Tiny Elephant's Contest Corner

The Latest Contest News -
A NARC Bulletin Exclusive

A monthly column by Ed Deichler, K2TE

They’re Baaack!

The swallows have returned to Capistrano; the buzzards have descended upon Hinckley, Ohio; the black flies have invaded New England, all of which can mean only one thing: it’s Spring! This year has been one of the warmest Spring seasons we have had in a long time thanks to El NiZo. The same weather phenomenon that drowned the West Coast brought us a wimpy winter, which made it bearable for antenna work most of the time. The big news, however, is not just Nature’s awakening but rather the return of Sunspots!

I first noticed that things had perked up considerably on the upper bands within a day or two of the Vernal Equinox, as if this event itself was a clue. The solar flux index percolated all the way up to the 125 range, sort of like a 200-point gain in the stock market. As I sit here writing this, it has pushed up to 140 accompanied by a flurry of nighttime activity chasing the H40AA Temotu Islands DXpedition on the high bands. To help put the solar flux index in context, it sputtered around in the 75-85 range for most of January and February, even going comatose in the high 60s briefly. The impact of such paltry numbers is that the maximum useable frequency (MUF) would be no higher than 10 MHz. On the bright side, 40 meters and below often hosted some good DX pileups during this time while beams grew cobwebs.

The significant sunspot activity in early 1998 is a pleasant surprise and maybe a harbinger of a record peak a few years down the road. I did a quick check of some of the contest and DX activity from 1992 and 1993, using 10 meters as a reference. The results were startling; I averaged several hundred QSOs during the CQ Worldwide and ARRL DX contests (CW and SSB) during those years. Since that time, however, I have only managed 30-40 contacts during the same contests with most of those being the Caribbean and South America. My antenna farm has not changed as far as 10 meters is concerned so it has been quite a dry spell. The dearth of sunspots no doubt explains why 20 meters during a contest is like Route 3 at commuting time.

The detailed relationship between sunspot activity and its effect on HF propagation has been compiled in many volumes of scientific research. I remember reading a book in grade school called Siple Station that chronicled the exploits of scientists at the South Pole during 1957-58 in what became known as the International Geophysical Year. The IGY as it came to be called was a Marshall Plan-level investigation of the solar system and its effect on the ionosphere during a period peak solar sunspot activity. Maybe it was the incredible wildness of the Antarctic or the amazing communications around the globe the folks down there demonstrated (remember - satellites didn’t exist yet) but I was hooked on radio and adventure as one and the same.

The show put on by ol’ Sol during the IGY became known as Cycle 19 for scientists to mark the 19th recorded sunspot cycle. The data gathered during that period were used to re-evaluate past observations to develop a common reference to characterize sunspot behavior. As it turns out, Cycle 19 became the benchmark for sunspot maxima. The cycle we just completed, Cycle 22, stacked up to be about the 3rd best overall. An article in the Winter 1998 issue of Communications Quarterly analyzes the prospects for Cycle 23. This cycle is assumed to look much like Cycle 19 in the buildup of sunspot numbers. Cycle 23 actually started in November 1996 and is expected to top out at the end of 2000 with a smoothed nominal sunspot peak (not solar flux index) of 220 vice 201 for Cycle 19. Bear in mind that a smoothed sunspot number is an average; the actual number over a period of days or weeks may vary +/- 30 units about the smoothed number.

Enough with the numbers, what does it mean for DXing? To provide a handle on the impact of improved sunspots, some observations over the past few weeks are in order. I noticed many stations from Siberia and the Far East would be well over S9 on 20 meters for 4-5 hours after sunset. The 15 meter band also stayed open for several hours after sundown with the south Pacific as solid as a local broadcast station. Europeans were plentiful on 12 meters along with several amateurs from the deep Asian parts of Russia and the Orient. Last and most welcome of all, 10 meters showed some real DX again, although not much past sundown in the Northeast.

Referring to the Communications Quarterly article again, the May 1998 prediction for smoothed sunspot numbers is about 6 times the November 1996 level and about 7 times LESS than the predicted peak. If sunspot performance follows the predicted curve, we could have a level 3 times higher than now by November of this year. For contesters, this is truly cause for celebration since 10 meters should be productive again. For many of us who don’t have aluminum forests and just dabble, it means working the world on 20, 15, and 10 with just wire antennas and a little patience. 20 meters will be open 24 hours a day at times and even 10 meters will accommodate an “after dinner” ragchew with the late risers in the Far East.

The buildup of sunspots has a pronounced effect on 10 meter propagation and to a lesser extent on 6 meters. All you Novice and Tech plus amateurs out there who have been bored working just South America and the States will suddenly hear a flurry of European stations calling during the day and Asian stations chiming in during the afternoon and evening. The signals won’t necessarily be real strong but they should be easy to hear and work. The best part is, you don’t need a huge investment in antenna hardware to work the band. Wire dipoles or inverted Vees around 30-35 feet up will do wonders. A 3-element 10-meter beam is easy to home-brew and is usually light enough to backpack up a modest 30-foot tower, or hoist up an old TV pole.

If the predictions are on track by the time you read this, the bands should be even better they I’m hearing now. Go ahead; throw a wire up in the trees and get on; the adventure is just beginning.

Ten-ten International Spring QSO Party 2-3 May.

As if on cue, here is a contest specifically for 10 meters. The 10-10 club is sponsoring its Spring QSO party as a periodic get-together to help amateurs remember that there IS a 10-meter band. This is a 48-hour contest that operates on CW and RTTY with just the single operator category. Contest exchange is RST, name, state/country, and 10-10 membership no. (“NM” if non-member). Contacts count as 1 point for non-member QSOs and 2 points for 10-10 members.

CQ M International DX , 9-10 May

This contest, known as “Peace (Mir) to the World”, is a 24-hour event sponsored by the Krenkel Central Radio Club of Russia. Starting at 2100Z on the 9th, the contest covers 160 through 10 meters and features CW, SSB, and SSTV which should be quite a challenge. There are nearly a dozen separate categories to enter, ranging from single operator single/multiband, single mode/mixed mode, QRP, multiband- multioperator-single transmitter, SWL, and WW2 Veteran class! Although mixed mode operation is allowed, a QSO with a station in one mode counts but a QSO with the same station in another mode on the same band does not count for points or as a multiplier. Russia uses a “P-150-C” countries list for defining valid countries to use as multipliers. Contacts with own-country are worth 1 point; same-continent country contacts count 2 points; and other-continent QSOs are 3 points. Contest exchange is signal report and a contiguous 3-digit serial number regardless of mode. Final score is the number of QSO points x sum of all multipliers. Logs for the contest go to the Krenkel CRC, POB 88, Moscow, no later than 1 July 1998. The easiest way to submit a log is to send an ASCII-formatted file to cqm98@mai.ru, thus avoiding an involuntary contribution to the Russian postal workers welfare fund.

Volta RTTY DX Contest, 9-10 May

This is a 24-hour contest starting at 1200Z on the 9th and is sponsored by the Italian ARI club in honor of Alessandro Volta. Operation takes place over 80 through 10 meters in the usual RTTY windows. You can operate single op all-bands or just a single band or have some friends over and go with a multioperator effort. If you’re not licensed, there is also an SWL category, a common feature of RTTY contests. Contest exchange is RST, QSO number, and CQ Zone (5 for New England). Multipliers are the normal DXCC countries plus each call area in the US, Canada, Japan, Australia, and New Zealand. QSO points are based on the distance of a CQ Zone from you - the further away, the more it is worth. But why worry? Just work them for the fun of it.

CQ Worldwide CW WPX, 30-31 May

This is the last of CQ Magazine’s 48-hour contests for the season. Like the SSB version in March, everyone looks for callsign prefixes. The 48 hours applies only to multioperator stations; all other categories are limited to 36 hours of operation. Off periods must single operator stations must be at least 60 minutes. Power categories are QRP (<5 watts); low power (100 watts); and high power. There are a number of interesting operating categories besides the traditional single operator/multioperator groups. Modest stations with a tribander and dipoles have there own category (tribander/single element). Another is a restricted band entrant, such as a novice or a technicians.

A rookie entrant is one who has had a license for 3 years or less. Contest exchange is a report plus a progressive 3 digit number; multi operator stations will use a separate serial number for each band. QSOs on 10 through 20 meters between different continents are worth 3 points each while contacts on 40, 80, and 160 count 6 points each. Same-continent QSOs in North America are 2 point and 4 points for the respective band groups for US/VE and US/XE, US/TG, etc. Finally, contacts within the US count as multipliers but not points.

73, de K2TE

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