iCal (a Google On-Line Contest Calendar)

click here

also a note from the original creator/maintainer of this calendar........

Greetings!

I have had a number of enquiries recently about the whereabouts of the
iCal contest calendar I was maintaining. I say 'was', because a number
of things have conspired to prevent me from providing and updating the
calendar as I used to. Firstly. for a number of reasons, I decided not
to renew the .Mac account where the calendar lived, so the previously
posted link to it no longer works. Secondly, and more detrimentally (for
the calendar, at least!), I have a young and active family and no longer
have even the relatively small amount of time it takes to keep the
calendar up to date.

What I have done is transfer the calendar to Google Calendars where it
can be maintained by more than one person for the benefit of all. If you
have a Google account and would be willing to assist with keeping the
calendar up to date, please let me know off list and I'll set you up.

The calendar is at
http://www.google.com/calendar/embed?src=2ma3qii1ef1u59sec4pf19epnc%40group.calendar.google.com&ctz=America/Vancouver

and an iCal version is at
http://www.google.com/calendar/ical/2ma3qii1ef1u59sec4pf19epnc%40group.calendar.google.com/public/basic.ics

I really hope that we can keep this thing going as a group - I know a
lot of people find it useful.

73 de Anthony VA7IRL
______________________________

I find this pretty neat Tool Bar app

http://haminfobar.myradiotoolbar.com

pretty awesome free app and is available for Firefox browser or IE

73
steve

ARRL RTTY Round Up

The first weekend of 2008 provides an opportunity to enjoy some healthy competition. The ARRL RTTY Roundup has quickly become one of the best contests using the digital modes. RTTY, PSK31, and several other digital modes are used to communicate with other amateurs all around the world. If you've wanted to try your hand at digital operating, this contest is an exciting way to get your feet wet. The ARRL RTTY Roundup is from 0000 January 5, 2008-2400 UTC January 6, 2008. Complete rules can be found on page 97 of the December QST.

need a Smith Chart or just a pc of graph paper

try this FREE site and download what you need
no registration or signup required and it's FREE

73
steve

A couple of OPS at the Helm of KG5VK during ARRL SS

Ray AD5ZT
making his first ever DX Phone contact
during a visit to KG5vk

N5VU Marcel & Ka5M Marsh
at
KG5VK
During ARRL Sweepstakes Phone Contest 2007

Look at this............ Pile Up great graphics etc

Pile Up

28 pages of some awesome stats
some of the text is in foreign language but the graphics communicate rater well

pretty neat stuff

73
steve
KG5VK

Check this out esp if your planning on a cw contest

Looking for an opportunity to sharpen your ears prior to the big one this
weekend? The full recording of my SOAB effort in 2005 and 2006 CQWW CW is
available online at http://www.k5zd.com/live/

I also plan to do audio streaming during the contest again this year. You
can find the live audio at the same address.

I also find reading the experiences of previous contests can be helpful for
"getting in the mood." :) You can read my contest reports at
http://www.k5zd.com/articles/index.html

I also find W2SC does a great job of writing up his adventures to 8P on his
web site at http://tgeorgens.home.mindspring.com/. He has some audio
recordings as well.


Good luck to everyone in the contest!

Randy Thompson, K5ZD
k5zd@contesting.com
www.k5zd.com

Wow ! we had agreat time this past week-end (ARRL SS)

Wow !

Awesome turn out 13 visitors to the KG5VK station, including Mr. Murphy

In fact Murphy's Law showed up just in time for our first QSO
allowing us a late start by about 45 minutes while a few few of us jumped through hoops looking for a problem of RFI or equipment failure when all it was was a hung relay contact on an antenna switching relay !

just over 1100 Q's and a Sweep with North West Territory being our final multiplier !

here is the overall score summary..............

__________________________________________________________

ARRL Section : LA

Club/Team : Sundown DX Association

Software: N1MM Logger V7.11.0

Band QSOs Pts Sec

3.5 429 858 20

7 83 166 5

14 111 222 33

14 489 978 19

21 26 50 3

28 2 4 0

Total 1140 2278 80

Score : 182,240

___________________________________________________________________
Those in attendance at this years ARRL SS "Boys from the North" Team
include............

AD5ZT Ray
N5VU Marcel
KA5M Marsh
N5FH Floyd
N5SH Glenn
K5SL Randy
KF5XV Bobby
KH2DF Rick
NZ5S Richard
K5DLM Mike
KG5VK Steve

What fun we had, Marcel had us all rolling out of our seats when he said
"the station beginding with k", after a pile up answered his cq ss call

We averaged one QSO every 1.263 minutes !!!
improving on that is going to be a though challenge next year

The live on-scores database showed us in second place in our catgory among some Top DX/Contest clubs with the likes of K2nny in first place above us, and NT8V in third place below us with K1Kp and W4MY all super stations with well experienced ops at their helm

IOW We did damn good and I hope to see us in first place in the region box for a Multi-op team, as well as first in our state and Division, when the results are published next year !

Food was plentiful with Gumbo, Vegetable soup, Chili being my favorites
No food went to waste it was all scarfed up before the last op (Randy K5SL) headed home
Sunday night !

A special thanks to Randy and Marcel, Randy for staying late tell the end Sunday night
and Marcel for the long hours in the chair which we both productive and entertaining !

Marsh, I am so thrilled you helped me get the most out of my new filters in the FT-1000MP,
(I had to be shown how to turn the filters on that I just installed, yeap embarrassing but true)

You all let me know who wants Sweep Mugs,
mean while I am scrutinizing the log (looking at the notes posted for changes that we not done on the fly).

and hope to follow up this post in a few days with some graphics
along with comparison charts of years past data.

Thanks again to all that came and played !

73
Steve
KG5VK

KT0R to be hear again during ARRL SS.....

(the following is copied from the Contest Reflector)

I think many on the list are aware we lost Dave, KT0R, a great contester and a good friend on September 20 to cancer. The Minnesota Wireless Association is still trying to imagine the contesting season without one of our star members. I know Dave has probably worked everyone on this list and has conversed with many of you. His enthusiasm and love of the hobby was magnetic as Dave trained others to become contesters from his small but mighty city lot location. Al, K0AD, the MWA club president said it best when he called Dave the heart and soul of the MWA. Thirty two MWA members attended Dave's funeral and a memorial fund was also established to help his family. I am so proud to be part of such a fantastic club! You can read more about Dave in the upcoming January NCJ where his story will be featured.

In honor of Dave a group of us in the MWA have formed a little club whose purpose is two fold. First, we want to protect the call in hopes one day one of his two young sons will become licensed and will want the call. Second, we want the mighty KT0R to be heard in some of Dave's favorite contests. This weekend a group of us will be operating from Dave's station at the invitation and encouragement of his wonderful wife, Adrienne. I think she misses the chaos heard in the basement shack during contest season so we will once again take over basement and provide pizza and excitement for the family.

It won't be the same working KT0R without Dave sitting in the big chair but, we will do our best to live up to his legacy!

CQ SS!

73,

Greg K0OB

ARRL Phone Sweepstakes is this Saturday / Sunday

An OP just telephoned and asked if I was still planning on playing in the contest since my recent hospital stay

The short answer is YES !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

The long winded reply is below......................


I would have to be Dead "literally" to miss SS !

I feel pretty good today, I actually ran a new pc of hard line to the
shack yesterday with help of my wife (how about that for spouse support)
I know several of you offered to help with the hard line, but when I was ready Zo was here
it only took us about 30 minutes

Played last night on 40 and 75 meters
I simply love the new 1.8 khz filters I installed from INRAD in my Ft-1000MP
and found a couple of big sigs that were on 75 but neither were just
above and just below my listening freqs to test the roofing filter
but I do like less hiss I am hearing on the FT-1000MP

Worked on the ends of the hard line some today
and will be finishing up tomorrow
(the hard line goes to the K9AY loop system)

With the new WX0B Six Pak antenna controller installed we are able to use any antenna in the farm with either radio A or B
I love being able to use any antenna in the farm with either radio !

I have also been playing with the voice keyer (RFI) checks etc....

The six pak two radio antenna switch caused me a few head aches as I
was attempting to automate it, with manual over ride available
that got too complex

right now I have settled on this...........

Band pass filters are automated with what band the radio is selected to
the antenna choices are manual with One single box
left knob is choosing the antenna for the left radio
right knob is choosing the antenna for that radio

neither radio can steal an antenna once it is selected
so the safety factor for that is built-in
we band change Amps when we change bands on the rig (manually) nothing
knew there

Final RFI testing will be Thursday
with full blown QRO on both radio A and Radio B
thursday and thursday night

A bit more of my health issues for those wanting to know....

My next doc apt is this Wednesday
but that is a consult towards the next step either surgery or pain
management doc
(needles in the back of the neck)
they call it pain management
I call it YUCK !
mean while I am on pain killers as well as extra strength tylenol when
taking a break from the strong stuff which after awhile makes me doppie

All I need for this week-end is OPS

pretty sure we will have........ * are confirmed OPS

KA5M Marsh *
Randy K5SL on Sunday *
Marcel Saturday and Sunday *
Bobby (maybe for a few hours at kick off Saturday)
Hugo (Sunday only and he will be the Sun Rise OP) *
Matt * K5DAZ
Brian Lewis K5RV * Sunday afternoon
KH2DF Rick *
K5JBB Justin
K5SRZ David (not sure have not talked to him)
Me *

AD5ZT duration wants to be part of the team but does not want to bog
us down with slow qso rates and is willing to use dx spider and
propagation software to assist us, this is also the same for Glenn
N5SH, and Mike Ke5dlm

Anyone that wants to play, can come......
OPS that generate rate are the ones that will man the radio
as the ops that can, are investing their time to place our team high in the results
there is plenty of fun, even if your not a Rate maker !

Shack familiarization tour starts any time after 12 noon Saturday
Those from outside our area or that have not been mentioned in the OPS list that are reading this and are interested in playing simply email me
for directions to the QTH and allow me to coordinate your participation

I have plenty of sleeping space
for those that wish to remain here for the duration of the contest

The two primary Kick Off Teams are.....
Ka5m and Kg5vk
and
Kf5xv and K5JBB

Marcel is slated to be slid in and is a great rate maker
not sure when he will arrive

Who have I missed !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!


73
steve

soon I will be QRV again

Monday
I was admitted to the hospital because of chest pains etc
Just got shown a really kewel image of my healthy heart

My only trouble lies in my neck (three ruptured Discs)
I see a much lighter camera case
in my near future !

it's Thursday evening

I thank everyone of you for your prayers
they meant and mean a lot to me !

Steve

real time band condition analysis based on cluster spots...

Guys this is a very kewel app..............

click here

refresh your browser manually for up dates
each graphic represents a different band
the data is based on the live spots occurring on the Dx spyder network !

This is so darn neat !

73
steve

Sad news from friends in Luxembourg.....

Lx1BI Roger is now a silent key..........

click here to read more

RF Radio Sport website

http://rfsport.com/

73
steve
kg5vk

I really enjoyed this artcile on Iambic keying versus non

http://www.morsex.com/pubs/iambicmyth.pdf

73
steve
KG5VK
di dit

do you know what contest occurs the week-end of Halloween ?

October 27th is the CQ WW DX Phone contest

it presents an awesome way to quickly increase the country totals you have towards DXCC
and it is down right fun !

73
steve
KG5VK

so what the heck is SO2R any ways

The idea is to look for other stations and answer then while your calling CQ on another band

again The MAD River Contest club SS Handbook does a great job explaining SO2R during Sweepstakes......................

So how do you operate SO2R in SS? The objective is to be able to CQ on one band while
searching on another. You want to be able to easily work people who answer your CQ, but you
also want to be able to find new stations, stop CQing to work them, then start CQing again.

Here is a typical SO2R scenario – its 18Z hour on the Sunday of SS CW. One radio is CQing on 40M
and getting an answer every two to three minutes. In the meantime, you’re scanning 10M on the
second radio with the beam northwest looking for KL7 and VY1 for your last two section multipliers.

Eureka! There’s KL7Y on 28038 with a good signal. When he finishes his QSO and send QRZ, you
stop your CQ on 40M and dump your call to KL7Y. If he answers someone else, you start CQing
again on 40M. However, if he answers you then copy his exchange, send your exchange, log the
QSO THEN start CQing on 40M again.

Rate is the name of the game, QSO Rate in ARRL SS

here is a vital excerpt from the MAD River Contest Club SS handbook.........

High power SS is almost 100% a rate contest. You need to call CQ constantly to finish well.
Maintaining a run frequency is an art unto itself, but here are a few tips:

• Adjust your CQ to your current audience. If signals are loud and the rate is good, you can
shorten up your CQs. If conditions are poor (perhaps on the low bands with QRN) or the rate is
slow, you may need to slow down and lengthen your CQ to draw attention to your signal.

• The best way to hold a frequency is to be making QSOs quickly.
While this might seem obvious,
there are things you can do to make this happen.
Keep your exchange short, and don’t repeat anything unless asked.
Again, tailor your technique to the audience you think is there.

• If a frequency dries up, but you don’t want to change bands,
try a different place in the band.
Vary your CQing spot in the band by trying down low, up high, or somewhere in the middle.
With one radio, if you’re S&Ping then you’re at best holding your own and at worst losing the
contest. With two radios you can CQ on one radio and S&P on the second.

With high power, if you are doing a good job of making yourself available to QSO, most of the
section multipliers will come to you. Don’t start to worry about multipliers until the second half of the contest.

Usually, you’ll end the first day with a section count in the mid-seventies, which leaves
only a few to worry about.

However, that doesn’t mean that you shouldn’t feel a little kick if a
difficult section calls in early or on an unexpected band. (In the 1996 CW SS, VY1JA called K8CC
on 3518 the first night!)

In reality, none of the sections are difficult to work as long as there is
reasonable activity from that section. These days there are permanent and rental contest stations in PR and VI, which typically makes them easy to work.

Often, there will be one or more Canadian sections (never including Ontario) which proves elusive, particularly on CW.
If you hear any of these, work ‘em now - you might not hear them later. 􀀀

A few Tips from the MAD River SS Handbook

Marsh KA5M pointed me to a couple of Blogs

One of which contains a note about the K4JNY station dismantling
this is Big news to us as they are the ones that had been bumping us from first place in our division and keeping us down in the region box !
Read more here

the important part is..............

" I'm gathering things I need from the piles of stuff from the K4JNY station teardown, "

The other Blog contains the Mad River Radio Club Sweepstakes Handbook
which I highly recommend every SS Op read

here is some important excerpts from the from of the manuscript.....
(the first example most of us LA folks know but read on....)
-------------------------------------------------------------

It is important to become familiar with the names, territories, and official abbreviations for the
various ARRL sections because there are opportunities for ambiguities and confusion, which lead
to errors in logging. For example:

• “Los Angeles County” is a section and most people associate Los Angeles with “LA”. However
“LA” is the abbreviation for the state of Louisiana; Los Angles County is “LAX”. Your logging
program will most likely accept “LA” as the section for a W6 since a callsign can appear from
just about any section these days. But keep in mind that when the ARRL scores your log, it
counts “LA” as Louisiana and if that’s wrong, you lose the QSO.

Other sections with similar
names are Orange County (ORG) and the state of Oregon (OR), San Diego County (SDG) and
the state of South Dakota (SD). Ambiguous state combinations abound: Arkansas (AR) and
Arizona (AZ), Alaska (AK) and Alabama (AL), and the quadruple-header of Michigan (MI),
Minnesota (MN), Missouri (MO) and Mississippi (MS).

• The California sections “Sacramento Valley” and “Santa Clara Valley” sound very similar, but
the abbreviation for the former is “SV” and the latter is “SCV”. Transpose the two and you lose
the QSO as well.

• It’s not uncommon for a Canadian station in one of the sections comprised of combined
provinces to give his province as the exchange rather than the section name. In SS most
logging programs will not accept a province abbreviation which is not a section. Most people
will substitute the section name; so if you hear a NB, NS or PEI substitute MAR and for YT, NWT or NU the abbreviation NT should be substituted.

• Hawaii, and all of the US possessions in the Pacific Ocean are grouped under the Pacific
section, abbreviation “PAC”. In the Caribbean Ocean, Puerto Rico is a section (abbreviation
“PR”) and the Virgin Islands are a section (abbreviation “VI”). Guantanamo Bay (KG4) is
included as part of VI.

Listed on the next page in this manuscript are the names and official abbreviations for
the eighty ARRL sections.
Become familiar with the names and abbreviations, and perhaps we can avoid
having a busted exchange deleted from our SS log.
----------------------------------------------------------------

30 very worth while contesting Tips

click here for K9JY's tips