At least one SCCC team had a good time in CQWW though. Dick, N6AA and Art, W6XD paired up down in Panama at HP3AK (and turned in a fine score, I might add!). Their contest writeup on 3830Scores put a smile on my face. Here it is in case you missed it. "Small multi-multi effort essentially by N6AA-W6XD team. Station owner, Jay, was compelled to make a few of the QSOs, using a minimal amount of force permitted by law.
Although there is no unassisted MM category, the operation was actually unassisted. This satisfies rules of prohibition of external help required by religious beliefs of the operators, as well as permitting competitors to be listed higher up in the final results.
The operation was more enjoyable than what would have been possible from California, was an operation from a new place (recommended), and is/was an opportunity to see another part of the world."

Speaking of contests (hey, this is a contest club news thing, right?). I hope and wish and suggest that you are all configuring your contest software to upload to the contest scoreboards out there. And keeping an eye on them while operating. You can often configure them not to report band data (thus not alerting others to band openings; important in certain entry categories). Many contest committees have deemed them as not putting you in the assisted or multi-op category if using them (read their rules prior to the contest to confirm). Where all rules in this area are followed, it is interesting and motivating to keep an eye on these scoreboards. For me personally for example, the scoreboard often causes me to be on the air in the contest longer as I push to get higher in the standings. That is as a single op. I know some multi-ops use these scoreboards to keep track and motivate their teams to push harder. If you aren't already taking advantage of these cool tools, check them out!

WWROF CQWW SSB and CW Seminar by K1AR was Oct 13 at 1900 UTC. The link is https://wwrof.org/webinar-archive/cq-ww-ssb-and-cw-current-news-on-your-favorite-contests/

The ARRL has created three new online groups (forums) for members and non-members to communicate with leadership. ARRL says the new groups "are aimed at enhancing communication among leadership, staff, members and prospective members." One of the new groups is the ARRL-Contesting group, moderated by ARRL Radiosport and Field Services Manager Bart Jahnke, W9JJ. More info and links to the groups can be found here.

Over the years, VY1AAA found its way into many of our contest logs, much to our delight! The club station was hosted by Jay Allen, VY1JA and put the Yukon Territory on our multiplier list in many a domestic contest. Jay's QRZ web page reports that he has had to go QRT due to health reasons. The VY1AAA station (which had been operated remotely in recent years) was to go QRT effective 22 Sept this year. Howeever, there was a slight reprieve when Jay and his XYL needed to dedicate another two months to their goat farm before taking down the station, this according to the VY1AAA trustee, Gerry W1VE/VE1RM. This will allow operation of VY1AAA during ARRL Sweepstakes CW and Phone. After those, barring another reprieve, the station will be dismanatled and sold. All equipment donated to the remote operation of VY1AAA is under the ownership of W1VE. Gerry is actively seeking another location for a remote station, preferrably in the NWT or Yukon.

We are hams. As such, we love antennas. Very few of us would not love to put up something bigger. Something better. Something higher. We are almost never satisfied with our antenna system, whether it's a simple dipole low to the ground or a multi-tower array with multiple antennas on each band. Well, Doug, W6DSR up in Sunnyvale (NCCC/NCDXC territory) set out to put up something BIG. He settled on the U.S. Antenna Products LP-1005 log periodic. This thing is massive. Monstrous. Gigantic. It can handle 25 KW average power, and well, if your voice peaks happen to hit 50 KW, it can handle that too!. It provides forward gain of 10-13.5 dBi over 3 to 30 MHz. No antenna switching required. No tuning required. No controller required (IE SteppIR). This antenna is not for the light hearted. It weighs in at 2,100 pounds! Wind surface area is 120 square feet! The boom is 72 feet in length and the longest element is 104 feet plus! Yeah, a Hygain HDR rotator isn't going to cut it!! Doug has an extensive story covering installation and testing of this monster, along with a little accident that happened while effecting repairs. Ugh! We've all had some antenna mishaps, I'm sure. But on this scale?! I'm fairly certain you will cringe when you get toward the end of the story and see what happened. But wait! He rebounds and gets repairs quickly under way. Hooray for hams! We persevere no matter what! Read the story here.

Mark, KA6WKE recently posted a video on the SCCC Reflector discussing his battle with and solution for RFI. In case you missed it, click here.

We've mentioned the television show "Last Man Standing" here before. On the show, Mike Baxter is KA0XTT (character and fictional call sign) played by actor/comedian Tim Allen, whose real life call is KK6OTD. His TV show ham station is often seen in the show and has played a part itself a couple of times. Well, this coming season, their eigth, begins this January. The station will get a makeover. The QSLs seen prominently at the operating postion are gone but a new Worked All Zones (WAZ) certificate replaces them. The show airs Thursdays at 8:00 pm on Fox. The storylines are rarely about amateur radio, but it's nice to see a ham station on TV regularly.

Strange but true...
The name for the shape of Pringles is called a "Hyperbolic Paraboloid."

73 for now,
--Dennis NE6I

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Our September poll, 2019 poll was "If you could go or are going on a Contest Dxpedition next year, where would you go?"

75% said to the Caribbean! 25% said somewhere in the Pacific.

Our August, 2019 poll was a two parter. "Do you miss (or wish we had) SCCC pizza meetings?"

20% said Yes, I really miss them. Another 20% said Yes, I hear they were a good time. 10% said I could take them or leave them. Another 10% said No, I'm not that interested in attending meetings at this time. 60% said I probably wouldn't be able to attend many of them due to distance or other reason.

The second question was "If we had SCCC meetings, I would..."

10% said Attend as many as possible. 20% said Attend them if they were less than an hour's drive. 40% said Attend now and then. 20% said Might attend some of them, and 10% said Probably wouldn't attend any of them.

Our July, 2019 poll was "When was your first contest?"

16% said 2010 or later. 5% said 2000-2009 and another 5% said 1990-1999. 32% said 1970-1979. 26% said 160-1969 and 16% said 1950-1959.

Our June, 2019 poll was "Have you ever operated a Dxpedition in a contest?"

25% said yes, as part of a multi-op DXpedition. 25% said no. 20% said yes, as a single op. Another 20% said no, but I would like to! And 10% said yes, both as a multi-op and as a single-op.

Our May, 2019 poll was "Have you ever operated mobile or portable in a contest (not a DXpedition)?

35% said both, 35% said no, 20% said portable and 10% said mobile.

Our April, 2019 poll was "For manual CW sending, what do you use?"

65% of our respondents said a keyer. 35% said contest software. 12% said a straight key 
and 5% said a bug. 8% said other.

Our March, 2019 poll was "What logging software do you use in contests?"

75% of our respondents said N1MM+. 10% said Writelog and another 10% said N3FJP. 5% each said 
TRLog/TR4W, Win-test or other.

Our February, 2019 poll was "Do you use high, low or QRP power in contests?"

56% of our respondents said high power. 21% said low power and 13% said QRP.

Our January, 2019 poll was "What brand of radio to you use primarily in contests?"

25% of our respondents said Yaesu. 18.75% said Kenwood. 12.5% said Icom. 6.25% said Flex, & 43.75% said Other. 
We should have included Elecraft! 

Our December, 2018 poll was "Have you ever hosted a guest operator at your station?"

11% of our respondents said yes. 89% said no.

Our November, 2018 poll was "Have you ever operated multi-op in a contest (home or away)?"

80% of our respondents said yes. 20% said no.

Our October, 2018 poll was "What is your favorite contest mode?"

76% of our respondents favored CW. 12% favored SSB and 6% favored RTTY. 6% had no favorite mode.

Our September, 2018 poll was "What is your favorite contest?"

CQP took the top spot. CQWW DX, WPX, NA Sprint and Sweepstakes all tied for second.

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West Mountain Radio RIGblaster Advantage Purchased a couple of years ago but never used. West Mountain list price is $209.95. $100 + $10 shipping Seller: Jim, K6ZH jnprice [at] pacbell [dot] net Posted 3 March 2019 I have a two year-old SteppIR DB36 with 80 M dipole option for sale. The stepper motors, controller, etc all work perfectly, and the boom and trombones/straight fiberglass poles are in good shape. You will likely need to replace some of the small parts (some bolts and Nylock nuts), but can have a working DB-36 for less than half of what it cost new. I'm selling the antenna because the trees near the antenna became so large that tilting it over was becoming impossible, and I purchased a DB-18E to replace it. I have some extra fiberglass poles that I will include, and I guarantee that the antenna will work (motors, etc.). Due to the weight and size, I'm thinking it's going to have to be a pickup in the San Diego area. I might be willing to remove the heat shrink couplings and try to box it if the buyer covers the shipping charges (FedEx ground). Asking $3500 for everything. Seller: Eric, NC6K egruff [at] cox[dot]net Posted 9 Oct 2018, renewed 3 Mar 2019

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