Tiny Elephant's Contest Corner

The Latest Contest News -
A NARC Bulletin Exclusive

A monthly column by Ed Deichler, K2TE
Conducted this month by Maestro Mike, NE1V

Ed, K2TE, has to be out of town during the deadline for the November issue, so I’ve decided to assist. Please DO NOT blame the “Tiny Elephant” for my poor efforts --- drop me an E-Mail (after I get on the Internet – in about three centuries).

Blow the dust off of your computer and shine the brass on your old hand key or bug; check out the SWR on those antennas that have been sitting idle all summer; fire up that space heater linear and sag the filaments a bit. No telling how many spiders now reside in the “Trap” hotel and a hot foot may do ‘em some good. Spend a few evenings reacquainting yourself with current band conditions and rig quirks. November is here with a vengeance! This month is always exciting from a contesting perspective, because not only are the low bands beginning to quiet down, but this particular month is “chockablock” with contests to delight even the most discriminating of hams. October kicked it off in high style with the biggest DX contest of them all, the CQ WW DX Contest, Phone. Since this journal may reach you in time, I’ll discuss both the Phone and CW portions. In addition, November is also the month for both Phone and CW portions of the ARRL November Sweepstakes, a surefire way to work 5BWAS in a weekend (maybe). November looks like this:

CQ WW DX Contest, Phone Oct. 26-27, CW November 23-24

First out the gate is the granddaddy contest of them all, the wildest, zaniest two weekends in the entire year -- the CQ WW DX Contest, sponsored by CQ Magazine. This contest generally sees some really exciting and rare radio countries and some extremely wacky prefixes jamming the airwaves. This year the phone portion runs from 0000Z Oct. 26th to 2400Z Oct. 27th. The CW portion runs from 0000Z Nov. 23rd through 2400Z Nov. 24th. The contest exchange consists of RS(T) and CQ Zone. There are enough classes to run a college: Single operator all band/single band/assisted (meaning to cheat by using DX Cluster Packet spotting), high power (a gazillion watts), low power (<100 watts), QRP (<5 watts – no way, Jose!), multi-single (multi op, single transmitter), and multi-multi (multi op, multi transmitter). See what I mean? Just figgerin’ what class I am in (very poor, man, poor) causes me to have heartburn. Multi-singles must observe the 10-minute rule, which means if you QSY to a different band, you must remain there a minimum of 10 minutes. The CT contesting software will catch you on it too, if you do use it. All classes may only have one transmitted signal per band (he’s not figgerin’ in the spurs from operating a gazillion watts!). Stations may be worked once per band. Team and club competition is permitted. In fact the Yankee Clipper Contest Club (to which Ed and many other of our club members belong) gears up BIG TIME for this one. Scoring as follows: North American stations score 2 points/QSO with stations in different countries on the same continent and 3 points/QSO with stations on different continents. Stations in the same country may be worked for zone credit, but no points for the QSO. Multipliers are CQ Zones and countries (DXCC + WAE). Final score is QSO points X multipliers. For awards, send logs by Dec. 1 for Phone or Jan. 1 for CW to CQ Magazine, 76 North Broadway, Hicksville, NY 11801. Lotsa juicy trophies, plaques, and certificates for this baby.

ARRL November Sweepstakes, CW November 2-4, SSB November 16-18

For those of you who may be a bit “mike shy” or “rusty” on ye olde key, the ARRL November Sweepstakes is a great way to limber up. Who knows? You might finally snag that last state you need on 10 Meter Phone or 80 CW. To assist those who operate CW at something less than machine gun speed, the contest even sets aside Novice/QRS Op frequencies. Contest operating in a CW contest such as this is a fine way to practice for your license upgrade, too. Anyway, the contest period is from 2100Z Nov. 2nd through 0300Z Nov. 4th for you CW hounds, and from 2100Z Nov. 16th through 0300Z Nov. 18th for you phone phreaques. The operating classes are single op - high power, single op - low power (< 150 watts), QRP (5 watts or less) and multioperator. Choosing to cheat and use the DX Cluster spotting network places you in the multioperator category. Use of two or more transmitters simultaneously is verboten. The contest exchange is a bit different from most contests. It consists of a sequential serial number, a Precedence (A for low power, B for high power, and Q for QRP), your callsign, a check (the last two digits of the year in which you were first licensed) and your ARRL Section. So, for example, my 10th QSO operating high power would appear as follows in CW: NR 10 B NE1V 58 NH The use of CT contest software to automatically log, send exchanges and calculate scores simplifies matters considerably. You may work a station only once per mode (once during the CW contest and once during the Phone contest). Valid sweepstakes bands are all HF bands less the WARC bands. Multipliers are the 78 ARRL/RAC sections. You count multipliers once per contest (CW or phone). No ten minute rule applies, so if you wanna hop around to hook a needed section, have a ball, but once worked, that’s it. Final score is 2 points per contact and multiply the total QSO points by the number of different ARRL/RAC sections worked. Submit logs to ARRL November Sweepstakes, 225 Main St., Newington, CT 06111. Full particulars are in the October issue of QST, page 111.

Worked All Europe (WAE) RTTY November 2-4

The WAE RTTY contest is, for the most part, very similar to the WAE Phone and CW sections, with one major exception: to generate more activity and increase QSO points, contacts with stations worldwide are permitted. For those of you unfamiliar with the WAE contest, its rules are extensive and complex and requires a degree in Rocket Science (not really….I’m just dumb). The contest runs the same weekend as the CW Sweepstakes and times are from 0000Z Nov. 2nd through 2400Z Nov. 4th. Only 36 hours of operations are permitted and may be taken all at once or in as many as three separate groups, the times of which must be clearly noted in your logs. Contest bands and frequencies are the five HF contest bands with usual RTTY frequencies. The message exchange is simply RST +QSO, starting at 001. There are special rules for QTCs and multiplier bonuses. This contest is best run under RTTY contest software, such as “RTTY” by WF1B. Contact either Ed or myself for rules. The 2 pages single- spaced, will be gotten to you somehow. Also happening in November are:

JA International DX SSB Contest November 1-2

OK/OM Contest, November 2-4

RSGB 1.8 MHz Contest, CW, Nov. 16-18

Details can be found in the Contest Corral column in the November 1996 of QST, or the Contest Calendar in the November issue of CQ.

That schedule oughta ruin a few shaky marriages! For now, good huntin’ and 73.

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