Tiny Elephant's Contest CornerThe Latest Contest News -
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Tiny Elephant's Contest CornerThe Latest Contest News -
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I just finished this past weekend working a little of the CQ Worldwide Prefix contest - very little of it. By the time this issue hits the post office, I hope to be nursing my sore muscles back to health from the Boston Marathon. Maybe I’ll be able to share some ham-related memories. I thought about running with an HT but I would be harder to understand than WA1UXA because of the effort of running. Besides, its hard to get water out of an HT.
At least I have plenty of time to get in shape for “towerthoning” as the aluminum tree season gets underway. I’ll be busy running up and down the tower as I work on my 160- meter inverted L project and do some ER on my rotator. I figure the job will be good training for helping NE1V with planting his antenna tree this year. Mike finally took the plunge and is in full swing with putting up a tower so he can sit on the top and yell raspberries at the tiny elephant. Let me take this opportunity to invite anyone over who wants to learn how to wield a pick, dig a hole, bend rebar, square a tower leg, cut/bend/clamp guy wires, and mix and pour concrete.
As Spring gets in full swing, flea markets (and black flies) sprout up. I understand that Rochester happens on May 11 this year, perfect for Mother’s day weekend. I’m already pondering the things I need to look for and making my list. My interests usually center on antenna systems and all the paraphernalia that goes with them. One of the things I’ve found useful on the Web in recent months is the number of home pages amateurs have been assembling. There are a lot of articles on contest stations and antenna designs, often a look at the “secrets” of some of the mega-stations. The Web is also a good way to get a consensus on popular antennas for the low bands as my plans for an inverted L on 160 will attest. In many ways, the Web is like thumbing through the ARRL Handbook.
Anyway, getting back to the time at hand, its Spring, and with it, come the sprints and stateside QSO parties. These mini-contests combine the fun of a big-time contest without swallowing the whole weekend. They are sort of a compromise between wanting to get on the air and being outside to enjoy the weather. As the DX fades with the cold weather, lets see what contest flowers are popping up in May.
ARRL 902/1296/2304 MHz Spring Sprint,11 May, 0600-1300 local time
ARRL 50 MHz Spring Sprint,18 May (2300Z) to 19 May (0300Z)
VHF/UHF enthusiasts can have a Field Day during the mad month of May. Each band is a separate contest with scoring being 1 point/QSO, unlike weighted scoring for the higher bands as in the past. The exchange is simply your grid-square location, which is FN42 for us. I would not be surprised to see several hams participating from Rochester during the flea market, especially on the microwave bands. It makes a good excuse to try out that new HT you just bought using the 18-element yagi mounted on your head. On a more serious note, you can test out the range of the HTs over the 1000’ distance needed to qualify for a Field Day QSO.
Massachusetts QSO Party, 4 May (1800Z) to 5 May (0400Z and 1100Z-2100Z)
Texas QSO Party, 4-5 May.
The first weekend in May offers the unique opportunity to do some HF mobiling through Southern New England putting out counties in Connecticut and Massachusetts while working some of the huge, but empty, Texas counties. All 3 contests are open to CW and SSB stations on 80 through 10 meters, settling in on the upper part of the General CW allocations and around the middle of the General portion of the phone bands. The exchange is a serial number, report, and state (or county if you’re mobile) for Connecticut and Texas; Massachusetts is just the report and state (or county). In this age of nearly continuous repeater coverage, it’s nice to experience some long- haul QSOs from the car on HF. It has been many years since I was an active county hunter. I remember chasing nearly a dozen mobiles as they rambled through the Texas countryside and a new county every 30 to 40 minutes. In retrospect, it was all a stepping stone to DX: working all the counties led to working all the countries.
The last megacontest of the season occupies the 48 hours of the Memorial Day weekend. The rules are the same as those for the SSB contest held at the end of March. The object is to work as many different callsign prefixes as possible, stateside and DX stations included. Station categories include single operator (single band or all band), assisted (with packet) or unassisted; Multioperator/single transmitter; and multi- multi. The multi-multi stations can operate the full 48 hours while the other categories are limited to 36 hours. Contest exchange is a serial number and signal report; each QSO counts as one point, and a station can only be worked once per band.
Many DX stations enthusiastically support this contest since they often get special prefix allocations to use. Often, a rarely- used prefix alternative is issued (for example, Haiti might show up as a 4V2 prefix, causing the inattentive to scramble for a “new” country). Even Britain has joined the chorus, recently issuing new M- series prefixes (e.g., MX0AAA) as the G- series of callsigns have become filled up. The prefix contest is a good time to set a personal DXCC goal such as working DXCC with the alternate prefixes for countries.
Enjoy the Spring WX (you certainly are due!) and the light fare of contesting. I hope to see a lot you at Rochester in a couple of weeks. Until then, keep tuning and chasing that new one!
73 de TE