Southern California Contest Club
NAQP SSB: January 18-19 ARRL January VHF Contest: January 18-20 CQ 160-Meter CW: January 24-26
NAQP SSB: January 18-19 ARRL January VHF Contest: January 18-20 CQ 160-Meter CW: January 24-26
A Collection of Old SCCC News Stories (Newest to Oldest)
Monthly News (SCCCORE - SoCal Contest Club Operations, Results and Enlightenments)
December 2019
Welcome aboard to new member, John NA6L. John hails from San Diego and is a past President of the San Diego DX Club. His QTH is more than 200 ft. above sea level and overlooks the San Diego Bay. John enjoys the digital modes, especially on 6 and 160 meters.
ARRL sent out a survey on the Sweepstakes contests in late November. Word on the street is that everyone who submitted a 2019 SS log via their web site were sent the survey. I hope that if you received it, you took the time (or will) to respond. It is obvious that the ARRL is considering changes to the contest rules to potentially increase participation. Some things under consideration are shortening the contest, moving the start/stop times to something earlier in the day, combining phone and CW into the same weekend (allowing stations to be contacted once per mode), adding digital to the contest, etc. Those are some radical changes, and I'm sure the contest committee won't do anything drastic without careful consideration. On one hand, many of us don't like to see big changes to our contests. On the other hand, many of us complain about the Sunday doldrums. Interestingly, allowing contacts once per band is not included in the survey. Perhaps that is TOO radical...
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Speaking of SS...
What a great turn out we had for the Phone contest in early November! Conditions were still poor, as they have been for a few years now (short 15 meter openings Saturday and Sunday, and nothing on 10 meters really) but still, a great turn out and from the comments, everyone had a great time whether going at it full time or part time. All of your scores add up in the club category, so I hope everyone continues to put in some time in the contests, even if you can't do a full effort. Besides, even those short operating stints are a lot of fun, right?! For SS Phone, yours truly was pretty tied up Saturday and chose to forgo that day completely. Instead, I operated Sunday only and while I normally operate high power, I elected to go low power for this one. My thought was that on Sunday I would be fresh meat and the pile ups would be smaller or non-existent. And I was right. Though, with the solar cycle at this point, 20 meters was pretty packed by day and 40 by night, so I had zero luck trying to generate a run by CQing. Still, I had a great time S&Ping fast and furiously. If you can't go all out, it becomes a matter of choosing your strategy to maximize your fun (and score) in a part time effort.
Comments from the Sweepstakes Phone contest are noted below. SFI 70, A 4, K 3, slightly better than the CW weekend.
Dick, W6TK noted that the bands seemed slightly better than the CW weekend. He thought Saturday was better than Sunday. The upgrade to his SteppIR DB32 (adding a 3rd element on 40m) seemed to make a difference and made 40 the money band for him. While collecting a sweep, he noted that he worked only one station in eight of the ARRL sections. Dan, N6MJ was his only Orange QSO and Dick questioned where were all the other ORG guys. Jim, W6KC did a mostly S&P effort and wishes 10 & 15 had been open. Bob, KF6I thought conditions were better than on the CW weekend. Kent, N6WT was testing his new Flex 6600 and reports that it worked very well. He tried to get the Maestro working but no dice interfacing it to N1MM+ logger. He'll work on that. He missed six sections for the sweep. Paul, W6PNG tested his dual Elecraft station during the contest. Levi, K6JO did SO2R from home for the first time, with some help from NN1C and N9JA. Levi missed NT and NL for the sweep.
Some comments from the CW weekend:
Jim, K6ZH managed a sweep on his birthday weekend, despite going out to dinner and a show. His last sections were PR and MB. Bob, KF6I spent a little time in the contest and decided to go low power to test a Palomar 9:1 balun feeding a 170 ft. long wire up 40 feet. He reports that it seemed to work pretty well. Ken, K6LA discovered S9 noise before the contest and while trying to find the source, it went away. Apparently it was a storm off in the distance. Whew! He recorded a sweep ten hours into the contest. Dana, K6NR reported good conditions on 20 and 40. He missed PR and NL for the sweep. Dan, WA6URY recorded 190 Q's while operating remote from Tokyo! John, W6JBR had fun with the K3 despite the marginal conditions, and reported that 15 was pretty decent for him. Larry, N6NC operated N7LU QRP using a 20m stick antenna poking out a window with a single radial. He estimates that his set up was 2-3 watts ERP! Eric, NC6K scored his sweep early Sunday and may have recorded his all-time high score in SS CW. He reported that 20 and 40 were very good most of the weekend. Marko, N5ZO had fun battling Dave, K6LL on the live scoreboard, and reports that he squeezed past him in the last ten minutes when Dave apparently took that time off. He feels he outdid Dave on 40 but Dave outdid him on 20. Ed, AI6O came home late Saturday evening and had a lot of fun on 40 and 80. Sunday, after church, he put some time in on 40 and 20. Frank, WA6KHK had trouble getting mentally into the contest. His XYL passed away five days after CQP. Our condolences, Frank. Paul, WN6K concentrated on reducing the number of errors compared to last year. He feels he did better in that area this time around. He missed WTX, PR and NL for the sweep. Dave, W6ZL missed NNY, NL and SK for the sweep. Yours truly (NE6I) jumped on Sunday and had a good time S&Ping, all low power. A few tries at running were 100% fruitless!
CQWW CW conditions were about as expected for this point in the sunspot cycle. SFI of 70, A index of 10 and K index of 2. This limited the 10 and 15 meter openings obviously. Sunday presented a nice long opening into South America and the Caribbean with some EU, AF and Pacific sprinkled in. Bill, N6RV reported that 40 meters was hot for him. He racked up 612 Q's there and missed only zones 2, 34 and 40 on that band. Paul, WN6K felt Sunday was not as good as Saturday. He was not able to beat his last year's score. Rick, N6PE was having so much fun that he kept going long after he usually hangs it up at 200 Q's. He managed to work VK9CZ in the last few minutes...great job! Ed, AI6O felt that conditions were pretty good. Bruce, WA7BNM was pleasantly surprised that conditions were better than he expected. He mentioned having a few Asians CQ "in his face" when he could work them barefoot a few years ago. Dick, W6TK had family in early for Thanksgiving but they were gracious enough to allow him to put in 22+ hours in the contest. Very nice! He felt that Friday night and Saturday conditions were okay but Sunday wasn't as good. Mike, KX6A did well with 100 watts and a wire in a tree. He reported doing considerably better than last year. Dana, K6NR operated his desert station remotely and reports that it worked flawlessly. He said conditions on 20 and 40 were very good through Saturday night. He worked some choice DX on 80 and 160, and some JA's on 15 Friday night, something he reports is uncommon these days. Ken, K6LA operated his VY2TT station, recording just over 9 million points in 46 hours. Things kept hopping for him and he didn't take his first break until 33 hours into the contest! 40 was his money band and 160 outperformed 15 for him QSO-wise! Wyatt, AI6V shared the 9A1TT station (as a pair of single op stations) and had an absolute blast. Marty, N6VI reported that 15m was the money band at 3B8M but West Coast contacts were hard to come by. Larry, K6RO made a last minute decision to get into the contest. His rotator was fixed Wednesday but his amplifier gave him fits. Jim, W6YA entered single band 15 meters and said it was quite the challenge. Bill, N6WS operated mostly Friday night and Saturday morning. He was happy about his 80m vertical working well on that band. He hopes to add a range switch to improve the SWR across the entire band. Steve, K0XP said conditions were notablly worse this year compared to last. He had some trouble breaking through to some of the DX but reported working all BY stations heard, rather unusual for him. Terry, N6CW operated from W6XI's Arizona station, and had DXCC in 11 1/2 hours, all on 40 meters! Bill, W8QZA did his usual QRP operation. 26% of his Q's were with JA's! He also picked up entity #94 toward his 80m DXCC. Dan, WA6URY once again remoted in to his home station in LAX from Tokyo. David, N6AN operated QRP from Caltech Pasadena, sort of Field Day style, putting up a 20m half square antenna using trees and fiberglass poles on Sunday. On Saturday, he braved 30 degree weather and snow in the San Gabriel mountains in an attempt to leverage a several thousand foot drop off to the north and east. Chas, W6UM did all S&P with his antenna stuck at 60 degrees (rotator failure). Don, N6IC commented that considering we are at the sunspot minimum, it was a great weekend. He even managed a few 10m contacts. Kurt, W6PH and WA1Z operated VP9I from the QTH of VP9GE, although I think all 8M+ points went to YCCC. Kurt? They reported excellent low band numbers, experiencing quiet conditions on 160 and 80. A short opening to the U.S. on 10m Saturday did not result in as many Q's as they would have liked but hey, with no sunspots, some Q's are better than none. Marko, N5ZO was with a couple of Frenchmen at 6V7A and banged out an amazing 19M points in the M/2 HP category, a score that is likely to stand as the top score in that one. 3830 is showing all of those points going to YCCC (ugh). Hope a third of them will go toward SCCC. Unforunately, they experienced a 3+ hour power outage, or they likely would have eclipsed the 20M point mark. 80m was great the first night for them, and they wound up with more than 1,000 QSOs on the band for the first time from Senegal. Tim, N6GP said 15 was marginal for him and he never heard a peep on 10. 20 was rough for him as well. Dan, N6MJ operated ZF1A once again, and reported relatively good conditions the first day but horrible the second day. He averaged 268 Q's per hour during the first 31 hours (holy cow!) and 113 during the last 17 hours. He tells us he had been training for this contest since July 1!
CQ has published the final results of the 2019 CQ WPX CW contest. Ken, K6LA piloted VY2TT to 3rd place World Single Op All Band HP. Bill, W8QZA operated W6QU and took 3rd place USA Single Op All Band QRP. SCCC placed 7th in the USA with just over 50 million points. Great job, everyone!
CQ has also published the top ten raw scores for each category in the recent October CQWW DX SSB. These are before log checking. VY2TT (op K6LA) appears 8th World SOHP All Bands, just ahead of N5DX. The full list of scores can be found here.
And on December 1, CQ published the top ten raw scores in November's CQWW DX CW contest. Dan, N6MJ who operated ZF1A is showing as 3rd in the world Single Op All Band HP, following D4C and TI7W. Ken, K6LA piloted his VY2TT station to 10th in the category. The 3B8M M/M team appears 9th in the world. The full list appears here.
ARRL's June 2019 VHF Contest final results are out. Tim, N6GP is the Limited Rover winner in the Southwestern Division. Endaf, N6UTC is the Unlimited Rover winner in the Division. Greg, W6IT took the top spot Single Op, Low Power in the Southwest. And Peter's Unlimited MultiOp effort took 1st in the Division in the Unlimited MultiOp category. We did not get the Sporadic-E openings that we got last year. This year was very limited in the number of openings, and scores reflect that. The January VHF contest is right around the corner (Jan 18-20) so keep the gear ready!
2019 Field Day results have also been published now. Arnie, N6HC placed 5th overall in the Top Ten Scores bracket. He entered as a 5A station. Hey Arnie, send us some pictures next time! (Or now if you have any from the 2019 operation.)
In an interesting promotion, the folks at Contest Online Scoreboard offered some new plaques for CQWW CW last month. The idea is to encourage more contesters to configure their contest logging software to report scoring real time. There has been some concern by some in the contesting community that doing so would place a single operator unassisted into the assisted category, or provide competitive information to competitors. Most of the major contest sponsors have stated that reporting to scoreboards does not place one into the assisted category. As well, there is not any band specific or other information on the scoreboards to help one's competitor. Most of us that have used them find them helpful in that they drive us to have more BIC time. I hope that more of you will consider configuring your contest logger to report your scores real time. These sites provide help files if you need some assistance setting reporting up. The link to the CQWW CW plaques at Contest Online Scoreboard is here. I personally like to watch the scoreboard whether or not I am participating in the contest. It's fun to watch the close races, or, if indeed I am participating, the scoreboard motivates me to keep plugging and climbing up the ladder.
Here is a little something that I found and thought I'd share. The New England Film and TV History group put a video on YouTube with recordings of ID's of AM radio stations heard on all 118 AM North American Medium Wave channels from 530 kHz to 1700 kHz, including such famous stations as WOR and WGN. Many of you are probably like me, and have spent some time doing so-called AM DXing. In fact, I credit AM DXing with helping spark my interest in radio. As a young pre-teen and teenager, I of course discovered Top 40 radio and was glued to my little table top AM radio listening to music all afternoon after school. However, at night, I soon discovered that I could hear far away stations if I tuned carefully. In fact, I learned that if I wound a piece of wire around my radio's bar antenna and ran that wire out the window, I could pick up some REALLY far away stations. I remember hearing KOMA in Oklahoma, CKLW in Ontario, Canada, KSL in Salt Lake City and WGN in Chicago, all from my bedroom in San Diego! The bug had bitten and my fascination with radio continues to this day! Enjoy the video here.
Here's wishing you and your family a very Merry Christmas, happy holidays, and a Happy New Year!
Strange but true...
A lightning bolt generates temperatures five times hotter than those found at the sun's surface!
73 for now,
--Dennis NE6I
less
What a great turn out we had for the Phone contest in early November! Conditions were still poor, as they have been for a few years now (short 15 meter openings Saturday and Sunday, and nothing on 10 meters really) but still, a great turn out and from the comments, everyone had a great time whether going at it full time or part time. All of your scores add up in the club category, so I hope everyone continues to put in some time in the contests, even if you can't do a full effort. Besides, even those short operating stints are a lot of fun, right?! For SS Phone, yours truly was pretty tied up Saturday and chose to forgo that day completely. Instead, I operated Sunday only and while I normally operate high power, I elected to go low power for this one. My thought was that on Sunday I would be fresh meat and the pile ups would be smaller or non-existent. And I was right. Though, with the solar cycle at this point, 20 meters was pretty packed by day and 40 by night, so I had zero luck trying to generate a run by CQing. Still, I had a great time S&Ping fast and furiously. If you can't go all out, it becomes a matter of choosing your strategy to maximize your fun (and score) in a part time effort.
Comments from the Sweepstakes Phone contest are noted below. SFI 70, A 4, K 3, slightly better than the CW weekend.
Dick, W6TK noted that the bands seemed slightly better than the CW weekend. He thought Saturday was better than Sunday. The upgrade to his SteppIR DB32 (adding a 3rd element on 40m) seemed to make a difference and made 40 the money band for him. While collecting a sweep, he noted that he worked only one station in eight of the ARRL sections. Dan, N6MJ was his only Orange QSO and Dick questioned where were all the other ORG guys. Jim, W6KC did a mostly S&P effort and wishes 10 & 15 had been open. Bob, KF6I thought conditions were better than on the CW weekend. Kent, N6WT was testing his new Flex 6600 and reports that it worked very well. He tried to get the Maestro working but no dice interfacing it to N1MM+ logger. He'll work on that. He missed six sections for the sweep. Paul, W6PNG tested his dual Elecraft station during the contest. Levi, K6JO did SO2R from home for the first time, with some help from NN1C and N9JA. Levi missed NT and NL for the sweep.
Some comments from the CW weekend:
Jim, K6ZH managed a sweep on his birthday weekend, despite going out to dinner and a show. His last sections were PR and MB. Bob, KF6I spent a little time in the contest and decided to go low power to test a Palomar 9:1 balun feeding a 170 ft. long wire up 40 feet. He reports that it seemed to work pretty well. Ken, K6LA discovered S9 noise before the contest and while trying to find the source, it went away. Apparently it was a storm off in the distance. Whew! He recorded a sweep ten hours into the contest. Dana, K6NR reported good conditions on 20 and 40. He missed PR and NL for the sweep. Dan, WA6URY recorded 190 Q's while operating remote from Tokyo! John, W6JBR had fun with the K3 despite the marginal conditions, and reported that 15 was pretty decent for him. Larry, N6NC operated N7LU QRP using a 20m stick antenna poking out a window with a single radial. He estimates that his set up was 2-3 watts ERP! Eric, NC6K scored his sweep early Sunday and may have recorded his all-time high score in SS CW. He reported that 20 and 40 were very good most of the weekend. Marko, N5ZO had fun battling Dave, K6LL on the live scoreboard, and reports that he squeezed past him in the last ten minutes when Dave apparently took that time off. He feels he outdid Dave on 40 but Dave outdid him on 20. Ed, AI6O came home late Saturday evening and had a lot of fun on 40 and 80. Sunday, after church, he put some time in on 40 and 20. Frank, WA6KHK had trouble getting mentally into the contest. His XYL passed away five days after CQP. Our condolences, Frank. Paul, WN6K concentrated on reducing the number of errors compared to last year. He feels he did better in that area this time around. He missed WTX, PR and NL for the sweep. Dave, W6ZL missed NNY, NL and SK for the sweep. Yours truly (NE6I) jumped on Sunday and had a good time S&Ping, all low power. A few tries at running were 100% fruitless!
CQWW CW conditions were about as expected for this point in the sunspot cycle. SFI of 70, A index of 10 and K index of 2. This limited the 10 and 15 meter openings obviously. Sunday presented a nice long opening into South America and the Caribbean with some EU, AF and Pacific sprinkled in. Bill, N6RV reported that 40 meters was hot for him. He racked up 612 Q's there and missed only zones 2, 34 and 40 on that band. Paul, WN6K felt Sunday was not as good as Saturday. He was not able to beat his last year's score. Rick, N6PE was having so much fun that he kept going long after he usually hangs it up at 200 Q's. He managed to work VK9CZ in the last few minutes...great job! Ed, AI6O felt that conditions were pretty good. Bruce, WA7BNM was pleasantly surprised that conditions were better than he expected. He mentioned having a few Asians CQ "in his face" when he could work them barefoot a few years ago. Dick, W6TK had family in early for Thanksgiving but they were gracious enough to allow him to put in 22+ hours in the contest. Very nice! He felt that Friday night and Saturday conditions were okay but Sunday wasn't as good. Mike, KX6A did well with 100 watts and a wire in a tree. He reported doing considerably better than last year. Dana, K6NR operated his desert station remotely and reports that it worked flawlessly. He said conditions on 20 and 40 were very good through Saturday night. He worked some choice DX on 80 and 160, and some JA's on 15 Friday night, something he reports is uncommon these days. Ken, K6LA operated his VY2TT station, recording just over 9 million points in 46 hours. Things kept hopping for him and he didn't take his first break until 33 hours into the contest! 40 was his money band and 160 outperformed 15 for him QSO-wise! Wyatt, AI6V shared the 9A1TT station (as a pair of single op stations) and had an absolute blast. Marty, N6VI reported that 15m was the money band at 3B8M but West Coast contacts were hard to come by. Larry, K6RO made a last minute decision to get into the contest. His rotator was fixed Wednesday but his amplifier gave him fits. Jim, W6YA entered single band 15 meters and said it was quite the challenge. Bill, N6WS operated mostly Friday night and Saturday morning. He was happy about his 80m vertical working well on that band. He hopes to add a range switch to improve the SWR across the entire band. Steve, K0XP said conditions were notablly worse this year compared to last. He had some trouble breaking through to some of the DX but reported working all BY stations heard, rather unusual for him. Terry, N6CW operated from W6XI's Arizona station, and had DXCC in 11 1/2 hours, all on 40 meters! Bill, W8QZA did his usual QRP operation. 26% of his Q's were with JA's! He also picked up entity #94 toward his 80m DXCC. Dan, WA6URY once again remoted in to his home station in LAX from Tokyo. David, N6AN operated QRP from Caltech Pasadena, sort of Field Day style, putting up a 20m half square antenna using trees and fiberglass poles on Sunday. On Saturday, he braved 30 degree weather and snow in the San Gabriel mountains in an attempt to leverage a several thousand foot drop off to the north and east. Chas, W6UM did all S&P with his antenna stuck at 60 degrees (rotator failure). Don, N6IC commented that considering we are at the sunspot minimum, it was a great weekend. He even managed a few 10m contacts. Kurt, W6PH and WA1Z operated VP9I from the QTH of VP9GE, although I think all 8M+ points went to YCCC. Kurt? They reported excellent low band numbers, experiencing quiet conditions on 160 and 80. A short opening to the U.S. on 10m Saturday did not result in as many Q's as they would have liked but hey, with no sunspots, some Q's are better than none. Marko, N5ZO was with a couple of Frenchmen at 6V7A and banged out an amazing 19M points in the M/2 HP category, a score that is likely to stand as the top score in that one. 3830 is showing all of those points going to YCCC (ugh). Hope a third of them will go toward SCCC. Unforunately, they experienced a 3+ hour power outage, or they likely would have eclipsed the 20M point mark. 80m was great the first night for them, and they wound up with more than 1,000 QSOs on the band for the first time from Senegal. Tim, N6GP said 15 was marginal for him and he never heard a peep on 10. 20 was rough for him as well. Dan, N6MJ operated ZF1A once again, and reported relatively good conditions the first day but horrible the second day. He averaged 268 Q's per hour during the first 31 hours (holy cow!) and 113 during the last 17 hours. He tells us he had been training for this contest since July 1!
CQ has published the final results of the 2019 CQ WPX CW contest. Ken, K6LA piloted VY2TT to 3rd place World Single Op All Band HP. Bill, W8QZA operated W6QU and took 3rd place USA Single Op All Band QRP. SCCC placed 7th in the USA with just over 50 million points. Great job, everyone!
CQ has also published the top ten raw scores for each category in the recent October CQWW DX SSB. These are before log checking. VY2TT (op K6LA) appears 8th World SOHP All Bands, just ahead of N5DX. The full list of scores can be found here.
And on December 1, CQ published the top ten raw scores in November's CQWW DX CW contest. Dan, N6MJ who operated ZF1A is showing as 3rd in the world Single Op All Band HP, following D4C and TI7W. Ken, K6LA piloted his VY2TT station to 10th in the category. The 3B8M M/M team appears 9th in the world. The full list appears here.
ARRL's June 2019 VHF Contest final results are out. Tim, N6GP is the Limited Rover winner in the Southwestern Division. Endaf, N6UTC is the Unlimited Rover winner in the Division. Greg, W6IT took the top spot Single Op, Low Power in the Southwest. And Peter's Unlimited MultiOp effort took 1st in the Division in the Unlimited MultiOp category. We did not get the Sporadic-E openings that we got last year. This year was very limited in the number of openings, and scores reflect that. The January VHF contest is right around the corner (Jan 18-20) so keep the gear ready!
2019 Field Day results have also been published now. Arnie, N6HC placed 5th overall in the Top Ten Scores bracket. He entered as a 5A station. Hey Arnie, send us some pictures next time! (Or now if you have any from the 2019 operation.)
In an interesting promotion, the folks at Contest Online Scoreboard offered some new plaques for CQWW CW last month. The idea is to encourage more contesters to configure their contest logging software to report scoring real time. There has been some concern by some in the contesting community that doing so would place a single operator unassisted into the assisted category, or provide competitive information to competitors. Most of the major contest sponsors have stated that reporting to scoreboards does not place one into the assisted category. As well, there is not any band specific or other information on the scoreboards to help one's competitor. Most of us that have used them find them helpful in that they drive us to have more BIC time. I hope that more of you will consider configuring your contest logger to report your scores real time. These sites provide help files if you need some assistance setting reporting up. The link to the CQWW CW plaques at Contest Online Scoreboard is here. I personally like to watch the scoreboard whether or not I am participating in the contest. It's fun to watch the close races, or, if indeed I am participating, the scoreboard motivates me to keep plugging and climbing up the ladder.
Here is a little something that I found and thought I'd share. The New England Film and TV History group put a video on YouTube with recordings of ID's of AM radio stations heard on all 118 AM North American Medium Wave channels from 530 kHz to 1700 kHz, including such famous stations as WOR and WGN. Many of you are probably like me, and have spent some time doing so-called AM DXing. In fact, I credit AM DXing with helping spark my interest in radio. As a young pre-teen and teenager, I of course discovered Top 40 radio and was glued to my little table top AM radio listening to music all afternoon after school. However, at night, I soon discovered that I could hear far away stations if I tuned carefully. In fact, I learned that if I wound a piece of wire around my radio's bar antenna and ran that wire out the window, I could pick up some REALLY far away stations. I remember hearing KOMA in Oklahoma, CKLW in Ontario, Canada, KSL in Salt Lake City and WGN in Chicago, all from my bedroom in San Diego! The bug had bitten and my fascination with radio continues to this day! Enjoy the video here.
Here's wishing you and your family a very Merry Christmas, happy holidays, and a Happy New Year!
Strange but true...
A lightning bolt generates temperatures five times hotter than those found at the sun's surface!
73 for now,
--Dennis NE6I
less
Monthly News (SCCCORE - SoCal Contest Club Operations, Results and Enlightenments)
November 2019
Announced contest DXpeditions for CQWW DX CW that include SCCCers are as follows.
3B8M M/M includes N6AA and N6VI. QRV before the contest as 3B8/homecall. This operation may also include W6XD as he has been spotted as 3B8/W6XD.
6V7A M/2 includes N5ZO. QRV before the contest as 6W1RW.
FM5KC SOAB by N6TJ.
KL7RA M/M includes NC6K and K6ZH. Both will operate as KL7/homecall leading up to the contest.
VP9I M/S includes W6PH.
ZF1A SOAB by N6MJ. QRV as ZF1MJ before the contest.
Above update posted 19 Nov 2019.
SCCC member Dan Craig, N6MJ is featured in QST's Member Spotlight article this month (November, 2019 issue). Dan was first licensed as KC6CNV in 1989 at the tender age of 8! Dan holds the record for most QSOs by a single operator in CQWW CW with 10,014 contacts after log checking! He accomplished this in the 2015 contest from ZF1A and is the only one to crack the 10K mark in that contest!
Looks like we had a good turn out for and some big scores in the California QSO Party. I Hope everyone had a good time operating this event! Yours truly was out of town for it and unable to participate. Next year though!
CQWW SSB conditions were especially punk. K7RA reported in his solar update posted on Friday of that weekend that the solar flux had sunk on October 21 to possibly the lowest level ever in recorded history, 64.0. The previous all time low was 64.4 on July 2, 1954. And the average solar flux for the week leading up to CQWW was also the lowest ever at 65.3. Talk about being at the bottom of the solar cycle! His prediction for the week starting Friday, October 25 was no better. SFI of 65 and an A index of 30 on Friday and 18 on Saturday. No bueno! At the start of the contest, the usual sites were reporting an SFI of 69 and A Index of 29. Ouch! And some will tell you that the SSB weekend is always much better than the CW weekend. Oh boy, let's hope that doesn't happen this year! Of note, the VP6R Pitcairn Island DXpedition paused two hours before the contest and readied themselves for a multi-multi effort. (They also expected to have a couple of stations on the WARC bands for the non-contesters out there.) Me personally... I didn't have a full weekend to dedicate to the contest but when I saw some spots on 10 meters, I was a bit surprised. So I got on barefoot and worked a few. Who knows, I might wind up top 5 in Zone 3 in my 10 meter assisted LP category hi hi! We should all do this sort of thing when time gets in the way. Just saying...
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3B8M M/M includes N6AA and N6VI. QRV before the contest as 3B8/homecall. This operation may also include W6XD as he has been spotted as 3B8/W6XD.
6V7A M/2 includes N5ZO. QRV before the contest as 6W1RW.
FM5KC SOAB by N6TJ.
KL7RA M/M includes NC6K and K6ZH. Both will operate as KL7/homecall leading up to the contest.
VP9I M/S includes W6PH.
ZF1A SOAB by N6MJ. QRV as ZF1MJ before the contest.
Above update posted 19 Nov 2019.
SCCC member Dan Craig, N6MJ is featured in QST's Member Spotlight article this month (November, 2019 issue). Dan was first licensed as KC6CNV in 1989 at the tender age of 8! Dan holds the record for most QSOs by a single operator in CQWW CW with 10,014 contacts after log checking! He accomplished this in the 2015 contest from ZF1A and is the only one to crack the 10K mark in that contest!
Looks like we had a good turn out for and some big scores in the California QSO Party. I Hope everyone had a good time operating this event! Yours truly was out of town for it and unable to participate. Next year though!
CQWW SSB conditions were especially punk. K7RA reported in his solar update posted on Friday of that weekend that the solar flux had sunk on October 21 to possibly the lowest level ever in recorded history, 64.0. The previous all time low was 64.4 on July 2, 1954. And the average solar flux for the week leading up to CQWW was also the lowest ever at 65.3. Talk about being at the bottom of the solar cycle! His prediction for the week starting Friday, October 25 was no better. SFI of 65 and an A index of 30 on Friday and 18 on Saturday. No bueno! At the start of the contest, the usual sites were reporting an SFI of 69 and A Index of 29. Ouch! And some will tell you that the SSB weekend is always much better than the CW weekend. Oh boy, let's hope that doesn't happen this year! Of note, the VP6R Pitcairn Island DXpedition paused two hours before the contest and readied themselves for a multi-multi effort. (They also expected to have a couple of stations on the WARC bands for the non-contesters out there.) Me personally... I didn't have a full weekend to dedicate to the contest but when I saw some spots on 10 meters, I was a bit surprised. So I got on barefoot and worked a few. Who knows, I might wind up top 5 in Zone 3 in my 10 meter assisted LP category hi hi! We should all do this sort of thing when time gets in the way. Just saying...
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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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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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Monthly News (SCCCORE)
October 2019
The California QSO Party is October 5-6. This is OUR contest in that WE in California get to be the hunted. We get to run. We are the wanted. No matter your station, large or small, high power, low power or QRP. The rest of the country and world will be looking for YOU! I hope that each of you will get on and enjoy this once a year opportunity to be the hunted! Be sure to submit your score for SCCC. Full rules can be found at CQP.org
A shout out to Axel, KI6RRN. According to the September issue of the San Diego DX Club bulletin, Axel currently has the highest qualifying score IN THE WORLD for WRTC!
The World Wide Radio Operators Foundation (WWROF) has posted a presentation done by W0YK on September 24. Ed reviewed the 32 year history of the CQWW RTTY DX Contest and much more. You can find the presentation here.
LOTW and other electronic QSL systems have revolutioned QSLing. I'm sure that we all get a flood of electronic QSLs shortly after the contest (sometimes within minutes!). And yet, we may still receive printed QSLs from some, requesting ours in return. These may be from USA or foreign countries. Often these are from hams who have not yet mastered registering for LOTW and/or prefer not to do electronic QSLing for one reason or another. I personally love both. I like the expediency of a quick electronic QSL but I still enjoy receiving a printed card. The printed card often tells me more about the ham or DXpedition on the other end of my QSL. I especially enjoy printed QSLs with pictures on them, although I admittedly have a pretty plain card myself with no pictures. I should probably fix that, huh? That said, I wonder about the rest of you SCCCers. What are your thoughts about QSLing? Do you prefer electronic or printed? Do you respond 100%? Is it easier now than before? (Many of us dreaded the hundreds or thousands of cards we received from the Asian island to the west of us, while we in fact loving working those runs during the DX contests!. How quickly do you respond to QSLs? Have you kept in mind that some or many may be from budding contesters and perhaps we should respond as quickly as possible? Now that many of our club members are retired, is it easier than before to respond to QSL requests? Or not? And what about those that aren't yet retired? Is it fairly easy or a burden? Your thoughts appreciated! (send to the reflector too).
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A shout out to Axel, KI6RRN. According to the September issue of the San Diego DX Club bulletin, Axel currently has the highest qualifying score IN THE WORLD for WRTC!
The World Wide Radio Operators Foundation (WWROF) has posted a presentation done by W0YK on September 24. Ed reviewed the 32 year history of the CQWW RTTY DX Contest and much more. You can find the presentation here.
LOTW and other electronic QSL systems have revolutioned QSLing. I'm sure that we all get a flood of electronic QSLs shortly after the contest (sometimes within minutes!). And yet, we may still receive printed QSLs from some, requesting ours in return. These may be from USA or foreign countries. Often these are from hams who have not yet mastered registering for LOTW and/or prefer not to do electronic QSLing for one reason or another. I personally love both. I like the expediency of a quick electronic QSL but I still enjoy receiving a printed card. The printed card often tells me more about the ham or DXpedition on the other end of my QSL. I especially enjoy printed QSLs with pictures on them, although I admittedly have a pretty plain card myself with no pictures. I should probably fix that, huh? That said, I wonder about the rest of you SCCCers. What are your thoughts about QSLing? Do you prefer electronic or printed? Do you respond 100%? Is it easier now than before? (Many of us dreaded the hundreds or thousands of cards we received from the Asian island to the west of us, while we in fact loving working those runs during the DX contests!. How quickly do you respond to QSLs? Have you kept in mind that some or many may be from budding contesters and perhaps we should respond as quickly as possible? Now that many of our club members are retired, is it easier than before to respond to QSL requests? Or not? And what about those that aren't yet retired? Is it fairly easy or a burden? Your thoughts appreciated! (send to the reflector too).
more
CQ has published the final results of the 2019 CQWWW WPX SSB contest. Bill W8QZA piloted W6QU to 3rd lace Single OP All Band QRP.
ARRL RTTY Roundup results are out. Levi, K6JO placed 9th overall in the SOLP category and tops in the west coast region in SOLP. SCCC finished 11th in the Medium Club category with out 20 entries. As you may recall, this was the first appearance of FT8 in the RU. 944 logs received were all FT8! In comparison, 1,384 were all RTTY. 313 logs had both modes in them. Next year's RTTY Roundup should be interesting now that contest mode FT4 is available. Full results of the 2019 event can be found here.
Preliminary NAQP SSB results have been released by NCJ. Levi, K6JO operating NT6Q is 9th overall and helped his teammates on SCCC #1 to 3rd place just above NCCC #1, if it all holds up. Three of the top four scores in California are on SCCC #1! Great job! A side mention...Joe, K5KT who has been absent from team operation in recent years, had some log submission issues but worked through them and his log was accepted. Thanks for sticking with it, Joe!
Strange but true...
Historians report that when Napoleon Bonaparte wasn't busy conquering, he enjoyed ice skating.
73 for now,
--Dennis NE6I
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ARRL RTTY Roundup results are out. Levi, K6JO placed 9th overall in the SOLP category and tops in the west coast region in SOLP. SCCC finished 11th in the Medium Club category with out 20 entries. As you may recall, this was the first appearance of FT8 in the RU. 944 logs received were all FT8! In comparison, 1,384 were all RTTY. 313 logs had both modes in them. Next year's RTTY Roundup should be interesting now that contest mode FT4 is available. Full results of the 2019 event can be found here.
Preliminary NAQP SSB results have been released by NCJ. Levi, K6JO operating NT6Q is 9th overall and helped his teammates on SCCC #1 to 3rd place just above NCCC #1, if it all holds up. Three of the top four scores in California are on SCCC #1! Great job! A side mention...Joe, K5KT who has been absent from team operation in recent years, had some log submission issues but worked through them and his log was accepted. Thanks for sticking with it, Joe!
Strange but true...
Historians report that when Napoleon Bonaparte wasn't busy conquering, he enjoyed ice skating.
73 for now,
--Dennis NE6I
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Monthly News (SCCCORE)
September 2019
The ARRL has announced that automated contacts are prohibited in ARRL contests, DXCC, WAS and for some (or all?) other ARRL awards. In this day and age of computerized ham software, it isn't all that difficult to automate contacts with the operator just watching over (or, ahem, not present at all). Altered versions of these kinds of contest or digi programs or use of scripts or outboard software to eliminate the need for human intervention will cause QSOs made with them to be prohibited. How can the ARRL detect such contacts? There is much discussion on the usual forums about this but just as detection of illegal output power, use of spotting nets by single operators, etc. can be detected, there are undoubtedly ways of detecting automated contacts. Regardless, all contesters should always play fair adn abide by the rules. The ARRL announcement can be found here.
The annual Summer Bash was hosted by Randy, KQ6RS. Spotted there were N6AA, N6HC, K6NA, N6CW, K6RB, N5ZO, N6JOJ, W6YA, N6XT, AI6O and NA6MB. AI6O reports that it was a great gathering.
Jim, N6TJ has announced that he will be at 9K2HN for the CQWW CW contest in late November. Eric, NC6K and Jim, K6ZH are going to KL7RA for that one as well. Levi, K6JO will be at ZF1A for CQWW SSB. Is anyone else going on a Contest-pedition?
The World Wide Radio Operators Foundation (WWROF) has published a webinar explaining the popular FT4 / FT8 modes and the WW Digi Contest. You can find the video here.
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The annual Summer Bash was hosted by Randy, KQ6RS. Spotted there were N6AA, N6HC, K6NA, N6CW, K6RB, N5ZO, N6JOJ, W6YA, N6XT, AI6O and NA6MB. AI6O reports that it was a great gathering.
Jim, N6TJ has announced that he will be at 9K2HN for the CQWW CW contest in late November. Eric, NC6K and Jim, K6ZH are going to KL7RA for that one as well. Levi, K6JO will be at ZF1A for CQWW SSB. Is anyone else going on a Contest-pedition?
The World Wide Radio Operators Foundation (WWROF) has published a webinar explaining the popular FT4 / FT8 modes and the WW Digi Contest. You can find the video here.
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Preliminary results of the July NAQP RTTY have been published on the NCJ web site. As noted, many stations were celebrating the 50th anniversary of the Apollo 11 moon landing by using names like Buzz, Neil, and Moon. Fun! Final scores will be published in a future edition of the National Contest Journal (NCJ).
Condx were very rough for both the CW and SSB NAQPs in August. Scores were low and comments reflected how slow things were. All we can do is wait for more sunspots.
The August 22 edition of ARRL's "So Now What?" podcast focused on contesting, with ARRL Contest Program Manager Paul Bourque, N1SFE. "So Now What?" is aimed at new amateur radio operators. If you have any friends or family members who are hams and have expressed an interest in contesting, this might be a good one to point them to. The podcast can be downloaded on Apple iTunes, Blubrry, and Stitcher. Episodes are also archived on the ARRL web site. A link to the story can be found here.
ARRL has published the final results fo the ARRL DX Phone Contest. Ken, K6LA piloted VY2TT to 3rd place USA/VE HP! Nice going, Ken! Bill, W8QZA put W6QU in 3rd USA/VE QRP! And Alex, W6AFA placed 8th USA/VE in Single Op 20 meters. The SCCC had 62 entries, placing it in the Unlimited Club category, where we, uh, brought up the rear. No shame in that. NCCC with 77 entries really didn't do that much better than we did. It flat out was tough slogging from the west coast at this point in the sunspot cycle.
NCJ has published the final results of the NA Sprint RTTY March, 2019 contest. Levi, K6JO finished 2nd in the Low Power category. The SCCC team finished 6th. Had Levi been on it, we would have moved up to third. :(
NCJ has also published the preliminary results of the NAQP CW August, 2019 contest. Those results can be found here.
CQ published the final WPX RTTY results. Dave, W6ZL piloted KF6RY to 2nd. Bill, W8QZA operated as W6QU and took 3rd overall USA in the QRP category. SCCC posted 2.3M points in the club category.
Here is a video detailing how to set up WSJT-X to interface with N1MM+, Great for contesting with the new FT8 and FT4 digital modes.
By the way, as I type this today (Aug 31), I have been fooling around in the first annual WWROF WW Digi Contest. I could not get N1MM+ and WSJT-X to play nicely together in the short time I had to config them. That said, those who think FT8 or FT4 are robotic modes? I call B.S.! I am interacting with WSJT-X well more than I do with N1MM+ on CW! Still, it's a lot of fun. And imagine this. Today the SFI is 66. The A index is 38 (GULP!) and the K index is 4. Now imagine working a CW or SSB contest with conditions like that! And yet, operating barefoot, I'm not doing badly S&Ping and even better running! To the many that are poo pooing WSJT-X modes, I caution you to try before you poo poo. Just another way to get the adrenaline going while contesting in amateur radio!
Strange but true...
Before horror author Stephen King became famous for novels such as "Carrie," "The Stand," and "The Shining," he wrote four novels and 60 short stories, all of which were rejected for publication.
73 for now,
--Dennis NE6I
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Condx were very rough for both the CW and SSB NAQPs in August. Scores were low and comments reflected how slow things were. All we can do is wait for more sunspots.
The August 22 edition of ARRL's "So Now What?" podcast focused on contesting, with ARRL Contest Program Manager Paul Bourque, N1SFE. "So Now What?" is aimed at new amateur radio operators. If you have any friends or family members who are hams and have expressed an interest in contesting, this might be a good one to point them to. The podcast can be downloaded on Apple iTunes, Blubrry, and Stitcher. Episodes are also archived on the ARRL web site. A link to the story can be found here.
ARRL has published the final results fo the ARRL DX Phone Contest. Ken, K6LA piloted VY2TT to 3rd place USA/VE HP! Nice going, Ken! Bill, W8QZA put W6QU in 3rd USA/VE QRP! And Alex, W6AFA placed 8th USA/VE in Single Op 20 meters. The SCCC had 62 entries, placing it in the Unlimited Club category, where we, uh, brought up the rear. No shame in that. NCCC with 77 entries really didn't do that much better than we did. It flat out was tough slogging from the west coast at this point in the sunspot cycle.
NCJ has published the final results of the NA Sprint RTTY March, 2019 contest. Levi, K6JO finished 2nd in the Low Power category. The SCCC team finished 6th. Had Levi been on it, we would have moved up to third. :(
NCJ has also published the preliminary results of the NAQP CW August, 2019 contest. Those results can be found here.
CQ published the final WPX RTTY results. Dave, W6ZL piloted KF6RY to 2nd. Bill, W8QZA operated as W6QU and took 3rd overall USA in the QRP category. SCCC posted 2.3M points in the club category.
Here is a video detailing how to set up WSJT-X to interface with N1MM+, Great for contesting with the new FT8 and FT4 digital modes.
By the way, as I type this today (Aug 31), I have been fooling around in the first annual WWROF WW Digi Contest. I could not get N1MM+ and WSJT-X to play nicely together in the short time I had to config them. That said, those who think FT8 or FT4 are robotic modes? I call B.S.! I am interacting with WSJT-X well more than I do with N1MM+ on CW! Still, it's a lot of fun. And imagine this. Today the SFI is 66. The A index is 38 (GULP!) and the K index is 4. Now imagine working a CW or SSB contest with conditions like that! And yet, operating barefoot, I'm not doing badly S&Ping and even better running! To the many that are poo pooing WSJT-X modes, I caution you to try before you poo poo. Just another way to get the adrenaline going while contesting in amateur radio!
Strange but true...
Before horror author Stephen King became famous for novels such as "Carrie," "The Stand," and "The Shining," he wrote four novels and 60 short stories, all of which were rejected for publication.
73 for now,
--Dennis NE6I
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Monthly News (SCCCORE)
August 2019
The February NA Sprint CW results are out, and the SCCC#1 team finished 2nd! A very strong performance was put in by the crew: N6MJ, N5ZO, N6AA, N6RT and K6NA. Great job! NCCC#1 came out on top with 78K points to SCCC#1's 72K. SCCC#2 (NX6T, K6LA, W4EF, K6ZH and K6AW) placed 7th! Dan, N6MJ placed 7th overall! Full results NCJ web site.
And NCJ has also published the final results of the March NA Sprint RTTY. Kent, N6WT placed 4th overall in this one. The SCCC team placed 6th. Full results not yet on the web site as of July 5.
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And NCJ has also published the final results of the March NA Sprint RTTY. Kent, N6WT placed 4th overall in this one. The SCCC team placed 6th. Full results not yet on the web site as of July 5.
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The WSJT-X team has released the new General Availability (GA) release, version WSJT-X 2.10. This is a full release, not a beta. It includes the latest enhancements to the new contesting protocol FT4, along with other enhancements (note new 64 bit Windows installation package, for example). As usual, this version can be installed in a separate folder without uninstalling your previous installations. More info and download link can be found here. ARRL article here.
RSGB has announced some contests using the new digital mode FT4. The contest frequency will be 3.575 MHz. The contests will take place on September 2, October 7 and November 4 and are experimental in nature. More information can be found here.
The ARRL Contest Update (email newsletter) had what I thought was a great suggestion. Try at least one new thing during each contest. This is probably better done if you are operating the contest casually versus trying to win your category or the top spot in the contest, but it's a great way to hone your skills. The article suggests for example that it is usually quicker to keep your hands on the keyboard to log contacts than to bounce back and forth between keyboard and mouse. Try learning the keyboard shortcuts and move the mouse out of reach. I'm sure we can all think of many other things to learn and master.
Strange but true...
100 years ago, everyone owned a horse and only rich people owned cars. Today, everyone owns a car and only rich people have a horse.
73 for now,
--Dennis NE6I
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RSGB has announced some contests using the new digital mode FT4. The contest frequency will be 3.575 MHz. The contests will take place on September 2, October 7 and November 4 and are experimental in nature. More information can be found here.
The ARRL Contest Update (email newsletter) had what I thought was a great suggestion. Try at least one new thing during each contest. This is probably better done if you are operating the contest casually versus trying to win your category or the top spot in the contest, but it's a great way to hone your skills. The article suggests for example that it is usually quicker to keep your hands on the keyboard to log contacts than to bounce back and forth between keyboard and mouse. Try learning the keyboard shortcuts and move the mouse out of reach. I'm sure we can all think of many other things to learn and master.
Strange but true...
100 years ago, everyone owned a horse and only rich people owned cars. Today, everyone owns a car and only rich people have a horse.
73 for now,
--Dennis NE6I
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Monthly News (SCCCORE)
July 2019
Greetings. June and July are slow months for contesting but... As we head into the warmer months of summer, it's time to do that antenna work that you've been meaning to do. And/or that station reconfig and optimizing that has been on your mind. And invite over that nephew or neice, maybe a grandchild to experience the thrill of making a few contacts at your station. Let's make the most of our 2019 summer!
If you are running N1MM+ contest logging software, you may run into an error when the program tries to check for updates or you manually make the check. There was a change to the web site (for example they moved to https which secures data transfer between the server and browsers) but did not rewrite the update routine in the software to reflect the change, at least at first. In my case, I got a 404 error, which is essentially a server not found message. To correct the problem, go to the N1MM web site. Download and run the lastest update file. This will update your copy of N1MM+ and resolve the issue. Note, if you are running Windows XP or (gasp) Vista, the N1MM+ auto update feature is not compatible with the new site. You will have to do manual updates going forward.
The WSJT-X development team has been busy in May and June. They have been working hard on the new FT4 contest mode. The current beta version is WSJT-X 2.1.0-rc7. It is not compatible with earlier release candidates that included FT4. A mock contest was held June 4 to test things out. Installation packages are available for Windows, Linux and macOS. More information can be found here. The software is available at the WSJT-X web site.
more
QRZ.com recently made available Two Factor Authentication. This increases security and can help thwart password hackers. The feature is optional for all users except sellers in the site's swapmeet section. The feature is mandatory for those users. To activate, log in to QRZ.com. Hover on your call in the upper right of the screen and select "Account." Near the top center, you will find a large button with the Two Factor Authentication option. That will take you to the setup screen. It can be configured to work with your cell phone or with a code generator if you don't have cell coverage where you normally use QRZ.
Honda has issued recalls on several models of its very popular portable generators. Models affected are EU2200i, EU2200i Companion, and EB2200i, colored red or camouflage. According to the notice, these generators can develop leaks from the fuel valve. Purchasers should take their units to an authorized Honda Power Equipment dealer for a free repair. More information at the U.S. Consumer Protection Safety Commission web site.
Results of the 2018 ARRL 10 Meter Contest have been published. Dana, K6NR placed in the Top Ten USA SOHP CW category. John, K6MI took 5th USA SOU Mixed Mode QRP. Dave, N6AN and friend VA6DAF put the W6UE CalTech station in the top ten in the MSHP category. SCCC placed 6th in the Medium Club Category. Hats off to all those that tackled this very challenging HF contest at this point in the sunspot cycle! Full results at the ARRL contest results web site.
Also out now are the 2019 ARRL January VHF Contest results. Tim, N6GP took the top spot in the Limited Rover category in the Southwestern Division. Bruce, KG6IYN took 1st in the FM Only category in the Division. SCCC was pretty far down the list in the Medium Club category in this one. Full results at the same web site as the 10 Meter Contest.
CQ has published the raw scores for the May WPX CW contest. These are the top ten before log checking in each category. You will find the scores here.
The FCC has put on public notice for comment a Petition for Rulemaking (RM-11843) that seeks a new Amateur Radio allocation at 40 MHz (8 meters) on a secondary basis. Hams on 40 MHz is not without precedent. Hams in Ireland are authorized there today. If the FCC were to ultimately approve an 8 meter allocation for U.S. hams, the band would be a very interesting one. Would it be included by contest committees for use in HF contesting or VHF? Probably not. As you know, 30 MHz and above is typically considered VHF. Propagation would presumably be similar to 6 meters but with more Sporadic-E openings. Stay tuned! More on this story can be found here
Strange but true...
If you are enjoying summer picnics, you might want to keep in mind the fact that there are 1,500 known species of fleas and 9,500 known species of ants. Then again, that might be a factoid you'd rather forget!
73 for now,
--Dennis NE6I
less
If you are running N1MM+ contest logging software, you may run into an error when the program tries to check for updates or you manually make the check. There was a change to the web site (for example they moved to https which secures data transfer between the server and browsers) but did not rewrite the update routine in the software to reflect the change, at least at first. In my case, I got a 404 error, which is essentially a server not found message. To correct the problem, go to the N1MM web site. Download and run the lastest update file. This will update your copy of N1MM+ and resolve the issue. Note, if you are running Windows XP or (gasp) Vista, the N1MM+ auto update feature is not compatible with the new site. You will have to do manual updates going forward.
The WSJT-X development team has been busy in May and June. They have been working hard on the new FT4 contest mode. The current beta version is WSJT-X 2.1.0-rc7. It is not compatible with earlier release candidates that included FT4. A mock contest was held June 4 to test things out. Installation packages are available for Windows, Linux and macOS. More information can be found here. The software is available at the WSJT-X web site.
more
QRZ.com recently made available Two Factor Authentication. This increases security and can help thwart password hackers. The feature is optional for all users except sellers in the site's swapmeet section. The feature is mandatory for those users. To activate, log in to QRZ.com. Hover on your call in the upper right of the screen and select "Account." Near the top center, you will find a large button with the Two Factor Authentication option. That will take you to the setup screen. It can be configured to work with your cell phone or with a code generator if you don't have cell coverage where you normally use QRZ.
Honda has issued recalls on several models of its very popular portable generators. Models affected are EU2200i, EU2200i Companion, and EB2200i, colored red or camouflage. According to the notice, these generators can develop leaks from the fuel valve. Purchasers should take their units to an authorized Honda Power Equipment dealer for a free repair. More information at the U.S. Consumer Protection Safety Commission web site.
Results of the 2018 ARRL 10 Meter Contest have been published. Dana, K6NR placed in the Top Ten USA SOHP CW category. John, K6MI took 5th USA SOU Mixed Mode QRP. Dave, N6AN and friend VA6DAF put the W6UE CalTech station in the top ten in the MSHP category. SCCC placed 6th in the Medium Club Category. Hats off to all those that tackled this very challenging HF contest at this point in the sunspot cycle! Full results at the ARRL contest results web site.
Also out now are the 2019 ARRL January VHF Contest results. Tim, N6GP took the top spot in the Limited Rover category in the Southwestern Division. Bruce, KG6IYN took 1st in the FM Only category in the Division. SCCC was pretty far down the list in the Medium Club category in this one. Full results at the same web site as the 10 Meter Contest.
CQ has published the raw scores for the May WPX CW contest. These are the top ten before log checking in each category. You will find the scores here.
The FCC has put on public notice for comment a Petition for Rulemaking (RM-11843) that seeks a new Amateur Radio allocation at 40 MHz (8 meters) on a secondary basis. Hams on 40 MHz is not without precedent. Hams in Ireland are authorized there today. If the FCC were to ultimately approve an 8 meter allocation for U.S. hams, the band would be a very interesting one. Would it be included by contest committees for use in HF contesting or VHF? Probably not. As you know, 30 MHz and above is typically considered VHF. Propagation would presumably be similar to 6 meters but with more Sporadic-E openings. Stay tuned! More on this story can be found here
Strange but true...
If you are enjoying summer picnics, you might want to keep in mind the fact that there are 1,500 known species of fleas and 9,500 known species of ants. Then again, that might be a factoid you'd rather forget!
73 for now,
--Dennis NE6I
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Monthly News (SCCCORE)
June 2019
Our own Bruce, WA7BNM has been inducted into the CQ Magazine Contest Hall of Fame! Bruce works very quietly behind the scenes but has made huge contributions to the amateur radio contest world over the years! Witness 3830scores.org and the WA7BNM Contest Calendar to name just two of many. Thanks, Bruce, for all that you do! ARRL's article on the subject can be found here.
Several issues ago, I mentioned that there were many amateur radio podcasts out there for our listening pleasure. ARRL has a new one out now, launched a couple of months ago, called "So Now What?" This podcast is geared toward newcomers to our hobby. It's may not be something that most SCCCers would be interested in listening to but if you know someone new to our hobby, interested in it or returning to amateur radio, you might pass this one along to them. The podcast can be listened to online or on a smartphone or tablet. More information on So What Now can be found on the ARRL web site. I find podcasts great to listen to on my drive to and from the office, or while relaxing in the backyard. Wherever you listen, podcasts are a lot of fun and often educational.
On May 5, DX-WORLD.net and a other sites shared the very sad news that we lost Monk Apollo, SV2ASP/1. While not a contester per se, I believe I have seen evidence of him participating casually in some contests. More importantly, he was the most active ham on Mt. Athos (Monk Iakovos, SV2RSG has been reported to occasionally be active, and in fact participated in the 2016 WPX CW contest. A search on QRZ.com shows only these two as licensed there.). There have been a few attempts to get DXpeditions approved there but all have failed. The governing body there is very protective of the monastery and grounds and has not allowed outsiders to operate from there. Monk Apollo provided many with a DXCC counter. It's now likely that Mt. Athos will quickly rise from its position of #20 most wanted on Clublog to a place in the top 5. You can read a little about Monk Apollo on his QRZ.com page. Also, SV1DPI wrote about his friend, Monk Apollo, here. Also, the ARRL posted this article.
more
ARRL has published the final results of the Sweepstakes CW contest held last November. Southwestern Division winners include SCCCers:
Ken, K6LA, Single Op, High Power and George, W6AYC, Single Op, Low Power.
Final results of SS Phone show K6AM winning the Multi Single High Power category! SCCC placed 3rd in teh Medium Club category with 2.55 million points.
CQ has published the final results of the 2018 CQWW DX CW contest. They report that while the excitement is always high, the number of entities worked in 2018 was down to its lowest level in the past ten years, 194 versus a high of 263. That said, Dan, N6MJ piloted ZF1A to 4th place World Single OP HP All Band! There is a great writeup by Dan in the mag about the annual competition in this contest between him and good friend Chris, KL9A. Chris (at TI7W) took this year's battle, and now has won 2 of 3 over Dan. In the article, Dan says they are investigating potential stations for next year's contest. I suggest the two of you swap 2018's stations for 2019. What say? Ken, K6LA piloted VY2TT to 8th in that category! Axel, KI6RRN placed 3rd USA Single Op LP All Band. SCCC 8th in the USA Club category, about 1.5 million points behind NCCC. We had 72 entrants versus their 95. Be sure to get on in November and submit your score for SCCC!
NCJ published the final results of the January NAQP SSB. N5ZO, KI6RRN, W6TK and W6AFA all placed in the top ten in W6. SCCC#1 placed 12th in the team category.
Final results of the 7th Call Area QSO Party (7QP) are out. This one is somewhat popular with SCCCers even though we are a bit close to work W7's on the higher bands. That said, Alex, W6AFA took first place in the Single Op HP Phone division for non-7's. John, N6MU took first place in the Single Op LP CW catergory for those outside of W7. Tim, N6GP placed 3rd in the same category. You'll find some other SCCCers sprinkled in the final results here.
As you may recall, I sent a donation in the name of SCCC to Team Exuberance for the youngsters planned trip to K3LR to operate in the WPX SSB contest. The kids (including our own Levi, K6JO) did very, very well. The team sent us a thank you card for our donation. Click the image on the right for a larger view.
DAYTON HAMVENTION 2019!
The big announcement at Hamvention this year was from the guys at Elecraft! This should be interesting! The highly respected Elecraft K3 and K3S have been the choice of many top contesters and DXers for many years. Now, coming on the scene is the newly announced K4 and K4D! the P3 panadapter is no longer required! Elecraft describes the new user graphic user interface as super easy to use. The K4 has a new HDMI output with a few different video outputs available, and more to follow. They plan to have a 2m/440 option in the near future. The K4D is a step up and includes a diversity receiver, opening still more options on HF. But wait, there will be a K4HD too! This one will be especially good for contesters. All upgradable from the base K4. Check it out here! There are also many other videos on the K4 on the web. It sounds like a very well thought out, very modern rig!
Watch an interview with Elecraft here.
Whew! My head is spinning! Can't wait to see some reviews! Elecraft is expecting to ship the first orders around the end of this year... K4 $3,999, ATU $399, K4D $500 extra (factory MSRP). More photos can be found here.
Also announced at Dayton was the introduction of the RF-KIT RF2K-S legal limit solid state amplifier available from DX Engineering. The amplifier also does 1 KW out on 6 meters. Watch the video here.
And a new HF clock with satellite tracking and solar index plus grayline. You can check this one out here.
Of interest to low power contesters perhaps was the announcement of the Mission RGO One, an all new homebrew HF transcievier. See it here.
SDRplay announced its new RSPduo dual-tuner 14-bit SDR receiver. Check it out!
Flex Radio announced its new multiFLEX software (2 operators, 1 radio). Learn more here and here.
ARRL has announced that LOTW is now accepting contacts for the new FT4 contest mode. In order to submit FT4 QSLs, you will need to run TQSL manually and let it install the new config.xml file. The ARRL announcement can be found here. And in case you missed it, there is also a new version of TQSL (v2.4.7).
Bruce, WA7BNM announced a new addition to his 3830scores.com web site. The new feature is an Activity Tracker. It allows one to select a given club and see submitted claimed scores over a number of time periods (up to one year). SCCC scores are tied to the Club Roster. Other clubs are tied to the operator's submission to the site. I am finding this to be a really nice addition! Click the "Activity Trackers" button on the top menu.
Strange but true...
Do animals grieve their own? Perhaps so--at least some animals. When an elephant dies, other elephants in the herd will cover the body with leaves and branches, and often will stay with it for days.
73 for now,
--Dennis NE6I
less
Several issues ago, I mentioned that there were many amateur radio podcasts out there for our listening pleasure. ARRL has a new one out now, launched a couple of months ago, called "So Now What?" This podcast is geared toward newcomers to our hobby. It's may not be something that most SCCCers would be interested in listening to but if you know someone new to our hobby, interested in it or returning to amateur radio, you might pass this one along to them. The podcast can be listened to online or on a smartphone or tablet. More information on So What Now can be found on the ARRL web site. I find podcasts great to listen to on my drive to and from the office, or while relaxing in the backyard. Wherever you listen, podcasts are a lot of fun and often educational.
On May 5, DX-WORLD.net and a other sites shared the very sad news that we lost Monk Apollo, SV2ASP/1. While not a contester per se, I believe I have seen evidence of him participating casually in some contests. More importantly, he was the most active ham on Mt. Athos (Monk Iakovos, SV2RSG has been reported to occasionally be active, and in fact participated in the 2016 WPX CW contest. A search on QRZ.com shows only these two as licensed there.). There have been a few attempts to get DXpeditions approved there but all have failed. The governing body there is very protective of the monastery and grounds and has not allowed outsiders to operate from there. Monk Apollo provided many with a DXCC counter. It's now likely that Mt. Athos will quickly rise from its position of #20 most wanted on Clublog to a place in the top 5. You can read a little about Monk Apollo on his QRZ.com page. Also, SV1DPI wrote about his friend, Monk Apollo, here. Also, the ARRL posted this article.
more
ARRL has published the final results of the Sweepstakes CW contest held last November. Southwestern Division winners include SCCCers:
Ken, K6LA, Single Op, High Power and George, W6AYC, Single Op, Low Power.
Final results of SS Phone show K6AM winning the Multi Single High Power category! SCCC placed 3rd in teh Medium Club category with 2.55 million points.
CQ has published the final results of the 2018 CQWW DX CW contest. They report that while the excitement is always high, the number of entities worked in 2018 was down to its lowest level in the past ten years, 194 versus a high of 263. That said, Dan, N6MJ piloted ZF1A to 4th place World Single OP HP All Band! There is a great writeup by Dan in the mag about the annual competition in this contest between him and good friend Chris, KL9A. Chris (at TI7W) took this year's battle, and now has won 2 of 3 over Dan. In the article, Dan says they are investigating potential stations for next year's contest. I suggest the two of you swap 2018's stations for 2019. What say? Ken, K6LA piloted VY2TT to 8th in that category! Axel, KI6RRN placed 3rd USA Single Op LP All Band. SCCC 8th in the USA Club category, about 1.5 million points behind NCCC. We had 72 entrants versus their 95. Be sure to get on in November and submit your score for SCCC!
NCJ published the final results of the January NAQP SSB. N5ZO, KI6RRN, W6TK and W6AFA all placed in the top ten in W6. SCCC#1 placed 12th in the team category.
Final results of the 7th Call Area QSO Party (7QP) are out. This one is somewhat popular with SCCCers even though we are a bit close to work W7's on the higher bands. That said, Alex, W6AFA took first place in the Single Op HP Phone division for non-7's. John, N6MU took first place in the Single Op LP CW catergory for those outside of W7. Tim, N6GP placed 3rd in the same category. You'll find some other SCCCers sprinkled in the final results here.
As you may recall, I sent a donation in the name of SCCC to Team Exuberance for the youngsters planned trip to K3LR to operate in the WPX SSB contest. The kids (including our own Levi, K6JO) did very, very well. The team sent us a thank you card for our donation. Click the image on the right for a larger view.
The big announcement at Hamvention this year was from the guys at Elecraft! This should be interesting! The highly respected Elecraft K3 and K3S have been the choice of many top contesters and DXers for many years. Now, coming on the scene is the newly announced K4 and K4D! the P3 panadapter is no longer required! Elecraft describes the new user graphic user interface as super easy to use. The K4 has a new HDMI output with a few different video outputs available, and more to follow. They plan to have a 2m/440 option in the near future. The K4D is a step up and includes a diversity receiver, opening still more options on HF. But wait, there will be a K4HD too! This one will be especially good for contesters. All upgradable from the base K4. Check it out here! There are also many other videos on the K4 on the web. It sounds like a very well thought out, very modern rig!
Watch an interview with Elecraft here.
Whew! My head is spinning! Can't wait to see some reviews! Elecraft is expecting to ship the first orders around the end of this year... K4 $3,999, ATU $399, K4D $500 extra (factory MSRP). More photos can be found here.
Also announced at Dayton was the introduction of the RF-KIT RF2K-S legal limit solid state amplifier available from DX Engineering. The amplifier also does 1 KW out on 6 meters. Watch the video here.
And a new HF clock with satellite tracking and solar index plus grayline. You can check this one out here.
Of interest to low power contesters perhaps was the announcement of the Mission RGO One, an all new homebrew HF transcievier. See it here.
SDRplay announced its new RSPduo dual-tuner 14-bit SDR receiver. Check it out!
Flex Radio announced its new multiFLEX software (2 operators, 1 radio). Learn more here and here.
ARRL has announced that LOTW is now accepting contacts for the new FT4 contest mode. In order to submit FT4 QSLs, you will need to run TQSL manually and let it install the new config.xml file. The ARRL announcement can be found here. And in case you missed it, there is also a new version of TQSL (v2.4.7).
Bruce, WA7BNM announced a new addition to his 3830scores.com web site. The new feature is an Activity Tracker. It allows one to select a given club and see submitted claimed scores over a number of time periods (up to one year). SCCC scores are tied to the Club Roster. Other clubs are tied to the operator's submission to the site. I am finding this to be a really nice addition! Click the "Activity Trackers" button on the top menu.
Strange but true...
Do animals grieve their own? Perhaps so--at least some animals. When an elephant dies, other elephants in the herd will cover the body with leaves and branches, and often will stay with it for days.
73 for now,
--Dennis NE6I
less
Monthly News (SCCCORE)
May 2019
Congratulations to SCCCer Bill, N6RV who was voted the Southern California DX Club DXer of the Year for 2019! He has an impressive station, including a mix of new and classic radios and a plethora of Collins gear.
According to a news item published by ARRL, scientists are now predicting that Solar Cycle 25 will be very similar to Cycle 24. Cycle 25 may get off to a slow start and is anticipated to hit its peak between 2023 and 2026 with a sunspot range of 95 - 130. The typical average is between 140 and 220. More on this story can be found here.
WPX SSB raw scores are out (these are before log checking). Alex, W6AFA is shown as 8th in the world Single Op HP 40 meters. Read more here. Late May brings the WPX CW contest! Watch for our own Jim, N6TJ operating at KH7M. Jim tends to really tear it up on CW!
CQ Magazine has published the final results of the 2018 CQWW RTTY Contest. Paul, WN6K placed 5th in Zone 3. We had a total of 16 SCCC log submissions in the contest.
CQ also published the final results of the 2018 CQWW DX SSB contest. The write-up says that less than 200 countries were reportedly worked for the first time in a decade. Low sunspot numbers obviously reared their heads. Or didn't as the case may be. 199 were in the logs this past contest, down slightly from 2017. Dick, W6TK placed 3rd USA 21 MHz high power. That must have been brutal! Bill, N6RV placed 6th USA All Band low power. Bruce, WA7BNM landed 2nd USA 14 MHz low power. And Bill, W8QZA operated W6QU to 4th USA All Band QRP. All of those were unassisted. Full results can be found here.
more
ARRL announced on April 15 that it will roll back rates for outgoing QSL Bureau cards to 2011 levels effective May 15. The current rates had been put into effect a while back and were quite controversial. The new rates were high enough that many amateurs had discontinued use of the ARRL Outgoing QSL Bureau. The rates effective May 15 will be $2 for 10 or fewer cards in one envelope, $3 for 11-20 cards in one envelope or $75 cents per ounce for packages of 21 or more cards. There will be no transaction fees associated with these rates. Cards received before May 15 will be charged the current rate, not the new lower rate. The announcement can be found here. Keep in mind that there is no charge for using the Incoming ARRL QSL Bureau, short of funding your account, and you do not have to be an ARRL member to use it. Information on the ARRL incoming Sixth District QSL Bureau can be found here.
Bob, N6TV has posted his usual stellar array of photos from the Visalia DX Convention. These are from the recently concluded 2019 Convention. All photo credits: N6TV. Link to the full array of photos is here. A few samples below...
W6YA and K7JA N6TJ N6CW and N6AN
This month brings the Dayton Hamvention. Last year, there were several announcements of new transceivers of interest to contesters and DXers alike, along with some very nice accessories. It will be very interesting to see what announcements are in store for the 2019 edition.
The following was published on April 21 by Joe Taylor, K1JT and the WSJT-X development team.
From Joe Taylor and the WSJTX development team regarding FT4:
“To: WSJT-X users interested in testing FT4
From: K1JT, K9AN, and G4WJS
Soon after the "FT8 Roundup" held on December 1-2, 2018, we started serious work on a faster, more contest-friendly digital mode that can compete with RTTY-contesting QSO rates while preserving many of the benefits of FT8. The result is FT4 -- a new digital mode specifically designed for radio contesting.
Over the past month a small group of volunteers have been conducting on-the-air tests of FT4. The early tests were very successful and helped us to make a number of important design decisions. We believe FT4 has considerable promise for its intended purpose.
We'll soon be ready for testing by a larger group. If you might be interested in participating and offering your considered feedback, please read the descriptive document "The FT4 Protocol for Digital Contesting", posted here.
We plan to post downloadable installation packages for WSJT-X 2.1.0-rc5 on April 29, one week from today. The document linked above includes:
- Instructions for installing WSJT-X 2.1.0-rc5 and FT4 configuration
- Operating instructions for FT4
- Basic description of the FT4 protocol, modulation, and waveform
- Detailed sensitivity measurements for FT4 under a wide variety of simulated propagation conditions
- Schedule for upcoming test sessions
Please consider helping us to make FT4 a successful mode for digital contesting.
With best wishes and 73,
-- Joe (K1JT), Steve (K9AN), and Bill (G4WJS)"
Still more on this was published on the ARRL web site here.
And, on April 29, the WSJT-X team released v2.1.0-rc5, complete with the new FT4 protocol. This is a beta version, and you should donwload and read the FT4_Protocol.pdf file to learn more about it. The beta version of the software can be had at the WSJT-X web site. As you may know, you can install new versions in their own folder and run them separately. Your config file is in a Windows folder and will be accessed from the various versions as you run them. Thus, there is no need to uninstall your current version when installing a new version.
Please note that the WSJT-X has now released the new release candidate, and hams are already checking out the new FT4 mode! Discussion on the CQ-CONTEST reflector is especially active on the subject.
Strange but true...
Tourists visiting Iceland should know that tipping at a restaurant is considered an insult!
73 for now,
--Dennis NE6I
less
Bob, N6TV has posted his usual stellar array of photos from the Visalia DX Convention. These are from the recently concluded 2019 Convention. All photo credits: N6TV. Link to the full array of photos is here. A few samples below...
W6YA and K7JA N6TJ N6CW and N6AN
This month brings the Dayton Hamvention. Last year, there were several announcements of new transceivers of interest to contesters and DXers alike, along with some very nice accessories. It will be very interesting to see what announcements are in store for the 2019 edition.
The following was published on April 21 by Joe Taylor, K1JT and the WSJT-X development team.
From Joe Taylor and the WSJTX development team regarding FT4:
“To: WSJT-X users interested in testing FT4
From: K1JT, K9AN, and G4WJS
Soon after the "FT8 Roundup" held on December 1-2, 2018, we started serious work on a faster, more contest-friendly digital mode that can compete with RTTY-contesting QSO rates while preserving many of the benefits of FT8. The result is FT4 -- a new digital mode specifically designed for radio contesting.
Over the past month a small group of volunteers have been conducting on-the-air tests of FT4. The early tests were very successful and helped us to make a number of important design decisions. We believe FT4 has considerable promise for its intended purpose.
We'll soon be ready for testing by a larger group. If you might be interested in participating and offering your considered feedback, please read the descriptive document "The FT4 Protocol for Digital Contesting", posted here.
We plan to post downloadable installation packages for WSJT-X 2.1.0-rc5 on April 29, one week from today. The document linked above includes:
- Instructions for installing WSJT-X 2.1.0-rc5 and FT4 configuration
- Operating instructions for FT4
- Basic description of the FT4 protocol, modulation, and waveform
- Detailed sensitivity measurements for FT4 under a wide variety of simulated propagation conditions
- Schedule for upcoming test sessions
Please consider helping us to make FT4 a successful mode for digital contesting.
With best wishes and 73,
-- Joe (K1JT), Steve (K9AN), and Bill (G4WJS)"
Still more on this was published on the ARRL web site here.
And, on April 29, the WSJT-X team released v2.1.0-rc5, complete with the new FT4 protocol. This is a beta version, and you should donwload and read the FT4_Protocol.pdf file to learn more about it. The beta version of the software can be had at the WSJT-X web site. As you may know, you can install new versions in their own folder and run them separately. Your config file is in a Windows folder and will be accessed from the various versions as you run them. Thus, there is no need to uninstall your current version when installing a new version.
Please note that the WSJT-X has now released the new release candidate, and hams are already checking out the new FT4 mode! Discussion on the CQ-CONTEST reflector is especially active on the subject.
Strange but true...
Tourists visiting Iceland should know that tipping at a restaurant is considered an insult!
73 for now,
--Dennis NE6I
less
Monthly News (SCCCORE)
April 2019
Welcome aboard to new member Paul, W6PNG (pictured left). Paul is located in Laguna Beach. Paul has been active of late in SOTA and NPOTA activations, which has led to suitcase DXpeditons, as he calls them. While he is antenna impaired at his home QTH, he is able to get on for contesting from other locations. He did ARRL DX Phone for the second consective year from TI7 for example. He was also interviewed by Eric 4Z1UG on QSO Today. Welcome Paul!
Also, welcome to NI6V. Matthew is in Long Beach and enjoys CW, RTTY and QRP. He too is antenna challenged at his home QTH but he will be purchasing an Elecraft KX3 and Buddipole so that he can go portable.
We are hams. Amateur radio operators. Radio guys. As such, we use batteries. Probably more than the average person. Certainly we have more of an interest than most in how batteries work, how to properly charge them, and how to prolong their life. Battery University has all sorts of information on batteries. You'll find chapters under "Crash Course on Batteries," "Battery Types," "Battery Testing and Monitoring," and "How to Prolong Battery Life," among others on the site. There is a plethora of interesting material there. There is even a fascinating section called "Charging Without Wires -- A Solution or Laziness." Most of us are familiar with the basic concept but this chapter provides some interesting information on the topic. Battery University is a good place to learn a lot about batteries.
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The following story has been added April 2, after the original publishing date of the April News (SCCCORE).
Congratulations to Team Exuberance, a group of youngsters including our own Levi, K6JO! The group, with the support of many amateur radio operators nationwide via a GoFundMe page, traveled to the K3LR superstation in Pennsylvania to try their hand at the CQ WPX SSB contest the final weekend of March. While these youngsters are not new to contesting, they don't have the many years of experience that many of us in the club have. Tim, station owner of K3LR, provided some great coaching, according to the team, and their claimed score benefited from that as well as their own recent contest experiences. According to their 3830scores.org submission, the team scored nearly 23.8 million points and is currently listed in first place in the M/2 HP category! Congratulations to all of them for a superb outing! Photos and more from this effort can be found on the K3LR web site.
Reminder, we are always on the look out for photos of your station, antennas, and portable or expeditions. Also member web sites and award photos. We also have a For sale/wanted section here on the web site.
The results of the September, 2018 NA Sprint SSB have been published. Marko, N5ZO placed 3rd. NX6T operated by KK6NON (now K6JO) placed 10th. The SCCC #1 team placed 6th. Full results can be found here.
Preliminary NAQP RTTY results of the February, 2019 edition have been published by NCJ. SCCC #1 scratched and clawed its way to an 11th place finish. Not our best showing. Conditions were mighty punk on that weekend. Read the article here.
Preliminary results of the 2019 ARRL DX Contest CW have been published by the ARRL. You can read them by clicking here.
Last November 6, the on-set station of the television show "Last Man Standing" (licensed as KA6LMS, get it? LMS...Last Man Standing) was put on the air during a break in taping at Studio City. Special guest operators KN4AQ, KD4ACW and W0DHG took turns operating the station. Also, youngster Jet Jurgensmeyer who plays Boyd on the show spent some time operating along side KN4AQ. Jet had a good time, and expressed an interest in getting his ham license. In this video, Jet looks and sounds like a natural at the mic. Perhaps we can interest him in contesting once he gets his license! The show Last Man Standing airs Fridays at 8:00 pm on Fox. Do any of you find yourself checking the QSLs on the wall of the station while watching the show? I always look to see whose cards and calls I recognize!
The WPX SSB contest was concluded this past weekend (Mar 30-31). Conditions were pretty punk at this point in the sunspot cycle. 10 meters opened for a brief time Sunday morning. And 15 was only slightly less evasive. However, the fun thing about WPX contests is that they are a mixture of DX and USA contacts, keeping things interesting and the strategy a bit different than other contests. With the plethora of USA call sign prefixes out there, multipliers are plentiful. The CW version of WPX occurs in late May.
Strange but true...
The king of hearts is the only king without a moustache on a standard playing card.
73 for now,
--Dennis NE6I
less
Congratulations to Team Exuberance, a group of youngsters including our own Levi, K6JO! The group, with the support of many amateur radio operators nationwide via a GoFundMe page, traveled to the K3LR superstation in Pennsylvania to try their hand at the CQ WPX SSB contest the final weekend of March. While these youngsters are not new to contesting, they don't have the many years of experience that many of us in the club have. Tim, station owner of K3LR, provided some great coaching, according to the team, and their claimed score benefited from that as well as their own recent contest experiences. According to their 3830scores.org submission, the team scored nearly 23.8 million points and is currently listed in first place in the M/2 HP category! Congratulations to all of them for a superb outing! Photos and more from this effort can be found on the K3LR web site.
Reminder, we are always on the look out for photos of your station, antennas, and portable or expeditions. Also member web sites and award photos. We also have a For sale/wanted section here on the web site.
The results of the September, 2018 NA Sprint SSB have been published. Marko, N5ZO placed 3rd. NX6T operated by KK6NON (now K6JO) placed 10th. The SCCC #1 team placed 6th. Full results can be found here.
Preliminary NAQP RTTY results of the February, 2019 edition have been published by NCJ. SCCC #1 scratched and clawed its way to an 11th place finish. Not our best showing. Conditions were mighty punk on that weekend. Read the article here.
Preliminary results of the 2019 ARRL DX Contest CW have been published by the ARRL. You can read them by clicking here.
Last November 6, the on-set station of the television show "Last Man Standing" (licensed as KA6LMS, get it? LMS...Last Man Standing) was put on the air during a break in taping at Studio City. Special guest operators KN4AQ, KD4ACW and W0DHG took turns operating the station. Also, youngster Jet Jurgensmeyer who plays Boyd on the show spent some time operating along side KN4AQ. Jet had a good time, and expressed an interest in getting his ham license. In this video, Jet looks and sounds like a natural at the mic. Perhaps we can interest him in contesting once he gets his license! The show Last Man Standing airs Fridays at 8:00 pm on Fox. Do any of you find yourself checking the QSLs on the wall of the station while watching the show? I always look to see whose cards and calls I recognize!
The WPX SSB contest was concluded this past weekend (Mar 30-31). Conditions were pretty punk at this point in the sunspot cycle. 10 meters opened for a brief time Sunday morning. And 15 was only slightly less evasive. However, the fun thing about WPX contests is that they are a mixture of DX and USA contacts, keeping things interesting and the strategy a bit different than other contests. With the plethora of USA call sign prefixes out there, multipliers are plentiful. The CW version of WPX occurs in late May.
Strange but true...
The king of hearts is the only king without a moustache on a standard playing card.
73 for now,
--Dennis NE6I
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Monthly News (SCCCORE)
March 2019
Welcome aboard to new member Paul, K6PO. Paul hails from San Diego and enjoys CW and RTTY contesting. We are looking forward to having Paul's scores added to the club scores in coming contests!
Also, welcome to new member Roy, KK6M. Roy recently purchased an Elecraft K3S and is really enjoying it. He also has a Yaesu FT5000MP that he loves. Roy is looking to improve his CW contesting skills, and racked up 170 Q's in last month's ARRL DX CW contest. The picture to the left is Roy's well equipped station.
And welcome to Gary, KK6YB from La Jolla, CA. Gary enjoys HF, VHF, UHF, FT8 and RTTY. He was first licensed in 1972.
And...welcome aboard to another new member, Joe, W6AYC in Atascadero. Joe tells us that CW contesting is his speciality.
A recent note from Jim, N6TJ brought to my attention that this month, he is celebrating 70 years of contesting! And this is his ninth decade in the contesting fray! Wow! Jim is planning on operating as 9K2HN in CQWW CW in Zone 21 this November, another new one for him. Jim perennially turns in very high scores in CQWW, and judging by the antennas seen in the 9K2HN QRZ.com photo, he will do so again this November! KB, Jim and congrats on the contesting anniversary!
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There is still time to donate to Team Exuberance and their CQ WPX SSB effort in late March. As you may recall from an earlier SCCCORE writeup, the team is made up of six youngsters (mid-teenagers) who plan to travel to the K3LR contest station to compete. Donations will be used to fund transportation, hotels, meals and other trip related needs for these six and a few accompanying adults. The team consists of KM4ATT, KG5HVO, VE7DZO, HA8RT, K6JO and NN1C. You might recognize one of the calls in there as an SCCC member. Hint, formerly KK6NON and W6BQ, now K6JO! The Team Exuberance fund raiser has a goal of $5,000 and is very nearly there. I personally donated earlier in the name of SCCC. If you feel this is a worthy effort to encourage young contesters, you are invited to donate as well. Their Go Fund Me page is located here.
During last month's CQ WPX RTTY contest, my mind got to wandering while S&Ping Sunday morning. I worked out 40 meters, 15 wasn't open yet, and signals on 20 were still weak and fluttery. I was having trouble decoding much of anything, and started wondering if the 2Tone decoder would help. A quick search on the web brought me to the excellent RTTY Contesting web site. Installation looked simple enough. Hmm. I'm normally not one to fool around with things in the middle of a contest, and indeed, I told myself, no, don't do it! However, another 20 or 30 minutes of weak and fluttery signals caused me to throw caution to the wind. As it turns out, installation of a second receive window and 2Tone is very simple, and I had it up and running in minutes. This setup allows MMTTY and 2Tone to operate in parallel under N1MM+. I quickly noticed that yes, sometimes 2Tone would fully decode a signal where MMTTY didn't. However, there were other times where the opposite was true. Never-the-less, the addition of 2Tone to my N1MM+ setup was helpful as it gave me some decodes that I otherwise would have missed. You might even say that I finally got with the program! Pun intended! I'm often slow to try new things, and I know many of you have 2Tone and even GRTTY installed next to MMTTY, but if not, and you're interested, read up on it at RTTYcontesting.com.
Speaking of the WPX RTTY, the raw scores were published post haste (mid-Feb, a mere week after the contest)! W0YK tells us that the raw scores are generated by the log checking software before any reductions for errors and omissions. He stated that the final results will be published in the July issue of CQ Magazine and on the CQ WPX RTTY Contest web site. The raw scores page shows Bill, W8QZA piloting W6QU to 3rd place in All Band QRP in North America. Way to go, Bill!
There seems to be quite the attraction to the lower 10 kHz of the contesting spectrum for many that like to run. During a RTTY contest, it's especially challenging there. Everyone is on top of each other and despite heavy duty filtering, narrow receive bandwidths, IF shifts, et al, it's very challenging to decode anything. Meanwhile 20 kHz and up from the lower edge, no sweat. Perhaps those that pack themselves into the lower 10 kHz will consider spreading out a bit instead.
Final results of the February North American Sprint CW have been published. Participation was up substantially, making the contest even more fun than usual. Over the past decade the article says, the twenty winning operators (two Sprints per year) have predominately been in the western USA, and most of those in the Pacific Time Zone. Dan, N6MJ finished 7th overall. It now takes 15K points to make the top ten. Wow! The Top Ten QSO Totals box shows Dan at 5th and Marko, N5ZO at 10th. Axel, KI6RRN dipped his toe into this one, his first time ever in a Sprint. His 285 QSO total was outstanding for a first timer. We hope he'll be back for more down the road. The SCCC #1 team finished 2nd overall, just 6K points behind NCCC #1. Let's get 'em next time!
The 2018 IARU HF World Championship results were published in the March, 2019 issue of QST. Dick, W6TK placed 4th in the Single Op, Mixed Mode HP category. Axel, KI6RRN at WA6TQT took the top spot in the Single Op, Mixed Mode LP category. Paul, WN6K was 5th in that category. Alex, W6AFA placed 3rd in the Single Op, Phone Only HP group. Marko, N5ZO took 4th in the Single Op, Unlimited, CW Only HP category. All of these are in the US/Canada standings.
Preliminary results of the 2018 ARRL 10-Meter Contest have been published on the ARRL web site, although they are not complete. The only news I gleaned from there is that Bill, W8QZA operating with club call W6QU has won the Single Operator, Phone Only, QRP category. Bill you must be a masochist, but congrats!
Last month's ARRL DX CW contest brought out the troops! And by all accounts, was thoroughly enjoyed by everyone despite being at the bottom of the sunspot cycle. The SFI was at 70, A index at 4 and K index at 2. That made for quiet conditions, which helped with the lower strength signals all around. There were even a few spots on 10 meters! Let's see if the March Phone contest results in similar good fun. Some of the comments by SCCCers follow. "I have never worked as many Italian stations. It must be WRTC fever." "Nice opening to Europe on Saturday morning." "Great conditions Friday evening (stateside guys down in signal strength while DX was coming through well)." "Much noisier on Saturday than Friday." "40 meters opened to Europe both days before sunset and on Sunday, they were coming in just after 2 pm." "160m propagation from the Central Coast was pretty good into Zones 7, 8, 9, 14 and the Pacific. 80, 40, 20 and 15 had good propagation and were also pretty crowded." "Only put in 8 hours but had a couple of very nice EU runs on 20m both Saturday and Sunday." "Decent JA run on 20 on Saturday afternoon. Most notable moment was being called off the back of the antenna by ZT1T during a JA run." "Nice opening to EU Saturday morning, but was surprised by what seemed like fewer SA stations. Glad to hear and work a 4X, since I haven't heard one in a DX contest in quite some time. Fun contest." "Not much on 10, 15 was a little better but hardly great. 20 was fantastic most of the weekend. I heard/worked many strong Eu stations on 80." "Broke one of my old records - DXCC in 7.5 hours. This time, did it in 7.1 hours."
In June, we shared that Kenwood had announced the new TS-890S and Yaesu had announced the new FT-101D during last April's Dayton Hamvention. At the time, a few dealers were taking pre-order reservations. Well, the wait is over. Dealers are now taking full orders on what appears to be two FB new radios. These two radios are expected to be awfully good rigs for contesting and DXing. Reviews from users will be interesting to read. I, for one, will be watching eHam for new reviews.
I run across some really interesting, bizarre and sometimes scary things in my travels. Here, a picture from Kent's N6WT QRZ web page. I presume this is Kent in the Jeep. And no, I don't think this was an accident. I think this was intentional! His other hobby is the Desert Dawgs off road club. Thanks to them, Kent also got into amateur radio!
Managing contest teams can be hazardous to your health! Mental health, that is! The goal, of course, is to put everyone on the team where their score will maximize that team's score. That is, your highest scorers on team 1, next highest on team 2, etc. As a team organizer, your hope is to get that right every single time. In practice, it is VERY difficult to achieve. Despite your best efforts, things can happen. One of your high scorers has rig problems, software problems, or worse, and turns in a lower than expected score or a goose egg. Of course, no one is to blame for the unforeseen, but I still smack myself in the head sometimes when it happens. Conditions can play a part too. While we all live in Southern California, our territory is pretty far and wide. Conditions can vary just enough across the region to affect scores differently depending on where an operator is. Local QRN or interference can also tank one of our team member's scores. Or an unexpected visit from relatives. There are a plethora of things that are well beyond our members' control and that can affect a team score. Sometimes we get a late entrant/volunteer to be on a team, and that person should be on team 1, but I've already published the teams. Or, I misjudge the anticipated score by an entrant and place him or her on the wrong team. Argh. I take it all very personally because I want us to field the highest scoring teams that we can. I will say this. The February CW Sprint was a team manager's dream come true. We had ten operators volunteer to be on a team, and all were historically high scoring operators! I had to carefully select whom to put on which team. I mulled it over very carefully, and was pretty sure that no matter what, I would have several on the wrong team. It all worked out in the end, and we had two very strong performing teams with awesome final scores. Two full teams with everyone over 11K points in the Sprint?! Crazy good. That said, I hope that everyone will always sign up to be on a team. No matter your score, high, medium or low, we need you. NCCC had four teams in the February Sprint. There is no reason we can't have that many. We always, always, always want all of our club members to contribute to SCCC team and club scores!
ARRL is reporting that LOTW (Logbook of the World) has reached one billion QSO records! That's crazy! The one billionth QSO record was uploaded by 7X3WPL. It's true though that many DX stations (and even some domestic stations) have found it challenging to register for LOTW. I'm sure that many of you have read some rants about that on QRZ.com web pages. I know that ARRL is working to streamline the process. That said, it's an awesome (and quick!) way to get that needed QSL for DXCC, WAS, WPX, or WAZ. Impressively, contesters seem to be in tune with LOTW. Confirmations generally pour in quickly within hours of the end of a contest. And I must salute ARRL for its efforts in preserving the integrity of DXCC and other awards through the system.
Strange but true...
Tablecloths were originally meant to be served as towels with which dinner guests could wipe their hands and faces after eating.
73 for now,
--Dennis NE6I
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During last month's CQ WPX RTTY contest, my mind got to wandering while S&Ping Sunday morning. I worked out 40 meters, 15 wasn't open yet, and signals on 20 were still weak and fluttery. I was having trouble decoding much of anything, and started wondering if the 2Tone decoder would help. A quick search on the web brought me to the excellent RTTY Contesting web site. Installation looked simple enough. Hmm. I'm normally not one to fool around with things in the middle of a contest, and indeed, I told myself, no, don't do it! However, another 20 or 30 minutes of weak and fluttery signals caused me to throw caution to the wind. As it turns out, installation of a second receive window and 2Tone is very simple, and I had it up and running in minutes. This setup allows MMTTY and 2Tone to operate in parallel under N1MM+. I quickly noticed that yes, sometimes 2Tone would fully decode a signal where MMTTY didn't. However, there were other times where the opposite was true. Never-the-less, the addition of 2Tone to my N1MM+ setup was helpful as it gave me some decodes that I otherwise would have missed. You might even say that I finally got with the program! Pun intended! I'm often slow to try new things, and I know many of you have 2Tone and even GRTTY installed next to MMTTY, but if not, and you're interested, read up on it at RTTYcontesting.com.
Speaking of the WPX RTTY, the raw scores were published post haste (mid-Feb, a mere week after the contest)! W0YK tells us that the raw scores are generated by the log checking software before any reductions for errors and omissions. He stated that the final results will be published in the July issue of CQ Magazine and on the CQ WPX RTTY Contest web site. The raw scores page shows Bill, W8QZA piloting W6QU to 3rd place in All Band QRP in North America. Way to go, Bill!
There seems to be quite the attraction to the lower 10 kHz of the contesting spectrum for many that like to run. During a RTTY contest, it's especially challenging there. Everyone is on top of each other and despite heavy duty filtering, narrow receive bandwidths, IF shifts, et al, it's very challenging to decode anything. Meanwhile 20 kHz and up from the lower edge, no sweat. Perhaps those that pack themselves into the lower 10 kHz will consider spreading out a bit instead.
Final results of the February North American Sprint CW have been published. Participation was up substantially, making the contest even more fun than usual. Over the past decade the article says, the twenty winning operators (two Sprints per year) have predominately been in the western USA, and most of those in the Pacific Time Zone. Dan, N6MJ finished 7th overall. It now takes 15K points to make the top ten. Wow! The Top Ten QSO Totals box shows Dan at 5th and Marko, N5ZO at 10th. Axel, KI6RRN dipped his toe into this one, his first time ever in a Sprint. His 285 QSO total was outstanding for a first timer. We hope he'll be back for more down the road. The SCCC #1 team finished 2nd overall, just 6K points behind NCCC #1. Let's get 'em next time!
The 2018 IARU HF World Championship results were published in the March, 2019 issue of QST. Dick, W6TK placed 4th in the Single Op, Mixed Mode HP category. Axel, KI6RRN at WA6TQT took the top spot in the Single Op, Mixed Mode LP category. Paul, WN6K was 5th in that category. Alex, W6AFA placed 3rd in the Single Op, Phone Only HP group. Marko, N5ZO took 4th in the Single Op, Unlimited, CW Only HP category. All of these are in the US/Canada standings.
Preliminary results of the 2018 ARRL 10-Meter Contest have been published on the ARRL web site, although they are not complete. The only news I gleaned from there is that Bill, W8QZA operating with club call W6QU has won the Single Operator, Phone Only, QRP category. Bill you must be a masochist, but congrats!
Last month's ARRL DX CW contest brought out the troops! And by all accounts, was thoroughly enjoyed by everyone despite being at the bottom of the sunspot cycle. The SFI was at 70, A index at 4 and K index at 2. That made for quiet conditions, which helped with the lower strength signals all around. There were even a few spots on 10 meters! Let's see if the March Phone contest results in similar good fun. Some of the comments by SCCCers follow. "I have never worked as many Italian stations. It must be WRTC fever." "Nice opening to Europe on Saturday morning." "Great conditions Friday evening (stateside guys down in signal strength while DX was coming through well)." "Much noisier on Saturday than Friday." "40 meters opened to Europe both days before sunset and on Sunday, they were coming in just after 2 pm." "160m propagation from the Central Coast was pretty good into Zones 7, 8, 9, 14 and the Pacific. 80, 40, 20 and 15 had good propagation and were also pretty crowded." "Only put in 8 hours but had a couple of very nice EU runs on 20m both Saturday and Sunday." "Decent JA run on 20 on Saturday afternoon. Most notable moment was being called off the back of the antenna by ZT1T during a JA run." "Nice opening to EU Saturday morning, but was surprised by what seemed like fewer SA stations. Glad to hear and work a 4X, since I haven't heard one in a DX contest in quite some time. Fun contest." "Not much on 10, 15 was a little better but hardly great. 20 was fantastic most of the weekend. I heard/worked many strong Eu stations on 80." "Broke one of my old records - DXCC in 7.5 hours. This time, did it in 7.1 hours."
In June, we shared that Kenwood had announced the new TS-890S and Yaesu had announced the new FT-101D during last April's Dayton Hamvention. At the time, a few dealers were taking pre-order reservations. Well, the wait is over. Dealers are now taking full orders on what appears to be two FB new radios. These two radios are expected to be awfully good rigs for contesting and DXing. Reviews from users will be interesting to read. I, for one, will be watching eHam for new reviews.
I run across some really interesting, bizarre and sometimes scary things in my travels. Here, a picture from Kent's N6WT QRZ web page. I presume this is Kent in the Jeep. And no, I don't think this was an accident. I think this was intentional! His other hobby is the Desert Dawgs off road club. Thanks to them, Kent also got into amateur radio!
Managing contest teams can be hazardous to your health! Mental health, that is! The goal, of course, is to put everyone on the team where their score will maximize that team's score. That is, your highest scorers on team 1, next highest on team 2, etc. As a team organizer, your hope is to get that right every single time. In practice, it is VERY difficult to achieve. Despite your best efforts, things can happen. One of your high scorers has rig problems, software problems, or worse, and turns in a lower than expected score or a goose egg. Of course, no one is to blame for the unforeseen, but I still smack myself in the head sometimes when it happens. Conditions can play a part too. While we all live in Southern California, our territory is pretty far and wide. Conditions can vary just enough across the region to affect scores differently depending on where an operator is. Local QRN or interference can also tank one of our team member's scores. Or an unexpected visit from relatives. There are a plethora of things that are well beyond our members' control and that can affect a team score. Sometimes we get a late entrant/volunteer to be on a team, and that person should be on team 1, but I've already published the teams. Or, I misjudge the anticipated score by an entrant and place him or her on the wrong team. Argh. I take it all very personally because I want us to field the highest scoring teams that we can. I will say this. The February CW Sprint was a team manager's dream come true. We had ten operators volunteer to be on a team, and all were historically high scoring operators! I had to carefully select whom to put on which team. I mulled it over very carefully, and was pretty sure that no matter what, I would have several on the wrong team. It all worked out in the end, and we had two very strong performing teams with awesome final scores. Two full teams with everyone over 11K points in the Sprint?! Crazy good. That said, I hope that everyone will always sign up to be on a team. No matter your score, high, medium or low, we need you. NCCC had four teams in the February Sprint. There is no reason we can't have that many. We always, always, always want all of our club members to contribute to SCCC team and club scores!
ARRL is reporting that LOTW (Logbook of the World) has reached one billion QSO records! That's crazy! The one billionth QSO record was uploaded by 7X3WPL. It's true though that many DX stations (and even some domestic stations) have found it challenging to register for LOTW. I'm sure that many of you have read some rants about that on QRZ.com web pages. I know that ARRL is working to streamline the process. That said, it's an awesome (and quick!) way to get that needed QSL for DXCC, WAS, WPX, or WAZ. Impressively, contesters seem to be in tune with LOTW. Confirmations generally pour in quickly within hours of the end of a contest. And I must salute ARRL for its efforts in preserving the integrity of DXCC and other awards through the system.
Strange but true...
Tablecloths were originally meant to be served as towels with which dinner guests could wipe their hands and faces after eating.
73 for now,
--Dennis NE6I
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Monthly News (SCCCORE)
February 2019
Welcome aboard to our first new member of 2019, Stephen, K6AW! Stephen hails from Santa Barbara and enjoys HF contesting.
Have you heard this before? "Read the contest rules before starting the contest." That one hit home for yours truly last month. I added my call to the SCCC #4 team in NAQP CW so as to fill out the five member team. I knew I had limited time to operate but thought I could get in a few dozen Q's. I wound up having a little more time than I thought though. Surprisingly (at the time), I was able to work everything I could hear, even the extremely weak stations. Having fun with that, I put in more time than I expected and logged 135 contacts in just over three hours of mostly S&P. I had to admit that I was pretty happy with that. The following morning, I noticed that almost all of the entries on 3830scores showed as low power. DOH! I'd run high power the entire time, totally forgetting the fact that NAQP is a LP affair. Sorry SCCC #4. The NE6I log became a checklog. Repeat after me, "Read the contest rules before starting the contest." And take nothing for granted!
ARRL reports a "dramatic uptick" in the number of logs submitted in this year's ARRL RTTY Roundup (which took place the first weekend in January) as compared to 2018. Their informal polling indicates that RTTY and FT8 successfully shared spectrum during the contest as well. Early returns indicate that most operators operated one mode or the other but a small percentage operated both. WSJT-X co-developer K1JT logged an astounding 585 FT8 contacts during the contest! As a reminder, if using FT8 in an ARRL contest, you must enter one of the Unlimited categories if operating single operator. This is because WSJT-X is a multi-decoder.
Preliminary results for the ARRL SS Phone contest are now out. The K6AM station is atop the MSHP category. Full results will be published in the June issue of QST.
Preliminary results for the January NAQP CW are also out. Marko, N5ZO shows as 2nd place overall, followed closely by Axel, KI6RRN in 3rd. The SCCC #1 team shows as 2nd place in the team competition, with only 65K and a smidge points separating us from the top spot in a 1.3M point battle! Oh so close! Those preliminary results can be viewed here.
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Have you heard this before? "Read the contest rules before starting the contest." That one hit home for yours truly last month. I added my call to the SCCC #4 team in NAQP CW so as to fill out the five member team. I knew I had limited time to operate but thought I could get in a few dozen Q's. I wound up having a little more time than I thought though. Surprisingly (at the time), I was able to work everything I could hear, even the extremely weak stations. Having fun with that, I put in more time than I expected and logged 135 contacts in just over three hours of mostly S&P. I had to admit that I was pretty happy with that. The following morning, I noticed that almost all of the entries on 3830scores showed as low power. DOH! I'd run high power the entire time, totally forgetting the fact that NAQP is a LP affair. Sorry SCCC #4. The NE6I log became a checklog. Repeat after me, "Read the contest rules before starting the contest." And take nothing for granted!
ARRL reports a "dramatic uptick" in the number of logs submitted in this year's ARRL RTTY Roundup (which took place the first weekend in January) as compared to 2018. Their informal polling indicates that RTTY and FT8 successfully shared spectrum during the contest as well. Early returns indicate that most operators operated one mode or the other but a small percentage operated both. WSJT-X co-developer K1JT logged an astounding 585 FT8 contacts during the contest! As a reminder, if using FT8 in an ARRL contest, you must enter one of the Unlimited categories if operating single operator. This is because WSJT-X is a multi-decoder.
Preliminary results for the ARRL SS Phone contest are now out. The K6AM station is atop the MSHP category. Full results will be published in the June issue of QST.
Preliminary results for the January NAQP CW are also out. Marko, N5ZO shows as 2nd place overall, followed closely by Axel, KI6RRN in 3rd. The SCCC #1 team shows as 2nd place in the team competition, with only 65K and a smidge points separating us from the top spot in a 1.3M point battle! Oh so close! Those preliminary results can be viewed here.
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In the ARRL September VHF Contest, Bruce KG6IYN finished second in the Single Op, 3 Band category and John, K6MI placed 5th in the Unlimited Rover category. As this was written, the January, 2019 edition of the contest had just taken place. Conditions in Southern California were less than great, but there were definitely Sporadic-E openings on six meters late Saturday and Sunday.
The 2018 ARRL November Sweepstakes CW results have been published. There is a humorous (or some would call it sad) blurb in the writeup that captures the essence of the 2018 contest: "Welcome to Sweepstakes at the bottom of the cycle: when 10-meters is a wasteland, 15 only slightly better and the bulk of activity is concentrated on 20 during the day." No kidding. The article reports that there were only 7-14 QSOs on 10 meters in the submitted logs. Wow! Dave, K6LL placed 6th overall in the SO Unlimited HP category and right behind him was Marko, N5ZO. Full results can be found here.
In the 2018 ARRL 222 MHz and Up Distance Contest, Wayne, N6NB ran through 8 grids to log 231 contacts. Greg, W6IT accounted for many of those, and logged 117 Q's to post the regions' top SO score. Full results for this contest can be found here.
And in the North American Sprint RTTY, September edition, Levi KK6NON (now K6JO) placed 7th overall, and 2nd in the Low Power category! Nicely done! We didn't enter any teams in this one but if we had, the SCCC team would have placed fourth.
Somewhere in my travels, I came across a company in Japan that makes a MASSIVE antenna for amateur radio. The Versa Beam KA-1 411X operates on 40 through 6 meters and sports a boom of 20 meters in length (just over 65 ft)! The beast has 5 elements on 40/30 meters, 7 elements on 20/17 meters, 9 on 15/12/10 and 15 elements on 6 meters! The gain figures are crazy. 15.6 dBi on 20 meters, 17.2 on 15 meters and 17.6 on 10 meters. By comparison, the SteppIR MonstIR DB-42 is spec'ed at 10.1, 11.0 and 12.2 dBi respectively. Obviously, the two antennas are not quite in the same class as each other, other than being massive pieces of hardware and the top of the line for each of the two manufacturers. The OB16-5 by Optibeam comes close but is shy in the numbers a bit. Want to check out the Versa Beam yourself? Slide on over to their web site and check it out for yourself. (I don't mean this to be an advertisement or endorsement of Versa Beam. I'm simply admiring this massive antenna!)
Carl, K9LA writes a column about propagation and has long been fascinated by the subject. In his article in the recent issue of NCJ, he says the current solar minimum will be another long one. He says that the Cycle 25 peak should occur in 2022 or 2023 and will be lower than Cycle 24. Ugh. The earthsky.org web site suggests that the bottom of Cycle 24 will occur in December of this year.
Now we know the secret to Marko's N5ZO big scores! Lots of video monitors! Not to mention a plethora of equipment in his finely equipped station! This photo, courtesy of QST magazine, shows Marko operating SO2R in the NA Sprint CW. His station sports a pair of Elecraft K3's. It looks an awful lot like he is smiling here, and he well should be. He cracked the Top Ten in this particular Sprint!
If you subscribed to the free weekly Ohio/Penn DX Bulletin edited by KB8NW, please note that the server HAMNET.org, which he has used since the late 1980's, was hacked and wiped on January 11. The Mailing List is currently in limbo. The weekly bulletin may still be accessed on the web at www.papays.com/opdx.html. More details about the hack can be found at the top of Bulletin 1399 (January 21, 2019 issue).
It has been reported that there have been some changes to the rules that will be in effect for WRTC 2022. The initial qualification rules can be found here. The change log is reportedly as follows.
2. Category Weighting for SO-LP is 0.9 and for SOA-LP is 0.85
2.1, 2.2 Clarified that SOSB and SOAB of the same power level are compared directly for Qualification Event Scores
2.5 WRTC-Style MS/M2 teams have been removed.
3. Selection Areas (SA) and Team Leaders (TL) (renamed)
New column headings TL from Continent and TL from Area
Removed limit of max. 2 per country from EU
Increased TL for EU from 17 to 18
Moved OX from EU#1 to NA#2
Moved OY from EU#3 to EU#1
Moved UA1 from EU#1 to EU#4
EU#1, EU#2, and EU#4 have 2 TL, EU#3 has 3 TL
NA#4, NA#7, NA#10 changes
Added VP9 to CA#1
AS#4, AS#5 changes
SA#1 – noted that PJ only applies to PJ in Zone 9
Moved PY0S/PY0F to SA#2, leaving PY0T in SA#4
SA#3, SA#4 changes
List of exceptions to 1 TL per country rule. Added note that TL must qualify, not guaranteed slot except for UA1/UA3/UA4
4. Added special scoring for UA and non-UA stations in RDXC.
5. Corrected regular MS/M2/MM scores to 4.
6.1 Noted the process of choosing TL/TM for Sponsored or Wild Card is TBD.
6.2 Changed to last three WRTC and top twenty (20) places, including Sponsored and Wild Card TL
6.3 Required proof of license and permission for scores from outside SA of residence
6.6 New Determination of Home SA rules
7. New TM qualification rules
7.2, 7.3 Clarification that TM rules does not apply to Sponsored Teams
8. Reduced Youth Teams from 7 to 6
Strange but true...
Your body is creating and killing 15 million red blood cells per second!
73 for now,
--Dennis NE6I
less
The 2018 ARRL November Sweepstakes CW results have been published. There is a humorous (or some would call it sad) blurb in the writeup that captures the essence of the 2018 contest: "Welcome to Sweepstakes at the bottom of the cycle: when 10-meters is a wasteland, 15 only slightly better and the bulk of activity is concentrated on 20 during the day." No kidding. The article reports that there were only 7-14 QSOs on 10 meters in the submitted logs. Wow! Dave, K6LL placed 6th overall in the SO Unlimited HP category and right behind him was Marko, N5ZO. Full results can be found here.
In the 2018 ARRL 222 MHz and Up Distance Contest, Wayne, N6NB ran through 8 grids to log 231 contacts. Greg, W6IT accounted for many of those, and logged 117 Q's to post the regions' top SO score. Full results for this contest can be found here.
And in the North American Sprint RTTY, September edition, Levi KK6NON (now K6JO) placed 7th overall, and 2nd in the Low Power category! Nicely done! We didn't enter any teams in this one but if we had, the SCCC team would have placed fourth.
Somewhere in my travels, I came across a company in Japan that makes a MASSIVE antenna for amateur radio. The Versa Beam KA-1 411X operates on 40 through 6 meters and sports a boom of 20 meters in length (just over 65 ft)! The beast has 5 elements on 40/30 meters, 7 elements on 20/17 meters, 9 on 15/12/10 and 15 elements on 6 meters! The gain figures are crazy. 15.6 dBi on 20 meters, 17.2 on 15 meters and 17.6 on 10 meters. By comparison, the SteppIR MonstIR DB-42 is spec'ed at 10.1, 11.0 and 12.2 dBi respectively. Obviously, the two antennas are not quite in the same class as each other, other than being massive pieces of hardware and the top of the line for each of the two manufacturers. The OB16-5 by Optibeam comes close but is shy in the numbers a bit. Want to check out the Versa Beam yourself? Slide on over to their web site and check it out for yourself. (I don't mean this to be an advertisement or endorsement of Versa Beam. I'm simply admiring this massive antenna!)
Carl, K9LA writes a column about propagation and has long been fascinated by the subject. In his article in the recent issue of NCJ, he says the current solar minimum will be another long one. He says that the Cycle 25 peak should occur in 2022 or 2023 and will be lower than Cycle 24. Ugh. The earthsky.org web site suggests that the bottom of Cycle 24 will occur in December of this year.
Now we know the secret to Marko's N5ZO big scores! Lots of video monitors! Not to mention a plethora of equipment in his finely equipped station! This photo, courtesy of QST magazine, shows Marko operating SO2R in the NA Sprint CW. His station sports a pair of Elecraft K3's. It looks an awful lot like he is smiling here, and he well should be. He cracked the Top Ten in this particular Sprint!
If you subscribed to the free weekly Ohio/Penn DX Bulletin edited by KB8NW, please note that the server HAMNET.org, which he has used since the late 1980's, was hacked and wiped on January 11. The Mailing List is currently in limbo. The weekly bulletin may still be accessed on the web at www.papays.com/opdx.html. More details about the hack can be found at the top of Bulletin 1399 (January 21, 2019 issue).
It has been reported that there have been some changes to the rules that will be in effect for WRTC 2022. The initial qualification rules can be found here. The change log is reportedly as follows.
2. Category Weighting for SO-LP is 0.9 and for SOA-LP is 0.85
2.1, 2.2 Clarified that SOSB and SOAB of the same power level are compared directly for Qualification Event Scores
2.5 WRTC-Style MS/M2 teams have been removed.
3. Selection Areas (SA) and Team Leaders (TL) (renamed)
New column headings TL from Continent and TL from Area
Removed limit of max. 2 per country from EU
Increased TL for EU from 17 to 18
Moved OX from EU#1 to NA#2
Moved OY from EU#3 to EU#1
Moved UA1 from EU#1 to EU#4
EU#1, EU#2, and EU#4 have 2 TL, EU#3 has 3 TL
NA#4, NA#7, NA#10 changes
Added VP9 to CA#1
AS#4, AS#5 changes
SA#1 – noted that PJ only applies to PJ in Zone 9
Moved PY0S/PY0F to SA#2, leaving PY0T in SA#4
SA#3, SA#4 changes
List of exceptions to 1 TL per country rule. Added note that TL must qualify, not guaranteed slot except for UA1/UA3/UA4
4. Added special scoring for UA and non-UA stations in RDXC.
5. Corrected regular MS/M2/MM scores to 4.
6.1 Noted the process of choosing TL/TM for Sponsored or Wild Card is TBD.
6.2 Changed to last three WRTC and top twenty (20) places, including Sponsored and Wild Card TL
6.3 Required proof of license and permission for scores from outside SA of residence
6.6 New Determination of Home SA rules
7. New TM qualification rules
7.2, 7.3 Clarification that TM rules does not apply to Sponsored Teams
8. Reduced Youth Teams from 7 to 6
Strange but true...
Your body is creating and killing 15 million red blood cells per second!
73 for now,
--Dennis NE6I
less
Monthly News (SCCCORE)
January 2019
Welcome aboard to Mike, KX6A in Newport Beach. Mike was first licensed in 2007, and enjoys Summits on the Air (SOTA). Two of his sons are also licensed (N6NGG and N6WMG). Mike is new to contesting but is enjoying learning about it.
December is typically a slow month for contesters. There aren't a lot of major contests going on, and we are all busy dreaming of amateur radio gifts under the tree. Uh, busy shopping for gifts for family and friends! Okay, we are busy doing both of those! The weather has cooled and we aren't typically busy with antenna work either. Although... as I type this particular paragraph on Xmas Eve day, it's 70 degrees at my QTH and I've tried to be outside to enjoy it much of the day.
In case you missed it, registration has opened for the 2019 ConTest University presentation at the Dayton Hamvention in Xenia, Ohio. The faculty lineup, posted on the CTU website, includes several new and returning members. Newcomer Bryant, KG5HVO, will present ideas for attracting youth into contesting, while Dan, N6MJ, and Chris, KL9A — the gold medalists at WRTC 2014 — will present advanced operating papers. More info can be found here.
more
On Christmas Eve, K6AM announced that the 2018 California QSO Party results had been published at the CQP web site.
John's announcement included the following:
(quote)
Once again, all 58 CA counties were on the air for CQP 2018. We received 905 logs before the log submission deadline on October 22, 2018. Over the last 8 weeks, under the leadership of Cabrillo Conquistador Tom Epperly (NS6T), the CQP team worked carefully and efficiently to streamline the log-checking process without sacrificing quality or accuracy of results. Adjudicating 905 logs in just 8 weeks is a new record for the CQP team.
What you’ll find on the website:
- A list of all 51 Plaque Winners — a record number of plaques this year. Congratulations to all !
- A list of the 40 Wine Winners — thanks to our sponsor Twisted Oak Winery
- Complete reports for California, USA, Canada, DX
- Club Competition Results - Congratulations to MLDXCC (Large Category) and REDXA (Small Category)
- Top-10 Reports - CA and Non-CA
- Top-YL Reports - CA and Non-CA
- All-Time Records Updated
- Soapbox Comments
- 2018 “Print-Your-Own” Certificate Of Achievement
Thank you for participating. We hope you had fun! If you couldn’t make it, not to worry. In just 284 days the 54th Running of the CQP will take place. Hope to see you on the air October 5th and 6th !
(unquote)
So how did SCCC do? Well, I would say Not Too Darned Bad!
N6MJ took top honors in SO HP.
Right behind him in second was N6WIN.
KI6RRN took first in SO LP.
K6ZZ was second in SO LP.
W6TK was second in SO HP Assisted.
KM6Z was first in SO LP Assisted.
W6RFU operated by AC6T and non-member W6AAF was first in the Top School category.
NO6T operated by N5ZO and N6AN took top honors in the MS category.
N6WIN had the most Phone QSOs.
WA6KHK took 2nd in the QRP category.
Many of these stations won CQP wine and will be seeing their prize arrive at their door step before long!
And of course, there really was no competition in the Medium California Club category. SCCC earned another plaque in that one. And while we were at it, we beat the Motherlode DX/Contest Club's score in the Large California Contest Club category by 400K plus. In other words, we trounced every other club this year! (Granted, NCCC did not put in an effort here. Their members were spread out amongst other clubs.)
Congratulations to all on a GREAT SHOWING!
The 2018 CQ WPX CW contest results were published in the November issue of CQ Magazine, which arrived at my door in late December. This was the 40th running of this very popular contest. K6LA took #4 in the world Single Op All Band High Power operating VY2TT. N6CW placed 3rd in the USA Single Op 14 MHz High Power category. KI6RRN took 3rd in the USA Single Op All Band Low Power category. And W8QZA piloted W6QU to 2nd place in the USA Single Op All Band QRP category. The SCCC placed 6th in the USA Club standings with just over 44 million points!
A very spirited conversation took place on the CQ-CONTEST reflector in throughout December about FT8 and contesting. This was prompted by the FT8 practice contest and the January, 2019 addition of FT8 as a newly allowed mode in the ARRL RTTY Roundup contest. There were very strong feelings on both sides of the fence. I had to wonder if this is how it felt back when SSB was introduced to the bands and AM users thought it was the end of the world. Hint: FT8 won't be the end of ham radio as we know it, just as SSB wasn't and the end of CW as a USA licensing requirement wasn't. Et al. In the meantime, we will see a lot of conversation about FT8 and how it fits or doesn't fit into contesting. And as many of you know, I've been gathering comments from SCCCers that were there when amateur radio SSB started to replace AM. I'm still working on that article for future publication here on our web site. Lots of great stuff has come in so far!
VE6EY sent us a link to his series of very interesting articles. The web site, which he calls "Making It Up", includes some fascinating articles about beamforming, including doing so in ham radio with phased arrays. Other articles include information about beamforming used in other communications spectrum and industries. Did you know that some of the wi-fi routers we use for internet connectivity today use beamforming to improve coverage in parts of our home? John also has many other interesting articles on the web site. If you're like me, you'll wind up spending quite a bit of time reading them.
Results of the the 2018 FT8 Roundup contest have been posted here, and the write up is pretty interesting. FT8, of course, has become one of the most quickly adopted new modes in amateur radio history. It's ability to facilitate relatively quick QSOs (compared to the JT modes, that is) with receive signal levels as much as 20 dB or so below the noise has allowed a whole new group of hams to work DX that they never before dreamed of working. I personally worked all states in a few short weeks using 1 watt or less myself! As we know,
the mode is being debated ad infinitum on reflectors and forums. Does it have a place in amateur radio? Contesting? DXCC? The answer to the first and last of those three is a whole hearted YES. The
mode allows for a whole group of hams with limited stations to work the world like never before, not to mention the rest of us working stations on bands otherwise thought to be dead. The answer to the second one, contesting, is still up for debate. A dedicated FT8 Roundup of course answers that, but mixing it with the RTTY Roundup? Well, we shall see. ARRL has approved it for use in this January's contest. We can all speculate but even for the high rate junkies amongst us (and that's ALL of us, no?), we may want to add FT8 to our list of tools to add Q's to the final score. It's interesting to note that in this initial FT8 Roundup in December, WV4P won operating as SO2R (one TX on the even time slot and one TX on the odd time slot) with 693 QSOs and 95 mults in 30 hours. Not too bad for a "slower than CW and SSB mode!" Perhaps more importantly, he is brand new to contesting. Another addict? Let's hope! Meanwhile, Dave, K6LL (pictured here) finished 2nd! Dave is new to FT8 and also operated SO2R. There is obviously promise in this new mode in the contest world. And even if we determine that it's not necessarily a good mix with the RTTY Roundup, etc., perhaps we get another contest fix by operating the FT8 Roundup! Time will tell how this new mode fits into our contesting world. Hats off to the software developers for responding to requests to explore this area!
The December ARRL 10-meter contest seems to have awakened the band! Despite an A index of 10 and K index of 2 (SFI 71) on that Saturday (only slightly better on Sunday), a healthy number of spots were observed. SCCC pre-arranged 28.040 and 28.440 for some local contacts during the contest. Unfortunately, at my limited QTH, I heard no activity on either frequency. I spent the last couple of hours on Sunday CQing on 28.040 (the only time I had available to get in on the fun that weekend) and raised a small number of answers, all local to me though. I did get a couple of XE's but they are pretty close to me so... From the spots and reports I saw though, it is pretty amazing what can be done on 10 at the low end of the sunspot cycle during a contest that is focused on that band!
I trust that everyone had a good holiday season and rang in the new year with resolutions of going bigger and better in the 2019 contests! See you on the air!
Strange but true...
In Tokyo, a bicycle is faster than a car for most trips of less than 50 minutes!
73 for now,
--Dennis NE6I
less
John's announcement included the following:
(quote)
Once again, all 58 CA counties were on the air for CQP 2018. We received 905 logs before the log submission deadline on October 22, 2018. Over the last 8 weeks, under the leadership of Cabrillo Conquistador Tom Epperly (NS6T), the CQP team worked carefully and efficiently to streamline the log-checking process without sacrificing quality or accuracy of results. Adjudicating 905 logs in just 8 weeks is a new record for the CQP team.
What you’ll find on the website:
- A list of all 51 Plaque Winners — a record number of plaques this year. Congratulations to all !
- A list of the 40 Wine Winners — thanks to our sponsor Twisted Oak Winery
- Complete reports for California, USA, Canada, DX
- Club Competition Results - Congratulations to MLDXCC (Large Category) and REDXA (Small Category)
- Top-10 Reports - CA and Non-CA
- Top-YL Reports - CA and Non-CA
- All-Time Records Updated
- Soapbox Comments
- 2018 “Print-Your-Own” Certificate Of Achievement
Thank you for participating. We hope you had fun! If you couldn’t make it, not to worry. In just 284 days the 54th Running of the CQP will take place. Hope to see you on the air October 5th and 6th !
(unquote)
So how did SCCC do? Well, I would say Not Too Darned Bad!
N6MJ took top honors in SO HP.
Right behind him in second was N6WIN.
KI6RRN took first in SO LP.
K6ZZ was second in SO LP.
W6TK was second in SO HP Assisted.
KM6Z was first in SO LP Assisted.
W6RFU operated by AC6T and non-member W6AAF was first in the Top School category.
NO6T operated by N5ZO and N6AN took top honors in the MS category.
N6WIN had the most Phone QSOs.
WA6KHK took 2nd in the QRP category.
Many of these stations won CQP wine and will be seeing their prize arrive at their door step before long!
And of course, there really was no competition in the Medium California Club category. SCCC earned another plaque in that one. And while we were at it, we beat the Motherlode DX/Contest Club's score in the Large California Contest Club category by 400K plus. In other words, we trounced every other club this year! (Granted, NCCC did not put in an effort here. Their members were spread out amongst other clubs.)
Congratulations to all on a GREAT SHOWING!
The 2018 CQ WPX CW contest results were published in the November issue of CQ Magazine, which arrived at my door in late December. This was the 40th running of this very popular contest. K6LA took #4 in the world Single Op All Band High Power operating VY2TT. N6CW placed 3rd in the USA Single Op 14 MHz High Power category. KI6RRN took 3rd in the USA Single Op All Band Low Power category. And W8QZA piloted W6QU to 2nd place in the USA Single Op All Band QRP category. The SCCC placed 6th in the USA Club standings with just over 44 million points!
A very spirited conversation took place on the CQ-CONTEST reflector in throughout December about FT8 and contesting. This was prompted by the FT8 practice contest and the January, 2019 addition of FT8 as a newly allowed mode in the ARRL RTTY Roundup contest. There were very strong feelings on both sides of the fence. I had to wonder if this is how it felt back when SSB was introduced to the bands and AM users thought it was the end of the world. Hint: FT8 won't be the end of ham radio as we know it, just as SSB wasn't and the end of CW as a USA licensing requirement wasn't. Et al. In the meantime, we will see a lot of conversation about FT8 and how it fits or doesn't fit into contesting. And as many of you know, I've been gathering comments from SCCCers that were there when amateur radio SSB started to replace AM. I'm still working on that article for future publication here on our web site. Lots of great stuff has come in so far!
VE6EY sent us a link to his series of very interesting articles. The web site, which he calls "Making It Up", includes some fascinating articles about beamforming, including doing so in ham radio with phased arrays. Other articles include information about beamforming used in other communications spectrum and industries. Did you know that some of the wi-fi routers we use for internet connectivity today use beamforming to improve coverage in parts of our home? John also has many other interesting articles on the web site. If you're like me, you'll wind up spending quite a bit of time reading them.
Results of the the 2018 FT8 Roundup contest have been posted here, and the write up is pretty interesting. FT8, of course, has become one of the most quickly adopted new modes in amateur radio history. It's ability to facilitate relatively quick QSOs (compared to the JT modes, that is) with receive signal levels as much as 20 dB or so below the noise has allowed a whole new group of hams to work DX that they never before dreamed of working. I personally worked all states in a few short weeks using 1 watt or less myself! As we know,
the mode is being debated ad infinitum on reflectors and forums. Does it have a place in amateur radio? Contesting? DXCC? The answer to the first and last of those three is a whole hearted YES. The
mode allows for a whole group of hams with limited stations to work the world like never before, not to mention the rest of us working stations on bands otherwise thought to be dead. The answer to the second one, contesting, is still up for debate. A dedicated FT8 Roundup of course answers that, but mixing it with the RTTY Roundup? Well, we shall see. ARRL has approved it for use in this January's contest. We can all speculate but even for the high rate junkies amongst us (and that's ALL of us, no?), we may want to add FT8 to our list of tools to add Q's to the final score. It's interesting to note that in this initial FT8 Roundup in December, WV4P won operating as SO2R (one TX on the even time slot and one TX on the odd time slot) with 693 QSOs and 95 mults in 30 hours. Not too bad for a "slower than CW and SSB mode!" Perhaps more importantly, he is brand new to contesting. Another addict? Let's hope! Meanwhile, Dave, K6LL (pictured here) finished 2nd! Dave is new to FT8 and also operated SO2R. There is obviously promise in this new mode in the contest world. And even if we determine that it's not necessarily a good mix with the RTTY Roundup, etc., perhaps we get another contest fix by operating the FT8 Roundup! Time will tell how this new mode fits into our contesting world. Hats off to the software developers for responding to requests to explore this area!
The December ARRL 10-meter contest seems to have awakened the band! Despite an A index of 10 and K index of 2 (SFI 71) on that Saturday (only slightly better on Sunday), a healthy number of spots were observed. SCCC pre-arranged 28.040 and 28.440 for some local contacts during the contest. Unfortunately, at my limited QTH, I heard no activity on either frequency. I spent the last couple of hours on Sunday CQing on 28.040 (the only time I had available to get in on the fun that weekend) and raised a small number of answers, all local to me though. I did get a couple of XE's but they are pretty close to me so... From the spots and reports I saw though, it is pretty amazing what can be done on 10 at the low end of the sunspot cycle during a contest that is focused on that band!
I trust that everyone had a good holiday season and rang in the new year with resolutions of going bigger and better in the 2019 contests! See you on the air!
Strange but true...
In Tokyo, a bicycle is faster than a car for most trips of less than 50 minutes!
73 for now,
--Dennis NE6I
less
