CQ 160-Meter Contest, SSB: 0000Z, Feb 23 to 2359Z, Feb 24

Just a reminder that the CQ 160 contest is this weekend.

The rules are located here

The mailing deadline for the CW logs is February 28, 2008 and the SSB logs is March 31st, 2008.

Remember the DX window from 1830kc to 1835kc.

The contest committee will be keeping an eye on the internet chat rooms, see my post here for the problems during the 160 CW contest.

Good luck!

73,

Jack K4SAC

Internet Chat Room Controversy

Radio-Sport.net posted a column about a new controversy that is coming to the attention of contesting officials at CQ Magazine.

During the CQ 160 CW contest some of the operators were using the ON4KST chat room apparently to solicit contacts.

Apparently the CQ 160 rules do not prohibit chat rooms like the CQ WW rules do. The CQ WW rules state that:

The CQWW rules state: "The use by an entrant of any non-amateur means such as telephones, telegrams, internet, or the use of packet to solicit contacts during the contest is unsportsmanlike and the entry is subject to disqualification."

You can download the January 26 log and the January 27th log by clicking on those links, or you can download an Excel spreadsheet of the logs. (Courtesy of radio-sport.net)

Many operators of the CQ 160 CW contest that used the chatroom have decided to reclassify their logs as checklogs so as to not run afoul of the contest committee.

"Please do not use chat rooms for the CQ WW 160 SSB or ANY contests sponsored by CQ magazine!" said outgoing CQ 160 Contest Director Dave Thompson K4JRB.

"Single operator use puts them in Multi operator just as using packet/Dx Summit spots would do," Thompson added.

Multi Operators should not solicit contacts or ask for spots just as with self spotting on packet/DX summit."

"The chat rooms will be a definite No No," says Andy Blank N2NT, who is taking over the CQ160 contests. "Not allowed for any category."

Hopefully we will be seeing rules changes in place for the 2009 contests.

73,

Jack K4SAC

(Credit: radio-sport.net)

CQ 160 contest

I hope that you had fun in the CQ 160 contest. Conditions seemed to be good here in KY, fairly low noise and strong signals.

One thing I have noticed, with us at the bottom of the sunspot cycle, we are getting a lot of people on 160 for the contests that don't usually inhabit the "Top Band."

These people may not be aware of the "DX Window" or its purpose.

Tuning the band, I heard several rude exchanges concerning the dx window. Let's use that opportunity to be positive and instructive rather than be negative and argumentative and calling the op a "LID". The op genunely may not have been aware of the dx window or its existance.

73,

Jack K4SAC

Thanksgiving

Thanksgiving has come and gone and Christmas is fast approaching. It is hard to believe that another year is coming to a close.

Along with Thanksgiving, the CQ WW CW contest has also come and gone. Did you operate? Did you meet your goal? Was your goal to have fun or did you have a specific goal in mind?

Some people operate contests to get better each year, some people operate contests to get new states, or new countries for DXCC, and some operate to beat their own personal records. Whatever the reason, I hope that you achieved your goal in the CQ WW CW.

People said that CW activity would decline rapidly upon the no-code licenses. We will have to watch the activity carefully the next few years, but I feel from listening to the bands during the contests that CW activity is still flourishing.

Ham radio has so much to offer us, whether it is CW, SSB, RTTY, or one of the myriad of digital modes, there is room for everyone.

You will see posts on the list-servs every major contest, with the non-contesters complaining about the contesters, but the bottom line is that whether or not you are an active contester, contest operation helps keeps the bands active and help to keep our frequencies in our hands instead of going to the highest bidder (remember 220??)


That being said, we as contesters need to respect the non-contesters during contests. In the heat of the battle it is sometimes difficult to be courteous or respectful, and when the band is crowded with wall to wall signals and no open frequencies to QSY to, the non-contesters have to suffer along with us.

I know some contesters say that the non-contesters can QSY to the WARC bands during the contests, but with sunspots at zero, what band would be open for them to QSY to?

There are still a lot of older rigs out there that do not have the WARC bands on them, but are perfectly good radios.

Don't get me wrong, I am not saying don't contest....for I like to get in there with the best of them, but try to be cognizant of our non-contest friends, for one day, we may need their voices to help keep our bands.

Good news for Top Band enthusiasts, the 160 contest season is in full swing:
ARRL 160-Meter Contest: 2200Z, Nov 30 to 1600Z, Dec 2

If one of your interests is RTTY, the next RTTY contest is:
TARA RTTY Melee: 0000Z-2400Z, Dec 1


73,

Jack K4SAC

SS is over!

The ARRL SSB SS is now history. I hope that you got to get on and make a bunch of Q's.

Here is a Finnish online magazine that has some analysis of DX Contests )Adobe acrobrat reader required


Don't forget the CQ Worldwide DX Contest, CW: 0000Z, Nov 24 to 2400Z, Nov 25

and for those TopBand Buffs:

ARCI Topband Sprint	0000Z-0600Z, Nov 29
ARRL 160-Meter Contest	2200Z, Nov 30 to 1600Z, Dec 2

I hope all of you have a happy Thanksgiving and a great week!

73,

Jack K4SAC

Stew Perry Topband Challenge-OCT 20-21st

RULES from http://jzap.com/k7rat/stew.rules.txt


             12th STEW PERRY TOPBAND DISTANCE CHALLENGE

1. Contest period:  1500Z December 29th to 1500Z December 30th, 2007.
Operate for a maximum of 14 hours.  Off times are 30 minutes minimum
and a maximum of four off periods are permitted.

A separate warm-up even will be held on October 20th/21st with the
same time period and entry categories.

2. Bands and mode: 160 meters CW only.

3. Categories: Single operator or multi-operator.  Remote or Cluster
spotting shall not be used.  All transmitting and receiving antennas
used must be within 100 km of each other.

4. Exchange: Four character grid square (i.e. CN85).

5. QSO Points: The number of QSO points for each contact depends on the
distance between the two stations.  This is computed by taking the
distance between the centers of the two grid squares.  Count a minimum
of one point per QSO and an additional point for every 500 kilometers
distance.  For example, a QSO with a station 1750 kilometers away will
count for 4 QSO points.  No additional distance for long path is allowed.

QSO Points are multiplied by 2X if you work a low power station and 4X
for working a QRP station.  This is done based upon received logs and
is computed automatically during the log checking process.

Do not worry if your logging software does not compute the QSO points.
Our automated log checking software does this.

6. Score: Final score equals the total number of QSO points.  There is
no multiplier for different grids worked.  Stations running 5 to 100
watts output multiply their score by 2.  Stations running less
than 5 watts multiply their score by 4.  Scores will be grouped by
category.

7. Reporting: Your log can be sent via the internet to TBDC@CONTESTING.COM
using the Cabrillo format before January 31st, 2007.  Paper entries can
be mailed to BARC 15125 SE Bartell Rd; Boring, OR  97009.  If possible,
please provide an electronic copy of your log.  You can use the tool
INSTEW.EXE to generate a Cabrillo log from your paper log.  It can be
found at http://web.jzap.com/k7rat/stew.html.

Logs for the warm-up event are due by November 20th.

8. Plaques will be awarded for categories we have sponsors for.  To
volunteer to sponsor a plaque, contact Lew Sayre, W7EW at w7ew@arrl.net.
A list of the plaques sponsored can be found on the web at
http://jzap.com/k7rat/stew.html.

There are no plaques or other awards for the warm-up event.

9. Results are published on the web in September or October.  Look for an
announcement on the topband and contest reflectors.  Warm-up results willS
be published before the real event in December.

WARC bands authorised in new Amateur Radio Act for Thailand

Taken from HSOZCW's post on DX News Listserv

[quote]
Thailand's Intermediate and Advanced class radio amateurs are now permitted to operate on the so-called WARC bands (10-, 18- and 24-MHz) as well as in windows in the CW portion of the 80-metre (3.5-MHz) and 160-metre (1.8-MHz) bands on a permanent basis.
The authorisation, granted in a new Act governing amateur radio in Thailand by the National Telecommunications Commission (NTC), follows years of lobbying by the Radio Amateur Society of Thailand (RAST). The details were published in the Royal Gazette on October 11, 2007, becoming effective the following day.
Up until this announcement, which is part of a complete revision and consolidation of amateur radio regulations by the NTC, Thai radio amateurs had only been able to operate on the 80- and 160-metre bands during international contests on weekends, while the WARC bands had been only authorised by the Thai authorities for use during certain special event stations on a few occasions.
Special permission to operate on the low bands during contests had been sought by RAST on an annual basis for more than five years to allow its members to compete internationally while also serving to demonstrate that there was no interference to other services.
Specifically, the increase in HF spectrum allocated to amateur radio in Thailand is from 1.800 to 1.825MHz, 3.500 to 3.540 MHz, 10.100 to 10.150 MHz, 18.068 to 18.168 and 24.890 to 24.990 MHz and operators should respect the International Amateur Radio Union Region 3 band plan.
No changes were made to the VHF bands, where 6-metres (50-54 MHz) and 1,240 MHz are still off-limits and 430-MHz (70-cm) is authorised for monitoring only, such as to listen to satellite downlinks. Two metres
(144-MHz) is channelised and minor amendments were made to repeater allocations.
The full 37-page announcement of the NTC's Amateur Radio Act of 2007 is published in the Thai-language on the web at http://www.ratchakitcha.soc.go.th/DATA/PDF/2550/E/152/10.PDF.
The Radio Amateur Society of Thailand, which is under the Royal Patronage of His Majesty the King, will make an unofficial translation available soon as well as explaining some of the points in more detail at its website: www.qsl.net/rast Under the new regulations, all club stations in the provinces were also given 180 days to register as a society which must have a minimum of 20 members, while there is a requirement that each club station must operate for at least three hours a day, which is a reduction from eight hours under the previous regulations.
The syllabus for the amateur radio examination has been revised and a new requirement for Intermediate class operators who are able to operate on HF frequencies is that they must be at least 15 years old.
Morse code is retained as a requirement for the Intermediate class licence with the proficiency in sending and receiving being set at eight words a minute.
As word of the new regulations and of activity by HS and E2 stations on the WARC bands spread after several of Thailand's amateur radio operators began making contacts, so the pile-ups began. Thailand and CQ Zone 26 are in high-demand by award-chasers, both on the WARC bands as well as 80- and 160-metres.

Prepared by Tony, HS0ZDX
RAST International Liaison
October 16, 2007



Relayed by

Charles Harpole, HS0ZCW
k4vud@hotmail.com

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