Tiny Elephant's Contest Corner

The Latest Contest News -
A NARC Bulletin Exclusive

A monthly column by Ed Deichler, K2TE

Did We Blow It?

I remember writing in the February NARC Bulletin that the NH QSO Party for 1998 was defunct based on the NHARA being all out of sorts. Back in November, I had emailed the amateur who had been managing the contest in the past to see if N1FD could be entered as a club bonus station. He told me he no longer was responsible for the event and gave the email for another ham who had picked it up. Several emails to the fellow over the next month produced nothing. Related messages about the status of the NHARA, one of the supporters of the QSO party, led me to believe the contest was a silent key.

Imagine my surprise when I got back from vacation and talked to Mike, K7CTW, to find that N1FD was active in a very "non- SK" NH QSO party. It seems that Al, N1FIK, took it upon himself to get the contest up and running on short notice. Mike and Bob, KD1AW, managed to put N1FD on the air for much of the weekend, logging several hundred Qs in the process. It reminds me of a similar time several years ago when I activated WB1FFZ (ugh!!) from my QTH with the help of several NARC members.

I have a lot of mixed feelings about how the contest was handled. I usually don't like to slam anyone who gives his time and talent for organizing an event. I learned a long time ago that what comes around, goes around. Al has incurred a lot of glares from NARC for his thinly disguised humorous awards to the club for our Field Day efforts. I give you a tip of the hat, Al, for salvaging the NH QSO party at the last minute.

I look back at the NH QSO party and wonder, DID WE BLOW IT? NARC is by far the largest club in NH and we certainly know how to operate as our Field Day effort attests. My original intent was simply to activate N1FD for the club to give everyone a chance to experience contesting fun and kindle the flame for Field Day. When it appeared that the NH QSO party was dead, I got to thinking that NARC should be able to run the contest in the future. With some brainstorming help from K7CTW, I've come up with some ideas that will satisfy some other operating dreams I have.

The NH QSO party is an event I believe NARC can do with the same energy we show for Field Day. There are a couple of features that I would like to add to the contest: (1) add W1FGM, the Marconi Museum station, as a bonus station; (2) make Novice, Techs, and Tech-plus stations count as bonus points so that stations will be encouraged to work them. Adding W1FGM provides the opportunity to publicize the museum as well as give NARC hams more options for operating. Where N1FD operates can also be a democratic process: several stations can share time slots for putting N1FD on the air. Operating N1FD from Milford would appeal to amateurs in the Milford area who otherwise would not drive to an N1FD operating site in South Nashua. This scheme is not exclusive to N1FD; I encourage the other club to do the same.

Operating is only part of organizing a contest. The unheralded part is the score keeping and log checking. I have some ideas in this area as well thanks to the Yankee Clipper Contest Club so that it should not be so daunting a task. Mike, K7CTW, said that he used the software provided for the NH QSO party and found it under-whelming. I have to believe there are folks in NARC who can re-do to accommodate what I propose as well as make it score-keeper friendly. This isn't just a brain spurt; I'd like to hear your thoughts on the matter.

Tiny Elephant's Health Tip: Here is a tip for those hams who are trying to quit smoking so that they can spend time in the chair operating without getting uptight for a drag. This works well if you have a house cat that uses a litter box. (If you don't have a cat, borrow the litter box from a neighbor who does have a cat.) Dump the contents of the box in the back seat of your car. As you drive around, the aroma will bring tears to your eyes and make you gag, just like smoking a cigarette. The odor will keep bugs, people, any just about anything else away from you. When you get to your destination, you won't hesitate to dash in and breathe fresh air. The mere thought of having to get back in the car will be an incentive to keep on operating. An added benefit, the ammonia will clear your sinuses and your lungs.

Italian YLRC Elettra Marconi, 3-4 April.

Sound familiar? NARC members who attended Field Day 1998 had the honor of meeting Elettra Marconi, daughter of Guglielmo Marconi. The Italian YL Radio Club hosts a contest that encourages YLs to participate. Contest hours are 1300Z on Saturday to 1300Z on Sunday, with operation taking place on 80-10 meters on CW and SSB. Contest exchange is simply a report and a serial number. Members of the IYLRC will include "RC" (radio club) after their number. Contest scoring is 1 point between OMs, 2 points between an OM and a YL, and 3 points for YL to YL QSOs. On CW, YLs will send callsign/XYL (using "YL" would indicate a Latvian station). Multipliers are DXCC countries worked. Logs to IK5GBL 30 days after the contest.

Here is a good time to get your XYL to do more than rag at you for operating all the time. Just drop her down on SSB and watch the fun start as OM after OM calls in.

Japan International DX, 9-11 April

This contest is another in a series of 48-hour events sponsored by 5-9 Magazine of Japan. The contest begins at 2300Z on the 9th and is limited to 20 through 10 meters. Operators outside Japan are limited to 30 hours while JA stations can operate the full 48 hours. The objective is to work as many Japanese Prefectures (counties) as possible, including the islands of Ogasawara and Minami- Torishima. There are single operator high and low power categories with each category further divided as single-band or multi-band operation. Packet spotting is permitted for everyone and there are no restrictions on band changes. Contest exchange is an RST and CQ Zone for us, RST and Prefecture number for Japanese stations. Plain-text log files must be emailed to jidx- log@ne.nal.go.jp or mailed to JIDX Phone contest, c/o Five-Nine Magazine, POB 59, Kamata, Tokyo, 144 Japan by 31 May 99.

With the improved sunspot activity, this should be a good contest for getting that rare JA station on 10 meters. I managed to work a bunch of them on 10 and 15 meters during the ARRL CW contest a few of months ago.

SARTG Worldwide AMTOR, 17-18 April

The popularity of RTTY has resulted in a RTTY contest of some sort every month of the year. The Scandinavian Amateur Radio Teletype Group shifts gears on this one to encourage activity on AMTOR. The contest is held in 3 each, 8-hour blocks of time: 0000Z-0800Z and 1600Z-2400Z on Saturday, 0800Z-1600Z on Sunday. Operation is encouraged on 10-80 meters on the usual AMTOR frequencies (just below the RTTY segments). The exchange is RST, name, and a serial number. Scoring encourages DXing, counting 10 points for countries on the same continent, 15 points for other continents, and 5 points within ones own country. Logs go to the SARTG contest committee by 1 June.

Michigan, Florida, Nebraska QSO Parties

Here are some events that you can use to test antenna fixes from the winter months or just relax. Each contest covers CW and SSB with operating times substantially less than the 48 hours of the weekend. The Michigan party is held on the weekend of 17-19 April while Florida and Nebraska hold their get-togethers over April 24-25. The Nebraska party is a straight 24- hour period beginning at 1700Z on the 24th. The Florida QSO Party is held in two blocks of time: 1800Z to 0400Z on Saturday, and 1400Z to 2400Z on Sunday. The Michigan event also runs in blocks, from 1800Z to 0300Z on the 17th and 1100Z on the 18th to 0200Z on the 19th. The stations in those states will send RST and county while we send RST, serial (Michigan), and state; just listen to clarify what is required.

April has some easy ones for you to check out antenna repairs - or avoid yard work.

73, de K2TE

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