Contesting Season is Here!

There is nothing in amateur radio as invigorating as contesting. October marks the official beginning of the new season and I hope this brief article will help you prepare.

If you are interested in a whole year’s worth of contest scheduling you can go to contestcalendar.com to see events happening in the next week or the next year. This month, though, one of the biggest contests of the year is held: CQ WW SSB. This was the first contest I entered just after being licensed in 2002. Though I was worried I would make a fool of myself, I found that contesting is fun and easy.

One of the biggest contests of the year

The dates for CQ WW are as follows:

• SSB: October 27-28, 2018
• CW: November 24-25, 2018

The exchange in this contest is a signal report (always 59) and your CQ zone. Our zone here in the Northeast is 5.

Working in this contest almost effortless. Here’s a sample exchange (assuming I’m the one you’d like to call):

• YOU: Listen listen listen. Tune around. Find a station you’ve not worked. Listen for his call sign, and for the number they give in the exchange.
• THEM: CQ contest November Echo One Romeo Delta
• YOU: Alpha Bravo One Oscar Charlie
• THEM: AB1OC 595
• YOU: Roger 595
• THEM: QRZ?

Using the stuff we learned in the last two posts, enter the information in your logging program so that their call sign and CQ zone, along with your own exchange information (5)  is recorded properly. If you have rig control set up so the radio talks to your logging computer and the clock is set to the correct time and date, recording the exchange information is all that’s left. You have a successful contact!

With almost no HF experience all those years ago I was still able to make nearly 300 contacts in an afternoon. Conditions are not nearly so good as they were in 2002, but you should still be able to have some fun.

Club Competition

We will have another club competition for this contest. Enter the contest, make lots of contacts, submit your score to the 3830 scores website, and then email me at programs – at – n1fd -dot- org to tell me what club category you’ve selected.

All categories are single operator except Superstation. The club does not differentiate between assisted and unassisted operation. Here are the categories:

• QRP ~ 5 Watts or less, any antenna(s)
• Small station ~  Wires or verticals, no gain antennas, <= 100 Watts)
• Triband-Wires ~ One antenna with gain, still <= 100 Watts)
• Superstation ~ Unlimited operators and equipment

Also This Month

There are QSO parties and other contests throughout the month. Here are a few of interest (see contest rules for exact time and dates):

• Starting October 6
  • California QSO Party Exchange: [them] serial number + county | [us] serial number and state
• Starting October 13
  • Nevada QSO Party Exchange: [them] serial number + “NV” + county | [us] serial number + state
  • Arizona QSO Party Exchange: [them] RS(T) + county | [us] RS(T) + state
  • Pennsylvania QSO Party Exchange: [them] serial number + county | [us] serial number + ARRL section (NH)
  • South Dakota QSO Party Exchange: [them] RS(T) + county | [us] RS(T) + state
• Starting October 15
  • ARRL School Club Roundup (a chance to work a bunch of eager kids!) Exchange: [both] RS(T) + Class + state
• Starting October 20
  • New York QSO Party Exchange: [them] RS(T) + county | [us] RS(T) + state
• Starting October 21
  • Illinois QSO Party Exchange: [them] RS(T) + county | [us] RS(T) + state

Clawing your way through your Worked All States award but don’t have South Dakota? This is your month! QSO parties are a great way to get those rare states. Don’t miss out!

Closing

I’ll try to give a list of on-air activities like this once a month. This is also where I’ll announce winners from the previous month’s club competition.

Remember: read the rules, prepare your station, and submit your log. Oh, and HAVE FUN!

Photo credit of the WRTC 2002 Champions R. A. Wilson, N6TV (Creative Commons CC BY 2.5)