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

Operating in CQ WW SSB contest????

If you are operating in the CQ WW SSB contest,
don't forget to check out the live contest scoring at
http://www.getscores.org/default.aspx

See how the big guns and little pistols are doing compared to you!

CQ WW DX SSB info

Make sure you participate in the CQ WW SSB this weekend! CQ Worldwide DX Contest, SSB: 0000ZOct 27 to 2400Z, Oct 28
	Mode:	SSB
	Bands:	160, 80, 40, 20, 15, 10m
	Classes:	Single Op All Band (QRP/Low/High) Single Op Single Band (QRP/Low/High) Single Op Assisted All Band Single Op Assisted Single Band Single Op Assisted Single Band Multi-Single Multi-Two Multi-Multi
	Max power:	HP: 1500 watts LP: 100 watts QRP: 5 watts
	Exchange:	RS + CQ Zone No.
	Work stations:	Once per band
	QSO Points:	0 points per QSO with same country (counts as mult) 1 point per QSO with different country same continent 2 points per QSO with different country same continent (NA) 3 points per QSO with different continent
	Multipliers:	Each CQ zone once per band Each country once per band
	Score Calculation:	Total score = total QSO points x total mults
	Submit logs by:	December 1, 2007
	E-mail logs to:	ssb[at]cqww[dot]com
	Mail logs to:	CQWW SSB CQ Magazine 25 Newbridge Road Hicksville, NY 11801 USA
	Find rules at:	http://www.cq-amateur-radio.com/CQWWDXContestRules8407.pdf

Credit: http://www.hornucopia.com/contestcal/weeklycont.php