Guess what, a Contest for ARES members

Interesting train of thought in the recent ARRL ARES News Letter

+ FEEDBACK: ARES QSO Party Proposal

I presented your ARES HF QSO Party question to the South Texas
section ARES Yahoo group via a one week poll. That group has 215
members, 36 of which answered the poll (17%). The poll question and
results follow:

Would you support an ARES HF QSO Party over a weekend where operators
would exchange call sign, signal report, county, section or state,
and their ARES or emcomm titles?
NO - 6 - 16%
YES - 30 - 83%

I strongly recommend adopting the NA QSO Party contest format. Only
two entry classes in that; single operator and
multi-operator/two-transmitter

, except no teams in this new contest,
and maybe not the multi-two either. The NA QP are mode-specific with
separate weekends for SSB, CW and RTTY; we need not do such, but
allow all modes on the same weekend. To me, the best parts of this
format are that everyone is limited to 100 watts, and it is a 10-12
hour contest starting at noon Saturday. Perhaps different points
could be awarded depending upon the person's appointment that you
work; 1 point for ARES "member," 2 for AEC, 3 for EC/RO, 4 for
DEC/DRO, etc. 1 point for SSB, 2 for CW or RTTY. We should provide
suggested operating frequencies.
<http://www.ncjweb.com/naqprules.php> -- Jerry Reimer, KK5CA, South
Texas SEC

Yay! I enthusiastically support your idea of some kind of op event to
recapture the feel of the CD parties. I think it would be great for
appointees to be able to have the opportunity to fly the flag a bit
and be the gotta-work-it focus of some kind of incentive-driven
special event in which everybody could participate. It would also
allow the appointees to receive some recognition in a really good
way. Another thing it would accomplish would be providing an
incentive for all those new General Class licensees among the
appointees to get on HF and meet their peers and public around the
country. -- Gordon Grove, WA7LNC, Eastern Washington SEC

I think this would be a great idea, because I know the information
that could be shared would be a great energizer for many ARES
operators. -- Richard J. Niemeyer, KC9JMW, AEC, Jackson County,
Illinois

Yay. -- Charlie Miller, AE4UX, South Carolina SEC and State RACES
Officer

Yes, I would support an ARES Party, but ONLY if all stations were
REQUIRED to be on battery, generator, or other emergency power (or
mobile or in mobile EOC's). It would be very helpful in forcing us to
exercise our emergency power sources more often (I haven't tested my
generator since November). It's just the incentive I need.

To keep the playing field level, only dipoles or mobile antennas
should be allowed, up to a maximum of 25' high. No directional arrays
of any kind, no stacked beams on 180 foot towers. Keep it low-key. It
should be like Field Day - more social event and emergency
preparedness demo than contest. The word "Party" is thus a good
choice. -- Steven G. Katz, N8WL, EC Licking County, Ohio

YAY! Count me in. -- Doug Donner, KC8ZCF, EC, Lapeer County,
Michigan

YES - great idea. Perhaps there might be a way to work the 60 M
allocation for part of the party? Have been observing propagation
lately and the 5 MHz band could work very well during daytime hours.
-- Larry Trullinger, KB0EMB, AES Jackson County, Missouri

An ARES party in this area of southwest Missouri would be completely
worthless, much like the organization. Last winter the Springfield,
Missouri area had the worst ice storm in history. Many were without
power for 20 days. There were numerous shelters set up in schools.
There was not even a 2 meter net between shelters helping with
people's needs. I have no use for ARES here. -- David Rust, W0DLR,
Kirbyville, Missouri

There is an ARES party held at least once a day. It is called NTS. In
the Tennessee section we have one combined ARES/NTS session each
week. What ARES does not need is a contest event. - Bill, N9ACQ

I loved the CD parties, and I'd love to have an ARES QSO Party too.
-- Joe Fisher, K5EJL, DEC 7 South Texas

I'm all for it -- a great opportunity to "show the flag" while
simultaneously providing a welcome diversion from regular emcomm
training. Consider it kind of a "company picnic" for ARES: Take a
break, have some fun on the radio, and incidentally, learn some new
operating skills! -- Ward Silver, N0AX, EC, Vashon, Washington

Here is one more vote for an EMCOMM or ARES QSO party. -- Ed Esborn,
K1UQE, Pawcatuck, Connecticut

I would support an activity like you described. Good chance to test
the station and get acquainted a bit. -- Tom Richmond, NI7W, Kootenai
County, Idaho EC

I would support an ARES Party during any weekend it was scheduled. --
Ron Murdock, W6KJ, Yuba City, California

Yes -- Richard Margey, KE1DH, Cape Coral, Florida

RE your suggestion in the latest ARES E-Letter for an ARES QSO party,
I discussed it with my EC, Bill, N2ZSO, and he supports it as do I.
If this event was able to take hold and get substantial
participation, we might be able to expand and invite served agency
officials, etc, to stop by. - Mike Harla, N2MHO, AEC Cumberland
County, Southern New Jersey

I would go for an ARES Party, or update the old CD party. My CD
party activity goes back to late 1938 or early 1939 (working only
CW). Always enjoyed them and was sorry when they were cancelled. I
remember such calls as W4KFC, W1TS, W1BIH, KH6IJ, W9BRD and many
others that I worked nearly every quarter year CD Party. Time flies,
especially at my age of 86. -- Jettie B. Hill, W6RFF, Roseville,
California

ABSOLUTELY. I am volunteering to be on a committee that would
establish a set of rules that would promote skill sets beyond the
framework you mention. How about something along the lines of a
hybrid between the CD Parties and Emcomm bonus points, a-la Field
Day. For example: Multipliers for Emergency power, all wire antennas,
combining with local emcomm exercise, press release,
origination/receipt of traffic, working from an EOC, "integration"
bonus points for combining with local support units (police, fire,
med, etc.), operators with qualifying ARES training (ARECC, IS-100,
200, 700 & 800), people signed up for ham classes, etc. Far fetched?
Maybe, but in this new era of our hobby, we need to be creative and
keep the emcomm talent pool strong. -- Fred Kleber, K9VV

Just because an operation is FUN does not mean it is not USEFUL. I
would gladly join such an enterprise, and I am NOT a contester. -
Jean Olson, KC0SVG, Cambridge, Iowa

Recall that in 2004, there was an operating event when League Life
Members, employees, officers and field appointees were signing /135
to their calls for Maxim's birthday. There was a certificate
associated with racking up a minimum number of /135 QSOs.
<http://www.arrl.org/news/stories/2004/08/26/1/> I'm no contester,
but some of the specific elements in the above event might prove
attractive if added to your idea. -- Alan Howard Martin, W1AHM

I would say yes, and hopefully information could be passed and not
just a check in and signal report. It has its merits. -- Dewey H
Bennett, Jr, WM0H, Columbia, Missouri

Let's have a PARTY! I would support and participate in an EMCOMM or
ARES QSO Party. Think about points/categories for operating from
home, portable, from an EOC, or mobile (auto/RV/Command Post). Let's
go with the EMCOMM name, because not all groups are ARES. -- Budd
Johnson, N4WBJ, OES/ARES/RACES/SKYWARN/Sheriff's Tactical Amateur
Radio Comm, Hillsborough County, Florida

I think an ARES QSO Party is a great idea, but I would like a
National ARES Roll Call once a month to exercise the leadership and
find out on a section-by section basis who is committed to EMCOMM and
who is faking it. -- Joe Forren, ND4B, EC Greenbrier County, West
Virginia

Put me down for a sound YEH for the ARES PARTY. -- Steve Howard,
AB0XE, Dakota County EC, South St. Paul, Minnesota

YES! - Rob Griffin, K6YR, Santa Barbara Section Manager, California,
[and all 'round Good Guy - ed.]

I do believe this would be a good idea. We test our equipment at
Field Day for portable operation but how many test our operation at
the home station for our abilities to function within our own section
or district? Oh, we communicate locally just for fun but do we know
just how well we are doing? I would strongly suggest that the
contacts locally be made on simplex rather than repeater. We don't
necessarily need to test the repeater but we do need to know how well
we can do without it. -- Joe Bushel, W2DWR, SEC Northern Florida

Sure, count me in. -- Duke Knief, W4DK, DEC Area 15, North Carolina

I would be in favor and would operate such an event. A great way to
try out NVIS propagation, and see what your station could do for
realistic distances of an emergency. -- Stuart Rohre, K5KVH, AEC
Williamson County, RACES, Round Rock, Texas

Regarding your question about the "ARES Party", I have a slightly
different suggestion. Since we are getting to a point where there are
almost too many events, maybe it would be better to re-asses the
current events we have: Field Day and SET. - Bryan Koschmann, K7WXO,
Spokane, Washington

I would agree an ECOMM QSO Party is needed and long overdue. This is
a very good vehicle to encourage folks to become part of the solution
and pitch in to help. I work for the National Weather Service and we
sponsor a QSO Party, usually in December, to encourage hams to get
involved in helping our destructive weather tracking efforts. In my
town of Kodiak, Alaska, I started an effort to get out local hams to
report road conditions for winter weather. This is, in turn,
forwarded to the forecast office in Anchorage and put on the NOAA Wx
radio for folks to listen to. I have hopes to start a Wx Net up here
some time in the future. In addition, I recruited two of my fellow
coworkers to get their licences in order to work the 2 meter rig we
put in the office. Thanks for your newsletter, I read it every time
to see if there is something that could be employed here on the
"northern most" Hawaiian Island. - Rich Courtney, NL9H, Kodiak,
Alaska

I would support and participate in a nationwide ARES Party net. With
some of the 'older' hams upgrading and becoming new HF operators, I
think this is a great idea. I vote 'yea'. -- Maynard Raggio, N9PTG,
Assistant Emergency Coordinator/RACES Officer, Monroe County, Indiana

I think any excuse for a QSO Party is a good one. I'd check in. -
Jeff Carter,
KD4RBG, Fairmount, Georgia [If you're an NFL football fan, check out
Jeff's photo on QRZ.com! - ed.]

With the limited info provided in the E-Letter, it appears that this
would be more of a contest than an exercise of emcomm capabilities.
Would you propose that the event be limited to ARES members only and
would they be forced to use emergency power? Is there a scenario
associated with the event? Isn't this what Field Day is supposed to
be about? Thanks for surfacing the idea, but my "vote" at this point
would be no. -- Mark Wintersole, WB5NMZ, Montgomery County EC,
Montgomery, Alabama

I am a member of a regional ARES Net (California Rescue
Communications 40-Meter Net). I support your idea for a weekend ARES
QSO party. -- Paul Stone, KQ6RJ

Great idea, Rick. I think it would make a great training activity.
The thing I remember immediately after Katrina on the HF bands was
the first night's traffic handling sounding like a bunch of very
inexperienced communicators. The second night was a whole different
story with smooth net operations. Practice is essential to keep
skills fresh. What a great way to polish up the skills and meet
other ARES operators around the country. I suggest communicating the
name of the ARES organization in the exchange. -- John Davis, WB4QDX,
EC Gwinnett County, Georgia ARES

The idea of having ARES stations operating is really a duplication of
Field Day. If you were to propose an "ARES Day" it should not be a
contest with winners posted like Field Day that encourages BIG POWER
station operation. Also it does not seem important to exchange e-com
or ARES titles. To make it unique from Field Day the requirements
should be for every station to operate on emergency power and
possibly have a transmit power limit of 50-100 watts. Also required
should be the use of portable antennas that are set-up on the day of
the contest. All county and district EC comm centers should be
encourage to participate in the event. All modes and bands that have
been successfully used in disasters should utilized. -- Roger Freed,
WB7BZT, Bend, Oregon

In regards to your proposed ARES or emcomm parties, put me solidly in
the Aye! column. I think it's a great idea. It would be fun as well
as provide a needed exercise/test of each station's capabilities. It
might even shed some light on just what areas could be routinely
covered by each station. That information alone could become quite
valuable in times of emergencies. -- Dave Costanza, KA3PNV,
Communications Officer, Penbrook Office of Emergency Management,
FSO-CM, CG Auxiliary Flotilla 53, Harrisburg, Pennsylvania

In response to the proposition in the latest newsletter, I personally
am in favor of having an on-air ARES weekend. Good idea and I wish
you the most of luck in getting this idea approved and carried out.
-- John Streeb, KE5DXJ,GIS Intern SFASU, Junior, Arlington, Texas

Count me in for the project. -- Robin Warren, KE5DQM, Ivanhoe, Texas

I say yes to having an event scheduled on the airways for those
involved in ARES/RACES. I also would suggest that all ARES groups in
their respective sections train with each other so one would know
what to expect from another ARES group. Here in the Eastern
Washington section, we have some of our group help our neighbors to
the east of us in Kootenai County, Idaho with their IRONMAN
competition by supplying them with operators that have APRS
capabilities along with voice. So I vote AYE!! -- Charles Greeson,
KG8ZK, AEC Spokane County, Washington ARES/RACES

Great idea! Make something like EASCARS or MIDCARS in that you check
in to cycle the gear. I see this as an excellent place for ops to ask
for a source to obtain certain gadgets to make their station more
effective. . .hams without gadgets are not hams, you know. -- Jim
Montgomery, Prince George's County, Maryland ARES Hospital Project
Coordinator

Great Idea, Good luck. -- Jim Pearson, KS8O, Menominee County,
Michigan AEC

The use of the signal report has become standardized in any
party/contest to 59 or 599 so is not useful. Correct copy is the
proof and should include something NOT in QRZ.com to avoid lookups,
maybe the rig model or antenna style. Good idea though; many ops do
enjoy such activities, and it often "opens" up dead bands like 10
meters. - Dave Prichard, AB3S, Celebration, Florida

I am all for it -- I need practice and communicating with other ARES
or EMCOMM entities would only improve our ability to do so in an
emergency situation. -- Ted Denton, KE7GZN

I vote "NO" on this activity. There are already too many state and
other "qso parties" on the bands as it is, to blah blah blah hams
talking like robots and flooding the ham bands on weekends like QRM
machines. - Charlie Pfister, WD8AXB, Vicksburg, Mississippi

I'd certainly support such an activity. Amateur Radio has had a
tremendous influx of new hams in our area, with well over 150 new
operators in the past couple of years. These hams didn't get to
radio via technical interests, for the most part - they have mostly
come up from the ranks of CERT volunteers!

An event like this would provide an excellent opportunity to hone
communication skills, and would provide a hook for more camaraderie,
which I think is a very important part of any organization, and
particularly of emcomm. I'm not certain that the exchange should
include titles - that might seems exclusionary, as not everyone has a
title. In all, a great idea that I'd love to see come to pass. --
Heating Floyd, KC4HSI/AFA2IU, Hillsborough County ARES/RACES, Deputy
RACES Officer, Assistant EC, Florida

+ K1CE For A Final

There you have it: an ARES or EMCOMM QSO Party could be a rousing
success! See you next month!

73,
Rick K1CE


Contest anyone ??????? :)

A great deal of Thanks !

ARRL FD 2007 is history
and with the great turn out we had
it was awesome !

I wish to thank a few people (well more than a few)
these people were not only at FD, they contributed in either set-up, tear down
many did both and a few went even beyond that !

If I missed thanking anyone I apologize in advance

Here is who we saw give extra contribution to our successful FD event....

Randy Fulco K5SL Antenna set-up & Tear down Long hours at the rig and Chief cook even in the rain

Floyd Hoskins N5FH Floyd, always there always digging in his pocket to contribute Again this year FD buttons were given to many by Mr Hoskins

John Shidler NS5Z Set-up Tear down and much more

Robert Fincher K5REF Set-up Tear down, hauling equipment to and from the site

David Crosby K5SRZ Powerful Phone Op

Matt Chapman K5DAZ Awesome for his experience level Look forward to his addition to the SS Team

Mike Ketchens KE5DLM Always a pleasure to operate and visit with Mike

Gary Straton K5GLS Fantastic hospitality in his Home on wheels

Ray Bureau AD5ZT Ray, from mentored to mentoring a real great friend and Extra classy OP

Glenn Pettiet N5SH GOTA and much More, including an awesome wire loop with pulleys et all

Dave Davis W5WRG Food assistant and Satelite expert

Retta Davis WB5HXD Chef, Publicity expert and much much more a very special person

Chas Dickson KE5EEE What a pleasure to have Chas join us for set-up

Marcel Livesay N5VU Whoa where has this Okie been hiding a new must have phone op on the SS team

Tom Reilly W3GAT Great to see Tom with new energy on FD, thanks for the awesome GOTA support

Barney Bates N5EYK Wow ! Shows up Friday and donates 100 feet of Rohn 25g to the club !

Jim Prothro N5IOO Lawn Mower Man !!!!!! Thanks for cutting the grass down to size !!!

Ron Porter K5AI What a pleasure to meet and have a short chat with Ron during set-up

Marsh Stewart KA5M SARA FD Chairman 2007, extra ordinary operator who lended support to the cw guys

Again, if I missed anybody, it wasn’t intentional.

73,

Steve
KG5VK

Front Page News in The Bossier Press Tribune !

N5FH Cq Cq QRP FD Solar Powered

K5SL with that "Intense Look" at SARA FD 2007

ARRL Field Day June 23/24 2007

The Shreveport Amateur Radio Association is again hosting ARRL Field Day
at the Pavilion near the Arthur Te ague Parkway Boat Launch Ramp

All are welcome, Hams and non Ham Radio OPS alike
A special station will be provided with a Licensed radio "coach" for those wishing to talk on the air

We are also operating 3A with one of those stations set up for those ops that prefer a slower QSO rate, in other casual operation versus "contest style"

We welcome amateurs from other clubs and even non club members
to join us

Hamburgers and Hot dogs will be cooked Saturday and everyone is welcome while the supplies last, donations are welcome but not required for the food and drinks consumed.

Bottom line is we will have fun and we want as many people from the public as well as fellow Ham radio ops to come join us !

Those that enjoy working at a faster pace are encouraged to step up to the plate in either the Phone or CW Trailer and work em fast and furiously as they can

The scenery on the Red River is always pleasant on the eyes
the camaraderie is bar none !

Those that wish to assist in set-up
we begin that task around 3 pm Friday June 22

73

Steve
Steven L. Smith
KG5VK

July Radio Sport IARU Contest

In the July QST you will soon receive, dates for the IARU HF Championship
dates are erroneously listed as July 7-8. The correct dates are July 14-15
as shown in the April QST contest announcement. The Web version of Contest
Corral also has the correct dates. Wednesday's issue of the Contester's Rate
Sheet (http://www.arrl.org/contests/rate-sheet/) will carry a bulletin
alerting readers to the error.

Please relay this information to your club newsletter editor or Webmeister.

Sorry for the eror - this slipped past the sleepy-eyed Contest Corral
editor, namely me.

73, Ward N0AX

SDXA Members Meet BS7H DXpeditioners

This picture was taken Saturday morning, 9 June 2007, at Ham-Com in Plano, TX right after the BS7H forum. Standing in the back row, left to right, are San K5YY, Tom N4XP, Paul K4UJ, and Mike K9AJ. Kneeling in the front row, left to right, are Steve KG5VK, Randy K5SL, and Marsh KA5M, all SDXA members and all very grateful to have worked BS7H.

73,

Marsh, KA5M

HamCom and The BS7H Presentation....

Wow !

As I race back from Atlanta
I get an email that points out a conflict of dates in my Calendar with my
Planned trip to Huntsville for the Big Hamfest

So while attempting to determine if I can make it
I decide to do HamCom if a buddy or two can join me for the ride there

I'm in Missippi and still on the road, exhausted
I call Ray AD5ZT and he say he would love to go to HamCom (Ray has never been to any Ham Fest)
I then Call Marsh KA5M and Randy K5SL) and find out they are both already there
Marsh informs me of the BS7H presentation scheduled for 10 AM Saturday at Ham Com
I tell him I'll be there !!!!

It was 4 and a half hours of rest out of the car and then Off to Plano Texas for HamCom

The trip was worth it !!!!

Ray bought a new radio for his Jeep
I bought a few small things
and had an over whelming time meeting some of the BS7H memebers

Marsh, Randy and myself (The three of us from our area that worked the BS7H crew)
had our photo done with the BS7H team members that were at HamCom
we will have the photo posted here later

On top of that I got to meet Gary WF5I,
talk about a really neat guy - Tice he has been number one on the DXCC Honor Roll - Wow !

That was one short inexpensive Hamfest but way Fun !

73
steve
KG5VK

THIS WEEKEND ON THE RADIO. CQ WPX CW

THIS WEEKEND ON THE RADIO. The CQ World Wide WPX CW Contest,
VK/Trans-Tasman 80-meter CW Contest, ARCI Hootowl CW Sprint and the
MI QRP Memorial Day CW Sprint will certainly keep contesters busy
this weekend. Please see May QST, page 97, and the ARRL and WA7BNM
contest web sites for details.

ARRL Divisions and Our State Section web sites....

The websites vary greatly
ours seems more ARES and Traffic totals centered

Is traffic and ARES the only thing happening with our Division ?

Where would we turn if we wanted state or regional news ?

Who is the big gun VHF/UHF Dx op in our state ?
Who is the Elmer of the year, is there such a thing ?

The SARA Website Rocks, thanks to Ellen and we can be very proud of it
we can help the division and region websites by sending them feed back.

I would like to see more news about our region and Division in QST but that is not going to happen, they just don't have the room for anything other than traffic and new hams in the division news within QST

http://www.arrl.org/sections/?sect=LA

The same person that manages our great website for SARA manages the state website
so she only needs our feed back
Placing the burden on her without us helping provide feedback is wrong and will not help
when you have something news worthy drop Ellen a note about it.

steve
kg5vk

I just got an Email from our Division Director asking for input...

He has taken the time to send out a survey for our feed back
Please provide him your input !
If You did Not get the survey send him an email request for it his email is wd4q@arrl.org
yes that is .org

73
steve
KG5VK

http://www.radio-sport.net/

Now available at http://www.radio-sport.net - a new internet site
devoted to news about ham radio contesting.

Featuring interviews with contesters, the goal of radio-sport.net
is to tell the story lines of our contests, with coverage modeled
on what you might read in your newspaper sports section.

The main focus as we go on-line today is the CQ WPX CW at
the end of May. You will see that the top three world single-op
finishers from last year are out, making WPX 2007 a wide open
shootout.

Radio-sport.net is also unveiling rankings of the top contesters
in the world, based on contest results over the past year. Our
first #1 ranking goes to John Crovelli, W2GD.

Please stop by to take a look...and don't be surprised if you get
an email from me with questions about what you're doing in an
upcoming contest or how your last contest effort went.

73 Jamie Dupree NS3T

40 Phone Tent F.D. 2 element Colinear Array

Today while it was too wet in the yard to mow

I spent it building a two element Colinear Array for 40m Phone

It is no small antenna (260 feet in length)
But even laying on the ground the Antenna analyzer read 1.2 vswr at 7.200 Mhz

I think even if this antenna is only 6 or 7 feet above the ground in the trees on the river bank it will perform well for us.

I plan on waiting tell after FD to re-install my 80m double bazooka here at KG5VK, so we will also have it available for F.D.

Next is to see if I can repair the mosely classic 33 that is in mu antenna junk box
for our F.D. Tri-bander

73
steve

SDXA Supports SARA FD

Members of the SDXA chipped in to pay for the rental of a trailer to be used by SARA as an operating position during Field Day 2007. Thanks to all who contributed!

73,
Marsh, KA5M

RTTY Blog

http://rttycontesting.com/rttyblog.html
New Blog just getting started

73
steve

BS7H Dxpedition 1997 Video on U Tube WOW !

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=y50WgagQIxM

about 14 minutes long video
watch the Recon Plane Buz them

No Joy yet here on a QSO !

steve

This is wild The Split Police dot Com.........

http://www.k6sgh.com/splitpolice.htm

some of the side notes in these post are way over the top !

OMG - talk about getting publicly marked as a Lid

73
steve
KG5VK

W5B/52

We had a fantastic turn out with over 27 members at the site over this past week-end

612 QSO's
Lots of great publicity on www.eham.net for SARA

The WX even cooperated !

73
steve
KG5VK

scores compared we only need 300 more Q's ....

300 more Q's and corrct copy of the New Foundland call in the log
and we could have been First place in the REGION box !

1

KG5VK

165,268

1,046

79

M

LA

72

24

80

449

418

99

Shreveport ARA

(+KA5M, K5SL, NZ5S, KJ5SZ, KH2DF)

1

KA1ARB

212,640

1,329

80

M

NC

79

24

420

467

429

13

Potomac Valley Radio Club

(+WB1ADR)

KA1ARB was first in our Region we were 4th

Tenth place in overall Top Ten Box for our Category went to............

1

NK7U

212,000

1,325

80

M

OR

75

17

223

298

478

326

Snake River Contest Club

(+KL2A)

this seems wrong because KA1ARB has a score of 212,640 versus NK7U 212,000
that additional 300 Q's would have put us in the mix for the Top Ten overall if we did the correct call on the missed multiplier

We still did very good, another 300 Q's and we will move way up in the standings.

73
steve

LCR -Log Checking Reports- Very informative

Amazing That I have not seen these before,
they have apparently been around for at least 4 years....

Here is some insight from the LCR of our 2006 SS Phone entry.........

There were 21 dupes found.  You might have marked these dupes.
For electronic logs, all dupes (marked or unmarked) are treated
the same with no penalties.


TIME ON CALCULATION
-------------------
2103-0723 =  621
1225-0200 =  816
        ------
On time = 1437 minutes (max of 1440).

CALLSIGN CHECK RESULTS
----------------------
VY2QT is a busted call.
The correct call is VY2TT.  
Not good we busted a call for a needed Multiplier
- we Lost our sweep !

You had 43 calls in your log which were not found in the
database of good callsigns.  
27 of them have been judged to be incorrect. 
These will be removed from your score -
along with an additional penalty of one QSO per
per busted callsign.
Unique percentage =  1.4

There were 39 exchange errors found.
These QSOs will be removed from your
score with no penalties.
Example:
QSO #151: Received QSO# 87 should be 27 AE6RF

There were 16 bad cross check QSOs removed.
You had one not-in-log.
There will be a penalty of one QSO for this.

SCORE SUMMARY
-------------
 Raw QSOs = 1177
    Dupes = 21
Busted QSOs = 82
Penalty QSOs = 28
Time Expired = 0
Final QSOs = 1046 
Band Breakdown (160-10): 0   80  449  418   99    0
QSO Points = 2092
Multiplier = 79
--------------------------
Final score = 165268
Error rate =  7.1%
(100 X (Busted QSOs / Duped QSO total))

BUSTS FOUND IN OTHER LOGS
-------------------------
The following information shows contacts you made
that were removed from the other station's log.
These are not deducted from your score. 
They are listed for your information only.

Example...
AJ9C: KG5VT is a busted call. 
The correct call is KG5VK.
Number busts found in other logs = 39 (0.0%)

We still increased our score and moved up in the
Region box EVEN without a sweep !

We even managed first place in our Division
without the Sweep

so even though we will all be amiss the sweep mug
for 2006 we did dam good !

I will be analyzing line scores of our nearest comp

73
steve
kg5vk

The Results from 2006 ARRL SS phone.......

As hoped our team moved up one notch in the region box for our category

Last year our goal was just that and to of course make first place in our ARRL Division, we did both...........

In 2005 we just made the region box with 5th place

Here is the Chart from the website ...

Southeast Region (Delta, Roanoke and Southeastern Divisions)
WP3R	364,800	B
KP2TM	311,200	B
W5WMU	253,280	B
N4OX	246,400	B
NN3W	241,280	B
N4PN	196,320	A
KZ2I	150,080	A
K4EJ	133,440	A
N8II	126,126	A
AE5T	113,600	A
KC5R	100,800	Q
NA4BW	64,834	Q
NX9T	54,604	Q
N0HT (N3JW,op)	35,140	Q
KI3O	30,820	Q
NI1N	264,640	U
W4NF	229,760	U
K2WK	198,720	U
N4LR	172,960	U
N4BAA	161,760	U
KA1ARB	212,640	M
W4MYA	189,120	M
WW4LL	172,640	M
KG5VK	165,268	M
K4TS	161,120	M

and now for even greater news.................................

FIRST PLACE DELTA !!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Delta
Single Operator High Power Phone	W5WMU	Icom
Single Operator Low Power Phone	AE5T	Icom
Single Operator QRP Phone	KC5R	Icom
Single Operator Unlimited Phone	N4OGW	Icom
Multioperator Phone	KG5VK	Icom
School Club Phone	W5YM	Icom

And look at that AE5T Rick Saffel, got 1st place Delta division in the Low Power category so us local guys did darn good in our Division this year !

Our Team did awesome !

2007 will offer us more reasons to shoot for the overall Top Ten Box
I will have 6 antennas in the arsenal for 75 meters
The newests antenna being a pair of Coaxial Bazzookas at 60 feet Phased with a WX0B stack match box (allowing us to select direction and phasing)
Thanks to everyone for your support I will let you know as soon as the Clean Sweep mugs have arrived !


By the way a measely additional 46,733 points and we would have made the overall Top Ten Box

How many q's is that not sure but my guess is about 500
in a day or two I will know excatly how many more Q's we must have to improve our rankings once again

If anyone wants to join our team simply email me my callsign by way of arrl.net or qrz.com


73
steve

http://www.KG5VK.com

AD5ZT, Ray visits my shack

I recently met Ray during a visit to his home and Ham shack
However I failed to take a camera with me on that journey
Ray is a recent Licensee, an avid long time fly fisherman and talented photographer
Ray recently visited here and I grabbed this quick image
during a break from some Tower/Antenna Maintenance that Ray was assiting me with.

A very Kewel Contest Video

I found this very professional video of the OT5A Club superstation's CQ WPXoperation.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=R3LX3dfg0Wg

Their setup in the World War I "Fort of Lier" is amazing!
It is apermanent club location,but it has the feel of Field Day with generators etc.

They have a fullkitchen cooking mealsetc.

ON-Land is very serious about contesting, that is for sure!

Tim K6GEP

Pile Up a new PDF News Letter

This year's first issue of PileUp!, in English, is
available in pdf-format, 6 Mbytes

http://www.helsinki.fi/~korpela/PU/PU1_2007.pdf

This issue 11(1) includes supplementary audio files,
3 Mbytes each:

http://www.helsinki.fi/~korpela/PU/CCF_PileUP_CW.mp3
http://www.helsinki.fi/~korpela/PU/CCF_PileUP_Phone.mp3

rgds, OH1WZ

Ilkka Korpela
http://www.helsinki.fi/~korpela

some awesome stats, kewel Photos and a neat Drake R4C, yes I said a Drake R4C
73
steve
kg5vk

CQ WPX Contest (The Prefix Contest)

The Home Page for the Cq WPX Contest is here

The Phone version of CQ WPX (The Prefix Contest) is this week-end

steve
kg5vk

The Aligator and the Wildebeest by Tom Duncan KG4CUY

It's not really the tittle he chose but I think you will find my mis nomer fits Hi !

http://www.nadxc.org/LongPath_03-07.pdf

The article is on the North Alabama DX Club website
They are in Huntsville and are the Hoist of the Huntsville Hamfest
which has a website address of http://www.hamfest.org

I will be attending this great Hamfest and have already made my room reservations

73
steve
kg5vk

if your interested in contesting , but not for 12 hours or more.....

Try The series of Sprint Ladder Contests.............

Get set for the NCCC NS Ladder Competition. (NSL) . .

This coming Thursday evening .. NSL #1 . . 1st session of an 18 week series in which your 12 best efforts count toward awards.

Time: 0230-0300Z Friday (Thursday evening US)
Freq: Near 1815 3540 7040 14040
Exchange: Ser #, Your first Call, State/Province/country
Dupes: 1 intervening qso same band, immediately work same station on band change.
Mults: per band
Power limit: 100w.
Remember: Carefully set your start and stop time . see comments under "NS Rules" .. Time
Report scores using fom at http://www.hornucopia.com/3830score/ , directly to 3830@contesting.com or to n6zfo.

Rules: See www.ncccsprint.com

Logging: After deciding to use " Your first call" in place of name, we discovered that this change can cause both WL and TR Log to balk. Ed, W0YK, has the fixes for WL and TR Log on the NS web page at http://www.ncccsprint.com/software.htm Do the best you can . . we'll consider a return to the traditional Name next week if there are complaints. Remember the first and most important rule of NS is "Have FUN", and we're dead serious about that.

Score calculation: Howie, N4AF, kindly updated NS Score Calculator to version 1.15 to accommodate this year's more liberal dupe allowance. see http://www.ncccsprint.com/ns_score.htm

The NS Ladder has a dedicated and expanding fan-base ... we'd love to have you join. A great and quick contest entertainment for Thursday night, and the family probably won't notice you've disappeared for a while.

See you on Thursday. Questions/comments to Bill n6zfo hounds1234@comcast.net

73 and good luck,

Bill N6ZFO/6


73
steve
kg5vk

ARRL SS CW results are now posted on the ARRL website

First place Delta division for CW mode went to.....

Delta
KI5EE
17,228
M

We should know the Phone results within a couple of more weeks !
73
steve

The Shack of KA5M Marsh

Moxon Antennas

Steve K6SGH sends word of another Web site devoted exclusively to
Moxon antennas - http://www.moxonantennaproject.com. It has Moxon
designs, including multiband and experimental Moxons, from hams all
over the world.

NA QSO Party Sprint from 6-10 pm This Saturday

The next North American RTTY Sprint is this Saturday evening from 00-04ZSunday.

It's a fun four hours and an opportunity to sharpen up your RTTYcontesting skills.

Form a team, up to 10 stations per team, and register itprior to the contest at http://www.ncjweb.com/rttysprintteamreg.php.

Rules are at http://www.ncjweb.com/sprintrules.php. Note the special "legaldupe" rule for the RTTY Sprint. You can work the same station multipletimes per band if there are three intervening QSOs with other stations inBOTH logs between the legal dupes. For the mathematical attorneys, "threeintervening QSOs" means you can work the same station as often as everyFOURTH QSO. As always, any illegal dupes are removed from your log in logchecking with no penalty.In keeping with the Sprint spirit, preliminary log checking results will beposted on the NCJ web site within 14 days after the event. (Logs are due 7days after the event, preferably via the Upload Logs web page,http://www.ncjweb.com/sprintlogsubmit.php.)Diddles,Ed - W0YK

watch the scores in the current contest........

This week-end March 3-4
The KG5VK station is playing hoist to a team of ops
in the ARRL DX Phone contest

All are invited

If you can't make but want to watch our score
you can see all the lives scores at............

http://www.w1ve.com/livescores/

73
steve
kg5vk

The ARRL Phone DX contest is this week-end March 3-4

I will be playing in this one

as usual I will enter as a multi-op category in case anyone wishes to come join me

73
steve
kg5vk

A new Contest Video on U Tube

Hi

There is a nice, small video with shots during the PACC contest @ PI4CC.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lGV5wzwm6-s

You can also see the new / under construction 3 element for 40 meterOther info at www.pi4cc.nl

PeterPC2A

comming to a radio near you !

LA state QSO Part Feb 10

also Feb 10 RTTY WPX Contest

and one more real neat one in February....

CQ 160-Meter Contest, SSB
0000Z, Feb 24 to 2359Z, Feb 25

Talk about an Antenna Farm !

Read More about the W0AIH Antenna Farm Here

160m CW contest is this week-end !

watch for this one...................

VIET NAM, 3W. Eddy, XV1X and Stan, 3W9JR will be QRV as 3W3W from a
location southwest of Haipong in the CQ WW 160-Meter CW contest.
QSL via OK1DOT.

RTTY RU warm up party.....

For those of you WriteLoggers who may be planning to participate in RTTY Round Up, you may want to take part in the two upcoming NCCC practice sessions - it is open to anyone. For newbies, like me, it will give you a chance to find out what you don't know before RTTY RU on Saturday.

NCCC RTTY RU Practice

GOAL: Final equipment/SW shakedown and operational practice

DATE/TIME: Thu 4 Jan, 1900-1930PST
Fri 5 Jan, 1900-2000PST

A little longer on Fri to offer more operational practice for those who
are new to this (and those who may not be new but whose memory regarding
equipment/SW configuration and operation may be a bit challenged since
the last time we did RTTY)?

FORMAT: Standard RTTY RU Rules. Dupes OK with one intervening Q,
back-to-back on different bands OK too.

BANDS: 20, 40, 80, probably in that order.


Rob K6RB

SARA club meeting Tomorrow Nite and RTTY RU....

The first SARA club meeting of this year is this Thursday evening (Tomorrow nite Jan 4th)

This week end is the ARRL RTTY Round Up
I took first place in the ARRL Delta Division last year and local challengers ?

73
steve
KG5VK

Burkina Faso Dxpedition 6-20 January 2007

more info here
The Burkina Faso 2007 project began in February 2006 during the last evening that the 5H1C team spent on Zanzibar island. We had targetted a few semi-rare African locations mainly located North of the equator. The intend was to get closer to the main ham populations, hence compensating for the lack of propagation mainly impacting the higher bands during our stay in Tanzania. Recent DXpeditions to some of these targets further reduced the list and our choice went to Burkina Faso.

A DX Info Site

http://www.dxers.info/

VU7LD Website

VU7LD website
Worked them twice today on 20m Long Path
73
steve

Top Band and way to end the year

Calling all 160M Contesting Creatures, The Boring Amateur Radio Club is producing the 11th edition ofThe Stew Perry TopBand DX Challengeand you should be there! All you really need is a radio, a hunk ofwire, vital signs and the time period off from1500Z December 30 until 1500Z December 31 or at least 14 hours of thistime period preferably when it's dark.The rules and information are straightforward and can be foundat: http://www.jzap.com/k7rat/stew.html

This contesting extravaganza is unique in several areas: score perQ based on distance, score enhancementsfor being low power or QRP or even working the peanut whistle types andof course the ability of the contestingcombatants themselves to honor heroic achievements by sponsoring plaquesproduced by The Boring AmateurRadio Club. The famous, smart and good looking Hams listed below havepicked a particular category for this year'sedition of the Test. All it cost them for this immortality is $50 and ane-mail to me advising me of your desired sponsoredcategory. The Boring Amateur Radio Club reserves the right to suggestan alternative category if the one you've pickedseems risqué or perverse. Silly or stupid or clever is fine so the realmof possibilities for your contesting brain is very large.You can join these Stalwarts by thinking up a category and e-mailing meand then sending the $50 pittance.

This year's plaques and Sponsors are:
KL7RA Highest Number of QSO'sW7TMT Top Score, Low Power, First time entryKB7Q Top Score in Grid Field "DM"
N7JW Top Score South of the EquatorK7CA Top Score Asiatic RussiaN0TT Top Score USA Op <> 100 QSOVK6VZ Top Score with antenna in a space <>4000\' above sea levelKR2Q Top Score with Golden Log (no busts)N9ADG We\'re considering several possibilities with this grant

You may have noticed that this is a CW only contest. If your code speed is nonexistentor the equivalent of not old enough to drive yet....don\'t despair! Practice the magicalphrase "QRS", slide up the band a bit and have at it. When a di-dah jockey goes too fast foryou, just whip out the QRS on him/her/it and they\'ll do it again slower. The propagation gurus from The Kenai, Oklahoma, New Yurp, Singapore, Canada, California and Texasall agree that the possibility for tremendous conditions exist for this year\'s edition ofThe Stew Perry TopBand Challenge. So go put up a wire and set aside some personal respite time",1]
);
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N5IA Most Grid Squares workedN7JW Top Score South of the EquatorK7CA Top Score Asiatic RussiaN0TT Top Score USA Op <> 100 QSOVK6VZ Top Score with antenna in a space <>4000' above sea levelKR2Q Top Score with Golden Log (no busts)N9ADG We're considering several possibilities with this grant You may have noticed that this is a CW only contest. If your code speed is nonexistentor the equivalent of not old enough to drive yet....don't despair! Practice the magicalphrase "QRS", slide up the band a bit and have at it. When a di-dah jockey goes too fast foryou, just whip out the QRS on him/her/it and they'll do it again slower. The propagation gurus from The Kenai, Oklahoma, New Yurp, Singapore, Canada, California and Texasall agree that the possibility for tremendous conditions exist for this year's edition ofThe Stew Perry TopBand Challenge. So go put up a wire and set aside some personal respite time
toughest stage. 73 and I remain, Lew W7EW/W7AT The Boring Amateur Radio Club Vice President in charge of plaques, pizza and propagation w7ew@arrl.net_______________________________________________CQ-Contest mailing listCQ-Contest@contesting.comhttp://lists.contesting.com/mailman/listinfo/cq-contest",0]
);
D(["ce"]);
//-->
from all the Holiday blather and hub-bub so you can come out and play with us on Radio's almosttoughest stage. 73 and I remain, Lew W7EW/W7AT The Boring Amateur Radio Club Vice President in charge of plaques, pizza and propagation w7ew@arrl.net

The Contest Calendar

For those who would like to plan their future contesting schedule,

aperpetual contest calendar,
which shows the future dates of contests withpredictable schedules through 2016,
is now available at:http://www.hornucopia.com/contestcal/perpetualcal.php

It currently lists most of the major contests, but more contests will beadded over the next week.
73 de Bruce, WA7BNM

Don't forget the link to SARA from the links area here

We continue to be proud members of SARA
we are the members that are a club within the club (SDXA membership is within the SARA organization)
We pride ourselfs in having friendly get togethers AFTER the SARA meeting at Chef Lee's
Here is a direct link to the SARA Blog, please contribute to both Blogs SARA and SDXA
I am recruiting Moderators for both and those that wish to contribute articles even on an in frequent basis are encouraged to contact me.

73
steve

Wow a lot of Hams are on U Tube.......

here is a link to one with a contest theme and near the end is some Sick looking antennas
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fAOOd48j6WA

This might be fun, makin g movies to share
Something for after the new year

73
steve

A Challenge

Last year I entered the ARRL RTTY Round-Up
I choose Multi-OP (It was me plus Pkt cluster)
I also selected High Power

I was the sole entry in this class from the Delta division
and recieved a very nice wood plaque

The cahllenge is for some of you guys to challenge me
compete against me and see if you can take this plaque away !

here is my results from last year...............

10

KG5VK

79,050

850

93

M

B

LA

Shreveport ARA

(+packet)

By the way RTTY round-up also includes the PSK modes !!!!!
again remember I entered in the QRO category Multi-Op
You do not nned a lot of power and make sure you dial it down
esp when on PSK or near the PSK frequenciues !!!!!

who wants to challenge me ?

The contest is Jan 6-7 2007

RTTY contesting is a lot of fun
esp with MMTTY
(I use the MMTTY plug-in with WriteLog)

73
steve
KG5VK

Links to tools and resources.. what have you found ?

here is one I found...........

www.n0hr.com has a tool for FireFox browser users called PropFire
yeap a propagation tool built-in to the firefox web browser

here is a link to the new N0hr Blog
http://www.n0hr.com/hamradio_blog/

what have you found that we may find useful for Hamming ?

73
steve
KG5VK

The Team that beat the pants off us for Delta 1st place last year...

The team that beat us for 1st place in Delta Division last year was not QRV this year !!!!

Here is ana email I got from one of the "Team Members"

Hi Steve,

Well, the best laid plans, etc...

We had planned a full SS Phone effort at K4JNY's until Murphy showed up. One team member had a death in the family, another caught the flu and K4JNY came down with a bug at the last minute. So we had to abandon our plans for this one. K0EJ op'ed for a few hours from the K4JNY QTH with his call and I worked from home. Hope you all did well.

73, Ted W4NZ

So we may have 1st place in the bag for Delta division and hopfully we will move up a notch or two in the region

Thanks again for all of the Team members supporting the KG5VK SS Team !

steve

Zone Prop an On-Line live CQ Zone to Zone prop tool

ZonePropZone to Zone Propagation information will be available for the CQWW cw fromRadio Sport Canada
http://www.radiosport.ca/zoneprop/

ZoneProp uses an widely accepted propagation engine to determine the band onwhich a contestant in one CQ DX zone is likely to be able to contact acontestant in another CQ DX zone taking into account the current geomagneticactivity.

ZoneProp produces a 40 zone by 40 zone matrix that is updated hourly atapproximately 20 minutes past the hour. The intersection between a row andcolumn gives the band on which a contestant in the zone represented by therow is mostly likely able to contact an contestant in the zone representedby the column.The zone numbers in the left hand column are clickable. Onceclicked the information for that zone is displayed in isolation above a mapof CQ DX zones. The pages are refreshed every 10 minutes in order to capturehourly updates of the matrix

For technical details seehttp://www.radiosport.ca/zoneprop/manual.phpZoneProp is designed for high speed Internet access using IE 6/7 or a recentrelease of FireFox. It has not been tested in other browsers or on slowspeed (e.g. dialup) Internet access.SylSylvan Katz - VE5ZXSaskatoon, SK

Immediate Contesting Results in fact real time scores...

It is not a fantasy
It will occur in the reasonable future
in fact real time score bopards are now available for most major contests
and here is a team that is promoting "real time only players"

http://rfsport.com/Home_Page.php

the next (and the first HF contest) with this tool is the Stew Perry Top Band challenge

cheers !
steve
KG5VK

Thanks to all the Sweepstakes ops at KG5VK !!!

here is what we did.................

score 184,960 pts

Q's 1156
Multipliers 80 (sweep)
Hours on 24

Ops KG5VK,NZ5S,KJ5SZ,KA5M,KH2DF,K5SL

by band......
80m 88q's 7 mutipliers
40m 485q's 36 m
20m 465q's 25m
15m 118q's 12m

Last year we had 1,033 Q's so we excelled by another 123 Qso's
we of course did a Sweep again and I will be placing a check in the mail soon for te Clean Sweep mugs and greatly appreciate Marsh (KA5M) footing that bill



Next year I promise to have the voice keyer working on both radios !!!

73 and happy Turkey Day !!!!!!!!!!

steve

New Band Plans will take effect 15 December !!!

FCC "Omnibus" Amateur Radio R&O Published in Federal Register, Takes EffectDecember 15NEWINGTON, CT (November 15, 2006) -- Just a little over a month after theFederal Communications Commission (FCC) released the Report and Order(R&O), the so-called "omnibus" Amateur Radio proceeding, WT Docket 04-140(FCC 06-149) to the public, appeared today in the Federal Register. It willtake effect on Friday, December 15 at 12:01 EST, 30 days after its publication.The complete news story is found at this link.
http://www.arrl.org/news/stories/2006/11/15/100/?nc=1

a Tip that I thought was worth reviewing.........

just saw this Tip on the ARRL Contest Reflector and felt it was worth a review..........

One more tip for phone contesting - before responding and giving the
contest exchange, breathe in. Then say the whole exchange in one
long exhalation. Do not add extra words like "Please copy" or "Your
number is" or "Check," "Uh," and "And." They are just time and
breath wasters. Listen to the top operators when you tune by them.
The key to sounding like a pro is efficiency and rhythm, giving the
information in the expected order, enunciated clearly for easy copy.

I know our team does this well but I some times habit of adding those fillers
and we need rate ! So you all remind me when I get sloppy.

Am I getting too serious, yea maybe, but we are going to still have a Boat Load of fun
One we get started I will chill, promise - because I know our team is at the helm !
I am just in pre-contest neveves Hi Hi !

Great news my wife gets to come home from the hospital today.
I just talked to her and told her I was finishing a post to the contest team ops...

She said Your not cancelling the contest are you, I said no unless you want me to and she said absolutely not, I do not want you to cancel playing in SS with the guest ops

Is my wife awesome or what !!!!!!!!!!!!

73
steve
KG5VK

It is this week-end !!!!!!!!!!!!!

Of course "It" is the ARRL Phone Sweepstakes contest
and it starts at 3 PM Saturday afternoon and runs tell 9 PM Sunday night (local times CST)

It is going to be fun, new gear and more antennas at KG5VK's qth to play with

Computerized voice keying that even gives the contest exchange including the serial number automaticly and even if you need to present a fill that can be done by the voice keyer !

Yeap we could almost lock the microphone away, almost.

I have added dual monitors for increased "computer desk top space"
Band maps for the spots rcvd thru AR user Dx cluster software are clickable
I also added F Keys for a single mouse click to the rate graphs and the multiplier chart as well as change Operator tool all theses buttons are in one small but easily found box at the bottom right of the log entry window

And of course on that seperate computer monitor desk space is ACE HF prop software showing us the status of propagation on each band by color code....
Green (path supported on this freq)
yellow (path about to open or starting to open)
and red (band not yet usable)

on the left radio we have automated rotator support for 15m/20m and 40m
push one keyboard button the antenna will point to the call area for the callsign in the log window

the right radio power band is 75 meters with a beverage antenna and Four Good antennas just for that one band, the right radio is capable of all bands 10/15/20/40/75
the antennas for the higher freqs on this radio are Kt-34xa tri bander at 40 feet and a 4el 40m at 18 feet

The 75m antenna choices are from a low Moxon pointed West, a Hy Gain Hy Tower vertical with a very good ground plane, a long OCF Dipole sloping from 70 feet to 15 ft above the ground to the North West and a large Delta loop broad side favors East and West.

Left Radio is my new "found" Icom 775 DSP you guys are going to love this rig !
she of course drives the Henry 3K amp to legal limit

Right Radio is the famous FT-1000MP that Bobby KF5XV found for me
it is a really neat rig and I have it setup as our primary radio for 75m

The contest software (WriteLog)
auto switches the mike line (and the Voice keyer) to the correct radio based on where you have the mouse there are Two log entry window lines the top one is the left rig and the bottom is the right rig

We can manually select rcv audio from a SO2R switch box
this audio can be left rig in left ear and right rig in right ear
Or audio mixed or even right rig in both ears or left in both ears
easily done with one toggle switch and a pot on the Top Ten Devices DX Doubler Box which sits between the two rigs -- sounds more complex than it is !!!!!!

one radio can CQ by itself while you look at another band for an opening or multipliers on the other rig - I spent about $800 making it so we can use two radios at the same time (one transmit and one rcv with I.C.E. auto switching Band Pass filters

almost all band switching is automated like last year when you change bands change the band switch on the appropiate amplifier

This year we will probably start out the contest on 40m, then move to 75m
and the next morning get started on 20m as the sun rises

Of course with the two radio configuration we can work more than one band at a time
the rigs are set-up so that there is ONLY one Transmit signal at any time per the ARRL rules
There are no band change limits in sweepstakes so we can change bands as often as we want but we of course need to concentrate on high a High Q rate.

Our Goal is 1800 QSO's which comes out to which is a minimum of 75 QSO's per Hour
if we find ourself hunting and pouncing our rate will suffer, one way to keep the rate up is to USE the Two radio configuration while the Voice Keyer is CQing do the Search and Pounce on the other rig - just make sure you listen to both radios and answer any calls from our CQ !!!

The Tennessee contest team that took first pplace ARRL Dekta Division last year from us is K4JNY and they had 1570 Q's with a sweep
KG5VK team had 1,033 Q's with a sweep

So the 1800 target is just that a target
less than that we are looking at a need of 1600 Q's to be in the running for 1st place delta

Remember last year we were 5th in the ARRL Region
yes we made the region box and that was the first time in a long time that our team has made the region box top scores (they only list the Top five)
so even if we don't push ahead of the K4JNY crew we will make the region box again and move us a notch to fourth or third in it - iow I am really happy with the team we have !!!!!!!

The Fun is this week-end please come join us and operate
if your ears are not up to the ssb chatter you can still be an asset to our team
help us not miss that Ten Meter opening and look for multipliers on the pkt cluster spotting computer etc....

The coffee and the sodas as well as the munchies are on me
Marsh KA5M has genrously volunteered to buy the Clean Sweep mugs for our operators
and I greatly appreciate that !

Man are we going to have Fun !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Ops may start showing up at my QTH any time after 12 Noon

73
steve
KG5VK

SARA Club to be presented a Woody from Mickey Cox at Monroe Hamfest

SARA Club to be presented a Woody (Wood Plaque) from Mickey Cox at Monroe Hamfest

Plaques will be presented to the Minden ARA/N5RD, the Shreveport ARA/K5SL, and the
Central LA ARC/N8OO in recognition of those clubs' outstanding Field
Day performances this year.

For hamfest details, visit http://www.ares-nela.org/hamfest/

73,
Mickey Cox K5MC
LA Section Manager
Email: k5mc@arrl.org
LA Section Website: www.laarrl.org/

Pointing the beam..........

if using the left rig and West antenna site (formerly the N5WA array)
simply pressing the keyboard key just to the left of the number one and exclamation mark TOP keyboard numbers not the right key pad

it's called the Grey key
if shift was used it would be the squl key or something name
but we don't use shift

long winded explanation but if a call is in the call window pushing that button on 15/20/40 meters will swing the beams at that call area

Or simply roate the heading select knowb on the rotor control box
or use the CCW or CW buttons but that means keeping one hand on the switch
less ergonomic when typing and tuning the rig

cheers !

73
steve
KG5VK

WriteLog The Contesting Software at KG5VK

WrietLog is powerful software

set-up can be complicated because of it's many features
Contest OPS need not worry about set-up of the software
I have already done that :)

However I will share a few how to get the most out of the program while operating the contest
here in the BLOG over the next few weeks before the 18th

I will start with Editing a log entry
yes simple old back space or delete buttons work
but there are more tools like adding a note to a QSO logged enrty for later review
like was his call bzf for blooming zipper flipper or was that something else ?

This will help me when "cleaning" the log prior to submission

here we go.............................

Editing in the QSO Entry Window

Here is what the QSO Entry window looks like:

The character editing capabilities of the QSO Entry Window are extensive and follow:

BACKSPACE deletes the character to the left of the cursor.

CTRL+D and DELETE are identical and delete the character under the cursor.

CTRL+A moves the cursor to the beginning of the first (left most) field in the entry window.

HOME moves the cursor to the beginning of the current field.

CTRL+E moves the cursor to the end of the last field in the entry window.

END moves the cursor to the end of the current field.

CTRL+F (or right arrow) moves the cursor one character to the right.

CTRL+B (or left arrow) moves the cursor one character to the left.

ALT+W (or CTRL+BACKSPACE) clears all the fields in the Entry window, and places the cursor in the CALL field.

CTRL+W clears the current field.

ALT+T brings up the timed CQ dialog and turns timed CQ on or off.

ALT+C brings up the Rttyrite call queue, if you’re running RTTY. Otherwise it does nothing.

ALT+L forces a switch to LTRS if you’re running RTTY. Otherwise it does nothing.

Keypad * clears the RIT setting on your rig if it is attached and if it supports such an operation.

CTRL+K clears the current field to the right of the cursor.

TAB exits the current field and moves the cursor to the next one to the right, unless there isn't one. SHIFT+TAB goes to the previous one to left.

ENTER causes the current values in the Entry Window to be entered in the log at the end. (See also Special Message Accelerator Keys. If you are calling CQ, you want may turn on the preference that causes ENTER to simultaneously send CW, move the cursor through the entry fields, and log QSO's.) WriteLog can refuse to enter the QSO if there is something wrong with the entry. If so, it presents a message just below the CALL field saying what its complaining about.

The QSO fields configured to not accept the SPACE character (i.e., the callsign and numeric fields) usually respond to SPACE by moving the cursor to the beginning of the next field. However, SPACE from the right most field always goes to the CALL field. Typing a SPACE to the CALL field in the rare case (Sweepstakes only) where it is not the left most field goes either to the right, or to the first field whichever is opposite from the way it went the time before.

A right mouse click in this window brings up a menu of items that affect the window, or the radio it controls.

Editing in the QSO Log window

Let's assume that the call in the QSO Log window at number 5 below, JY/K9JY, is incorrect in that K9JY is really in the United States and not in Jordan as shown in the log. Before realizing the mistake in the heat of battle, the operator presses the Enter key and stores the QSO in the Log:

It would be great to have Jordan as a multiplier, but, unfortunately, K9JY is just another one of those 'W' contacts in the CQ WW SSB contest. To edit the contact in WriteLog is simple and follows normal Windows conventions.

First, double clicking on the QSO and the field to be corrected (in our example, the Call field containing JY/K9JY) opens a Log Edit window automatically as shown below:

You will notice that the Log Edit window automatically pops to the top of the QSO Log window. As a result, there is no need to position it on your screen; it pops up, takes the correction, and then politely goes away until needed again.

You will note that the field clicked is what is available to you. If you noticed an incorrect zone in the log, double click on the incorrect Zone to make the zone field available for edit.

Once you correct the call, press the Enter key. Your screen will now look like this:

Note two items: first, the Log Edit window politely went away. Second, note that WriteLog also corrected the country and country prefix with the edit so that the 'new country' multiplier is no longer in the log and the score has been corrected.

However, WriteLog does NOT correct the Zone for the contact for those contacts that use zones as a multiplier. For those situations, follow your editing process again and double click on the zone number for the K9JY QSO to bring up the Log Edit window, correct the zone, and press the Enter key to update the log.

Editing the time, date, or frequency of a QSO will produce a little dialog box that will allow you to either type or mouse click in the correct information.

Adding a Note to a QSO

WriteLog allows you to append a note to a QSO on the fly. Notes can be used for commentary (you're writing an article for National Contest Journal and want to remember what happened during a contest), or for reminders to you (check this station for proper country), or your own commentary about this contact. To do so, add a note to the QSO.

Once a station is in the QSO Entry window, simply type Alt-N (as in NOTE...). A mini window will pop up allowing you to type your note about the contact. All of these notes are stored in a separate file with your WriteLog contest and can be viewed with Notepad or WordPad. The popup window looks like this:

Once you have added your note, click on OK for the note to be saved.

you can read a whole bunch on WriteLog at www.writelog.com
don't over look K9JY's website linked from the wl url

73
steve
KG5VK

ARRL SweepStakes is around the corner.........

The CW Portion of ARRL SS is this coming week-end (Nov 4th)
Phone is the 18th

steve
KG5VK

Low bands is where it's at.............

a lot of the time 80/75m is so hard to listen to
because of atmospheric noise QRN and lightning crashes from thousands of miles away are really hard on the ears

with us approaching the end of the bottom of this sun spot or solar cycle we should take advantage of the quiter than normal times

No low band antenna you say, a modest vertical with 7 above ground radials or an Inverted "L" will get you there
last week I worked several new ones on 75 and 80 meters.

73
steve
KG5VK

Someone recently said no one is writing new software tools for Hams for free any more....

To that I say bull !

Here is a really neat tool that may change the dynamics of contesting

A live score Board of the action in almost real time

watch CQWW play out on www.getscores.org! Tell your friends.

written by Gerry, W1VE

Check it out !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

This is Kewel and did I mention it's FREE !

steve
KG5VK

A Fantastic little company that has the Ham Radio Spirit

It's great when you buy a product from Hams that treat other like they would want to be treated

I found a product I needed, I read the reviews

I ordered it

Got it installed and proptly took a lightning hit
my new gear was damaged

I called Jeff and he said pack it up and ship it back to us and we will fix it up and bill you for the return shipping.

Who the heck am I talking about ?
Glad you asked.............

www.GreenHeronEngineering.com

They make one product and they do an awesome job at building a quality product that can only be exelled by their service and support

The RT-20 Rotor controller
is much more than just a different rotor controller than that that came with your rotor

It has programable soft turning limits
it has stop turn for coasting compensation
it has better than 1 degree accuracy if your POT has the resolution for it

It comes standard with a buit-in RS-232 controll so your computer software can tell your rotor where to go :)

A small point and shoot know
for pointing and then hands off rotation

as well as a standard ccw and cw switch

all with service and support from Real Ham Radio ops !!!

In 36 days you may enjoy some of these features while operating ARRL SweepStakes here at KG5VK

Remember SS is 18 November !

and we will also be enjoying increased Phone band previleges

73
steve
KG5VK

The ARRL website as well as many others has band expansion news !!!

From 7.150 expanded to 7.125 for Phone

and us Extra class ops get a boat load more room on 75/80 meter phone band
they (The FCC) did nothing with respect to the Code test

read it all at http://www.arrl.org

Remember to check and make sure the date of November 18 is marked out for operating in ARRL Phone Sweepstakes contest with increased phone sub bands it should be really really interesting !!!

73
steve
KG5VK