Wondering why we have such high SFI numbers this summer, sometimes breathtakingly high, as in above 300 (!), and yet, the bands, especially 10 meters, have crazy poor propagation? This article by Tomas, NW7US explains why this is. While we will have shorter hours of sunlight this fall and winter, prop should improve greatly!

ICOM announced at the Tokyo Ham Fair last month their new IC-7760 transceiver. This new radio is aimed at contesters and DXers, and those that appreciate top of the line rigs. And unlike other base station transceivers, it comes with a remote control head and RF deck, allowing hams to clear some desk space as well operate from anywhere in the home using their home LAN. Read all about this new radio here. And here is a YouTube video with a so-called first view by G3OJV.

It always disappoints me when I call for folks to join an SCCC team in those contests that allow teams, and some of you show up in the results but weren't on a team. I wonder why that is? I get it that in some cases, folks weren't planning to get on but decide to do so last minute, or didn't think they'd be home/available but turns out they were, maybe even mid-contest. No worries. But really, if you are planning to be on, please do join an SCCC team. We need your score! Also reaching out to me in the last hours before the contest may not get you on a team. I may be away and miss your email in those final hours. Do try to email me early if possible. (Thanks, and soapbox off.)

ARRL published a report with much more information about the recent IT security incident in The ARRL Letter for August 22, 2024. If you have not seen the report, you can view it on their website here, or at the DX-World website here.

From the ARRL Letter:
ARRL® has expanded member access to its rich archive of publications. The ARRL Periodicals Archive and Search now includes content from two more popular ARRL magazines: QEX — A Forum for Communications Experimenters, which features technical articles and columns of interest to radio amateurs and communications professionals; and NCJ — the National Contest Journal, which covers information, scores, and advice from the world of competitive radiosport and the contributions of top contesters.
Before accessing the archive, members should ensure they are first logged in to the ARRL website. Members may now view and download articles from across the extensively indexed archive of QEX from 1981 to 2011, and NCJ from 1973 to 2011. Members can access an index and view copies of articles from the huge ARRL periodicals archive.
73 John K3TN

REMINDER!
If you have a personal website and we don't have it listed here, let us know! We'll add it. And if you have a plaque, certificate or station photo you'd like to share, send that along too. It's been a while since we received updated ones so please do share!

AND (!), we are always looking for articles, contest writeups, antenna raising/modification articles, new radio or accessory reviews, photos, et al. Send them along so that we can publish them in SCCCORE and all can enjoy and benefit. Thanks!

Are you subscribed to the SCCC Reflector? You should be! Click here to join and start getting emails that are posted to our group!

Strange but true...
Cat urine glows under a black light! (You know you are going to try this, right?)

73 for now,
--Dennis NE6I

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Meanwhile, Tim, K3LR posted the Contest University slides that were presented at the 2024 Dayton gathering. Check those out here.

The final CQ WPX CW contest results and write up have been posted and can be found at this link.

The good news is that Cycle 25 continues to run above NOAA's predicted curve. (See here.) The bad news is that despite sometimes breathtaking SFI numbers (242 on the morning of July 17, for example), conditions can be really punk (witness the reported less than stellar situation on 10 and 15 meters during the IARU contest last month). Summer can be that way sometimes but we certainly can wish for better than this! Experts say the less than stellar propagation is likely due to the many solar flares that have occurred this year.

We had a good turn out for last month's IARU contest. Ken, K6LA (at VY2TT) said that he couldn't get much going on 10 meters but 20 and 15 were open all night. And CW especially was gangbusters! Dave, N2JNR had planned to operate out in the field but a massive heat wave kept him home. There, with HOA restrictions, he ran with his Buddipole. He did have some occasional noise issues and problems with his Winkey so he stuck mostly to S&P. He managed to work 37 countries. Bill, W8QZA operated W6QU as QRP as he usually does, and was all SSB this time. He found conditions to be not good on Saturday though it picked up in the evening on 20 and 15. He was surprised to work YT0HQ, DA0HQ, and LZ0HQ on 15 meters after 8:30 PM local time. On 15, Europe disappears at his QTH in the early afternoon. His best QSO by far was working B4HQ on 40. Dick, N6AA was mostly S&P and logged 667 Q's, all CW. Dennis, N6KI played around for a few hours S&Ping and recorded 500 Q's. Marko, N5ZO used club call NT6Q and operated on site at the WA6TQT super station. He said it was mostly a 15 meter contest for him for a long time as signals on 20 were quite weak for the first couple of hours. 10 never really opened for him. 40 meters had plenty of summertime noise which resulted in working only a few EU stations despite a large 4 over 4 antenna. Dan, N6MJ was at Tim's ND7K super station in Arizona (score submitted toward the Arizona Outlaws). He too reported great conditions on 15 but 20 and 10 were disappointing. It made 2BSIQ useless for him but he spent that time chasing mults.

From the ARRL Member Bulletin for July 23, 2024:
• The Board requested the President establish the ARRL Information Technology Advisory Committee (ITAC), acknowledging the importance of providing information technology-based services to ARRL members, and to improve and protect ARRL systems. The ITAC will engage experts in the field of IT to help oversee the development, operations, and evolution of the ARRL IT system infrastructure and applications.
• The Board reassigned the Logbook of The World® (LoTW®) Maintenance Committee to the newly established Information Technology Advisory Committee (ITAC). ITAC will support the Maintenance Committee’s responsibilities with LoTW® development, including technical changes and future upgrades to the system.

If you are a user of the WSJT-X digital suite, you undoubtedly are aware of the new SuperFox-Hound mode recently added to the release candidate versions. It's still in development but the recent K8R American Samoa DXpedition used it quite a bit and the upcoming N5J Jarvis DXpedition will also use it. The existing Fox-Hound mode allows for up to 5 simultaneous transmit streams by the Fox (the DX). Five Q's per minute, well you do the math. Super F/H allows for up to ten QSOs per minute. I think you can do the math here too. Imagine if it becomes popular in Digital Contests. Granted, stations will need to spread out versus all being on the same freq as is typical today in WSJT-X modes. As CW, SSB and RTTY contesters, we are accustomed to tuning for new stations to work. Imagine though that you are the wanted DX or other multiplier in a Digital contest. You could potentially rack up more QSOs than we ahve ever seen in a CW contest, and probably a rate higher than we have seen in an SSB contest as well! Time will tell. You can read up on the new mode here.

REMINDER!
If you have a personal website and we don't have it listed here, let us know! We'll add it. And if you have a plaque, certificate or station photo you'd like to share, send that along too. It's been a while since we received updated ones so please do share!

AND (!), we are always looking for articles, contest writeups, antenna raising/modification articles, new radio or accessory reviews, photos, et al. Send them along so that we all can benefit. Thanks!

Strange but true...
Ancient Egyptians slept on pillows made of stone!

73 for now,
--Dennis NE6I

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The raw scores for the 2024 CQ WPX CW contest are now available at https://www.cqwpx.com/raw.htm?mode=cw. These scores are prior to log checking.

Speaking of WPX, Tim, K3LR announced that Bud, AA3B has resigned as Director of the WW WPX Contests. Randy, K5ZD is the Interim Director until a permanent one is found.

Meanwhile, WWROF published the following...
(Cleveland, OH) - June 11, 2024 - The World Wide Radio Operators Foundation
(WWROF) is pleased to announce that, effective immediately, John Golomb, N2NC, will be assuming the Director role for the CQ WW VHF Contest www.cqww-vhf.com . A ham since 1980, Golomb has been an active contester throughout, being widely respected for both his technical contributions and operating skills. Over the years, John has produced an impressive list of world-class contest results, participating at a high level in both HF and VHF/UHF competitions. In particular, Golomb has participated in the CQ WW VHF contest for seven straight years, amassing nearly 2500 QSOs along the way. John's VHF experience includes building stations for his own use as well as via several technical partnerships, with operational capabilities ranging from 6 meters to 23 centimeters and beyond.

Tim, K3LR, Chairman of the WWROF also announced, "The World Wide Radio Operators Foundation (WWROF) is seeking a new Director to manage the administration of the CQ WPX Contest. Please contact Randy Thompson, K5ZD, (k5zd at outlook.com) if you have questions or would like to be considered. https://cqwpx.com/blog/

The 2024 CQ 160 Meter Contest results have also been published and can be found here.

The 2024 Dayton photo gallery by Tom, K8CX is now online with 413 photos. Enjoy!

A fairly spirited discussion about Field Day recently took place on the SCCC email reflector. It started with a discussion about potentially moving the event to a different weekend to avoid the often-times sweltering heat in parts of Southern California. (It would be challenging to find another weekend to move such a major event but the thought was good.) The conversation drifted to the fact that ARRL is still allowing points for Class D to Class D contacts. Class D is home stations on utlity power. Prior to 2020 and COVID, contacts between CLass D stations were zero pointers, essentially worthless to the final score. Beginning in 2020, the ARRL allowed those contacts to count. Now that we are no longer locked down and no one is really (or needing) to wear masks, it would seem that ARRL should go back to not counting those contacts for points, at least to most people. You can read the discussion in the SCCC reflector archives.

REMINDER!
If you have a personal website and we don't have it listed here, let us know! We'll add it. And if you have a plaque, certificate or station photo you'd like to share, send that along too. It's been a while since we received updated ones so please do share!

Strange but true...
The average person has over 1,460 dreams a year! I don't know about you but I'm dreaming of winning the CQWW DX CW contest!

73 for now,
--Dennis NE6I

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If you plan to operate the ARRL Digital Contest and/or the June VHF Contest, you'll need to know about the alternative log submission link that will be used in light of the ongoing problem with some systems at ARRL. Paul, N1SFE, ARRL Contest Program Manager provided the following information:
Log submission pages for the ARRL International Digital Contest (June 1-2, 2024) and the ARRL June VHF Contest (June 8-10, 2024) will be available at 4:30 EDT today (May 30, 2024) at the following link:
http://contest-log-submission.arrl.org
The ARRL Contest Portal will also be available with limited functionality (in particular, the Logs Received page) at that time as well at http://contests.arrl.org.
The log submission links are also available on the contest landing pages at arrl.org:
http://arrl.org/arrl-digital-contest
and
http://arrl.org/june-vhf.
We thnak you for your patience, as we work to restore full functionality to the ARRL Contest Portal.

The final results of and writeups for the 2023 CQWW DX Contests, both Phone and CW, have been published. Check them out here.

Also, the final results of the 2024 WPX SSB Contest have been published.

May was a busy week for our sun. There were three strong solar flares emitted the first week of the month and then on May 10, a massive X5.8 flare wiped out parts of the HF bands. A few hours later, the sun fired off an X1.5 flare. X-class flares are the strongest types of solar eruptions from the sun. Photos poured in on the internet of the Northern Lights as far south as the Carolinas, Texas and yes, even in San Diego! Six meter operators became quite active working CW and one of the Q65 modes to take advantage of very unusual propagation. As I type this on May 11, the Solar A Index is an incredible 291 and the K Index is 7. That's so high that you want to turn off the radio and go fishing or garage sale-ing. 10 meters through 17 are virtually dead and 20 isn't much better. It's a good thing no major contests were scheduled for this period. Scores would likely have been at an all-time low. (Photo courtesy Space.com)

NCCC member Bob Wilson, N6TV has published his annual album of Visalia International DX Convention photos. Check them out the 2024 pics here.

FlexRadio has announced the coming release of their new 8000 series SDR radios in August. They look impressive. These are apparently replacing the 6000 series radios. It will be interesting to read the receiver reviews on the Sherwood Engineering site later this year. Meantime, you can explore the new 8000 series here.

Didn't make it to the Dayon Hamvention? You can read up on a couple of wrap ups here and here.

Interesting pursuit regarding the CQ WPX CW Contest that concluded late last month. Bud, AA3B, the Director of the contest says that multiple participants in the contest were impacted by DQRM (Deliberate QRM). The Committee has concluded that this was caused by a single operator using multiple remotely controlled stations located in the USA.

We don't usually publish this sort of thing but this is rather detailed.

"The following is a partial list of DQRM incidents. We are asking that remotely controlled station owners review their activity logs to see if their stations were active around the times and frequencies shown below. If so, it is probable that their stations were used by the DQRM source operator, and we request that the remotely controlled station owners take appropriate actions to block future access by the DQRM source operator.
Freq Date UTC
7036 5/25 0032
14002 5/25 0201
14002 5/25 0207
7038 5/25 0432
3530 5/25 0603
14066 5/25 0611
3530 5/25 0617
7019 5/25 0622
7021 5/25 0625
7053 5/26 0106
7042 5/26 0109
7049 5/26 0135
7067 5/26 0222
14064 5/26 0139
7043 5/26 0231
14065 5/26 0456
14023 5/26 0518
14065 5/26 0531
14065 5/26 2141
We would appreciate feedback on the results of your review. Thanks for your support.
73, Bud Trench, AA3B
Director, CQ WPX Contest"

And, this just in...
June 11 at 9 AM EDST is the opening of reservations at the Hope Hotel for Contest University and Hamvention 2025.
Do not call the hotel before this time. Online reservations will not be taken. The entire hotel is blocked for contesters and DXers.
Contest University 2025 will be held on Thursday May 15, 2025 at the Hope Hotel.
Hamvention 2025 will be held on May 16, 17 and 18.
More information is available at http://contestuniversity.com.
73,
Tim K3LR

Strange but true...
The very first auto policy written by Allstate was for a 1930 Studebaker. The first claim was for a pried out doorhandle. While Allstate is one of the first auto insurance companies founded in the U.S., they aren't the oldest. The Farmers Group was founded in 1928!

73 for now,
--Dennis NE6I

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Ken, K6LA (VY2TT) reported amazing conditions on Friday night and Saturday. 20 meters seemed open all night. He was still running EU on the band at 0800 UTC! 15 and 10 opened early to Europe. Not so much on Sunday, he said. He did work JA on 10 on Saturday and doesn't remember ever doing so. Wow! Dave, N2JNR had planned to go to a park to operate but crummy weather kept him home. Using just a Buddipole and KX3, he worked two stations in France to start. Then Belgium and Spain. And it was off to the races, or as racy as it gets with SSB QRP. Bill, W8QZA (W6QU) was also QRP and said conditions were great. This being Easter weekend, he spent a lot less time in the contest than last year. His best QSO was 7Q6M worked through a pileup on 10 meters! Dan, N6MJ was out at the ND7K super station working on his WRTC qualifying points. (Is there any doubt that he is going qualify?!) Here are some of his comments that appeared on 3830Scores: "I had pretty good success in ARRL DX SSB doing 2BSIQ but I wasn't sure how it would work out in WPX SSB with serial numbers. It took a little getting comfortable with it but it was much easier than I thought it would be. If the rate was high I still just did 1 radio but any slow periods I did 2BSIQ. I did some traditional SO2R as well chasing packet spots. I really hate the fact that this contest no longer has an unassisted category. I get way more enjoyment out of tuning the bands finding stations on my own than clicking on packet spots. I went with packet as the main goal for this contest was to maximize my score. The station performed flawlessly. Tim has done an amazing job keeping the station well maintained. All I had to do was show up and operate."

Up next is the CQ WPX CW contest late this month! It's another great one. The ability to work both DX and stateside for points and mults make these contests especially fun. Don't miss it!

Next month is Field Day, the ARRL International Digital Contest, The ARRL June VHF Contest and the June Kids Day. Something for everyone!

Welcome aboard to new SCCC member Jacques, KN6VQ. Newly licensed in September, 2022, Jacques lives just east of Ojai. He says since becoming a ham, he was quickly drawn to contesting, and enjoys trying to beat his own scores on both CW and SSB.

Here is an 18 minute video with highlights from last month's International DX Convention in Visalia. At 7:25 in, you'll briefly see SCCC member John, KF6I describing the RF-Kit RF2K-S amplifier. John owns and operates Island Amplifier and is the exclusive USA distributor of the amp.

Remember the days when we had a whole month to submit our contest logs? Now that we are all computerized and no longer logging/duping with paper and pencil (ugh, how did we survive that?!), contest log submissions are usually due within 7 days. And... In some cases, the contest administrators have the raw scores up for us to review essentially in that same 7 days! The CQ WPX SSB raw scores were published on April 7! (They publish only the Top Ten in each category at this point.) The committee reports receiving over 8,000 logs, a new record for WPX SSB! These scores are before log checking. Bill, W8QZA (as W6QU) is showing 10th place in the SOAB QRP category. Stay tuned for the full, official results coming soon no doubt...

Harbach Electronics announced on March 31 that it is closed temporarily. Harbach is well known for its boards for interfacing newer amplifiers with older transceivers (matching the difference in keying voltages so as not to damage the newer transceivers). For example, many of us have had Heathkit SB-200 or SB-220 amps and wanted to drive them with newer transceivers including solid state units. Harbach was the place to go to get the board to do this. "Due to being diagnosed with Parkinson’s Disease, Harbach Electronics will be temporarily closed. Scott, KB1SEL (amprepairguy.com) will be taking over Harbach Electronics. Scott will do an excellent job of carrying on the Harbach Electronics name and reputation! I am working through small pending orders as I am able. Large orders which I am having trouble with will be canceled and refunded via the method of purchase. I will try to have the transition to Scott move as quickly as possible but please give Scott and myself some time to get this all worked out as it has happened so quickly. 73 Jeff W8CQ"

And then there's this... In a letter on the internet dated April 25, Martin Jue, K5FLU wrote that he is ceasing production of MFJ products in the Starkville, MS facility. This includes sister companies Ameritron, Hygain, Cushcraft, Mirage and Vectronics. He sites the impact that COVID had on the business as well as it being time for him to retire. It seems hard to believe that he would not sell the business as a whole or piece it out. More to follow, I'm sure. Read the letter here. (Note, the letter also appears on the MFJ Facebook page.) An unconfirmed report says that DX Engineering made an offer to buy MFJ last year but the offer was declined. Also, reported, MFJ will not be at Dayton this year. Love them or hate them, MFJ has had an impact on amateur radio for many decades. This post from G0KSC on QRZ.com sums it up.
"As Martin Jue of MFJ Enterprises decides to retire and close the doors of his company after an impactful 52 years, the amateur radio community reflects on the legacy of a true pioneer. From its inception in a small room in the now-defunct Stark Hotel, MFJ Enterprises grew under Martin's leadership to become the largest manufacturer of amateur radio products in the world.
Martin, a visionary from Starkville, Mississippi, initially made waves in the ham radio world with his first commercial product, the CWF-2 CW filter. This device, a breakthrough at the time, helped operators isolate single CW signals from a cacophony of others, proving indispensable in the ham radio operator's toolkit (MFJ Enterprises Inc). It's with a fond smile that I remember standing beside Martin in his office, with a photo of us together serving as a treasured memento of the countless innovations and moments we shared. Another cherished memory captured in photographs is of Martin at Dayton with that very first CWF-2 CW filter, a testament to where it all began.
Martin's journey wasn't just about growing MFJ Enterprises; it was about nurturing the amateur radio community itself. His commitment to quality and affordability made MFJ's products a mainstay in almost every ham's shack, not just in the United States but around the world. Under his stewardship, MFJ expanded to include brands like Hy-Gain, Cushcraft, Ameritron, and Vectronics, each contributing to the diverse needs of the ham radio enthusiast.
Beyond his business acumen, Martin's personal qualities of generosity, mentorship, and friendship profoundly impacted those lucky enough to know him. As a friend and collaborator, Martin's warmth and wisdom were as influential as his technological innovations. He taught us not only about the intricacies of radio waves but also about the importance of community and support among fellow enthusiasts.
As we say goodbye to Martin and MFJ Enterprises, we also celebrate the enduring contributions they have made to the world of amateur radio. Martin's legacy will resonate across the airwaves for generations to come, reminding us of the impact one person can have on a global community. Thank you, Martin, for your friendship, your mentorship, and your immense contribution to our shared passion. You've truly tuned into the heart of the ham radio spirit, and for that, we are all grateful.
Justin G0KSC"

Strange but true...
A group of geese on the ground is a gaggle but a group of geese in teh air is a skein!

73 for now,
--Dennis NE6I

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The ARRL International DX SSB and the CQ WPX SSB contests are now in the books. Conditions for the ARRL DX contest were good but not as good as the CW contest in February. A solar disturbance can be thanked for that, especially on Sunday. On Saturday, some reported working stations above 29.0 MHz! Bill, N6RV said that he did not run Europe but had some 100+ S&P hours. He also had some "one way" propagation (lots of loud stations but no one answering his CQs). Frank, WA6KHK nearly worked DXCC on 15. Dana, K6NR did a lot more S&P than CQing as compared to the CW contest. He did work quite a few more multipliers though. "Conditions seemed very good at times - I particularly enjoyed sweeping 15 meter EU stations on Saturday morning, hearing all those great signals, and feeling strong with everyone returning on the first call. Later in the contest I could barely break some of the pileups, including not-very-rare stations like PY." Kurt, W6PH said things started out well Friday night with great runs to Asia on 10 and 15 but he was disappointed in 40 and 80. Dan, N6MJ was out at N6WIN's station in Arizona using the ND7K club call. He said it was a tale of two contests. Absolutely amazing conditions the first day followed by disturbed conditions on the second day.

JR, W6JBR worked several new countries and got some great reports with his simple antennas. He worked 58 unique countries in the CW contest and 59 in the SSB contest. Bruce, WA7BNM found conditions to be pretty good on Saturday. Sunday, he said, started out ugly. Jim, N6TJ had planned to go to Hawaii again for the contest but decided to celebrate his birthday with his family. He put in some time operating from home instead. Marko, N5ZO says his raw score would break the W6 call area record by 5.5% if it stands up. Like others, he said that conditions on Saturday were quite good but Sunday was miserable. Ken, K6LA (VY2TT) had lots of "juicy DX" calling in. He thinks he bested his previous high score in this contest. Phil, K6MUG found 10 meters very hot on Friday evening. He was happy to snag some ATNOs in the contest. Warren, KN6ZZI is newly licensed (June, 2023) and had a great time in the contest. He experienced many great openings and worked 36 new ones. Jim,K6ZH reported good conditions, though not as good as the CW weekend. He was happy to hear so many loud EU stations on 10-40 meters both that night and Saturday morning. 10 meters opened early Saturday morning. When he switched to 15 a little later, he had several 80+ QSO hours. 40 and 80 continued to disappoint Saturday night, and Sunday conditions were much poorer thand Saturday.

The final results of the February NA Sprint CW are now in. And as I wrote in last month's issue (it bears repeating!), Dan, N6MJ posted the highest score by an operator with 12 or less band changes. He actually went old school and did just three! Tree, N6TR set a new record for a Golden Log in this contest with 371 Q's. Amazing! And, the SCCC #1 team placed 3rd! Nice job, everyone!



The 75th International DX Convention returns to Visalia this month! April 12-14 are the dates that contesters and DXers from around the world converge at the Visalia Convention Center. From the website, "Meet the big guns from the US, Asia, Europe, Africa and Oceania. Meet the people on the other side of the mic or key. Shake hands with the person you have had that sked with for the past 10 years. Renew friendships." Please send your photos and comments about the Convention to me for publication here.



Preliminary results of the January NAQP CW are out. Tree, N6TR on SCCC #1 has third place just behind Axel, KI6RRN who was using the ND7K callsign (his score went to the AOCC Ambushers team). The SCCC #1 team currently holds 3rd place in the team competition, a hair above Big Sky Deep Freeze #1.

The preliminary March NAQP SSB and RTTY results are also out.

A copy and paste from the February, 2024 SCDXC bulletin:
Dick - N6AA and the ARRL Board
The Board approved the reintroduction of ARRL Life Membership and 70+ Life Membership (for members of age 70 and over) on a revenue-neutral basis. At its July 2023 Second Meeting, the Board had suspended the Life Membership Program, pending the approval of an adjusted revenue-neutral program.
Board members discussed proposed changes to By-Law 46, the Board's Conflict of Interest Policy, and decided to consider revisions at a later date. The Board unanimously voted to approve the establishment of a committee appointed by the ARRL President to affirm the set of ethics guidelines and standards for the Board. In addition to the guidelines, the committee will review By-Laws 42 (Ethics and Elections Committee) and 46 for possible revision. The committee will also engage with a competent legally qualified independent third party to handle all Ethics & Elections inquiries in the future.

Is AI (Artificial Intelligence) in our ham radio and contesting future? In the April, 2024 QST editorial (The Road Ahead), David Minster, NA2AA CEO of ARRL, thinks out loud about the possibilities. And it's eye opening. It could take contesting to a whole new level. You will want to check out that editorial. AI could be a game changer.

Remember...The Quality and usefulness of the SCCC Newsletter (SCCCORE) depends on contributions from members. If you have photos from recent events, screen shots of new contest software, write ups on station improvments or contest war stories, please send them in any format to us via the webmaster. We really appreciate your contributions!

Strange but true...
From history.com:
"Some historians speculate that April Fools' Day dates back to 1582, when France switched from the Julian calendar to the Gregorian calendar, as called for by the Council of Trent in 1563. In the Julian Calendar, as in the Hindu calendar, the new year began with the spring equinox around April 1. People who were slow to get the news or failed to recognize that the start of the new year had moved to January 1 and continued to celebrate it during the last week of March through April 1 became the butt of jokes and hoaxes and were called “April fools.” "

73 for now,
--Dennis NE6I

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And at the end of the month is the CQ WPX SSB contest. That should be a wild one if conditions remain as good as they have been lately!

The results of the 2023 California QSO Party have been published on the CQP website! Several SCCC members won one of the 20 bottles of wine awarded to in-state participants. Marko, N5ZO took top honors as NT6Q in the Single Op High Power category! Dana, K6NR took 5th place overall operating as K6VO. Frank, WA6KHK placed 9th. In the Single Op Low Power category, Bruce WA7BNM took the top spot. Dave, W6ZL took 2nd. Dave, K6FA took 2nd place in the Single Op QRP category and Tom, KN6OKY was 5th. Dick, W6TK placed 2nd in the SO Assisted HP category and Eric, NC6K was 4th. Joe, AA2IL took 1st place in the SO Assisted LP category. Ron, WQ6X operated as W6R at KN6NBT and placed 3rd in the SO Assisted QRP category. Jim, W6KC took the top spot n the SO Assisted High Power Expedition category operating as W6ML in Mono County. David, N6AN took 1st place in the SO Assisted QRP Expedition category operating as W6AQ (a tribute to the late Dave Bell who loved QRP). He was on the Kern/Ventura County line. Jim, K6ZH, Dan, N6ERD, Terry, N6CW and a couple of others took the top spot in MSHP-Expedition as K6QK operating over in Imperial County. Check out the rest of the results on the CQP website.

The preliminary February NA Sprint CW results have been published by NCJ. Dan, N6MJ posted the highest score by an operator with 12 or less band changes. He actually went old school and did just three! Tree, N6TR set a new record for a Golden Log in this contest, 371 Q's. Amazing! Full results and write up will be published soon, according to Ward, N0AX.

Last month's ARRL DX CW was one for the ages. Many reported that conditions had never been better for this contest, even in their many decades of contesting! Dave, W6ZL posted his best score since 2004. Bill, N6RV described conditions as "perfect." "Friday, Saturday and Sunday had Asian Runs on 15 and 10, Friday night 40 was hopping, 20 opened to Europe over the poles at midnight, ran Europeans for 2 hours at 100+ rate! Actually 5 European runs that were a 100+ rate. Never had 100+ rate to Europe ever before!" Jim, W6YI said, "Great conditions!" Joe, AA2IL calld them fantastic! He found 20m to be open around the clock! Jim, K6ZH found at least one band open to Europe from the west coast the entire contest, and signals from Europe were amazingly strong. John, KF6I remarked that it was nice to work into EU dependably. Jim, W6YA said it was exciting to have such great conditions on 15 meters (he did a single band effort). He's looking forward to CQWW later this year! John, W6JBR said, "WOW! Best WC openings to EU so far this cycle! EU ops sounded like locals Saturday night on 40m. Excellent conditions on all bands." David, N6AN, doing his usual hilltop QRP operation, also found conditions to be great. Bruce, WA7BNM summed it up with one word, "Wowza!" Bob, AA6PW was another that termed conditions "fantastic on all bands!" Terry, N6CW called them great. Will W6QU (@W8QZA) said they were outstanding. He worked Zone 22 for the first time ever in a contest in his 33 years of doing it QRP. He noted working 216 Europeans this year whereas he could only get 5 or 10 just three years ago! JIm, W6KC could only put in five hours but logged 94 countries. Kurt, W6PH said conditions were probably better than he remembers in any of his 65 years of active contesting! Marko, N5ZO said they were the best in the past 12 years from his QTH. While initially planning to just play around, he was quickly hooked and logged just over 3,600 QSOs! Tim, N6GP said, "This is the kind of conditions on 10m that we have been waiting YEARS for! It was so good on 10m that I decided to go single band. I think this is the most countries I have worked on 10m in a contest ever." Glenn, K6NA called conditions "out of this world," possibly the best he's experienced in 64 years of contesting. Dan, N6MJ was over at ND7K and has a claimed score of 8.6M points which would be good for 3rd place USA. It looks like this one will go down in the history books!

ARRL recently reported that Japan has put up the first amateur radio station transmitting from the moon! JS1YMG is (or was) transmitting Morse Code on 437.41 MHz, albeit at low power and with circular polarization. To me, this is pretty exciting. Several issues back, I pontificated about a radio in a box on the moon getting worked by DXers and one day, even a contest station operating from the moon! This is a step toward that idea. Read more about JS1YMG here.

The following came in on February 15 on the CQ-Contest reflector from Mark, M0DXR.

Dear fellow contesters,
The Organising Committee of the WRTC 2026 event, which will be held in the UK, would like to provide an update on what has been achieved so far and summarise how things are progressing.
The WRTC UK Organising Committee was formed in January 2023. The team got to work with building a proposal for the Sanctioning Committee. We worked with Doug K1DG and Chris DL1MGB to build a foundation for the project.
In July we were awarded the hosting rights and attended the Closing Ceremony of WRTC Italy where we celebrated the success of the Italian effort and then announced and presented the plans for 2026. We launched the website, which has been updated regularly since, and various social media platforms have gone live. We have at the time of writing 654 followers on our Facebook page and 245 subscribed to the WRTC-Discuss public email reflector.
We conducted significant research and published the qualifying rules in September and made refinements shortly after.
During all of this, behind the scenes, we visited numerous HQ venues here in England and have down-selected and decided on where it will be. We are excited that this venue will fulfil the requirements of on site accommodation, ceremonies, meetings and socialising. The venue will be revealed later in 2024 - stay tuned!
Fundraising has been pushed hard and we have started to interface with individuals, corporations and clubs around the world. We have welcomed ICOM and Mastrant to our list of commercial sponsors. Clubs that have stepped forward include Frankford Radio Club, YASME, NCDXF, INDEXA, North Coast Contesters, GMDX and CDXC. We are extremely grateful to these organisations - a BIG thank you again to those that have already stepped forward to support WRTC 2026. We still have a long way to go but are pleased to be on track. We still hope to bring more on board.
Financial aspects have been under good control and we have registered with Companies House as WRTC 2026 CIC, a Community Interest Company (non profit organisation).
We have secured a deal for the acquisition of hardware consisting of the antennas, masts, coax and rotators for the 2026 event. Due to the success of fundraising, we have funded this all already.
A list of volunteers has been initiated and we have many friends in the UK and all around the world that want to be part of this wonderful experience.
We have invested time to conduct interviews online and write magazine articles to interface with the world and ensure we regularly communicate updates and the latest news.
A fantastic team making up our Advisory Committee was established and we have held meetings with them to allow them to offer advice and ideas.
The first two qualifying events have taken place: The CQWW SSB and CW. The next one is this weekend, ARRL DX CW.
2024 will look to continue maturity of the above. The team have a programme of shows, talks and other events to attend and we are still looking to grow this list even further. Focus will be on IT and bringing the qualifying standings on the website (this is in development now and will be live soon). We will make a big push with offering sponsorship opportunities. We will be working with the HQ venue to develop relationships and start planning the event programme details to make this a tremendous celebration for everyone. Site selection will start with initial assessments for their suitability.
We hope, whist we’re conscious we cannot completely satisfy the views and needs of everyone, that we portray the genuine dedication that we have to run this event.
Merchandise will become available. We already have the special WRTC twin paddle and single lever keys available. For every key sold, WRTC receive a contribution.
If you are able to help us by making a donation of any value, we REALLY NEED YOUR HELP! The total cost of running this WRTC will be in excess of £500,000. So far we have had individual donations from 84 radio amateurs - they’re all shown proudly on our website under ‘Individual Donations’. We have launched our special coin programme - anyone that makes a donation to us of at least £100 this year will receive a high quality Bronze WRTC coin. See the website to help this worthy project and to get yours!
I would like to thank everyone that has been part of WRTC UK 2026 so far in whatever capacity. We have a wonderful team and we’re very excited about the future.

73,
Mark M0DXR
Chairman WRTC UK 2026
WRTC 2026 UK | World Radiosport Team Championship

This just in (March 1)... Bob, K9EID, founder of Heil Sound, passed away peacefully after a year-long battle with cancer. Bob's lifelong passion was amateur radio and everything that he did was for the betterment and growth of the hobby. More on the story here.

Remember...The Quality and usefulness of the SCCC Newsletter (SCCCORE) depends on contributions from members. If you have photos from recent events, screen shots of new contest software, write ups on station improvments or contest war stories, please send them in any format to us via the webmaster. We really appreciate your contributions!

Strange but true...
The only president that didn't live in Washington was ... George Washington.

73 for now,
--Dennis NE6I

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Tim Duffy, K3LR recently made the following announcement pertaining to the annual Dayton Contest Dinner:

Announcing the 30th Annual Contest Dinner during Hamvention
Get tickets now at https://www.contestdinner.com/get-tickets/
Tables for 10 and single seats are available now.
The Contest dinner will be held on Saturday night, May 18, 2024 at 6:30pm. Cash bar opens at 5:30pm. Located at the Hope Hotel, Wright Patterson AFB (Official Contester Hotel).
Contest Dinner Highlights:
Master of Ceremonies: CQWW Contest Director, John Dorr, K1AR
Dinner Speaker: Tim Duffy, K3LR
First Prize: Icom IC-7610 - thanks Icom America
2024 CQ Contest Hall of Fame Inductions: To Be Announced at the Dinner
Many contest operators from around the world attend this event.
If you enjoy radio contesting, you do not want to miss this Contest Dinner!
http://contestdinner.com

Meanwhile, John Dorr, K1AR made the following announcment. Please note that WWROF has been taking the lead in the Contest Hall of Fame for some time now. Thus, despite CQ Magazine's current status being on hold, the CQ Contest Hall of Fame is essentially unaffected.

(This email) is a request for your club's nomination application(s) to the CQ Contest Hall of Fame. As most of you know, the purpose of the HOF is to recognize individuals who have made significant contributions to amateur radio contesting (both in support of others and in personal operating achievements). In addition, candidates should be known for meaningful/measurable contributions to the hobby at large.
Please include the following information with your application:
* Name of Person Being Nominated
* Callsign (if multiple callsigns, list most recent)
* If your nominee is still living, please supply their current contact information
* A description of this person's accomplishments/achievements and why you feel he/she should be elected to the CQ Contest Hall of Fame
* Nominating Club and Contact Information (This is only for the purpose of contacting you in case of questions, and will not be published -- see below.)
-- Nominating club
-- Contact name
-- Mailing address
-- Phone
-- E-mail address

Nominations will be accepted until March 1, 2024. You can send your responses to K1AR via email at: cqk1ar@gmail.com.
Upon receipt of all applications, each nomination will be reviewed and voted upon by the CQ Contest Directors, CQ Contest Editor and others. As usual, an announcement and awards ceremony will take place at the Dayton Hamvention Contest Dinner on May 18, 2024.
Thanks, in advance, for your support of this prestigious program. If you have any questions, send them to me directly via return email.
73, John, K1AR

We had a decent turn out for last month's NAQP CW. Dana, K6NR enjoyed himself, experiencing good conditions on all bands coupled with lots of activity. He recorded his best score ever. Dave, N2JNR ran QRP and did well on 15 and 10. Marko, N5ZO reported great conditions. His score was up a bit over last year thanks to a few more mults on 160. He said that 80 and 160 were better than last year but 10 was not that hot for him. Ryan, AI6DO had frequent intermittent noise. Ken, K6LA discovered that his 15 meter stack wouldn't work so he had to use his 40m yagi on that band. His QSO count on 15 reflects the handicap. Joe, AA2IL reported excellent conditions and a lot of activity, commenting "that was fun!"

I read in the SCDXC January newsletter that SCCCer Steve, K0XP won an FTDX-10 in their Christmas giveway raffle. Nice! Worth the drive to the party, eh Steve?

Remember...The Quality and usefulness of the SCCC Newsletter (SCCCORE) depends on contributions from members. If you have photos from recent events, screen shots of new contest software, write ups on station improvments or contest war stories please send them in any format to us via the webmaster. We really appreciate your contributions!

Strange but true...
The process by which bread toasts is called the "Maillard Reaction."

73 for now,
--Dennis NE6I

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November's CQWW DX CW contest was at or near the peak of Cycle 25, depending on whom you have been reading. The SFI was 172 or in the low 190s depending on the site you visited, but the A and K indeces were up a bit. Conditions were obviously much better than just a couple of short years ago but perhaps not as good as some expected. Many said that Europe did not pour through as they thought it should have. And that is always a big indicator of conditions for those of us on the west coast. Some comments from SCCCers:
Dan, N6MJ was over in the Cayman Islands again, using the FB station of Andrew, ZF1EJ. He was targeting 13,000 QSOs but those EU lacking conditions caused him to fall short. He spent a lot of time preparing beginning in July. His main competition, as usual, was KL9A down in Costa Rica at TI9W. Now, if you look at the Contest Online Scoreboard, it appears that Dan and Chris finished first and second in SOABHP (raw score) and Dan will likely take top honors. Dan noticed on Saturday about 1600Z that EU became weak and fluttery. When it became time to run JAs on 10m later that day, they were all S0. So he shifted from the 13K goal to maximizing multipliers. That helped. Late Sunday with five minutes to go, his wife, who had come along this trip and provided refreshments during the contest, let him know that he was coming close to breaking the previous record! He notes that his logs often aren't the cleanest so it's now a matter of seeing what the log checkers say. Regardless, it was a herculean effort! Note, he hit a QSO rate of 415 per hour in the opening hour and maintained a 300+ per hour rate for the first six hours. Amazing! Jim, N6TJ was once again out in Hawaii at Max's QTH (KH6ZM) using the KH7M club call. He's been going there since 2009. He went SOSB15 but the band did not stay open at night as he was hoping. He logged 545 JAs and 179 Europeans. The Sunday morning EU pileup was no fun, he commented. Everyone was zero beat and equal strength. Those that called a few Hz off got through. He reminded us that his first CQWW contest was way back in 1955. Wow! His goal is to continue until 1939! Go for it, Jim!

Marko, N5ZO was at CX6VM using the callsign CW5W in Zone 13, one of the few that he hadn't operated from yet (this being #37 out of 40). After discussing the station situation with Jorge, they decided that a 10 meter single band entry would be best. Jorge had done quite a bit of antenna work earlier and this provided Marko with an excellent set of antennas to run in the contest. Marko says it is a World High on SB10, and a contest to remember. Ken, K6LA was once again running as VY2TT in Zone 5. He said that 10 was so good Sunday that is was bad. "The pileups on me were the deepest I've ever heard. Most were 2nd/3rd tier stations that were all zero beat running the same power and antennas (or so it seemed.) It took a long time to even pick out a few letters." Same experience as Jim noted above! About noon on Sunday, he said, he was working Eastern Europe and the West Coast USA at the same time despite the antenna being pointed at EU. 10 was so good, he said, that he had to tear himself away to work 20 and 15. Terry, N6CW had limited time that weekend and missed all of Sunday. He was mainly S&P but had a hort 40 meter JA run. Always fun. Dana, K6NR experienced "pretty darn good conditions." He reported good signals from Asia on 10. Europe was better on 10 on Sunday than Saturday. He also worked 19 EUs on 80 meters, very unusual for him. His reported score was 1.3+ million points! Dave, N2JNR did QRP for the first time in CQWW and was super happy with his results. 10 meters was his money band and he had a lot of fun on 15 as well. Eric, NC6K had a visit from Murphy (his 80/160 sloper was out of commission) and his XYL was out of the country, which left him to fend for numerous animals around the house and other things. He said that conditions seemed fantastic on 10 and 15 most of the weekend, and he set a personal best for this contest (though he he usually doesn't do single op in this one). He had some sporadic noise on 40 and 20 that was S7 when it was on. He had a huge JA run the last few hours of the contest to push him over the 1M point mark.

Steve, K0XP said conditions seemed great on 40 and 80, with very little noise on both bands. He felt activity was down though. Jim, W6YA said conditions were very good on 15 meters (he did a single band effort) despite an elevated K index. He said prop seemed to change every hour. At times, he would hear Zone 16 lour but Zone 14 weaker. Bruce, WA7BNM decided to do single band 10 meters instead of his usual 15 meter effort but later regretted the decision when the path to EU was poor on Saturday. He did not operate Sunday. JR, W6JBR had very good conditions on 10 and 15 and that's where he spent most of his time. Larry, K6RO settled on SB10 after a few hours in the contest. Europe was "barely there" on Saturday but Sunday was much better. Bill, N6RV felt that conditions were terrible, which forced everyone to the higher bands. He said, "There were some real neat skew paths and some pretty rare DX. That makes life fun!" He thinks he recorded a personal best. Dennis, NE6I wasn't sure he was going to get on due to some committments and scheduled projects but found some time to test the waters Saturday afternoon. And then got hooked. He felt that activity was high and conditions pretty good (except on 20). Regardless, the fun in the contest caused him to put off the projects and to sort of skip the committments hi hi. He was running his new RF-Kit amp for the first time in a CW contest and said that it never even panted. The fan hardly ever came on. Bob, AA6PW said that conditions held his interest longer than he had originally planned. He had some antenna problems on 10 and lost out on some QSO totals there. 15 and 40 wound up being his money bands. He was running a new RF-Kit solid state amp (used by several others in the SCCC) and said that it performed flawlessly. Bill, W8QZA (W6QU) ran this contest for his 34th consecutive time, dating back to 1989. He'd also done entries as a teenager in 1956 and 1958. He found conditions to be very good. He worked FR8UA who was CQing on Sunday morning, getting him on the first call with his QRP signal. His 79 DXCCs and 29 zones helped him to his highest score in the past ten years.

The ARRL 10 Meter Contest last month drew a large turnout of SCCC members. Reports were that Friday night closed early, Saturday morning was disappointing in that the hoped for opening to Europe was not really there but Sunday was better. The SFI was down from what it had been in recent weeks, and that apparently affected prop to Europe and Africa. That said, there seemed to be no shortage of other stations to work and there were some good scores turned in by the group. Ken, K6LA operated from VY2TT as usual, and recorded a 2.4+ million point score, currently a close second to N5DX on 3830Scores.org in SO Mixed HP. Great showing, Ken! Picture at right is the 4 element wire yagi put up by David, N6AN at Flint Peak and used Friday and Saturday. He ran QRP as he usually does and did very well.

The ARRL June VHF Contest results have been posted. Mike, KX6A and Tim, N6GP both placed in the top ten in the Limited Rover category. Endaf, N6UTC made the top ten in the Unlimited Rover category. Bruce, AG6X was third in the SOLP group and Levi took the top spot in the SO FM Only category. Congrats to all of you!

Registration is now open for 2024 Dayton ConTest University which will be held on Thursday, May 16, 2024 at the Hope Hotel (the day before Hamvention opens).

This came in via the PVRC reflector in December:
CQ Magazine publication suspended; WWROF to continue running CQ contests
Many hams have noted not receiving paper copies of CQ magazine since earlier this year, and the last electronically published issue was October.
Quoting Rich Moseson, W2VU, editor of CQ Magazine: “Unfortunately, CQ has temporarily suspended publishing at this time. We are working very hard to secure the necessary funding to continue operations but until we can make those arrangements, everything is on hold.”
The CQ contests will continue to be held, uninterrupted, by the WWROF (as they have been for many years now).
I myself - the CQ Contesting Editor for the past several years - am launching a contesting website that will specialize in short turnaround news flashes and gossip from the contesting world.
Tim N3QE

And this was published in the ARRL Letter for December 21:
"ARRL has heard from many members concerned about their print subscriptions to CQ magazine. CQ magazine is not an ARRL publication, however ARRL members enjoy the ability to pursue earning the CQ Worked All Zones (WAZ) and Worked All Prefixes (WPX) awards through Logbook of The World (LoTW).
CQ Editor Rich Moseson, W2VU, acknowledged the delays in delivering CQ magazine. He indicated that the November and December issues are delayed but plans are to get them out to the readership as soon as circumstances permit."

Also, from DXNews.com, N4BAA is quoted as saying there are no changes to the CQ WAZ Program as he is 100% self-sustainable and will continue to manage the program. That's good news as yours truly is very close to getting the last two or three zones to have all 200 for 5BWAZ. That said, let's hope that CQ can get solve their problems and resume publication of their very fine magazine.

Next month is the ARRL DX CW contest, and a great opportunity to increase your DXCC totals! With sunspot numbers higher than in recent years, we should have a really good time in this one!

Remember...The Quality and usefulness of the SCCC Newsletter (SCCCORE) depends on contributions from members. If you have photos from recent events, screen shots of new contest software, write ups on station improvments or contest war stories please send them in any format to us via the webmaster. We really appreciate your contributions!

Strange but true...
The term "footage" in films comes from them being measured in feet when being edited in the early days of film making.

73 for now,
--Dennis NE6I

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