Tiny Elephant's Contest Corner

The Latest Contest News -
A NARC Bulletin Exclusive

A monthly column by Ed Deichler, K2TE

The March club program definitely left me with renewed respect for the voltages in those lines. I've long known that power line voltages were in the thousands of volts and were deadly. Nearly all of us at one time or another have been shocked by the standard 120-volt lines that service the house. The one thing that I found amazing about the standard 20,000-volt lines that service residential communities is the subtle way in which a downed line can kill. A broken line can generate tremendous heat from the current passing into the ground to melt and fuse the dirt around it. After a short time, The wire no longer cracks and sizzles as the fused soil is now insulating it from the ground. The wire now looks "dead" - prompting someone to pick it up.

I understand that the main distribution lines carry 230,000 volts, with the real champ being the high-voltage DC lines that pack 450,000 volts ("bolts" if a tree falls on them). The magnetic fields around these lines are substantial as evident from health studies done in Sweden of people living close to such lines. I've often thought about running along these lines since they usually cut through wooded areas away from homes and dogs. I think I'll pass on the idea; it would be a bitter irony to increase my risk of cancer while trying to stay healthy.

The past month saw me reach a high and a low in DX contesting in the space of two weeks. The ARRL CW and SSB contests were held in February and March, respectively. I operated solo in both events using the packet spotting network. I had a lot of fun racking up Qs in the CW contest to the tune of 1372 contacts. The all-time high at K2TE is just 2 dozen more Qs from the 1992 CQ Worldwide CW contest when I operated multi-single and sunspots EXISTED. Granted, I had a much better rig to go with other station improvements; however, 10 meters was dead for me (NO contacts), so things were even.

The glow of a great effort turned to glum two weeks later for the SSB DX contest. The day before the contest, I saw a notice on the cluster that a solar storm had occurred. Sure enough, Friday night was an exercise in frustration trying to work Europeans on 40 and 80 - something we normally take for granted. The usually strong stations I could hear without too much difficulty, but they had a lot of trouble hearing me. Things improved somewhat by Saturday night but not to the point it was worth staying up all night. The fact that the South American path was open on 15 meters and briefly on 10 meters was little compensation because the ham population is a lot less than in Europe. When the final minute flipped, I had only 668 Qs in the log. Total operating time was several hours less than for the CW contest but things were obviously dismal.

For every gloomy day there is a bright one to follow and such was the case here. The weekend before the contest I had put up a "ewe" receiving antenna. The ewe is a low wire antenna that resembles an upside-down "U", consisting of two short vertical sections and the horizontal top section connecting them. The antenna was designed by Floyd, WA2WVL, to give him acceptable receive antenna performance without the space needed for a beverage antenna. (My ewe is twelve feet high on the vertical legs and about 55 feet long.) Antenna models indicate a good front-to-back ratio; with a preamp, stations in the desired direction come through nicely. The simplicity and compactness of the antenna make it attractive to big guns as well as space- challenged hams.

The antenna I put up was intended to work on 160 and 80 meters. I could barely hear stations on 160 but 80 proved to be much better as European stations were down slightly and noise and splatter were noticeably less. I understand that John, WS1E, has put up a ewe so we will have to compare notes. I've got a preamp to put in line with the antenna after I do some more tweaking with it. I hope to play with it during these contests coming up in April:

Spanish RTTY Contest. April 5-6.

Known as the EA RTTY contest, this is a 24-hour contest that starts at 1600Z on Saturday and covers 80 through 10 meters. Categories are single operator, all band or single band; multi-operator all bands; and SWL. The exchange is RST and CQ zone for us while EA stations add a one or two letter code for their province. The contest allows contacts with other countries in order to maximize participation. Scoring on 10 to 20 meters: count 1 point/own-continent QSO, 2 points/other-continent QSO; 40 and 80 meters: 3 points/own-continent QSO and 6 points/other-continent QSO. A stateside QSO will only count for the country multiplier credit (i.e., zero point value). EA1MV is looking for logs within 30 days of the end of the contest.

MARAC County Hunters. April 12-13.

Here is one that I used to participate in years ago and may drop in on. It is a 48-hour SSB contest that focuses on working as many US counties as possible. The idea is to look for mobile stations that often park on county lines for double or even triple multiplier points. Contacts with mobiles are worth 15 points while fixed station are a measly 1 point. Scoring is simply the total number of points times the number of counties worked. Operating frequencies are around the middle part of the General phone bands.

This is a good contest for those in the club sporting those feature-packed "cigar box" rigs made for mobiling. Why not throw it in the car and drive up to Pack Monadnock and give the county hunters a new one?

Logs for the contest go to W0OWY by 8 May. If you like this type of thing, you can try the CW version that takes place the weekend of May 3-4.

Japan CW DX Contest. April 12-14.

This is a 48-hour contest that starts at 2300Z on April 12. We are allowed to operate only 30 hours maximum while JA stations can operate the full 48 hours. Operation takes place on 10 through 20 meters. Several operating categories are available: single operator/high power or single operator/low power, single band or multi-band in each category; multi-operator; and maritime mobile. The object is to work as many Japanese prefectures as possible (50 maximum), plus 3 territorial islands. Contest logs go to the Five Nine Magazine.

Based on my experiences in the ARRL SSB DX contest, don't expect Japanese stations to be workable most of the day. Your best bet is 20 meters for an hour or two after the contest starts. The JA stations may come through in the mornings between 1200Z- 1400Z. If the propagation Gods are REALLY nice, you may hear them around 2200Z-2300Z on 15 meters. Of course, if the sun throws a tantrum again, go out and do yard work or take the XYL to the movies.

Michigan QSO Party, 19-21 April.

For those with modest contest ambitions, there are a couple of stateside QSO parties taking place. The Michigan QSO Party covers two blocks of time from 1800Z April 19 to 0300Z April 20, and 1100Z April 20 to 0200Z April 21. Exchange is simply RST, QSO number, and state for us. CW and SSB modes on 160 through 10 meters will use the upper portions of the General class band segments. Logs go to K8ED by July 1.

Nebraska QSO Party, 26-27 April.

The other stateside QSO party this month covers 24 hours beginning 1700Z on Saturday. It is an all-mode (meaning RTTY), all-band (meaning 160 meters) contest. For each Nebraska station worked, just send and RST and your state. Logs go to the Nebraska QSO Party, PO Box 375, Fort Calhoun, NE 68023-0375.

I hope to use these parties to get some data on the ewe; hopefully, I will NOT hear them. One thing often overlooked in state QSO parties is that special event or club stations put on a Field Day-like performance. It is a great way to get 5BWAS for a difficult state.

Back to In this issue...