun 1, 1200Z to Jun 1, 2359Z. Bands
(MHz): 1.8-28, 50, 144, 25 to 50 kHz from band edge. Exchange: Maritime
county or S/P/C. Logs due: 1 month. Rules
<http://www.maritimecontestclub.com/>

SEANET Contest--Phone,CW, from Jun 1, 1200Z to Jun 2, 1200Z. Bands
(MHz): 3.5-28. CW--3.525, 7.025, 14.025, 21.025, 28.025,
SSB--3.540/3.790, 7.090, 14.320, 21.320, 28.320 MHz. Exchange: RS(T),
serial. Logs due: Jul 1. Rules
<http://www5.big.or.jp/~ja1rju/flash_seanet-2013_doc.html>

IARU Region I Field Day--CW, from Jun 1, 1500Z to Jun 2, 1459Z. Bands
(MHz): 1.8-28. Exchange: RST, serial. Rules - see IARU society websites

Alabama QSO Party--Phone,CW, from Jun 1, 1600Z to Jun 2, 0400Z. Bands
(MHz): 1.8-28. CW--1.810, 3.545, 7.045, 14.045, 21.045, 28.045;
PH--1.865, 3.855, 7.230, 14.250, 21.300, 28.450 MHz. Exchange: RS(T)
and AL county or S/P/C. Logs due: 30 days. Rules
<http://www.alabamaqsoparty.org/>

OK1WC Memorial Contest--Phone,CW, from Jun 3, 1600Z - See website.
Multiple time periods. Bands (MHz): 3.5, 50, 144. First through fourth
Monday of each month; see website for bands and periods. Exchange:
RS(T) and serial. Logs due: 7 days. Rules
<http://www.hamradio.cz/ok1wc>

ARS Spartan Sprint--CW, from Jun 4, 0200Z to Jun 4, 0400Z. Bands (MHz):
3.5-28. Monthly on the first Monday evening. Exchange: RST, S/P/C, and
power. Logs due: 2 days. Rules <http://www.arsqrp.blogspot.com/>

VHF+ CONTESTS

Maritime QSO Party--Phone,CW, from Jun 1, 1200Z to Jun 1, 2359Z. Bands
(MHz): 1.8-28, 50, 144, 25 to 50 kHz from band edge. Exchange: Maritime
county or S/P/C. Logs due: 1 month. Rules
<http://www.maritimecontestclub.com/>

UKSMG Sporadic E Contest--Phone,CW,Digital, from Jun 1, 1300Z to Jun 2,
1300Z. Bands (MHz): 50, No QSOs below 50.080 or from 50.100-130 MHz.
Exchange: RST, member nr, 6-char grid locator. Logs due: Jul 1. Rules
<http://www.uksmg.org/>

Six Meters World Wide Club Contest--Phone,CW,Digital, from Jun 1, 1500Z
to Jun 2, 2359Z. Bands (MHz): 50. Exchange: Call sign, grid square,
member number. Logs due: Jun 21. Rules <http://www.6mt.com/>

OK1WC Memorial Contest--Phone,CW, from Jun 3, 1600Z - See website.
Multiple time periods. Bands (MHz): 3.5, 50, 144. First through fourth
Monday of each month; see website for bands and periods. Exchange:
RS(T) and serial. Logs due: 7 days. Rules
<http://www.hamradio.cz/ok1wc>

==> LOG DUE DATES

22 May through 4 June 2013

- May 22 - RSGB 80m Club Championship, Data
<http://www.rsgbcc.org/hf/rules/2013/r80mcc.shtml>
- May 23 - QRP Minimal Art Session
<http://www.qrpcc.de/contestrules/mas/qrpmasr-e.html>
- May 24 - EU PSK DX Contest
<http://www.epc-ru.ru/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=1144&Itemid=79>
- May 25 - Feld Hell Sprint
<https://sites.google.com/site/feldhellclub/Home/contests/sprint-rules>
- May 25 - CWops Mini-CWT Test <http://www.cwops.org/onair.html>
- May 26 - Run for the Bacon QRP Contest <http://fpqrp.org/pigrun/>
- May 26 - NCCC Sprint Ladder <http://www.ncccsprint.com/rules.html>
- May 26 - WAB LF Phone
<http://wab.intermip.net/Contest%20Rules.php#OtherRules>
- May 26 - SKCC Sprint <http://www.skccgroup.com/sprint/sks/>
- May 28 - 50 MHz Spring Sprint
<https://sites.google.com/site/springvhfupsprints/2013-announcement-rules>
- May 28 - Florida QSO Party
<http://www.floridaqsoparty.org/rules.html>
- May 28 - QRP to the Field <http://www.zianet.com/qrp/qrpttf/2013.htm>
- May 30 - International Vintage Contest HF
<http://www.contestvintage.beepworld.it/rules-2012.htm>
- May 30 - RSGB 80m Club Championship, CW
<http://www.rsgbcc.org/hf/rules/2013/r80mcc.shtml>
- May 31 - Holyland DX Contest
<http://www.iarc.org/~4z1pf/HOLYLAND%20CONTEST%202012%20RESULTS.pdf>
- May 31 - AGCW QRP/QRP Party
<http://www.agcw.org/en/?Contests_and_CW-activities:QRP-QRP-Party>
- May 31 - MIE 33 Contest
<http://www.ztv.ne.jp/isoda/33/annual/36/36rule-e.html>
- June 1 - BARTG Sprint 75
<http://www.bartg.org.uk/documents/contests/sprint75/rules/BARTG-SPRINT75-Rules-April-2013.pdf>
- June 1 - CQ WW WPX Contest, CW <http://www.cqwpx.com/rules.htm>
- June 1 - South Dakota QSO Party
<http://www.dtdxcc.org/main2/SD_QSO_Party_files/2013SDQP.pdf>
- June 1 - 7th Call Area QSO Party
<http://ws7n.net/7QP/new/Page.asp?content=rules>
- June 1 - Portuguese Navy Day Contest
<http://www.nra.pt/navy--contest-2013-in.html>
- June 1 - Slobozhansky Sprint Contest
<http://tdr.at.ua/index/rules2012/0-13>
- June 2 - SARL Digital Contest
<http://www.sarl.org.za/Documents/SARL_Contest_Manual_2013_Issue_11.pdf>
- June 4 - New England QSO Party <http://www.neqp.org/rules.html>

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==> ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

ARRL Contest Update wishes to acknowledge information from WA7BNM's
Contest Calendar <http://www.hornucopia.com/contestcal> and SM3CER's
Contest Calendar <http://www.sk3bg.se/contest>.

The ARRL Contest Update is published every other Wednesday (26 times
each year). ARRL members may subscribe at no cost or unsubscribe by
editing their Member Data Page as described at
http://www.arrl.org/contests/update/.

Copyright (c) 2013 American Radio Relay League, Inc. All
Rights Reserved

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