Tiny Elephant's Contest Corner

The Latest Contest News -
A NARC Bulletin Exclusive

A monthly column by Ed Deichler, K2TE

Preparation

Contesting season is about to get underway within the next few weeks as one of the DX megacontests takes place the last weekend of the month. Well, hold on, I'm getting ahead of myself. After the eyeball-popping, DX- drooling visit to the K3LR antenna farm I set about in earnest to build my 80-meter quad. The antenna is a 2-element design that hangs off a long boom from the top of the tower. Many hams have had experience with quads designed for 10 through 20 meters and they are readily recognizable with the crossed spreaders holding up the wires. The biggest obstacle for such a design on 80 meters would be the spreaders which would have to span about 90 feet. Fortunately, my antenna takes advantage of the tower height and a lot of rope in place of spreaders to make such an idea practical.

The antenna is a copy of the one designed by Dean, N6BV, and described in the ARRL Antenna Compendium, Volume 5. I saw the antenna at Dean's QTH last year and realized that I had a very similar tower configuration, so I wanted to give it a try. The first job was getting a boom made that would reach out 35 feet or more. I had a boom from a 10- meter beam laying around but it was only 21 feet long. I checked some antenna leftovers I had and found a boom from an old tribander that was just the right inside diameter to fit over the 10-m boom. A weekend of cutting, hammering, drilling, and clamping and I had a 35-foot, double-trussed work of art.

The next step was to cut and measure the wire for each loop. Each loop totals about 268 feet so I knew I would have to do some cutting and soldering. I also borrowed Dean's idea of making two separate halves for each loop with the idea of pulling each half up the tower and soldering things from the tower. This is not as awkward as it sounds since I already have an extension cord running up to the top to power my Christmas star. The cutting and measuring was pretty straightforward; I just had to make sure I positioned the insulators at the right places so I could tie the guy ropes later.

The final step before hoisting everything topside is to get the relay box built. Dean designed the antenna to work Europe or stateside by switching between director and reflector and switching additional inductance in or out. The relay box is a simple matter of a small power supply through a 4-position switch to relays that I plan to mount about half way up the tower in a large plastic box. It looks like a 2-3 hour project that I should be able to get done in one day. (Soldering irons are right-handed and I'm not.)

If all goes well, I hope to have the antenna working 2 or 3 weeks before the CQ Worldwide SSB DX contest. If last August is any kind of prognosticator, DX should be better than the past few years come late October. If propagation does improve, here is a sampling of what will be happening:

VK/ZL/Oceania Contest, 4-5 October (SSB); 11-12 October (CW)

Each of these contests is 24 hours long, starting at 1000Z on their respective Saturdays. Stations may operate 80 through 10 meters in categories of single operator, multi-operator, or just SWL. The exchange is simply an RS(T) and serial number. Each VK/ZL/Oceania station counts as 10 points on 80 meters; 5 points on 40; and 1,2, and 3 points on 20, 15, and 10 meters, respectively. Multipliers are each VK/ZL/Oceania prefix worked per band.

I hope the propagation Gods will see fit to open the Pacific up for 10 meters and keep the nights quiet for 80 meters so I can try the new antenna. Logs to VK3APN within 6 weeks of the end of the contest.

International HELL Contest, 4-5 October.

Every month there is a contest that catches my eye for one reason or another. I'm sure you can guess why I picked this one out. I couldn't find any definition in the rules as to what it stands for. The contest is sponsored by the German DARC amateurs; maybe it means something different in German.

Operation is on 80 meters between 1400- 1600Z on the 4th and 40 meters between 0900-1100Z on the 5th. There is a final segment on Thursday, October 9th, for 144 and 430 MHz but I don't think we will be able to work much. Contest participants may be found by calling CQ HELL TEST. Exchange is just RST and a serial number starting at 001. A QSO counts as 1 point; multipliers are DXCC countries and each call districts in JA/W/VE. Given the hours of operation, this contest sounds like a propagation test to Europe. Why not listen for the hell of it?

QRP ARCI CW QSO Party, 11-12 Oct.

Another of the QRP club contests is being held this month beginning at 1200Z on the 4th and running till 2400Z on the 5th. Operating frequencies are the upper CW portions of 6 through 160 meters. There are 4 categories of single operator participation: single band, all band, high band (20-6 meters), and low band (40-160 meters). Contest exchange is RST, country/state, output power, and ARCI member number (if applicable) or "NM". Working ARCI members count as 5 points, same-continent QSOs are 2 points, and DX QSOs are 4 points. Multipliers are each DXCC country and W/VE/VK province. There is an additional multiplier of 7 for operating less than 5 watts, and a multiplier of 10 for running less than 1 watt. Total score is QSO points X total multipliers. K5VOL will be looking for logs by 5 November 1997.

JARTS WW RTTY Contest, 18-19 Oct.

The Japanese CQ Magazine follows the US version of a worldwide RTTY contest with a 48-hour contest of its own. The contest covers 80-10 meters with special windows at 3520-3525 KHz and 7025-7040 KHz. Contest categories are single operator, multi- operator/multi-transmitter, and SWL. Contest exchange is RST and operator age; YLs and XYLs get to send "00" and multi- operator stations send "99" in lieu of age. QSO points are counted as 2 for same- continent contacts, and 3 for DX contacts. Multipliers are DXCC countries worked and each call area in JA/W/VE/VK countries. Logs go to JH1BIH by 31 December 1997.

CQ Worldwide SSB DX Contest, 25-26 October.

The month goes out with a bang with the annual CQ "megashouting" contest. Everyone in the world with a microphone is fair game throughout the weekend from 160 through 10 meters. Stations send a signal report and their CQ zone (5 for us). CQ Magazine tries to level the playing field for prizes with numerous categories so the QRP station with a dipole can be just as proud as the multi-multi behemoth. You can operate all bands, single band, with or without packet assistance; high power, low power (100 watts or less), and QRP (<5 watts); multi-op/single TX, and multi-op/multi-TX.

A new twist this year is the team contest category. A team is defined as any 5 amateurs operating in any single operator category. The team submits their score as a group; each individual team member is allowed to submit his personal score as well. Those hams organized as a team must notify CQ before the contest starts.

Scoring a contest like this is involved. Fortunately, programs like CT make it a no- brainer. For those just dabbling in the contest who want to see how they stack up, each QSO is 2 points for same-continent contacts and 3 points for countries on different continents. Multipliers are the number of zones and countries worked on each band. Remember to submit your log to CQ Magazine by 1 December 1997.

Whew! This looks like a busy month to kick off the contest season. Here is hoping it is an enjoyable one for you!

73 DE K2TE

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