Tiny Elephant's Contest CornerThe Latest Contest News -
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Tiny Elephant's Contest CornerThe Latest Contest News -
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Even if you are not a contester, you can always tell when a contest is approaching. A week or two before a major DX contest, a lot of stations from the US, Europe, and Japan start showing up from rare islands and countries with a “/DX prefix” appended to their callsign. I often growl with envy when I read the scores of some of these stations months later. Many of the operations are 1- or 2-person ventures with a small tribander, wire antennas for the low bands, and 100- watt transceivers and they turn in scores that rival the big stateside multi-multi juggernauts. Wouldn’t it be great, I whine, to have an opportunity to operate on the other end of a DX contest with THE WORLD calling me?
Well, pine away no longer because it looks like my dream is about to come true! Back in the spring, Don, K2KQ, extended the invitation to members of the Yankee Clipper Contest Club to participate in a multi-multi operation from the island of Grenada. Don had the chance to operate from J3-land for the CQ Worldwide SSB contest last year with a group of contesters. Positions were up for grabs for either the SSB or CW contests. I figured this would be my chance to experience life on the other end of a pileup so I decided to give it a try and signed up to operate with the CQ Worldwide CW crew.
The preparations for a DX operation are always long and hectic. I’ve traveled to foreign countries many times before but never to operate a ham station. I remember some horror stories from DXpeditions to rare and ham-unfriendly places. Sometimes, the group found themselves having to pay what amounts to a year’s college tuition to get their gear shipped to the place - only to find not all of it made it. Fortunately, Don’s prior experience and a standing invitation from Grenadine amateurs to “come on down” have made things much easier. Within a couple of months, I had the licensing paperwork completed and back to Don to take care of the administrative side.
For the CW operation, Ann, WA1S, is the team lead to pull things together. Ann is a veteran of several Pacific operations, notably from Willis Island and Micronesia. Preparing for a DXpedition is a lot more involved than getting ready for Field Day. There may be a slight similarity between Field Day and a DXpedition since both may end up as a tent operation and modest antennas. However, the similarity ends when you realized you forgot something - and can’t jump in the truck to go get it. Ann is coordinating the logistics for getting equipment together for all to haul down.
The site of our operation is the Emergency Operations Center (EOC) of Granada. From the pictures I’ve seen on the web site (http://albums.photoprint.com/j/AlbumIndex?u=58187&a=728330) (ugh!), this is definitely a class operation. The EOC is located on a mountaintop overlooking the city of St. George with a clear view to the US. There are several towers around a large building, each tower sporting a monobander and rotor so that 10 through 40 meters are well represented. The towers are about 40 feet tall, more than adequate for a tropical QTH. Verticals for 80 and 160 meters round out the antenna farm. This may sound like a fairly modest contest setup but, in the tropics, it is a potent station since propagation is always ham-friendly, regardless of the sunspots. Just to make sure we keep the pile coming fast and furious, each station has its own amplifier.
I understand that this year’s operation will add another building to house the 40-meter station and a couple others. The new building is located several hundred meters further UP the hill from the EOC to give us an even better shot to the world. The distance presents a challenge to network the computers together for the contest. However, thanks to folks like Bruce, W1GQ, who have experience in setting up a network for split-site operations, it looks like things are going to work out fine.
So what about the crew of operators? As of this writing, the list of operators is not firm. Don put together a list of ops several months ago that represents a solid list of contesters. Besides Ann and I, the prospective list of the team includes Pietro, IK2BHX; Kazu, JK3GAD; Mike, K1TWF; George, K5KG; Jeff, KA1GJ; Atushi, N9KAU/2; John, NJ1V; Lee, N5OP; and Ted, W1WFZ. Several of these folks are doing double duty since they plan to operate the SSB contest the month before. The nice thing about a crew of this size and caliber is that there will be time to rest and relax knowing that everyone is capable of keeping a good run going throughout the contest.
Understandably, I’m anxious to make the trip and get on the air. I plan to get to the site on Tuesday before Thanksgiving and return home a day or two after the contest. Look for me in the evenings probably on 40 and below on the CW end of the bands. I may move up to SSB depending on conditions down there. In the meantime, there is plenty of stuff to keep me busy in November as I practice for the BIG ONE:
The big news this year is the change in categories. In the past, sweepstakes has used “Q” for QRP operation, “A” for low power, and “B” for high power. This year features the addition of “M” for multioperator stations, “S” for school clubs, and “U” for single operator unlimited class using packet. Multipliers for scoring are each ARRL and CRRL section worked for a total of 79. Each QSO is worth 2 points with the final score being QSO points times total number of multipliers. Logs to ARRL within 30 days of the end of the PHONE sweepstakes contest.