In the CQWW SSB contest in late October, SCCC was quite active as usual. Ken, K6LA was back at his PEI station VY2TT. He said that one USA operator told him he was below the US 40m band edge. He explained that he was in Canada and the band allocation was different there. The operator said, "That's not fair!" Ken also said that he couldn't get a run going during the Sunday morning 10m opening even though most Europeans that he called came back to him on the 1st call. Bill, N6RV said it was his best contest ever so far and it was his first time breaking 2 million points. He said 10 meters really took off, and he was amazed at what he could work on 80 meters with a 1/4 sloper tuned for the CW segment of the band. He was expecting a full radio blackout due to the solar flare that headed toward earth the Thursday before, but that didn't happen. Frank, WA6KHK experienced poor conditions but had a good surge at the end of the contest.

Bill, N6WS was chasing new band slots for the year and picked up 8 all time new slots during the contest! Dick, W6TK said it was great to have 10 and 15 open, and he even ran JA's on 10m on Sunday afternoon! Paul, N6LL summed it up as "The ionosphere works!" Paul, W7IV used the KK6P call and easily surpassed his goal of 2 million points (hitting 3.5M!). He hit it pretty hard on Sautrday in case the CME (solar flare) wiped things out on Sunday. He enjoyed running 10m again (I think we all missed that band!). Jim, N6TJ said it was good to return to Hawaii after a three year hiatus, and great to have 10 meters open again. He thought conditions were a bit flat there though. His first CQWW was back in 1955! Bruce, WA7BNM reported that the improved SFI resulted in QSOs he would have never imagined in a DX contest with 100 watts, such as A7 and FR. He also worked three Zone 2 stations before QRTing Friday night. Don, N6IC had his tower lowered for rotator repair and the antenna was fixed at 90 degrees but he had a lot of fun chasing the crowd on 15m. Kurt, W6PH reported conditions to be better than he had seen for many years, at least on Saturday. On Sunday, the A index was up to 25 and signals were weak. He had just over 500 Q's on Saturday (A index at 3) and only added 84 more on Sunday.

Dick, N6AA had S7 to S9 noise on all bands--ugh--and still managed to work 737 stations! He worked Jim at KH7M on six bands. Bill, W8QZA did QRP as W6QU as usual. He noted that conditions are definitely coming off the bottom. He recorded his highest CQWW SSB score since 2016, and double that of last year. He worked CR2K on 10m, his first European on 10 in several years. Marko, N5ZO used the TM2Y call from F6BEE's countryside station in France. Marko had saved Zone 14 on his list of contesting from all zones for a situation like we have today where travel restrictions have presented some serious problems. He says the station did well with only some minor issues. He noted that there was considerable QRM on most bands much of the time, with some European stations splattering widely. He caught a nice 10m opening Sunday afternoon where he worked mostly Zones 4 and 5 (only three stations from Zone 3). To minimize jet lag, he arrived there on Monday and was able to operate the entire contest save for a 30 minute unplanned nap during the second night. John, W6JBR remarked, "What an amazing weekend of excellent conditions, with wall-to-wall DX on 10 and 15 meters!" He worked 40 unique DXCCs in just six hours!

The ARRL Sweepstakes CW contest was the weekend after CQWW CW and just days after a virtual radio blackout on the bands due to a multiple CME event. The A index was observed as high as 69 during the week but settled back down to near normal by contest time. Some SCCC member comments follow. Bill, N6RV did the contest for the first time and had a blast. Dick, W6TK got the sweep with UT and NL being his last two mults. Paul, WN6K missed NL and PE. Ryan, AI6DO put up a fan dipole for 15-80 meters and only missed six sections with his 5 watt QRP station. Dan, N6MJ used the N6WIN station in Arizona (score went to the Arizona Outlaws Contest Club). Last year, they missed the M/S record by just one QSO after log checking and were ready to tackle it again this year. Unfortunately, a last minute change in plans left him operating single op instead. The Sunday doldrums renewed his respect for others that do single op in this contest. Marko, N5ZO also found Sunday to be a struggle but said that the online scoreboard made it interesting. He found 40m unusually weak this year.

Frank, WA6KHK wound up with his own section (Orange) being one of the last five sections he worked. He missed NL. Jim, W6KC noted that his first SS score was back in 1961! This year, he completed the sweep in just five hours! His last two were NT and NL. Axel, KI6RRN also missed NT. Bob, KF6I had too many conflicts to do a serious effort this year but managed to put in eight hours. Mike, W4EF (remote as NI6W) had to work late on Saturday but was fresh meat on Sunday. Dana, K6NR reported lots of great activity and was happy that 15m was open. By Saturday night, he had nearly reached his goal of a sweep, missing only NL and Orange. Fortunately, he worked both on Sunday including a bunch of Orange stations. It was his first sweep in quite some time. Steve, AC6T and Stephen K6AW did a multi-op from the the UCSB contest station, W6RFU, the first major contest from there. The new antennas were a big improvement and they got the sweep.

Roger, W6LAX says he did about 7 hours of the contest between work obligations, and said it was great to see all of the activity and to have 15m open. David, N6AN did another QRP operation, this one from Tree People Park in Studio City. And he did hand sending with paper logging again. He did two Sunday stints there with the second getting unceremoniously cut short when his battery gave out. Drew, N7AN also did a portable operation. His was using whips on his vehicle from a nearby park. He was able to run 100 watts using his 1300 watt-hour battery, and had some nice runs. Kurt, W6PH missed PEI. His last section was his own, Orange. Everyone seems to have had trouble logging that one. Kurt says he got off to a good start this year as compared with previous years. Having missed 2019 and 2020, he said it was good to get back into SS.

The August NAQP CW results are in and Axel, KI6RRN piloted NO6T to the top spot, nearly 14,000 points over runner up W0UA! It was Axel's best August NAQP score ever (324,264)! Marko, N5ZO took 3rd place (303,296 points). Marko was a last minute entrant and we missed him on SCCC #1. The team finished 13th in the team standings.

The August NAQP SSB results are also in. Marko took 5th place in this one and his combined CW/SSB points put him in 3rd place behind K0EU and K9CT. The SCCC team (we only had one for this particular contest edition) finished 4th.

Strange but true...
A penny is called a cent, short for percent, as in 1% of a dollar.

73 for now,
--Dennis NE6I

less

Our November, 2021 poll was "Have you ever owned a Heathkit Radio transmitter, receiver or transceiver?"

70% said yes, in the past. 18% said they own one or more now and 12% said no.

Our October, 2021 poll was "Have you ever owned a Collins Radio transmitter, receiver or transceiver?"

11% said yes, in the past. 17% said they own one or more now and 72% have never owned one. 

Our September, 2021 poll was "I plan on purchasing at least one new station accessory in the 
coming year."

80% said yes and 20% said no. Are you listening, vendors?

Our August, 2021 poll was "I plan on installing at least one new antenna in the coming year."

64% said yes and 36% said no.

Our July, 2021 poll was "The last time I visited a brick and mortar ham radio store was"

47% said in the past two to four years. 37% said in the past year. 16% said five or more years ago.

Our June, 2021 poll was "My career (or former career if retired) is/was in the electronics or 
telecommunications industry."

53% said yes and 47% said no. 

Our May, 2021 poll was "I have a family member who is also a licensed amateur radio operator."

44% said yes and 56% said no. 

Our April, 2021 poll was "My significant other_____in contests."

60% said tolerates me participating. 15% said encourages me to participate. 10% said doesn't care if I 
participate and another 10% said sometimes participates with me. 5% said they don't have a significant 
other.

Our March, 2021 poll was "Keeping with the theme of last month's poll, my favorite 
type of contest is:"

47% said DX. 33% said stateside. And 20% said both.

Our February, 2021 poll was "My favorite contests are (those in duration):"

28% said 48 hour contests, 11% said 30 hour contests, 5% said 24 hour contests, 17% said 
10 hour contests, 5% said 4 hour contests and 5% said 1 hour contests. 22% said all of
the above! One respondent said all of the above with the exception of Field Day and 
those with other complicated exchanges. 

Our January, 2021 poll was "Do you prefer hard copy QSLs or electronic ones?"

19% said they prefer hard copy (paper) QSLs, 50% said they prefer electronic QSLs (IE, LOTW, 
eQSL, QRZ, etc.), 25% said they had no preference, and 6% said they do not QSL at all. 

Our December, 2020 poll was "I sometimes have conflicts between contest events and
 family events on holiday weekends preventing me from as much participation in one or
 both of them as I'd like.

17% said often, 56% said occasionally, 22% said contesting always wins out, and 5% said
 family events always win out. 

Our November, 2020 poll asked "Is your antenna system mostly:"

42% answered less than 5 years old. 16% each answered 5-10 years old, 11-15 years old 
 or 16-20 years old. 10% answered more than 20 years old.

Our October, 2020 poll asked "Is your current primary transciever:"

43% answered 5-10 years old. 30% said less than 5 years old. 17% said 11-15 years old and
 10% said more than 20 years old.

Our September, 2020 poll was two parts. "Are you an ARRL member?"

87% said yes and 13% said no.

Are you a paid member of any other club other than ARRL?

73% said yes and 27% said no.

Our July, 2020 poll was "Where do you typically operate Field Day from?

23% said from home, 6% said portable by themselves, 59% said with a club and 12% said they
 don't typically operate Field Day.

Our June, 2020 poll was "Did you discover amateur radio on your own?

35% said yes, 35% said that they discovered it via a family member and 30% said that they
 discovered it via a friend.

Our May, 2020 poll was "Have you ever built and/or used Heathkit amateur radio equipment?"

65% said they have both built and used Heathkits. 20% said they have used but not built them
 and 15% have neither built nor used a Heathkit.

Our April, 2020 poll was "Did you participate in the National Traffic System (NTS)?"

25% said yes and 75% said no.

Our February, 2020 poll was "What is your thought on the new digital modes as it pertains
 to contesting?"

27% said great! And another 27% said "not for me." 21% said "they are poisoning amateur radio
 contesting." Wow, brutal. 14% said they haven't tried them. 8% said "not bad" and 3% said
 "unsure / too early to day."

Our January, 2020 poll was "Have you ever operated in a RTTY contest?"

86% said yes and 14% said no. 

Our December, 2019 poll was "Have you ever operated in a VHF contest?"

86% said yes and 14% said no. 

Our November, 2019 poll was "Do you operate in very many contests just to have some
 fun / hand out some contacts?"

86% said yes and 14% said a few.

Our October, 2019 poll was "LOTW has revolutionized QSLing. How do you respond to
 hard copy QSLs that you receive after a contest?

87% said they send a return QSL the same way the incoming card was received (direct or via
 the Bureau). 13% said they send electronic QSLs only (IE, LOTW, eQSL, QRZ and/or other).

Our September, 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, and
 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.

less

FOR SALE: Frontline TV News Van Ford E350 Van, Year 2004 45,000 Miles Brakes Serviced and Upgraded New "System" Battery Onan 7000 Watt Generator, low running time Will-Bu 9.5-56 56-foot Pneumatic Mast Two Air Compressors, one AC and one DC Vehicle is located in Tustin, CA photos here: http://ni6e.com/ENG_Van/ Contact Peter Putnam, NI6E ni6e(at)twc.com (949) 650-4277 Posted 7 Dec 2021 FOR SALE: Elecraft K3/100 Transceiver 100 watts, 2.7 kHz SSB filter KXV3 I/O transverter KIO3 RS232 Great entry level radio Power cord and manual $1295 Same as above with a built in tuner $1495. If you want custom options, please email. I have many options available that are not being made by Elecraft. Filters KSYN3A upgraded SYN board. DVR's Sub Receivers P3 Panadapter $795.00 Add VGA $1050 Contact Larry, K6RO Lashap at cox.net 310-710-2869 Posted 20 Oct 2021 FOR SALE: Corsair VX550W computer power supply from the estate of WA6STJ. New in the box. Asking $100. Click thumbnail and link for more information. Link: https://www.cnet.com/products/corsair-vx550w-power-supply-550-watt-cmpsu550vx/ Contact Don, N6IC dbostrom at pacbell dot net Posted 25 July 2021 WANTED: Johnson Invader 2000 Power Supply. I recently acquired an Invader 2000 but without the power supply and missing all the cabinet-mounting hardware, including the two long bolts from the back to the front panel common to most Johnson rigs. WANTED: Kaar KE-23A or KE-23AT communications receiver. Contact Steve, K0XP k0xp (at) k0xp dot com Posted 19 June 2020, renewed 6 July 2021 FOR SALE: 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 6 July 2021

close