NATIONAL CONTEST JOURNAL

$4

May/June 2005

Volume 33 Number 3

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A Study of Elevated Radial Ground Systems Part 3 Bye, Bye Golden Log All-Time ARRL Field Day Records 2004 August NAQP SSB Results
A Yagi in the trees? If you cant afford a tower, try an organic alternative. See Contesting on a Budget in this issue.

www.ncjweb.com

In NCJ Profiles we mark the passing of contest icon Rush Drake, W7RM. His stations on Foul Weather Bluff and La Center were heard around the world.

NCJ: The National Contest Journal

American Radio Relay League 225 Main Street Newington, CT 06111-1494

Contesting and DXing Products from Array Solutions

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The National Contest Journal

Volume 33 Number 3 May/June 2005
National Contest Journal (ISSN 0899-0131) is published bimonthly in January, March, May, July, September and November by the American Radio Relay League, 225 Main Street, Newington, CT 06111-1494, USA. Periodicals postage paid at Hartford, CT and at additional mailing offices. POSTMASTER: Send address changes to: National Contest Journal, 225 Main St, Newington, CT 06111-1494, USA.

TABLE OF CONTENTS
3 Editorial
Carl Luetzelschwab, K9LA

FEATURES
4 A Transition from DXer to Contester
Mark Perrin, N7MQ

Publisher American Radio Relay League 225 Main Street, Newington, CT 06111 tel: 860-594-0200 fax: 860-594-0259 (24-hour direct line) Electronic Mail: hq@arrl.org World Wide Web: www.arrl.org/ Editor Carl Luetzelschwab, K9LA 1227 Pion Rd, Fort Wayne, IN 46845 editor@ncjweb.com Managing Editor Joel R. Hallas, W1ZR w1zr@arrl.org NCJ WWW Page Bruce Horn, WA7BNM, Webmaster www.ncjweb.com ARRL Officers President: Jim Haynie, W5JBP Executive Vice President: David Sumner, K1ZZ Contributing Editors Gary Sutcliffe, W9XTContest Tips, Tricks & Techniques Paul Schaffenberger, K5AFContesting on a Budget Paul Gentry, K9PGNCJ Profiles Jon Jones, NJKVHF-UHF Contesting! Carl Luetzelschwab, K9LAPropagation Joe Pontek, K8JPThe Contest Traveler Bill Turner, W6WRTRTTY Contesting Mark Beckwith, N5OTStation Profile Bill Feidt, NG3KDX Contest Activity Announcements Bruce Horn, WA7BNMContest Calendar Pete Smith, N4ZRSoftware for Contesters Don Daso, K4ZAWorkshop Chronicles ARRL CAC Representative Ned Stearns, AA7A 7038 E Aster Dr, Scottsdale, AZ 85254 aa7a@arrl.net North American QSO Party, CW Bob Selbrede, K6ZZ 6200 Natoma Ave, Mojave, CA 93501 cwnaqp@ncjweb.com North American QSO Party, Phone Bruce Horn, WA7BNM 4225 Farmdale Ave, Studio City, CA 91604 ssbnaqp@ncjweb.com North American QSO Party, RTTY Shelby Summerville, K4WW 6500 Lantana Ct, Louisville, KY 40229-1544 rttynaqp@ncjweb.com North American Sprint, CW Boring Amateur Radio Club 15125 Bartell Rd, Boring, OR 97009 cwsprint@ncjweb.com North American Sprint, Phone Jim Stevens, K4MA 6609 Vardon Ct, Fuquay-Varina, NC 27526 ssbsprint@ncjweb.com North American Sprint, RTTY Doug McDuff, W4OX 10380 SW 112th St, Miami, FL 33176 rttysprint@ncjweb.com Advertising Information Contact: Joe Bottiglieri, AA1GW, tel 860-594-0207; fax 860-594-4285; ads@arrl.org NCJ subscription orders, changes of address, and reports of missing or damaged copies should be addressed to ARRL, 225 Main St, Newington, CT 06111 and be marked NCJ Circulation. ARRL members are asked to include their membership control number or their QST mailing label. Letters, articles, club newsletters and other editorial material should be submitted to NCJ, 1227 Pion Rd, Fort Wayne, IN 46845. The NA Sprint and NA QSO Parties are not sponsored by ARRL. Yearly Subscription rates: In the US $20 US by First Class Mail $28 Elsewhere by Surface Mail $32 (4-8 week delivery) Canada by Airmail $31; Elsewhere by Airmail $40 All original material not attributed to another source is copyright 2005 by The American Radio Relay League, Inc. Materials may be excerpted from the NCJ without prior permission provided that the original contributor is credited, and the NCJ is identified as the source. In order to insure prompt delivery, we ask that you periodically check the address information on your mailing label. If you any inaccuracies, please NCJ contact the Circulation 2 find May/June 2005 Department immediately. Thank you for your assistance.

6 Phase Adjustment Technique For A 4-Element Square Phased Vertical Array Robye Lahlum, W1MK

9 Bye-Bye, Golden Log

Robye Lahlum, W1MK

Jim Gooch, NA3V

10 Phase Correction for a Quadrature Hybrid-Fed Antenna Array

13 Contesting and the Prostate
John W. Thompson, MD, K3MD Kevin Kaufhold, W9GKA

14 A Descriptive Model of VHF Contest Activity

Al Christman, K3LC

17 A Study of Elevated-Radial Ground Systems for Vertical AntennasPart 3 20 N1MM Logger-A Different Approach 22 2005 Pacific Northwest DX Convention
23 HA5IW/QRP in the 2004 IARU HF World Championship
Marc Ziegler, W6ZZZ Laszlo Simon, HA5IW Pete Smith, N4ZR

24 California QSO Party 1995-2004: 10 Years of Statistics and Records 26 NCJ Profiles
Paul Gentry, K9PG

COLUMNS
29 Software for Contesters 31 Propagation
Pete Smith, N4ZR Carl Luetzelschwab, K9LA Gary Sutcliffe, W9XT

33 Contest Tips, Tricks & Techniques 34 RTTY Contesting

Bill Turner, W6WRT

36 VHF-UHF Contesting! 38 Workshop Chronicles 40 Contesting on a Budget

Jon K. Jones, NJK Don Daso, K4ZA Paul Schaffenberger, K5AF Denis Catalano, W4DC Bill Feidt, NG3K

42 All Time ARRL Field Day Records 43 DX Contest Activity Annoucements 44 Contest Calendar

Bruce Horn, WA7BNM

CONTESTS
45 August 2004 NAQP SSB Contest Results
Bruce Horn, WA7BNM

ADVERTISING INDEX
Alaskan DX Vacation Rental: 16 Alfa Radio Ltd: 28 Array Solutions: Cov II ARRL: 42 Atomic Time: 30 Better RF Company, The: 35 CATS/Rotor Doctor: 23 Clark Electronics: 16 ComTek Systems: 37 DXEngineering: 48 Elecraft: 22 HAMRADIOSOLUTIONS: 41 ICOM: COV IV Idiom Press: 5 IIX Equipment Ltd: 28 J-TEC, LLC: 35 KXG Systems: 43 microHAM: 37 Radioware & Radio Bookstore: 39, 44 RF Parts: 35 Tennadyne: 8 Ten-Tec: 1 Teri Software: 30 Texas Towers: COV III Top Ten Devices: 32 Unified Microsystems: 43 W2IHY Technologies: 39 Watts Unlimited: 37 Writelog for Windows: 30, 39 XMatch/N4XM: 37

Editorial
W7RM SK
Contesters worldwide were saddened by the news that Rush, W7RM, had become a Silent Key. I had the good fortune of meeting Rush in 1999 when Vicky and I attended the Pacific Northwest DX Convention in Portland, Oregon. We stopped by Rushs La Center home and he gave us a tour of his station and the impressive antenna farm. Be sure to read K9PGs NCJ Profiles column. Our two cover photos of Rush and his QTH (as shown on his QSL) are from Rick, KT7G. SWACC Team Omitted from March 2004 RTTY Sprint Results The March 2004 RTTY Sprint contest results on page 38 in the March/April 2005 NCJ omitted the record-setting score of the SWACC team (W2UP, KI5XP, K6LL, W7WW, K5AM, K7WM, AD6WL, KI6DY, AI9T and AA5AU). The team was registered in time, but we simply screwed up and left them out (and we also left out K7WMs High Power score of 8614). Sorry, guys. That puts SWACC in First in the Team category, and moves the NCCC Team 1 to Second, the TCG Blackhole team to Third, etc. The official SWACC score was 89,438, which also beats the old 55,985 record score set by the SWACC team in the October 2003 event. ARRL Expo 2005 The ARRL is sponsoring the ARRL Expo 2005 at Dayton this yearplease visit www.arrl.org/announce/nc/2005/ for more information. This will be an excellent opportunity to meet ARRL staff and volunteers. I will be available from 11:00 AM to noon on Saturday, so please drop by the Authors Booth in the ARRL Expo area to say hello. Your comments about NCJ are welcome. Hope to see you there! K3LCs Part 3 The two-part article by Al, K3LC, about elevated radials versus buried radials (the January/February 2005 and March/April 2005 issues) generated some interesting reflector discussion. One individual wondered about this comparison with just two radials (the original article only went down to three radials). Al quickly re-visited his work and generated comparison data for the two-radial case and even the one-radial case. Read about this follow-on effort elsewhere in this issue. W1MKs Two Articles Robye, W1MK, submitted an interesting article about making sure your 4Square is performing as it should. This article referenced his March 1991 Technical Correspondence item in QST, and I thought it would be helpful to run that old piece along with new work from Robye. The point of this comment, though, is that his articles are heavy into the technical aspects of phased arrays. I welcome your comments on this specific issue. Is a heavy technical article occasionally a good thing for NCJ? One more thing: Be sure to catch Robye at the Antenna Forum at Dayton. Hell be talking about his newest article. Be sure to tell him NCJ sent you. K4TMC Cover Photo In our Contesting On a Budget column by Paul, K5AF, Henry, K4TMC, comments on his use of trees to suppor t Yagis. The cover photo (from K4TMC) shows a 4-element 10-meter Yagi aimed toward the Caribbean and

By Carl Luetzelschwab, K9LA

South America. It can easily be turned to the east for Africa, or to the southwest for Central America and Australia by adjusting cords at the end of the boom. This Yagi is used in conjunction with the 6-element 10-meter Rope Gun Yagi (featured in the May/June 1998 NCJ ), which is fixed on Europe, and another 4-element 10-meter Yagi fixed west. The feed lines are then switched with an Ameritron RCS8 remote antenna switch. Introducing Newbies into Amateur Radio Through Contesting Remember the interesting article by Jim, VE7FO, in the January/February 2005 NCJ in which he introduced newcomers into Amateur Radio through contesting? Well, hes still at it. Check out his Web site at members.shaw.ca/ jimsmith/ for more information on this unique activity.

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May/June 2005

A Transition from DXer to Contester

I caught the DX-chasing bug the day I worked a CX station on 10 meters with 50 W to a wire dipole in a fir tree, followed shortly after by a VP9 and some JAs. On that day I contracted a serious case of the DX-chasing disease. I quickly bought a small amp and a nice used 751A transceiver; my antenna farm was a R5 vertical strapped to the chimney on our house. Chasing DX became a daily event; first thing each morning before work, and the last thing at night before bed. After earning the basic DXCC on phone, I quickly learned that CW could be the path to exotic DX. But CW DX activity was concentrated in the Amateur Extra portions of the bands. So, after a mighty struggle with the code, I upgraded to Advanced and then to Extra. I was shaky with code, and had trouble zero beating. I got an offer from Gene, N7YW (ex K7DBV), to spend some time working on my CW skills, which was immediately profitable. Yes, I confess to using a memory keyer, but I was snagging excellent DX on the low end of 40 and 80 with a HF-2V antenna on the end of the garage. Gene threw down the gauntlet and challenged me to get my CW-only Worked All Zones award on 20 meters. I accomplished that in short order, so the next challenge from Gene was a CW-only WAZ on 40 meters. Unfortunately, I have been stalled on 35 zones for 5 years. I sure could use a beam for that band! From DXer to DX I thought phone operating was a breeze and I decided that I wanted to be the DX for a change. I found the ZF8AA rental advertisement in a ham magazine and figured I had enough frequent-flyer credits to make it to Little Cayman. So, in January 1994, I flew into Little Cayman, was met by Ron Sefton and spent 7 days working on a DXCC and WAS as ZF2MC. That was fun, and much of the time was spent on 75 meters. I had great pileups and a great learning experience. The first night I called CQ on 3797 kHz, I was met with a wall of incoming RF. I could not pick out a letter, much less a partial call sign. I wondered what I had gotten myself into and then, bless his heart, a late call by a KC4 came through clearly. I was off and running. I still count the late call as one of the best techniques for little pistols or 4 May/June 2005

Mark Perrin, N7MQ

Mark, N7MQ, in his shack.

newbies. Remain calm and wait as the kilowatt stations block one another out. Count to three and drop your call in the meleecrisply and maybe even without phonetics. After a few tries the DX will snag you in the snarling QRM! I worked many little-pistol stations that were using that technique. In October 1994, Ron, WJ7R, and I went down to Little Cayman and operated in the CQ WW SSB contest. We were two ops with one radio, but we entered the Multi-Single category and had a ball. This was my first contest. We didnt have a great score, but I had a terrific learning experience. (Although Ron is primarily a CW contester, he can operate a microphone with the best of them.) Ron and I returned to Little Cayman as guests of Bruce, ZF2NT/N6NT, for the 2000 CQ WW SSB contest. Ron, as ZF2RV, did a 10-meter-only entry, and he earned a respectable score. I operated ZF2MC as an 80-meter-only entry. I ended up Number 1 in North America and Number 5 in the world. Bruce is a formidable contester and it was a pleasure to operate from his Cayman shack. Cinco Nueve The 1994 trip to ZF marked the beginning of what is now the Cinco Nueve Contest Group. You can check us out

and see our contest results at www.qsl.net/k7ar, which is maintained by Al, K7AR. Our group has been to ZF, VP2V, C6A, TI and we sponsored the YK9A DXpedition. We have entered phone and CW contests, and even won Multi-Multi in the 2003 ARRL DX CW contest operating from the TI5N contest station of Keko, TI5KD. Change is Good I am only a middling CW operator, and while I am competent on phone, shouting into a microphone for hours on end becomes tiring. I really did not enjoy contesting; it was just a means for racking up new countries from my home station. When I was playing the role of DX, I lived for the rush of the pileups, not the desire to score big in a contest. Yes, I was contesting, but I was not a contester. I am very competitive in all my activities, whether my work or my hobbies, which have included mountain climbing and water sports. I admire competitive people and I greatly admire the ability of the great contesters. I have listened to the master contesters running pileups, both phone and CW. It has always been amazing to observe the ability of someone to respond to one, two or even more calls from a pileup. While I can do that on phone, getting a

NCJ

CW call the first time has always been a challenge. While I admired those who contested and felt drawn to the competition, I was still reluctant to become a true contester. My attitude changed dramatically after I discovered RTTY. The Contest Keyboard My dear friend John, K7EX and I would compete in DX pileups, and we loved to be the first to beat the other. We would keyboard messages over our local DX Cluster node, checking on one another regularly. John continually nagged me to start chasing DX on RTTY. I said I would, but I always procrastinated. Then, one day in February 2000, John called and asked me to come over and observe him in the 2000 WPX RTTY contest. When I arrived at Johns home, he put me in the operating chair squarely in front of his computer and announced that he had set up the exchange message buffers in his WF1B RTTY program just for me. With his guidance, I operated his station on 15 and 20 meters, making about 100 QSOs in the contest. I even got a Hi Mark! from Bernie, W3UR. It was great fun, but somehow I did not get around to adding RTTY capabilities to my station. (As a matter of great irony, later that spring John was diagnosed with a brain tumor that took his life a year later. He died without knowing that his brief introduction to RTTY would set me on a remarkable course.) My growing interest in RTTY was further fueled by Don, AA5AU. He spent what must have been many hours creating a get started in RTTY section on his Web site. He introduced many amateurs to the wonders of sound cards and free MMTTY RTTY software. Don also had a tutorial on using WriteLog and the MMTTY plug-in for RTTY contesting. At the urging of George, N7QU, I got on the air in 2003 using the tips from the AA5AU Web site. Then in September 2003, with lots of help from Al K7AR, I got a RigBlaster Plus sound card interface, upgraded to WriteLog, and nervously entered the CQ/ RJ WW RTTY contest. I used the macros suggested by Don AA5AU, on what is now called www.rttycontesting.com. It was search-and-pounce effort only, but I was having a ball. I maintained no rate to speak of, but that okay. MMTTY decoded superbly and WriteLog, which our Cinco Nueve Contest Group had used for a number of years, was super. During the contest, I suddenly saw Mark. Up one on my monitor. I dutifully tuned up 1 kHz and was called by HC8N! I was astonished to work Trey, N5KO, on

the Galapagos and happy to add a new DXCC entity on RTTY. I was not confident enough to try to run in that contest, but I have in every RTTY contest since. Yes, I eventually worked a DXCC on RTTY, and through the marvel of Logbook of the World, had it confirmed by May 2004. It turns out that RTTY contesters upload their logs to Logbook of the World shortly after every contest; some even in the first hour after a contest is over. Competition and Growth RTTY contests take place on 80 through 10 meters. Even though I live on a small city lot, I have an antenna for each band. My antenna farm consists of a Lightning Bolt 2 element quad, a SteppIR Big Vertical for 40 and a Gladiator 80-meter vertical. All of these antennas are great products and have helped me improve my RTTY contesting station. I am especially pleased with the SteppIR; I regularly use it to work into Europe on 40 meters. I do not know what Paolo, I2UIY, has for antennas on 40, but when I hear him, it is one call and boomIm in his log. Paolo is another superb RTTY contester and nice guy. From September 2003 onward, Ive entered all of the RTTY contests my time would allow, and have at least dabbled in others. During this time, Ive honed my RTTY contesting skills. Of course, Ive lear ned from the best. Jay, WS7I, answered a couple of e-mails and was helpful. Phil, GUSUP, has been very generous and supportive. Ron, K5DJ, cheerfully answers queries about the WriteLog software. Don, AA5AU, is unbelievably accessible and accommodating. His notes on his station, his experiments with equipment, his notes on specific contests, and the RttyContesting Web site, are priceless. I have listed but a few of the fine and generous RTTY contesters, but I have not even come close to acknowledging all those who are regulars on the RTTY contest scene. Every operator Ive come to know has been capable and competitive. I believe I have found my niche in contesting and it is RTTY. There is a rhythm to it I cannot describe. True, it does not have the sustained rates of a CW or a phone contest. However, there are many long periods of three QSOs per minute, which is certainly exciting. Of course, seeing an exotic call, or one from an op you know, is a thrill, too. Yes, I still DX, and I need four entities to have worked them all. But I am a contester now, and my competitive instrument of choice is a mode that sings for me. See you in the next RTTY contest!

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5

Phase Adjustment Technique For A 4-Element Square Phased Vertical Array

This article was originally printed in the Technical Correspondence section of the March 1991 QSTEd
W7EL has an excellent approach to obtain the correct amplitude and phase for arrays using currents out-of-phase by 90 degrees with respect to the other elements. I have used his LC network along with 1/4-wavelength lines in a number of antennas. I have found that the LC network needs to be field-adjusted for best results. The simple and accurate adjustment approach presented here uses a 90 degree, 3 dB, twisted wire hybrid and a diode detector.1,2 Refer to Figure 1. When C1 and C2 are correctly adjusted, the voltages at points A and B will be equal and 90 degrees out of phase. 3 The voltages at ports 1 and 2 of the hybrid will also be equal and 90 degrees out of phase. The voltage at port 3 will be at a minimum (null), while the voltage at port 4 will be at a maximum (peak). With a detector placed at port 3, simply tune C1 and C2 to obtain a minimum at the detector output to correctly adjust the array. A hybrid that can provide a null greater than 40 dB over a limited frequency range can be built easily. I wanted to obtain a 30 dB null for the system and thus ensure the amplitude and phase errors for the drive currents were less than 0.6 dB and 3.5 degrees as shown in Figure 2. There are, of course, other sources of error, but we will assume they are smaller than the errors caused by incorrect LC adjustment. The detector used is shown in Figure 3 and provides 1millivolt of dc output (the limit to my voltmeter) at 40 dBm input signal level. It has a poor return loss (as do most commercial diode detectors) of between 5 and 10 dB over the 1 to 30 MHz range. The remaining three ports of the hybrid are terminated in 50 impedances. Reflections from the detector are terminated at the input ports (1 and 2) and any small re-reflections cancel at the detector port if the input port terminations are equal. Using 7.5 k decoupling resistors ensures that the voltage is sampled with

Robye Lahlum, W1MK

less than 0.1 dB error. The decoupling loss, however, is high (approximately 50 dB). In order to achieve a 30 dB null, the power into the system needs to be 40dBm (10 W) or more (Pin = - 40 + 50 +30 = 40 dBm). My transmitter power output can be reduced easily to 10 W, and it takes only 5 minutes or so to make the adjustment (make sure the frequency is not busy). I have also successfully used a Mini-Circuits MAR-1 MMIC,4 a 99 cent amplifier, between port 3 of the hybrid and the detector. The MAR-1 provides a gain of approximately 20 dB and thus reduces the transmit power requirement from 10 W to 100 mW for a 30 dB null (40 dB null with 1 W). The MAR-1 can be operated from a 9-V battery (17 mA drain) and appears to be quite stable. Its input return loss is poor (10 dB) and the device overloads at 0 dBm (the 1 dB compression point). I place a 10 dB pad in front of the MAR-1 to improve the return loss to 25 dB; once the system is calibrated, I have a por table power meter. Now I can measure the power at all the ports and measure the null depth.

Figure 1A 90 degree hybrid as used for amplitude/phase adjustment of a 4-element phased array.

May/June 2005

NCJ

Using 10 W, I can get a 40 dB null (-50 dBm gives 1 mV dc), and in this case, all ports are terminated in 50 loads. One might ask why I use the W7EL LC network when I could use a 90 degree hybrid to obtain the 90 degree phase shift. Unfortunately, the amplitude and phase shift at the output ports when used in that configuration are load dependent: V1/V2 = j(1 + 1)/(1 + 2) (Eq 1)

where 1 and 2 are the reflection coefficients the hybrid sees at its output ports. For example, the data for the 4element array3 gives a 0.5 dB, 21 degree error using a 50 , 90 degree hybrid (Fred Collins design). This design partially compensates for this error by using a length of cable.2 The problem of course is that to get the correct cable length you need to know all the impedances (driving and mutual), or you need some way to measure the resulting voltages (at the ends of the 1/4 wavelength lines) or the currents in the antenna elements. Although the phase-measurement method presented earlier works with the Collins design, I find adjusting capacitors easier than adjusting cable lengths, and adjusting cable lengths does not allow independent adjustment of amplitude and phase. Construction of the hybrid is simple and needs only a signal source (with a 0 dBm output level) and either of the diode detectors. Calculate the L and C values needed for 50 Z0 as shown in the following example. Assuming a frequency of 3.55MHz: L = Z0 / (6.283 Freq) = 2.24 H (Eq 2)

Figure 2Amplitude and phase errors for various amounts of null.

C= 1 / (6.283 Z0 Freq) = 897 pF (Eq 3) Subtract the measured capacitance of the twisted pair from the total value of C obtained; in my case it was 25 pF. Thus the values of C3 and C4 are C/2 = 436 pF. If you do not get L and C both correct, Z0 will not be correct; that is why I start with a known value of C and adjust L. Obtaining the required C value is easy just buy capacitors of the required value, or combine values to closely approximate what you need. I do not have the means to measure inductance, but I know that when I have the correct amount, the coupling will be equal between ports 2 and 3 (with 50 W loads on the other ports). So I simply use the information contained in the toroid core data sheet to calculate approximately how many turns I need, add one turn, and remove turns and play with the spacing until you get equal coupling at

Figure 3A simple detector circuit for use with the circuit of Figure 1. D1 is a 1N34A or 1N3666. T1 and T2 are 4:1 transformers made from five bifilar-wound turns of no. 26 wire on FT-50-77 cores. The circuit is broken at points X and Y during operating (nonadjustment) periods, floating the 7.5-k resistors (see text).

the desired frequency. In the example, I used a core with a mu of 20 (mix 1), and a diameter of 0.94 inches, and wound a core with 9 turns of twisted number 20 wire (the size and amount of twist not critical). I trimmed the inductance until I had equal coupling at 3.55 MHz. This procedure may sound tedious, but it worksand it works well. A word about resistor wattage ratings: At the 100 W transmitter output level, 1 W 7.5 k resistors and 1/8 W 50 resistors can be used in the circuit of Fig-

ure 1. If you run higher power, you might want to float the 7.5 k resistors as I do during operating (non-measuring) periods. The circuit of Figure 1 is broken at points X and Y. By floating the resistors, I have run 1500 W using 1W 7.5 k resistors. Otherwise, higher wattage resistors will be needed: 15 W 7.5 k resistors and 2 W 50 resistors. Postscript Recent work by W7ZOI (Simple RF Power Measurement in the June 2001

NCJ

May/June 2005

QST) and others using the AD8307 LogAmp have improved greatly the ability to measure RF power for the amateur. Using this approach for the detector, the sensitivity increases to approximately 70 dBm with excellent return loss. The 7.5 k resistors can be increased to

20 k, and they can be left in the circuit using two 40 k, 2-W resistors in parallel, or two 10 k , 2-W resistors in series.
Notes: 1 R. Fisher, Twisted-Wire Quadrature Hybrid Directional Couplers, QST January 1978,

pp 21-23. J. Devoldere, Low-Band DXing, 1st Edition, chapter 2, pp II-64. 3 J. Hall editor, The ARRL Antenna Book, 15th Edition, pp 8-25 thru 8-26. 4 A.Ward, Monolithic Microwave Integrated Circuits Part 1, QST February 1987, pp 2329 and 32, Part 2, QST March 1987, pp 2228 and 33.
2

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May/June 2005

NCJ

Bye-Bye, Golden Log

Wouldnt it be great to submit a golden log after every CW contest, with all the information nailed down perfectly? Alas, for some of us, contest exchanges mutate like flu viruses before they are recorded, and the hope of a golden log flits away. The three QSO banditos, QRM, QRN and QSB, are the worst culprits, sneaking into our bandwidth and stealing valuable dits and dahs from exchanges. And sometimes we goof up because of pure carelessness. My station is a peashooterlow power into a couple of wires draped over tall trees in on small urban lot. When working the west coast, I hear the guys running stacked monobanders and tribanders just fine, but the banditos start hijacking signals when I dig down to signals emitted by trap dipoles and short verticals. Although big contest stations do better, even they have to sweat it out to read distant QRPers wafting their RF from bedsprings or mobiles in deep highway cuts working 80 meters with 4-foot whips. All contesters are in the same boat. Attention Wanders As to contest-logging errors (a subject also discussed in W9XTs column in the March/April, 2002 NCJ), lets say that we have just made a CW contact with an unfamiliar station in the NAQP. Its signal is strong, in the clear, and at so-so speed. A piece of cake? It all depends. If the transmission is choppy or slurs characters together, it sets our internal alarm ringing and we ask for a repeat. When we get it right, we move on to the next contact. I suspect that the problem isnt so much the sloppy exchanges as it is the monotonous good exchanges that trip us up. Our attention wanders as the routine QSOs go by and we occasionally scramble a call in our heads, or while typing it into the computer. Blurred Dits and Stretched Dahs Now lets consider fast CW exchanges. We have to decode and record the information at matching speed, which means a jump in all the miscopy errors mentioned above. Theres also a new difficulty: dit-blurring. Although we arent supposed to count dits, we still need to distinguish them by ear. Each of us has a code speed beyond which the dits coalesce into a warbling blur. At that point, we have to recognize I from S from H from 5 and U from V from 4, for example, by the beat and duration of the dit-blur. Telling two-dit strings from three-dit strings isnt so bad. Its tougher to tell three dits from four, which differ just a hair in length. What CW op hasnt come to grief on blur-S and blur-H? Isolated dits can also do us in. Above 35 WPM, a lone E sandwiched between dahs, as in WEXXX, is apt to be sucked out by the tail wind. The stretched-out elements of dah strings, such as M to O to zero and W to J to 1, are easier to pick out than ditstrings. Numbers, when we know we are copying them, ought to be a snap, since all except 5 and zero contain redundant information; we only have to hear the dahs to recognize the number. Buzzbuzz dah dah has to be 3, for example. Even so, some hams say they have trouble with 7 and 8. Of course, we dont always know where a number will pop up. In S & P mode, we can avoid mistakes by straining to understand fast or sloppy CQers exchanges before we call them. In CQ mode, however, a station can pop out of the pileup and whip off a quick, erratic comeback. Before we get a repeat a dozen other stations are calling us, and the first station disappears in the QRM. Bye-bye, golden log. Frantic Free-For-All Now we come to the frantic free-for-all of real contestingscorching fast CW combined with the QSO banditos trying to gun down every weak signal. Not only do we have to run-off rapid-fire QSOs and type like crazy to get them in the log, but now data suddenly vanishes into the noise or fades, leaving us to scratch our heads. A few milliseconds of data dropout and half a call whooshes down a black hole. And was that QTH? Was it MA, ME, MI, MO, MN or MT? Naturally, we try to get a fill, provided we know something was lost in transmission. Frustratingly, a vital dit may be obliterated or a dah truncated and we dont notice; so K8BV comes through as K8BU, NNY rearranges to NNJ and BENNY gets renamed DENNY. Bye-bye, golden log. Sometimes I wonder if information loss is always due to contest conditions. Could it be that the speediest CW ops

Jim Gooch, NA3V

accelerate some of their dits beyond Earths escape velocity, so that the redshifted dits fly off into outer space, never to be copied this side of Alpha Centauri? That would explain a lot of weird mistakes in my logs. The Perfect Call Finally, I would like to bring up that old chestnut, the perfect call sign. To the contester and DXer the perfect call is compact, distinctive and bulletproof to QRM/ N. We dont want a call that causes other ops to constantly ask for repeats. When I send my call, NA3V, no one has trouble with the N or A, but the sound-alike 3 and V sometimes confuse. Having a cluster of similarly formed CW elements in your call is bad news. Who would want to copy WU4VUV, for example, from a fast op through heavy QRM? Long calls bristling with knotty characters, like my old Novice call, KN8YFL, arent so hot either. When I think of the times I wrapped my spastic fingers around a straight key and banged that out on my DX-20, I pity the poor stricken hams who tried to copy at the other end. If the FCC would permit it, Id love to take some clunky old call, like KN8YFL, and streamline it into something with contest bite. A quick fix would be to dump the novice N and substitute the vowel O for the F. The resulting K8YOL with its quasi-word suffix would be much easier to copy and remember. Plenty of calls in my contest logs are of this type: N7LOX, K4OGG, W1WEF, W6OAT, etc. But the crme de la crme of call signs, it seems to me, are the ones with a repeat, double-beat suffix, sported by such contesters as K3WW, K8CC, N4ZZ, N3BB, and others. What the heck, Ill deep-six the YOL and pencil in some short, staccato Ts (Es are shorter, but they blur). Now we have K8TTTdefinitely better, but better yet, if we lop off that last T. Result: K8TTtrim, easy copy, memorable, a call any contester would cherish. (Sigh! This one is already in use). Its time to finish up with advice on how to cope with the frustrations of contest logging. The solutions in the accompanying table work for me.

Problem Careless miscopy errors Dit-timing errors Data swiped by QSO banditos

Solution A pot of strong coffee. Stay calm! Have some more coffee. Ram fist through computer screen. Turn off rig and mellow out with a beer. Have some more tall, frosty ones. Who cares about a few teensy little mistakes anyway?

NCJ

May/June 2005

Phase Correction for a Quadrature Hybrid-Fed Antenna Array

In an earlier article1 (reprinted elsewhere in this issue), I briefly reviewed the use of a quadrature hybrid to feed a 4Square antenna array using the method of F. Collins, W1FC.2 I will expand on my earlier work and will show an approach for correcting the phase errors of the quadrature hybrid 4Square antenna array using lumped reactive elements. The result of using the lumped element compensation is that it improves the receiving ability of the 4-Square antenna array. My earlier article showed that the ratio of the voltage amplitudes at the output ports of the hybrid at its design center frequency can be expressed as V2/V3 = -j(1 +2) / (1 + 3), where 2 and 3 are the reflection coefficients of the loads at ports 2 and 3. If current forcing lines (using odd multiples of a quarter wavelength) are used, the ratio of V2/V3 is also the ratio of the currents at the antenna terminals. Figure 1 shows the hybrid and the port configurations. The power appearing at the termination port (port 4) is related to the sum of the reflection coefficients while the power reflected back to the input port (port 1) is related to the difference of the reflection coefficients. If ports 2 and 3 are terminated with loads equal to the Zo of the hybrid, then 2 and 3 are both zero, and the ratio of V2/V3 is unity with a phase shift of minus 90 degrees. No power appears at the load termination (port 4), and no reflected power appears at the input port. Another common application of the quadrature hybrid is using it in a balanced amplifier.3 In this application the loads at ports 2 and 3 are not equal to the Zo of the coupler, but are complex and are approximately equal to each other. The ratio of V2/V3 is still unity with a phase shift of minus 90 degrees. The input port sees no reflected power as 2 = 3. There is, however, power delivered to the load termination. The method of F. Collins for feeding an array of antennas does not normally satisfy either of the above conditions (2 = 0 and 3 = 0, or p2 = 3). This results in amplitude and phase errors between the voltages of ports 2 and 3 and thus the currents in the antennas (assuming unity amplitude and 90 degrees are the zero error condition). Power is also reflected into ports 1 and 4.

Robye Lahlum, W1MK

Figure 2 shows the approach of F. Collins for feeding the popular 4-Square array. As an example, I have chosen the array to consist of 4 verticals of 1.5-inch diameter located on a square with dimensions of 70 feet by 70 feet. The height of each vertical has been adjusted to be series resonant at 3.650 MHz. Assuming 5.4 of ground loss, the following self and mutual impedances result.4
3.5 MHz 36.055- j24.34 16.235- j13.48 5.394- j17.175 3.650 MHz 40.013+j0.18 16.94- j15.73 4.017- j19.25 3.8 MHz 44.49+ j24.61 17.51-j18.28 2.21-j21.43

Z11 Z12 Z14

For an example calculation of V2/V3, lets assume we are at a frequency of 3.65 MHz. We will also assume the quarter wavelength lines are 75- lines, are lossless and are cut for 3.650 MHz. We will also assume the hybrid is an ideal L/C lumped element hybrid, centered at a frequency of 3.65 MHz. We can now calculate V2/V3. The approach that I took was to model the hybrid coupler; transmission lines and antennas on a circuit analysis program assuming the hybrid coupler and transmission lines were designed for a frequency of 3.65 MHz. I started by assuming certain antenna currents (I0 = 1, I90 = -j, and I180 = -1) at the frequency under study using the Z11, Z12, and Z14 values for that frequency, and then calculated the impedances at the antenna terminals (EZNEC can directly calculate the impedances based on the physical model, or the impedance can also be calculated using the Z11, Z12, Z14 values given above), and then let the circuit analysis program recalculate the currents.

Figure 1Using current forcing lines.

Figure 2The F. Collins approach.

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May/June 2005

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Then I recalculated the antenna impedances based upon the new currents and iterated until the currents converge (no longer change). The above procedure does work but does involve a lot of time to get to the correct answer. Rudy Severns, N6LF, suggested a much better approach to the problem.5 That approach replaces the 4 uncoupled antenna ports (I was using above) with a 4-port network that has coupling between all the ports. This 4-port network incorporates all the mutuals and self-impedances of the array, and truly represents the 4-element array at a given frequency based on Z11, Z12 and Z14. It works very nicely. In this example: V2/V3 = -j(1+2)/1+3) = j(1.083 + j.206)/(1.168 j.246)

V2/V3 = .356 - j.852 Since I90 = I0 (V2/V3) and with I0 = 1, thus I90 = (.356 j.852) = .92 at an angle of -67.34 degrees. What is the effect of this amplitude and phase error on performance? We can examine the effect by substituting this new I90 into the EZNEC antenna-modeling program. Going from I90 = -j to I90 = .356-j.852 has a small effect on gain for our 4-Square (the gain decreases by .13 dB), but the F/B ratio decreases from 27.4 dB to 14.7 dB). There is thus degradation in F/B performance but very little gain reduction due to amplitude and phase error in our example at 3.65 MHz. Ideally, one would like to correct for both the amplitude error and the phase error. I am not sure how to easily accomplish that and still use current forcing. There are, however,

Table

3.5 MHz Results

Configuration No compensation Currents Gain 1 at 0 deg 5.23 dBi .805 at -73.9 .805 at 73.9 .907 at -173.7
deg -95.7 -95.7 -170.8 5.2 dBi

F/B 19.01 dB

s21 port4 -10.2 dB

s11 13.7 dB

Cable compensation 1 at 0 .77 at .77 at .94 at Lumped element Compensation

20.2 dB

-7.61 dB

16.7 dB

1 at 0 deg .903 at -94.2 .903 at -94.2 .92 at -170.7

5.21 dBi

20.2 dB

-9.1 dB

20.9 dB

3.65 MHz Results

Configuration No compensation Currents 1 at 0 deg .925 at -67.3 .925 at -67.3 1 at -180 Gain 5.34 dBi F/B 14.69 dB s21 port4 -18.2 dB s11 12.8 dB

Cable compensation 1 at 0 deg .89 at -90.1 .89 at -90.1 1 at -180 Lumped element Compensation 1 at 0 deg .92 at -90 .92 at -90 1 at 180

5.48 dBi

32.16 dB

-13.46 dB

12.5 dB

5.48 dBi

34.2 dB

-15.55 dB

26.5 dB

3.8 MHz Results

Configuration
No compensation

Currents

Gain

F/B
13.8 dB

s21 port4
-11.84 dB

s11
12.2 dB

1 at 0 deg 5.56 dBi 1.25 at -68.4 1.25 at -68.4 1.30 at -189.3

Cable compensation 1 at 0 deg 5.69 dBi 1.246 at -90.1 1.246 at -90.1 1.25 at -192.1 Lumped element Compensation 1 at 0 deg 1.12 at -88.7 1.12 at -88.7 1.24 at -191.6 5.69 dBi

24.4 dB

-13.7 dB

11.3 dB

26.02 dB

-10.71 dB

20.0 dB

NCJ

May/June 2005

11

multiple simple methods of correcting for the phase error. The Effects of the Phase-Correction Cable In the F. Collins implementation a phase correction cable was used to correct for phase errors.2 In our example, one would insert a cable that would give approx 22.7 degrees of phase shift. This cable would be added to the port 2 of the hybrid, between the hybrid and the sum point of the current forcing cables. This method has some problems. Since the cable is not terminated in its characteristic impedance the voltage varies along the cable, and thus the amplitude error changes with cable length. It may increase or decrease, but there is really no control of the amplitude error that I am aware of. Also, the phase shift will not follow the predicted value for the same reason. But it does work in correcting for the phase error if you can insert the correct amount of phase shift. In our example we were able to correct for the phase error using a short piece of cable approximately equal to the length that would give the correct phase shift in a terminated system. The cable length was varied in the circuit analysis program until the phase error was eliminated. In this example, however, the amplitude error increased, as did the reflected power into ports 1 and 4. Using Lumped Elements Another approach, which avoids the problems of the phase correction cable compensation, is possible using lumped elements at ports 2 and 3 of the hybrid (see Figure 3). In order to illustrate the approach I have rewritten the V2/V3 equation in terms of impedance first and then admittance. V2/V3 = -j (1 + 2)/(1+3) Since 2 = ( Z2 Zo )/ (Z2 + Zo ) and 3 = ( Z3 Zo ) / (Z3 + Zo ) V2/V3 = - j (1 + Zo/Z3) / (1+ Zo/Z2) Since V2/V3 = -j (1 + Zo Y3) / (1+ Zo Y2) Y3 = 1/Z3 and Y2 = 1/Z2 Rewriting Y3 and Y2 as V2/V3= -j (1+Zo Y3) / (1+ Zo Y2) Y3 = Y3r + jY3i Note that Zo is the characteristic impedance of the coupler, not of the current forcing lines. In general, Y2 and Y3 will be complex values. In our example Y2 = .016 - j.00678 and Y3 = .013 + j.00691 If we now add shunt reactance at terminals 2 and 3 such that the new admittances at ports 2 and 3, Y (port 2) and Y (port 3), are real numbers, we will eliminate the phase error. In our example at port 2, we would add an admittance of +j.00678 (a shunt cap of 308 pF). At port 3 we would add an admittance of -j.00691 (inductor of 6.58 H). Now Y (port 2) = .016 and Y(port 3) = .013 (real numbers, no longer complex) And V2/V3 = - j.92 (amplitude error remains but the phase error is eliminated) The reflection coefficients also now become real numbers. However, this does not necessarily mean that the power re12 May/June 2005 Y2 = Y2r + jY2i For complete phase correction Y3i _______ 1+ Zo Y3r = Y2i _______ 1+ Zo Y2r

Figure 3Using lumped elements.

flected into port 4 is reduced. It will however result in less power reflected back in port 1. In our example, the power reflected into port 4 increased by 3 dB but the power reflected into port 1 decreased. The effect of eliminating the phase error improved the F/B ratio from 14.7 dB to 34 dB. The gain remained approximately the same. Eliminating the phase error thus had a very positive effect on F/B performance but no significant change in gain. Another solution to correct the phase angle is to add a single shunt reactive element only to either port 2 or port 3. For this case the reflection coefficients will not be real but the phase angle will be corrected to -90 degrees.

and thus Y3i = Y2i (1 + Zo Y3r) / (1 + Zo Y2r) Y3i = -.00678 (1.65) / (1.8) = -.006215 In order for Y3i to be equal to the above number we would need to add an admittance of -.0131 (.006215 + .00691), which is a shunt inductor of 3.32 H added at port 3. In similar fashion at port 2, we could add a shunt capacitor of 624 pF that would also correct for the phase error. It is interesting to note that this single shunt element correction is apparently what Comtek does in their Hybrid Combiner Unit. Instead of using a half-wavelength line as we used in our model, they use a phase reversal transformer. Their phase reversal transformer for 80 meters has a pri/sec inductance in the 4.4 H range, much lower than one would use for a transformer at this frequency.6 But the equivalent

NCJ

circuit of this transformer would look like an ideal transformer with a shunt inductance of 4.4 H. While the 4.4 H inductor value is not exactly what we calculated from our model, its value will provide for many degrees of phase correction. Performance at Various Frequencies At this point we have examined the performance at 3.65 MHz. We would like to evaluate the performance at two other important frequencies: 3.5 MHz and 3.8 MHz. That is, we want to evaluate the performance with no phase correction, with use of the phase correction cable, and with use of the shunt lumped element compensation. We will examine the F/B performance, the gain performance and the amount of reflected power into ports 1 and 4. In this example of a 4-Square using full-sized elements, the lumped element correction provided the best performance at 3.5, 3.65, and 3.8 MHz as shown in the accompanying table. The cable compensation method, however,

also provided performance improvement very similar to that of the lumped element approach. The gain performance, however, varies very little between no compensation, and any of the compensation techniques. The real performance variations occur in the F/B performance (note that at 3.5 MHz the F/B performance of the uncompensated system is quite good at 19 dB and the compensated approaches provide only small improvements in F/B). The other area that the lumped element correction excelled in was the return loss looking into the hybrid, where it always exceeded 20 dB. Based on this example, the use of lumped elements to compensate for phase errors appears to be attractive if the antenna array is used for receiving purposes. It, however, appears to offer no advantage for transmitting other than it improves the return loss looking into the hybrid.
Notes: 1 Lahlum, R., W1MK, Phase Adjustment Technique for a 4-Element Square

Phased Vertical Array, Technical Correspondence, QST, March 1991, page 39. 2 Devoldere, J., ON4UN, Low Band DXing, Third Edition, 1999, Chapter 11, page 1152. 3 K. Kurokawa, Design Theory of Balanced Transistor Amplifiers, BSTJ, Oct 1965, pages 1675-1698. 4 EZNEC, from W7EL. 5 N6LFs approach uses y parameters, as opposed to the z parameters, Z11,Z12, Z14. The y parameters can be calculated from the inverse Z matrix, or they can be obtained directly from the EZNEC program based on the physical model. For example, y12 = I1 with sources V1=0, V3=0, V4=0, and V2 = 1. He also makes use of a special case where all elements are assumed identical, the selfimpedances are all equal and the mutuals between equally spaced elements are equal. For this case, the resulting 4 port network has at each port an impedance equal to (1/(y11 +2y12 + y14) to ground, and an impedance of 1/(-y12) between physically adjacent ports, and a impedance of 1/(-y14) between diagonally opposite ports. 6 As measured by Rudy Severns, N6LF, and Tim Duffy, K3LRprivate conversation.

Contesting and the Prostate

The age of contesters is advancing. The average age of the ham today is 59 according to the ARRL, although a quick survey of 40 CW ragchewers would suggest it is 79. Contesters are still, by a large majority, males. On a trip to a recent contester meeting, I heard the comment that the contesters arriving in one car were proud that they had made it 1.5 hours without having to stop, while I had driven 3.5 hours. This naturally suggested the topic of my article. The most common ailment of the prostate is benign prostatic hyper trophy (BPH), in which the prostate sequentially enlarges after the age of 50, affecting 50 to 70 percent of men. This leads to a decrease in the amount of time you can go without going, thus slowing down your contest rate. Actually, the QSO rate goes down while the peeing frequency rate goes up. Foods that the contester should avoid are coffee and alcohol. Both of these are diuretics, increasing urine flow. At least one of these liquids is essential to any contesting effort, however. There are prescription medicines for BPH as well as over-the-counter medicines. The prescription medications have greater efficacy. If these dont work, there is a roto-rooter operation called the trans-urethral prostatectomy. This has a very low complication rate and is effective. It requires only about 2 weeks recovery time. Generally speaking, the prostate-challenged contester wants to become dehydrated. This would mean avoiding soft drinks and water as well. As many of his brethren train with walking and weights, the prostate-challenged contester should try to increase his time between going over the month before the contest. Dehydration strategy should not begin until the start of the contest. In the case of the prostate-carcinoma challenged contester, who is post-operative for a more radical surgery, Depends is an other option. Non-prostate chal-

John W. Thompson MD, K3MD

lenged contesters have also used this option, but we wont go there. Radical prostatectomy has a higher rate of complication with incontinence and impotence, although a more modern nerve-sparing operation is reducing these complications. Complications also can result from external-beam radiation treatment or interstitial radiation treatment, but not to the degree found in radical prostatectomy. Depending on the Gleason grade of the carcinoma, a contester may have no choice but to go with radical prostatectomy instead of radiation. In summary, the recommendations are: 1. Dont get old. 2. Avoid liquids, coffee and beer. 3. Train yourself prior to the contest. 4. Dehydration during the contest is an option. But do not quote me on this when they haul you off to the ER! I am an X-ray doc! 5. Women do not get this particular problem, gents.

NCJ

May/June 2005

13

A Descriptive Model of VHF Contest Activity

The cyclic nature of VHF contest log entries has been observed and discussed for many years. Figure 1 shows the tremendous peaks and dips of activity since 1948 for all six ARRL VHF contests. The Model and Flow Chart Building on the past efforts of many writers and commentators, this article develops a descriptive model explaining the large variations in contest participation. As a working hypothesis, the explanatory reasons for the swings in VHF contesting and operating activity are comprised of a complex mix of interdependent factors, resulting in a dynamic and constantly changing process. Figure 2 describes the various impacts identified in past articles, or noted here. Related Factors Several reasons or factors potentially explain the variation in contest activity. The following items are all thought to play some role in the cyclical nature of the VHF contests. As to the overall participation levels in the contests, between 3000 and 6000 call signs/stations have participated in the January VHF Sweepstakes and the VHF QSO Parties since 2001. On average, there may be around 4500 stations active in the three major VHF contests.1 Each contest has generated a consistent range of participation and log entries, with 500 to 800 log entries being received in recent events. As more data on general participation levels becomes available, we will be in a better position to determine whether regulatory, technological and other factors influence participation levels as well as contest log entry statistics. Given the consistency in participation and contest entry numbers, the same or similar factors affecting contest log submissions may also affect general levels of activity and participation in the contests. Clubs are a major driving force behind the VHF contests, both in terms of participation levels and log entry rates. The effect from the clubs is so huge that in the absence of regulatory and technological changes, contest log entries may be principally dependent upon activity levels of the clubs.2 The influence of the traditional club concept may be changing, however. The number of clubs, the number of club 14 May/June 2005 member logs, and the percentage of club member logs have all been decreasing since the first contest peak in 1961, over four decades ago. The decline in club activity may be due to the maturation of the contesting experience, where quasi-clubs and the modern rules set have provided individual contesters with more operating choices than ever before.3 The rise of informal, but highly coordinated, operating groups has become an integral component of modern-day contesting. While VHF club activity establishes a base line of support for the contests, it has long been believed that regulatory changes are largely responsible for the huge spikes in contest activity. 4, 5, 6, 7, 8 Major regulatory activities that probably have caused large swings in VHF contest activity include Novice access to 2 meters in 1951; Technician access to 6 meters in 1955, and then to 2 meters in 1959; restrictions on Technicians and Novices in 1968; 2 meter prohibitions on Novices in 1972; and the development of the no-code Technician license in 1991. All of these regulatory matters occurred around the time of either the first contesting peak in 1961 or the second peak in 1996, and have been advanced as explanatory reasons for the large variations in contest log entries. Further, reinstatement of Technician VHF privileges in 1978 may also partly explain the gradual rise in log submissions from the 1970s through 1990.9

Kevin Kaufhold, W9GKA W9GKA@arrl.net

Major regulatory changes have not only influenced overall contest log entries, they may also be partly responsible for dramatic shifts in VHF club activity levels. 2 The regulatory impacts upon contesting are so powerful that all other factors may be simultaneously affected, including activity from the clubs. The impacts from technological changes have also been discussed. Advances in technology constantly occur, and the open markets have regularly offered new and exciting products to whet the amateurs appetite. Many of these products have been specially tailored to new licensees produced from the above noted regulatory changes. The use of new technology among recently created licensees has been regularly cited in the literature.5, 6, 10 A demographic of operators may also be behind the contest activity variance. Roseman6 noted a baby boom of contesters generated through regulatory and technological changes, and Tilton4, 5 observed earlier that the regulatory changes in the 1950s produced an immediate increase in 6 and 2 meter band activity from Novices and Technicians using Gonsets and other newer pieces of equipment. More currently, attention has been given to the graying of the amateur population that has led contesting efforts for many years.9 The demographic can be thought of as an agewave having both sociological and economic characteristics. Great contesting

Figure 1ARRL VHF Contest Log Entries, 1948-2004.

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exploits may have occurred during the early years of an amateurs career, but those endeavors could now be giving way to a more mature and less intense style of contesting among many participants. On a related note, the two great expansions in contest log and band activity may contain demographic features. After the 1961 maximum, log entries declined almost as rapidly as they increased, even though no adverse regulatory actions occurred for seven years. Then, after the second peak in 1996, contest activity also sharply declined without adverse regulatory changes taking place for an additional four years. This quick rise and fall of activity from newly minted amateur operators has also been seen in Japan, where a sharp peak occurred in the issuance and renewal of no-code licenses.11 The decline in contest and general operating activity, in the absence of regulatory modifications, may be due to a gradual loss of interest, or possibly license upgrades among new license holders. The sheer number of US amateur licenses may also play a part in contest activity levels. The expansion in the number of total US amateur licenses may be a reason for increased contest activity, especially after the mid 1970s. The number of amateur licensees increased by over 25% in just the five-year period between 1975 and 1980, and then by another 20% in the ten-year period from 1980 to 1990. Additionally, the modernization of the rules set may be a factor in log entry variations. 12 The quest to update the rules, starting in the 1970s, has greatly expanded the operator categories and the club competition, dramatically changed the scoring system and contest awards, and increased the number and variety of the VHF events. VHF contesting is vastly different today than during its formative initial period from 1948 to the mid 1970s. The increasing popularity of the VHF QSO Parties is also an interesting subject. At the start of the contesting era in 1948, the January VHF Sweepstakes was the preeminent VHF contest, while the QSO Parties were almost an afterthought, having far fewer log entries. Gradually, both the June and September contests developed into significant events in their own right. Today, the June contest rivals January in terms of log entries, and September may have stabilized its activity levels. Several different reasons have been proposed for the heightened activity levels in the VHF QSO Par ties since the 1970s. More thought needs to be given to this topic, as the gradual increase in log entries in all the major contests from 1975 to 1990

Figure 2VHF Contest Flow Chart.

is precisely the type of sustainable expansion that is greatly desired. Motivation of complacent masses into action sometime occurs through a mere concern over rules changes. We saw this in both the 2003 June VHF and the 2004 August UHF, when discussions of major revisions in the rules produced heightened activity in these contests. However, this moral persuasion may be momentary in nature, as things seem to return to lower contest activity once the immediate concern passes. Factors Not Related Several other items have been discussed, but are believed to have little or no effect upon contest activity. A short review of these possible factors is in order, and a more thorough review of the items is available.12 Extensive thought has been given to the impact from individual rules revisions. Generally, individual rules modifications have not produced large and immediate changes in contest log data, although certain rules changes have definitely altered the basic structure and tone of the contests. Many of the newer rules adopted since 1978 have greatly increased point totals, but contest log entries have not suddenly jumped in response to individual rules changes. The 11-year solar cycle has little correlation with the cyclical nature of the VHF contests. With over six full solar cycles occurring since 1948 and only two distinct contesting peaks and valleys, there is little statistical evidence of a connection. The Leagues own contest administrative decisions and efforts have been criticized at times, especially the deletion of the line scores from QST. Irritation has also been expressed over the contest robot and the reduction in contest coverage in QST. The adverse effects upon log entries from recent administration activities appear to have been minimal, however. In fact, some of the League changes have even been quite innova-

tiveLogbook of the World and the online interactive scoring database come to mind. Many regulatory changes other than those noted above have been implemented over the years, but have not significantly affected operating or contesting activity. For regulations to produce a big impact, they have to enable (or restrict) large masses of people having access to the VHF amateur bands. Several regulatory changes have simply not produced significant changes in contest log data. For instance, granting Technicians access to 10 meters in 1987 did not sizably reduce VHF log entry submissions. Granting Technician access to 220 MHz and above in 1951 did not increase activity on those bands. Increasing power limits on 432 MHz in 1963 did not stop the erosion of contest and higher band activity then underway. The ebbs and flows of seasonal weather and band patterns have produced definite yearly cycles of band activity and propagation characteristics to the various contests. But, neither the yearly, seasonal patterns nor massive band openings in any one contest can account for the large swings in all contests across all years. There also does not seem to be much of an effect upon contest activity from the changes in the various modes of communication. The gradual adoption of SSB on VHF by the late 1960s as well as the currently increasing use of JT44/ FSK441 may both be the result of clearly superior technologies becoming generally accepted in the contesting community. The massive popularity of FM repeaters in the 1970s possibly took some of the fresh blood away from contesting for a time, but is still consistent with the belief that regulatory and technological impacts are major forces behind contest log entry variations. The Development of a Statistical Model The above factors of the model are largely based upon historical evidence and qualitative considerations. Efforts are currently underway to provide a mathematical underpinning to the discussion through the development of a statistical model. Multiple regressions in a time series format are being conducted on available data to determine which factors explain log entry variation. A complete rendition of the regression equations goes well beyond the scope of this paper, but historical contest log entry data and preliminary regression results are available for review online at the SMC Web site.12, 13 The following functional statements describe the various statistical relationships that are being studied.

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May/June 2005

15

Log Entries = (US ops, participation, VHF club activity, regulatory changes, technology, rules regime) Number of VHF clubs = (US ops, participation, regulatory changes) Preliminary results of the multiple regressions suggest that a large amount of the variation in contest log entries may be explained by the variation in the testable factors, for the given data sample. Greatly enhanced statistical analysis must be conducted before the results can move beyond a very tentative stage, but initial statistical efforts are encouraging. A more fully developed statistical model may be presented at a future VHF conference. A Continuing Inquiry Fleshing out the explanatory reasons for contest participation and log entry variation is much more than just an interesting theoretical exercise. If we could more fully understand the forces behind the cyclical pattern in the VHF contests, programs and rules to improve the contests could be more capably designed. The development and refinement of descriptive and statistical models could even lead to some interesting observations concerning the relative lack of growth in the VHF contests. With the number of US amateurs having increased some four-fold over the VHF contesting era, it is an enduring mystery as to why contest participation levels have cycled dramatically instead of experiencing a similar four-fold increase. Individuals with any thoughts on the matter are highly encouraged to join in on the continuing discussions. Conclusions Until confirmed or modified by statistical analysis, the model presented in this paper should be viewed as a hypothesis describing possible factors impacting VHF contest activity. The evidence uncovered so far, however, contains several interesting and useful features. VHF club activity provides a strong base of support for the contests. The tremendous spikes in contest log entries in both the 1960s and 1990s are primarily the result of major regulatory changes impacting the number of amateurs active on the VHF bands. When combined with technological innovations and other factors, regulatory changes have generated a vast grouping or demographic of new licensees attracted to VHF contesting. More data must be collected before any definite conclusions can be drawn regarding total activity during the contests, but similar items may also be involved in overall participation levels of the VHF contests. 16 May/June 2005

The author wishes to thank the following individuals for reviewing and critiquing early drafts of this ar ticle: Tom Frenaye, K1KI; Joe Lynch, N6CL; Curt Roseman, K9AKS; Bob Witte, KNR; and Gene Zimmerman, W3ZZ. The reviewers do not necessarily agree with all thoughts contained in this article, but have provided many valuable ideas and insights to the author.
Notes: 1 Tom Frenaye, K1KI, Final Report of the VHF-UHF Contests / Awards Subcommittee, July 14, 2004, with Attachment 1. 2 The Role of the Clubs in VHF Contest Log Entries, Cheese Bits, Dec. 2004. 3 Jon Jones, N0JK, (e-mail correspondence, 2004) 4 Edward P. Tilton, W1HDQ, The World Above 50 Mc, QST, July 1959, p. 76-77+. 5 Edward P. Tilton, W1HDQ, The World

Above 50 Mc, QST, July 1960, p. 66-67+. Curt Roseman, K9AKS, et al, A Brief History of North American VHF Contesting, VHF/UHF Column, National Contest Journal, Nov/Dec 1990, p. 21-22. 7 Trends in VHF Contesting, National Contest Journal, Jan / Feb 2004, p. 6-8. 8 Trends in VHF Contesting, Part II, SMC Black Hole, Jan. 2004. 9 Eugene Zimmerman, W3ZZ (e-mail correspondence, 2004 and 2005). 10 John F. Lindholm, W1XX, VHF Contesting, QST, August 1980, p. 80. 11 Joe Speroni, AH0A, Excel data file on Japan no-code licenses, revised March 27, 2004. 12 Other Impacts in VHF Contesting, revised Jan. 2005 for multiple regression results, available at: www.w9smc.com/ SMC VHF/OtherImpactsarticle.pdf 13 Kevin Kaufhold, W9GKA, Historical VHF Data file, revised Dec. 2004, available at: www.w9smc.com/SMC VHF/ uvhfdata.pdf.
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A Study of Elevated-Radial Ground Systems for Vertical AntennasPart 3

Part 3 of this article compares the gain developed by elevated 0.25 wavelength vertical monopole antennas when they are equipped with very sparse ground screens composed of either one or two radials. All of these counterpoise systems utilize elevated horizontal radials whose length is 0.25 wavelength. The elevation height of the radials is varied, along with the electrical characteristics of the soil beneath the antenna. Overview After Parts 1 and 2 of this article 1 were published, a number of questions were raised concerning the performance of antennas with only one or two radials in the ground screen. A two-radial antenna can be installed along a fence line or property boundary, and a vertical monopole with only a single radial may be erected at a Field Day site or on a DXpedition. As before, all three of the low bands will be investigated, using three different types of soil on each band. The number of elevated radials will be limited to either two or one (when two are used, they are spaced 180 degrees apart in azimuth), and several different elevation heights will be examined. I have access to the new EZNEC Pro software, version 4.0, 2 with a double precision NEC4 calculating engine, enabling me to analyze ground systems using either buried or elevated radials. The computer simulations were performed using #12 AWG copper wire for both the vertical element and the elevated radials, and the length of all wires was fixed at 0.25 wavelength. No attempt was made to prune either the vertical element or the radials to achieve resonance. The wire segment lengths for the vertical element and the radials are all tapered in accordance with the most conservative EZNEC guidelines. The shortest segments, such as the one containing the feed point at the base of the vertical element, and the inner segment of each radial, have a length of about 0.0025 wavelength. Details on the three soil types are as follows: average soil has an electrical conductivity of 0.005 Siemens/meter and a dielectric constant (relative permittivity) of 13; very poor soil has a conductivity of 0.001 Siemens/meter and a

Al Christman, K3LC Grove City College 100 Campus Dr Grove City, PA 16127-2104

Table 1 Gain of the 40-meter antenna with two elevated radials, as a function of radial height, for three different soil types. The frequency is 7.15 MHz. The vertical element and both radials have a length of 0.25 wavelength, or about 34.39 feet. End fire denotes the elevation plane containing the two radials, while broadside indicates the elevation plane that is perpendicular to the end-fire plane.
Soil Type
Avg

Radial Height (feet)

5 7.5 10 12.5 15 5 7.5 10 12.5 15 5 7.5 10 12.5 15

Gain (dBi) & Take-off Angle (deg) end fire broadside

-0.56 -0.39 -0.27 -0.19 -0.12 -1.21 -0.94 -0.71 -0.51 -0.33 -1.33 -1.46 -1.54 -1.59 -1.63 23 22 21 20 19 26 25 25 24 23 19 18 17 16 15 -0.23 -0.02 -0.12 -0.21 -0.27 -1.44 -1.19 -0.99 -0.83 -0.69 -1.75 -1.93 -2.04 -2.13 -2.20 24 23 22 22 21 27 26 26 25 24 19 19 18 17 17

Pattern Non-Circularity (dB)

0.33 0.37 0.39 0.40 0.39 0.23 0.25 0.28 0.32 0.36 0.42 0.47 0.50 0.54 0.57

Very Poor

Very Good

Table 2 Gain of the 80-meter antenna with two elevated radials, as a function of radial height, for three different soil types. The frequency is 3.75 MHz. The vertical element and both radials have a length of 0.25 wavelength, or about 65.57 feet. End fire denotes the elevation plane containing the two radials, while broadside indicates the elevation plane that is perpendicular to the end-fire plane.
Soil Type
Avg

Radial Height (feet)

5 10 15 22.5 30 5 10 15 22.5 30 5 10 15 22.5 30

Gain (dBi) & Take-off Angle (deg) end fire broadside

-0.53 -0.27 -0.15 -0.05 -0.02 -2.13 -1.75 -1.50 -1.20 -0.96 -1.86 -2.11 -2.25 -2.38 -2.49 23 21 20 19 18 27 25 24 23 22 18 17 16 15 14 -0.08 -0.24 -0.41 -0.54 -0.59 -2.04 -1.66 -1.43 -1.21 -1.06 -2.16 -2.46 -2.64 -2.82 -2.96 24 23 22 20 19 27 26 25 24 23 19 18 17 16 15

Pattern Non-Circularity (dB)

0.45 0.51 0.56 0.59 0.61 0.09 0.09 0.07 0.01 0.10 0.30 0.35 0.39 0.44 0.47

Very Poor

Very Good

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May/June 2005

17

dielectric constant of 5; very good soil has a conductivity of 0.0303 Siemens/ meter and a dielectric constant of 20. Results for Antennas with Two Radials A frequency of 7.15 MHz was selected for the analysis on 40 meters, leading to a length of about 34.39 feet for the vertical element and radials. Recall that the two radials are symmetrically placed, so they point in opposite directions. Elevation heights of 5, 7.5, 10, 12.5 and 15 feet were utilized. Table 1 displays the results on 40 meters. The term end fire refers to the elevation plane containing the vertical element and the two horizontal radials, while broadside identifies the vertical plane that also contains the monopole, but is normal (or perpendicular) to the end fire plane. As expected, when the base height of the antenna is raised, the gain increases and the take-off angle decreases, for all three types of soil. Notice that, for very poor soil, the antenna generates more gain in the plane containing the radials (end fire), but the opposite is true for average and very good soils, where maximum gain occurs in the broadside direction, normal to the radials. Since these antennas have only two radials, there is a considerable amount of non-circularity in the radiation patterns. This effect becomes progressively more pronounced as the conductivity of the soil increases. On 80 meters a frequency of 3.75 MHz was utilized, so the length of the vertical element (and the radials) is about 65.57 feet. Now the elevation heights are 5, 10, 15, 22.5, and 30 feet (because the wavelength is longer at this frequency). Table 2 shows the outcome for all three types of soil. Peak gain occurs once again in the broadside direction, for both average and very good soils. Over very poor soil, maximum gain also occurs in the broadside direction on this band, except for those instances where the base height of the antenna is more than 15 feet. The radiation patterns are nearly circular for very poor soil, with the greatest deviation occurring over average soil. A frequency of 1.835 MHz was selected for the computer simulation on top band, requiring a length of about 134 feet for the quarter-wave vertical element and the radials. On 160 meters, the base heights are 10, 20, 30, 45 and 60 feet. Table 3 displays the results when the antenna is mounted over three different types of soil. On top band, all of the antennas yield more gain in the plane which is perpendicular to that of the antenna (broadside). The azi18 May/June 2005

muthal-plane radiation patterns exhibit a fair amount of non-circularity for all soil types, but especially for average soil. Results for Antennas with One Radial We found in Part 1 of this series that, if a circular radiation pattern is desired, then at least four elevated radials should be installed, spaced uniformly around the base of the antenna. In contrast, a

single radial can deliberately be used to produce a small amount of directivity. In most cases, the tip of this radial points toward the front of the main lobe, although there are some exceptions, which will be noted below. Table 4 shows the outcome on 40 meters. In general, increasing the base height produces more forward gain at a lower take-off angle, but this is not always true in every situation. For ex-

Table 3 Gain of the 160-meter antenna with two elevated radials, as a function of radial height, for three different soil types. The frequency is 1.835 MHz. The vertical element and both radials have a length of 0.25 wavelength, or about 134 feet. End-fire denotes the elevation plane containing the two radials, while broadside indicates the elevation plane that is perpendicular to the end-fire plane.
Soil Type
Avg

Radial Height (feet)

10 20 30 45 60 10 20 30 45 60 10 20 30 45 60

Gain (dBi) & Take-off Angle (deg) end fire broadside

-0.32 -0.56 -0.66 -0.73 -0.75 -2.22 -1.94 -1.79 -1.66 -1.56 -2.56 -2.80 -2.95 -3.11 -3.25 21 20 19 17 16 26 24 23 21 20 16 15 14 13 12 -0.77 -1.06 -1.22 -1.35 -1.40 -1.72 -1.41 -1.25 -1.13 -1.11 -2.78 -3.06 -3.24 -3.44 -3.61 22 21 20 19 18 26 25 24 23 21 16 15 15 14 13

Pattern Non-Circularity (dB)

0.45 0.50 0.56 0.62 0.65 0.50 0.53 0.54 0.53 0.45 0.22 0.26 0.29 0.33 0.36

Very Poor

Very Good

Table 4 Gain of the 40-meter antenna with one elevated radial, as a function of radial height, for three different soil types. The frequency is 7.15 MHz. The vertical element and the radial have a length of 0.25 wavelength, or about 34.39 feet. Front denotes the direction off the tip of the radial.
Soil Type
Avg

Radial Height (feet)

5 7.5 10 12.5 15 5 7.5 10 12.5 15 5 7.5 10 12.5 15

Gain (dBi) and Take-off Angle (deg) front back sides

-0.18 -0.11 -0.25 -0.30 -0.51 -0.31 -0.02 -0.25 -0.40 -0.50 1.20 1.36 1.38 1.31 1.17 27 26 25 24 78 33 32 32 32 32 20 19 18 17 17 -4.55 -4.37 -4.32 -4.37 -4.48 -7.13 -6.73 -6.41 -6.15 -5.93 -0.47 -0.36 -0.40 -0.53 -0.73 21 20 18 17 16 22 21 20 19 18 18 17 16 15 15 -1.51 -1.05 -0.69 -0.38 -0.27 -2.58 -2.01 -1.49 -1.00 -0.52 -0.90 -1.16 -1.30 -1.36 -1.38 26 26 26 27 87 32 32 33 34 36 20 20 20 20 20

Front/Back Ratio (dB)

4.37 4.48 4.57 4.67 4.99 6.82 6.75 6.66 6.55 6.43 1.67 1.72 1.78 1.84 1.90

Very Poor

Very Good

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ample, we can see that a base height of 15 feet is too great for average soil, because of the very high take-off angle of the forward lobe at this elevation height. Further, at base heights of more than about 10 feet over very good soil, the peak forward gain actually diminishes, and more signal is beamed toward the sides of the antenna, rather than directly off the tip of the radial. When the antenna is constructed over average soil, a front- to-back ratio (FBR) of 4 to 5 dB is possible, using only a single radial. For very poor soil, a FBR of 6 to 7 dB can be achieved, but only 1 or 2 dB of FBR is attainable with very good soil. The results on 80 meters are displayed in Table 5. Again, we see a general trend toward more forward gain at lower take-off angles, as the base height increases. But, for both average and very poor soils, base heights of 30 feet are too large, because the peak of the forward lobe tilts upward at a very high take-off angle in these scenarios. And, at base heights of more than about 15 feet over very good soil, the peak forward gain begins to drop off, and more signal is beamed toward the sides of the antenna, instead of directly off the tip of the radial. When the antenna is placed over average soil, a FBR of 3 to 5 dB is possible, using just one radial. For very poor soil, a FBR of more than 7 dB can be achieved, but only 1 dB or so of FBR is attainable with very good soil. Table 6 illustrates the outcome on top band. As before, an increase in the base height usually generates more forward gain at a lower take-off angle. However, a base height of 60 feet is too great for both average and very poor soils, as evidenced by the very high take-off angle of the forward lobe at this elevation height. And, notice that the take-off angle toward the sides of the antenna that is mounted at a base height of 45 feet over very poor soil is 89 degrees (although the peak gain toward the front and back still occurs at low angles). Finally, at base heights of more than about 30 feet over very good soil, the peak forward gain reverses its upward trend, and more signal is beamed toward the sides of the antenna than toward the tip of the radial. When the antenna is built over average soil, a modest FBR of 2 to 3 dB is possible, using only a single radial. For very poor soil, a FBR of 6 to 8 dB can be achieved, but with very good soil less than 1 dB of FBR is attainable. Conclusions For an elevated vertical antenna with a minimal ground screen consisting of just one or two elevated horizontal radi-

als, the gain and take-off angle depend upon the soil type and the height of the antenna above ground. With two symmetrically placed radials, the azimuthal plane radiation pattern is somewhat noncircular, which may be undesirable. When only a single radial is used, the antenna exhibits a small amount of directivity, yielding a few decibels of frontto-back ratio. Antennas with one radial should probably not be installed at large distances above the ground, since this can lead to unwanted high-angle radia-

tion, and peak gain may occur at azimuths other than directly off the end of the radial.
Notes: 1 Parts 1 and 2 of this article appeared in the January/February and March/April 2005 issues of the National Contest Journal . 2 Several versions of the EZNEC antenna modeling software are available from Roy Lewallen, W7EL, PO Box 6658, Beaverton, OR 97007.

Table 5 Gain of the 80 meter antenna with one elevated radial, as a function of radial height, for three different soil types. The frequency is 3.75 MHz. The vertical element and the radial have a length of 0.25 wavelength, or about 65.57 feet. Front denotes the direction off the tip of the radial.
Soil Type
Avg

Radial Height (feet)

5 10 15 22.5 30 5 10 15 22.5 30 5 10 15 22.5 30

Gain (dBi) and Take-off Angle (deg) front back sides

-0.49 -0.00 -0.21 -0.26 -1.06 -1.21 -0.63 -0.29 -0.00 -0.63 -1.49 -1.90 -2.02 -1.96 -1.74 25 25 23 22 83 33 33 32 32 74 19 18 17 15 14 -3.86 -3.48 -3.39 -3.53 -3.85 -8.29 -7.77 -7.47 -7.17 -6.96 -0.42 -0.81 -0.90 -0.79 -0.52 22 20 19 17 16 22 21 20 18 17 18 17 16 15 13 -1.49 -0.87 -0.49 -0.11 -0.93 -3.46 -2.67 -2.04 -1.19 -0.16 -1.28 -1.77 -1.98 -2.07 -2.03 24 24 25 26 88 31 31 33 36 87 18 18 18 18 18

Front/Back Ratio (dB)

3.37 3.48 3.60 3.79 4.91 7.08 7.14 7.18 7.17 7.59 1.07 1.09 1.12 1.17 1.22

Very Poor

Very Good

Table 6 Gain of the 160 meter antenna with one elevated radial, as a function of radial height, for three different soil types. The frequency is 1.835 MHz. The vertical element and the radial have a length of 0.25 wavelength, or about 134.0 feet. Front denotes the direction off the tip of the radial.
Soil Type
Avg

Radial Height (feet)

10 20 30 45 60 10 20 30 45 60 10 20 30 45 60

Gain (dBi) and Take-off Angle (deg) front back sides

-0.13 -0.55 -0.71 -0.68 -1.11 -1.43 -0.91 -0.64 -0.45 -0.79 -2.17 -2.54 -2.65 -2.60 -2.41 23 21 20 19 85 31 30 29 29 79 16 15 15 13 13 -2.04 -1.69 -1.62 -1.77 -2.11 -7.47 -7.14 -7.08 -7.17 -7.36 -1.49 -1.85 -1.94 -1.87 -1.65 20 19 18 16 15 22 20 19 17 16 16 16 15 14 13 -0.42 -0.12 -0.40 -0.61 -1.04 -3.15 -2.44 -1.91 -1.03 -0.53 -2.07 -2.50 -2.67 -2.73 -2.66 22 22 22 22 87 29 29 31 89 87 17 16 16 16 16

Front/Back Ratio (dB)

2.17 2.24 2.33 2.45 3.22 6.04 6.23 6.44 6.72 8.15 0.68 0.69 0.71 0.73 0.76

Very Poor

Very Good

NCJ

May/June 2005

19

N1MM LoggerA Different Approach

I think it was about four years ago when I first heard about Tom Wagner, N1MMs plans to develop a free contestlogging program, and I have to admit that my first reaction wasnt too complimentary. I thought, If he doesnt charge for it, how can it be any good? For one reason or another, I didnt think much about N1MM until about a year ago, when I started looking at ways to simplify my shack computer setup. I wanted to be able to record contests as I operated, which pretty much meant two computers, since I had used TR Log for years and DOS cant handle the multi-tasking involved. Time to look again at Windows logging, I thought. Since N1MM Logger is free, I downloaded a copy (from www.n1mm.com) in November 2003. To this day, I havent looked back. In the interest of full disclosure, Im now a minor member of the development team, helping users with basic support problems and tracking feature requests and bug reports. Im not out to knock the other choices, and dont claim to be expert in the other logging programs, despite using TR Log for 8 years and CT for three years before that. Instead, my hope, in this review, is to highlight the things that I think make MM (as Ill call it hereafter) a fully credible alternative to any of the established contest logging software choices, and help to account for its rapid rise in popularity. As anyone who is involved with modern contest logging software knows, it is utterly impossible to address all of the aspects of any given program in a review of reasonable length. The most that can realistically be done is to pique the readers interest, to stimulate enough curiosity that maybe youll say to yourself, I want to know more. The Multitasking Advantage I have become a believer in the Windows user interface for contest logging. No matter how smart the programmer, I think that DOS simply imposes too many limitations on how information can be conveyed to the user. Every time DOS has to substitute one screen or part-screen for another, the chances of confusion multiply, particularly when youre tired. Lets look at a typical N1MM screen (Figure 1) to illustrate the difference, and highlight the strengths of the MM design. All of MMs constituent windows are independently positionable and resizable. This gives you the flexibility to place all of the elements on the screen as you want them, even overlapping, as in the case of the second radio entry window and the log window shown here. I choose to position the bandmaps to mirror the physical position of my two radios, for example, and put the Check window (which is where super check partial results appear) right next to my primary radios entry window. Also, if you look closely, youll note DX Atlas peering out from behind MM. This way I dont need to dedicate a separate PC or monitor, but can have it running conveniently, just a mouse click away. Note also the Running checkbox in each entry window. MM, like TR Log, is inherently modal, meaning that it is separately optimized for running and S&P operation. If you wish, it can be used like CT , pressing individual keys to step

By Pete Smith, N4ZR

through a QSO sequence, or you can select ESM (Enter Sends Messages) mode, which operates very much like TR, stepping you through a run or S&P QSO sequence with minimum keystrokes. One of the nice aspects of MM in this mode is that the function key that will be sent at the next ENTER is highlighted, so you can always see what the next ENTER will send (CW or .wav) before you mess up. ESM to me is a great help because it ends all that fumbling over which function key to send next. Another innovation: if you need to resend what you just sent, simply hit the = key. MM handles dupe checking and Super Check Partial in an elegant way, too. As you can see, in the Check window to the left of the first radio entry window, all the SCP possibilities for K1DG are listed, but in addition, since I had worked Doug in this contest already, his appears in large type and first. If its not a dupe, by the rules of the contest it appears in blue; if not, in red. Dupes are also flagged in red in the entry window, and S&P lockout to prevent calling dupes can be readily enabled. MM can handle extended TR Log-style trmaster.dta files as well, displaying the additional data in the Check window; if you want the data prefilled, you will have to generate the appropriate Call history files, which are familiar to RTTY contesters; N1MMs Web site provides utilities for building these files. The Available window is another uniquely useful feature. If you are operating assisted, it keeps track of the number of new QSOs and new multipliers that are being spotted on all bands, making it less

Figure 1A typical N1MM screen.

Figure 2The functionality of MM in $5 SO2R mode.

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likely that you will miss trends that can result in a better score. The band buttons also use color-coding to tell you, more or less at a glance, which bands you need a given station on after you enter the call in one of the radios entry windows. It even contains a short list of new mults that are available (their calls and frequencies) so you can click on them to jump directly to their frequency. Another very useful design innovation in MM is the call-frame, which is the space just above the call field. In the second radio entry window, you can see K3JTs call there. As you tune across the bandmap, any spots will appear there rather than in the call field. Hit ENTER, though, and the call is transferred to the call field as the program sends the appropriate message. Another subtle strength of MM is the attention that has been paid to always having the entry cursor where it will be needed next. Speaking of bandmaps, before I got involved with MM, I thought bandmaps were for packet ops, and couldnt imagine how they would be relevant to a single-op-unassisted type like me. However, after a year with MM I cant imagine operating without them. For one thing, MM has an option called QSY wipes call and spots to bandmap. Say you are doing an S&P sweep up or down a band. Each time you work a station, it is spotted (in grey) on the bandmap. If you dont work someone (say, for example, theres a bad packet pileup), as soon as you QSY, the entry window is cleared and hes spotted on the bandmap with a color code indicating a new QSO or mult. Work your way up the band, and then with a couple of keystrokes you can return to each of the unworked stations to try again. Another real strength of MM is the zoomability of its bandmaps, which can cover the entire band or cover just a few kHz, with a few strokes of the numeric keypad + and keys. This is very useful when the band is full of spots during a contest. Convenient for SO2R For SO2R operators, MM is very convenient and efficient. Moving the receive/ entry focus from one radio to the other is just a matter of pressing the \ key. Combining ESM with SO2R, hitting ENTER sends the next message on the window that has the receive/entry focus. Meanwhile, to hold your run frequency, Ctrl+ ENTER will send another CQ on the run radio, while ENTER interrupts the CQ to finish the S&P QSO on the second radio. Alternatively, you can use the mouse to perform all of these functions either way, it is very intuitive, and helps ease the overhead from this very challenging style of operating. Still in the works are plans to implement dueling

CQs on each radio in turn, and automatically restarting the CQ on the run radio whenever youre not transmitting on the S&P radio, as TR Log does. Even without these improvements, though, I believe MM sets the standard for SO2R ease and convenience. In version 5, which has just been released publicly, Tom, N1MM has gone a step farther and introduced what he calls $5 SO2R. With the use of one or two sound cards and a little custom audio cabling, MM can now perform all the required switching of microphone, headphone, CW and PTT signals to do SO2R without an external controller. Figure 2 illustrates what is involved in the most elaborate version, to enable audio switching, playing of .wav files, and recording two channels of audio with two sound cards and a single custom cable to feed audio into one sound card through the analog CD connection. MM makes clever use of the soundcard mixers to manage all these audio streams. Toms hope is that the availability of this capability will encourage more people to get their feet wet in SO2R. Frankly, its difficult to see what a hardware controller can add, even though I have and will continue to use one for station control when MM isnt running. CW Capability One essential for many of us is good CW. When used on a modern PC, MM sends excellent CW while polling two radios, monitoring a telnet connection to a DX cluster, opening and closing windows and doing other housekeeping tasks. When I first switched, I wished aloud for an integrated paddle keyer such as TR Log and NA provide. This is very hard to do in the Windows environment, so at least for the moment MMs solution is to support Winkey, a $30 unit that interfaces with MM through a serial to provide the same functionality (such as paddle interrupts of canned messages). Winkey also takes the generation of CW outside the computer, which can make a difference in CW quality from older computers with limited CPU speed and memory. However, many N1MM users, even without Winkey, use 300-400 MHz computers with fairly limited memory, so hardware really is not a big issue. Phone and Digital MM provides all the expected facilities for phone contesting as well, including integrated digital voice capabilities. For those who want it, there is the ability to voice call signs and exchanges from individual letters, numbers and phonetics, to completely automate phone operating (you still have to copy the other stations yourself). Recording and playback of contest QSOs is convenient, as you would

expect. With serial ports and even LPT ports being phased out of modern computers, radio interfacing is provided via either conventional serial ports or USB ports, with standard SO2R control signals available via LPT port(s) as needed. In addition, MM incorporates full digital contesting capabilities by interfacing with MMTTY and AE4JYs PSKCore, or with external TNCs and RTTY controllers. Nearly half of the 125+ contests supported by MM are RTTY or PSK events, and the programs users include a number of serious RTTY contesters. Continually Evolving As you can imagine for a program of this scope and complexity, the manual for N1MM Logger is hugeover 300 pages of content in either PDF or HTML format. Fortunately, Google can be used to search the documentation, which includes an awesome amount of specific detail, and is being constantly updated. In fact, rapid change is perhaps the most surprising thing that you notice coming to N1MM Logger from another contest program. Typically, new versions of contest logging software come out at intervals of weeks to months. By contrast, Version 4 of MM ended its evolution at release 4.0.192, only about ten months after its first public release. Not all of those 192 versions were ever seen by the user community, but over 100 were. Some of the releases were simple bug fixes, while others involved major upgrades, like the improved radio communication code introduced in release 4.0.102. Its probably fair to describe MM as being constantly in public Beta release. Ive always balked at bugginess in contest software, so I thought at first that this would lead to software that would be so unstable that no serious contester would dare to use it when seriously operating a major event. Fortunately, several factors combine to prevent that. First, N1MM himself is a very good judge of the likely implications of any change in the program, and so major, risky enhancements are left for the next major release, while simple ones are implemented immediately. Interaction with the user community is wide open and in near real time. As the time for a major contest approaches, a fair number of the 2000+ members of the N1MM mailing list will be hammering away on the software, trying to break it through testing. When and if problems are found, Tom and his team are very quick to implement and distribute bug fixes. The bottom line, for me, is clear: this is excellent software, well supported and improving rapidly. It is easy to try, and the price is right. Will you join us? www.n1mm.com is the place to start.

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2005 Pacific Northwest DX Convention

The Willamette Valley DX Club is pleased to announce the 2005 Pacific Northwest DX Convention (an ARRL sanctioned convention). DXers and contesters are welcome to join in the fun. Please join us for the 50th Annual Pacific Northwest DX Convention. The Convention includes many technical sessions, a banquet and breakfast, door prizes, raffle prizes, and provides a great opportunity to meet old friends and make new ones. Wayne Mills, N7NG, from the ARRL will be present to check DXCC submissions with no restrictions on dates or bands. Dates: August 5-7, 2005 Location: Monarch Hotel, Portland, Oregon 12566 SE 93rd Ave, Clackamas, OR 97015 Tel (800)492-8700 or (503)652-1515 Go to www.monarchhotel.citysearch.com for room reservations. When reserving your room, ask for the DX Convention Rate. Oregon is a wonderful vacation destination! August is warm with little chance of rain. The beach is 60 only miles away. The 8000-foot summit of Mt Hood is within 40 miles. Check out the Oregon tourism Web site at www.traveloregon.com. If you have any questions concerning the convention, please contact Al Rovner, K7AR, at k7ar@arrl.net. The convention Web site is at www.wvdxc.org, where you can find the registration form, latest information on program, door prizes and a list of those already registered. Registration forms received before June 15 will receive a free raffle ticket for a $1000 gift certificate redeemable at Ham Radio Outlet. The 2005 PNWDXC Publicity Chairperson Don, AC7ZG, released this announcement.

NCJ Subscription Order Card

The National Contest Journal features articles by top contesters, letters, hints, statistics, scores, NA Sprint, NA QSO Parties, and more. Big gun or small, the NCJ provides you with a valuable source of information on the active world of competitive radio. Subscription rates for 6 issues (one year): In the US, surface mail $20 ($28 First Class) In Canada by airmail $31 Elsewhere, surface mail $32 ($40 Airmail) Name Call Address City State or Province Zip or Postal Code

Mail to NCJ Circulation, ARRL, 225 Main Street, Newington, CT 06111, USA. Remittance must be in US funds and checks must be drawn on a bank in the US. Maximum term is 12 issues and prices are subject to change without notice.

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NCJ

HA5IW/QRP in the 2004 IARU HF World Championship

As reported in the 2004 IARU HF World Championship Results in the March 2005 QST (page 97), Simon HA5IW had enough QSOs and multipliers not only to take First Place in the SO CW QRP category (1850 Qs and 234 mults for a score of 1,202,058), but he also squeaked by the SO CW Low Power winner Nick UN7MO (1378 Qs and 200 mults for a score of 1,198,600). Here are some comments from Simon on this exceptional effort.
I spent about two weeks preparing for my CW QRP effort in the IARU World Championship. I used most of the time to optimize my antenna system. Fortunately, the weather cooperated with my antenna work! Low power operating is a challenge under the best conditions. In a contest, however, it reaches a new level. Results Despite tweaking my 160-meter inverted V, I was hardly heard on the band. I spent most of my time just searching for signal. Noisy summertime conditions and a QRP signal are a bad combination for this band. In contrast, 80 meters was much better. I was heard reasonably well, although some contacts were difficult to complete. My antennas for 80 are a 3element delta loop aimed at the United States and another 3-element delta loop targeting Asia. Forty meters was lovely. Despite my low power, I worked many stations, especially in the USA. The antennas for 40 are a 5-element delta loop for the States and a 3-element delta loop for Asia. It is worth noting that I used separate flag receiving antennas on 160, 80 and 40 meters. I also used a homebrew preamplifier with high dynamic range characteristics (intercept point = +39 dBm; gain = 20 dB). As you might imagine, this combination gave me excellent ears on those bands. On 20 meters, my main antenna was four 3-element wire Yagis stacked over each other. They did a superb job. I also used a KLM KT-34XA and an A3S. On 15 meters, I used the KT-34XA and the A3S. Despite poor propagation, I think they worked amazingly well. The KT-34XA and the A3S did not meet my expectations on 10 meters, but the band wasnt in good shape anyway.

By Laszlo Simon, HA5IW

Figure 1A Kenwood TS-570 transceiver that had been originally modified to work with a VHF transceiver is put to a new use as an HF QRP radio.

I was hardly heard at times. An Unusual Transceiver Solution Although I have a Yaesu FT-817 QRP transceiver, it lacks a CW filter. I knew it wouldnt be suitable for CW contesting. My unorthodox solution was to use a Kenwood TS-570 that I had previously modified to work with a VHF transverter. The transverter modifications included a coaxial relay to disconnect the driving power to the final amplifier stage. This

low-power driving signal (+7 dBm maximum) goes to the ANT 2 connector. The receive line from the preamplifier entered the 570 through the ANT 1 connector (see Figure 1). In this instance, rather than using the low output to drive a transverter, I fed it to a homebrew multiband HF amplifier and boosted it to 4.5 W. The challenges were many, but the pleasure was great. I hope to try QRP contesting more often in the future!

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California QSO Party 1995-2004: 10 Years of Statistics and Records

made. Figure 1 shows the logs submitted by year and Figure 2 shows the number of CW and SSB QSOs by year. Table October 1-2, 2005 will be the 40th anniversary of the California QSO Party (CQP). CQP has been held every year since 1966. The Northern California Contest Club (NCCC) has sponsored CQP since 1975. A quote from AD6Es CQP 2004 Commentary ( www.cqp.org/results/2004/ 04cqpresults.pdf): After several banner years, when CQP set activity records each and every year, 2004 was beset with the lowest solar activity in a decade...Yet, we did it again! CQP Statistics In the past 10 years, CQP has grown a magnificent 170% in both the number of logs submitted and in total QSOs

Marc Ziegler, W6ZZZ

Ziegler@accesscom.com

1 gives you the raw numbers. Logs submitted reached an all-time high of 662 in 2004. CW QSOs reached an all time high of 98,046 in 2004, while SSB QSOs were slightly down from the previous years.

Table 1 CQP Statistics

Year 95 96 97 98 99 00 01 02 03 04 Logs 388 404 491 538 413 464 493 597 653 662 QSOs Total 128,286 126,247 169,010 188,046 171,720 183,795 192,527 222,972 232,510 217,175 QSOs CW 55,931 54,188 66,722 63,587 63,590 63,324 69,168 80,911 93,743 98,046 QSOs SSB 72,355 72,059 102,288 124,459 108,130 120,471 123,359 142,061 138,767 119,129

Figure 1Logs submitted by year.

Table 2 CQP California Records

Alameda Alpine Amador Butte Calaveras Colusa Contra Costa Del Norte El Dorado Fresno Glenn Humboldt Imperial Inyo Kern Kings Lake Lassen Los Angeles Madera Marin Mariposa Mendocino Merced Modoc Mono Monterey Napa Nevada Orange Placer Plumas Riverside Sacramento San Benito San Bernardino San Diego San Francisco

Call N6CQP (KF6RIP op) AA6KX (now N6NT) K6PU K6KM (K2KW op) W6BSY K6AAW N6RO (WA6VEF op) N6YEU K6LRN N6ED@K6MI N6NT W6JTI N7CW/6 W6PH N6UR (KR6X op) N6BT (WA6VEF op) AD6E AD6E K6LA KD6FW K6RIM K6HNZ K6IF W6CQP (AD6E op) W6REC W6ML (W6KC op) N6IJ (NI6T op) W6OSP (AD6E op) AI6V AD6DO (now N6MJ) KF6T KX7M N6MJ@W6KP W6GO (N6IG op) KG6GF N6WIN K6NA (N6TR op) N6BV

Year 2004 1994 1996 2000 1998 1988 1991 2003 2004 2000 1997 2002 2001 2002 1992 1986 1999 2001 2003 2003 2003 1982 2004 2003 1991 2004 2003 1998 1989 1999 2004 2004 2003 1991 1988 2002 1989 1979

Score 237,975 199,557 203,638 304,442 196,156 171,854 336,699 154,454 200,326 293,973 224,295 212,251 279,241 251,836 298,816 258,738 214,020 187,957 347,478 208,568 267,699 199,288 269,787 225,820 298,623 212,338 277,356 199,305 288,318 321,842 289,246 215,488 388,136 373,122 169,534 216,514 366,618 232,560

Qs 1642 1421 1364 2190 1494 1353 2725 1059 1384 2188 1556 1470 2100 1785 2347 2046 1512 1351 2490 1798 1813 1718 1981 1551 2438 1426 1981 1348 2278 2425 2013 1461 2792 3011 1294 1760 2928 2040

Mul 57 57 58 58 58 58 57 58 57 58 57 58 58 58 58 58 58 57 58 58 58 58 58 56 57 58 58 58 58 58 58 56 58 57 58 58 58 57

San Joaquin San Luis Obispo San Mateo Santa Barbara Santa Clara Santa Cruz Shasta Sierra Siskiyou Solano Sonoma Stanislaus Sutter Tehama Trinity Tulare Tuolumne Ventura Yolo Yuba S/O Expedition M/S Expedition M/M Expedition Multi-Single Multi-Multi Mobile QSOs All time high QRP Low Power Novice/Tech Most CW QSOs Most SSB QSOs 1st to 58 State/Pr Club School

Call NT6K W6TK N6BV AC6T W6QHS (WN4KKN op) K6XX K6MR K6S (KU6J op) NI6T W6DI W6XU W6XK AD6E AA6DX W6PZ (K6SRZ op) WA6FGV N6IP (now K6XX) N6VR (KA6SAR op) AD6E AD6E
N7CW/6 W6PT K6Z W6GO+ N6O@N6RO K6AQL N6MJ@W6KP W3SE/6 AA6PW KA6PUW N6IG K6NA (K6LL op) KD6OTC Mother Lode DXCC W6YX (M/S)

Year 2001 2003 1982 1992 1992 2004 2004 2002 1998 2000 2004 2001 2004 1988 2002 1995 1991 1991 2000 2004
2001 2002 1999 1996 2000

Score 230,579 304,239 270,454 254,272 329,208 335,182 244,644 179,771 241,106 242,962 267,119 211,874 225,092 216,514 227,534 153,045 191,688 316,158 212,454 225,092
279,241 293,625 454,604 346,086 731,844

Qs 1986 2175 2245 1947 2552 2373 1741 1274 1713 2093 2036 1826 1570 1685 1533 1122 1491 2465 1450 1570
2100 2249 3388 2596 5611 1685 2792 645 1772 894

Mul 58 58 58 58 58 58 58 58 58 58 58 58 56 58 58 57 56 58 58 56
58 58 58 58 58 58 51 58 43

2003 2003 388,136 2002 98,685 2003 259,898 1998 76,868 2002 1567 2001 1995 2001 21:04Z 2003 2,710,071 2002 336,357

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Table 3 CQP State/Canadian/Continental Records

Alabama Alaska Arizona Arkansas California Colorado Connecticut Delaware Florida Georgia Hawaii Idaho Illinois Indiana Iowa Kansas Kentucky Louisiana Maine Maryland-DC Massachusetts Michigan Minnesota Mississippi Missouri Montana Nebraska Nevada New Hampshire New Jersey New Mexico New York North Carolina North Dakota Ohio Oklahoma Oregon Pennsylvania Rhode Island South Carolina South Dakota Tennessee Texas Utah Vermont Virginia Washington West Virginia Wisconsin Wyoming Maritimes-NL Quebec Ontario Manitoba Saskatchewan Alberta British Columbia NT-NU-YT Africa Asia Europe North America Oceania South America

Figure 2The number of CW and SSB QSOs by year.

CQP Records CQP tracks 73 in-state all-time records and another 73 out-of-state records. Even though 2004 was a declining sunspot year the enthusiastic crowd of CQP participants managed to set 23 new all-time records! Table 2 lists the in-state records and the 11 new California county records are highlighted in bold type. Table 3 lists the out-of state records and highlights the 12 new records set in 2004. Note that AD6E holds the most in-state records (seven). He goes on a county expedition to a rare California county and sets up a Field Day style operation, often on county lines to set two records like he did in 2004. Of a special note to me in Table 3 is that Contest Club Ontario (CCO) set a new all-time CQP record and earned the Top Club Non-CA plaque that I sponsor for CQP. As we say in NCCC, thats a KB effort from CCO. More CQP Information The NCCC California QSO Party Web page (www.cqp.org) has lots more information for you: The list of the 35 plaques (lumber) for the yearly CQP award winners: www.cqp.org/Awards.html The list of the 146 California county, US state, Canadian, Continental and other all-time records: www.cqp.org/ Records.html The complete set of CQP results from 1995-2004 and the yearly AD6E CQP Commentaries from 1998-2004: www.cqp.org/Results.html The history of CQP and the people behind the early scenes (some famous call signs here): www.cqp.org/ History.html Thanks to all the participants and radio clubs that make CQP the exciting and fun contest that it is.

Call WA1FCN WL7KY W7SW K5DB N6MJ@W6KP KFU W1RAN NX3A K4XS N4PN NH6T W7UQ (KL9A op) K9ZO KE9I NAC NAG K4CMS N5II N4CW KM3T NB1B W8MJ WAQIT (KFFC op) N5OVV KOU KPP/7 KVI WA7NIN (W6OAT op) N1KWF N2AA K5AM N2CU KI4HN NFW NFW K5YAA N6TR/7 K3CR NB1B W4YDD KHW W4CAT (K1KY op) K5TR KO7X KK1L K7SV K7QQ N8II NBSH/9 KO7X
VE1JX (K6HNZ op) VE2CUA (AG8L op) VE3KZ VE4GV VE5SF VE6AO VE7SZ (VA7RR op) VY1JA A22MN JH7WKQ DL6RAI KP2/AG8L VK2CZ PJ2/NH7C

Year 2004 1998 2004 2003 2003 2002 2003 1992 1990 2003 1992 2001 2002 2004 2002 2002 2002 2002 2003 1986 2002 2002 1989 1990 2000 1993 1988 1983 1999 1995 2003 2004 1995 1999 2003 2004 1986 2000 2001 1998 2004 2000 2003 2000 2004 2004 1994 2004 1990 2004
2001 1998 2003 1992 2002 2002 2003 1997 1994 1997 2003 1996 2001 2003 2003 2004 2002 1992 2003 2003 2002

Score 87,174 69,720 56,403 98,410 388,136 78,126 67,200 72,906 138,968 133,980 77,784 103,327 146,479 134,328 149,408 69,720 83,106 66,352 86,072 80,541 123,076 161,385 76,676 73,312 91,514 85,158 132,124 73,776 52,326 84,360 70,448 127,484 98,890 93,177 123,685 127,513 130,500 121,162 118,668 68,292 64,432 127,716 168,113 86,768 94,714 97,411 107,464 90,480 160,080 71,601
70,672 78,432 110,838 113,332 50,402 44,891 166,981 85,318 13,612 36,516 69,314 60,335 8,077 70,528 168,113 70,963 161,385 46,256 479 1054 20:07Z 1,157,252 113,274

Qs 608 539 389 733 2792 572 462 576 1106 980 643 744 1087 965 1094 585 729 467 582 606 903 1188 583 631 650 637 1039 606 389 622 552 976 729 696 943 879 1030 874 891 464 513 897 1309 633 715 661 846 669 1280 512
631 570 804 872 381 423 1299 647 129 264 505 441 98 608 1309 476 1188 413

Mul 58 56 54 57 58 58 56 58 58 58 56 58 58 58 58 56 57 58 58 57 58 58 58 58 57 57 58 53 57 57 56 58 58 58 58 58 58 58 58 56 55 58 58 58 58 58 56 58 58 58
58 57 58 58 58 53 57 58 41 51 57 55 41 58 58 58 58 56

All time high K5TR QRP WA4PGM Low Power W8MJ Novice/Tech N4HID Most CW QSOs K7QQ Most SSB QSOs K5TR 1st to 58 CA CntyW8MJ Club School

Contest Club Ontario 2004 N9UC (S/O) 2000

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NCJ Profiles
Whisky Seven Radio Mexico
Those of you who are new to this sport might not recognize the call sign W7RM. Those of you who have been around a while probably have that call in your log dozens, if not hundreds, of times. W7RM was, and always will be, a contesting icon. He accomplished more in his 70 years as a ham than most can fathom, topped off by being the 13th person inducted into the CQ Contest Hall Of Fame in April 1993. I had the chance to visit him at his Southwest Washington farm back in January 1998. It was a pleasure listening to him talk about war stories from the early days of CQWW, and his trips to Dayton. I could, and did, listen to him in awe for several hours. Rush looked like he had a lot of tower climbing left in him! Sadly, Rush Drake became a Silent Key on March 11, 2005 at the age of 87. One of the folks who knew Rush well is Chip Margelli, K7JA. Chip did the majority of his operating in the early days at Rushs world-class station, so Im going to turn the rest of this column over to Chip.
Knowing that this day was approaching hasnt made it any easier to put down words about what Rush Drake, W7RM, meant to me. Ill try, however, because there are too many great memories that need to be shared. Rush acquired property on a peninsula north and west of Seattle in the mid 1960s. It was located at the northern tip of a body of land that separates Hood Canal to the west and Puget Sound to the east. His home was built on 2 1/ 2 acres atop a 210-foot bluff with a sheer drop-off to 20 miles of salt water toward Europe and Asia. There was also salt water to the east and west, and a gentle downward slope to the south. This spectacular radio location had only one slight drawback: it frequently lived up to its nameFoul Weather Bluff. The bluff claimed more than its share of antennas that obviously were big enough. Thanks to my contest Elmer Quack, K7QQ, I received an invitation to go to W7RM for one of its first true exercises, the 1969 CQWW CW DX Contest. I believe I was invited because Rex had told Rush about my peculiar achievement of eking out a few QSOs in Sweepstakes with a DX-40 and a 14AVQ. I was wide-eyed at the antennas when I arrived. There were three elements on 40, six over six on 20, six over six on 15 26 May/June 2005 and five over five on 10. The operators were mostly new to me: W7YGN (now W7XR), K7HTZ (now K7CW), VE7SV, K7INE (now W7BJ), K7JCA (in his Tiny Tim phasenow K7SS), and W7EXM (K7RA SK). They were not household names, but they knew their stuff. And the equipment...my gawd!a Collins 32V3 and 75A4! I didnt quite know what a B-

Paul Gentry, K9PG

Rush, W7RM and John, ON4UN, in earlier years!

break was, but we made it play. I would call CQ and people would come back! One of those who replied was 6O6BW, whom I had only heard other people workand he was 20 over nine! We didnt beat W6VSS that year, but with close to 600 QSOs and a lot of countries and zones on 15 meters, I think we served notice. Our first phone CQWW occurred the next year and thats when we inaugurated the JA QSO Machine. I racked up 162 in my first hour, working almost all of them in Japanese, and we finished the weekend with over 1800 QSOs on 15 meters. Danny, K7JCA and Homer, W7EXM, skillfully ran QSOs and dug out multipliers that nobody else knew were on the band. John, W7YGN, ran 20 meters like he owned it (probably assisted by Bob March, N7UA, at this point). Paul pulled Russians out of the band who would only respond to someone speaking Russian. Dale suddenly star ted speaking in tongues to get a French-speaking 9U5 into the log and Rush qualified for the Calgary Stampede Award about six times over, steadily running VE6s on 75 meters before Europe started coming in. Rex was always the Dominator. Hed start on the band with the most QRM and proceed to take it over. We were a ragtag crew, but we did pretty well. Just ask W6VSS. Rush was always interested in doing things from

Rush, W7RM, working on a problem.

NCJ

his unique location that nobody else could do. His hope was to gain an advantage that could offset the geographical disadvantage of being in the Northwest, far from multiplier-rich Europe. One initiative was to put a small Christmas Tree stack of 3-element Yagis down the bluff, about 60 feet off the water and at the end of 700 feet of coax, to use as a run station for Europe in the morning and Japan in the afternoon. These tiny (by comparison) beams were shielded from the United States, providing something like 60 dB of rejection for stateside QRM. The only problem was encroachment by stateside stations that couldnt hear us, so we would transmit topside on the big antennas, sometimes spraying toward South America, and then listen down the bluff with almost infinite F/B. In later years, we dedicated an independent run station with an SB220 on the long coax, and used the big stacks topside for popping multipliers. Yes, most of our JA and European QSOs were made with about 300 W at the end of the coax tied to a little 3-element Yagi at 60 feet. Disgusting, isnt it? But it goes to show what you can do if you can hear! This two-station-on-a-band situation led to one of the most innovative technological developments since the WA5LES/K5LZO SS Pulser. In order to have only one signal on the band at a time, we tied a long patch cord onto my right arm at the elbow (I was on the run station). Rex would be on the multiplier station and he had the other end of the patch cord. When Quack found a mult, he would give the patch cord a stiff tug. My pencil would go flying across the room, causing me to get up from the chair to retrieve it. By the time I got back to my chair, Rex would have the mult in the log, and I would go back to my run. It sure hurts to disclose this one! To gain the same advantage on the low bands, Rush decided to set up fourelement vertical arrays, elevated about 10 feet off the salt water. These were clever designs by W7DND, whereby two elements, spaced almost a half wavelength broadside, were each voltage-fed by a single wire. These two wires joined at a coil and capacitor in a garbage can, and a tap for 50 was found on the coil. Reflectors consisted of a vertical member and a single radial tied off to the support of the other reflector. More radials? Heck, no! The DLs would never know the difference. We had one of these DND arrays for 40 meter to Europe, one on 40 to Japan, and one on 80 meters to Europe. Did they perform? On 40 meters, Paul K7HTZ/K7CW, would frequently work Europe three hours before he could on the full-size, 3-element Yagi at 400 feet

atop the bluff and tower. On some weekends, Europe never went away, even during the day, as the very low launch angle got us into a chordal-hop mode that made its way to darkness in late November. And with the infinite F/B, you could hear a pin drop in Tokyo. The day these arrays went up was memorable indeed. On the night before the lowest tide of the summer, Rush arranged to have a raft of creosote-treated wood pilings floated, by tugboat, to the beach below his home. At the crack of dawn, a bunch of us stormed the beach with a back-hoe in the lead and before the tide came back in we had sunk 19 pilings deep into the clay, got them carefully plumbed and managed to get the back-hoe off the beach with the waves lapping at our heels. This was the groundwork for some of the most spectacular arrays one could ever hope to use, and it was my privilege to do so for several seasons.

Rush was good at his craft and the results proved it. After all, when was the last time that a multi-multi from the West Coast earned top honors in the ARRL or CQWW DX Contests?
Rush had one of the first rotary beams on 80 meters. This was a single-section 8JK bidirectional array and it was quite an effort in mechanical engineering. Or should I say an annual effort in mechanical engineering. An 84-foot boom was built out of aluminum tower. At each end of the boom, the equivalent of a heavy-duty 15-meter element was placed, as a spacer. Then, at right angles to the spacer, fiberglass poles were mounted to extend the tip-to-tip length of the assembly to about 115 feet. In the middle of the assembly, fiberglass fishing poles were supported upward at a 45-degree angle. They were used to support two identical 120-foot invertedV folded dipoles that were joined by a phasing line connected to Teflon-insulated open-wire line that ran to a tuner at the base of the tower. Les Moxon, G6XN, observed that 8JK antennas sometimes display a behavior whereby they (A) work perfectly, and (B) cease to work at all when you QSY 10 kHz. That was true of this beast, so Rush cooked up a Selsyn-and-Servo remote

tuner that would let the operator tune the antenna from the shack. The high Q of the system surely helped on receive as well; strong signals up and down the band were significantly attenuated. This array had the nasty habit of crashing to the ground every March as the late-winter storms routinely lashed Foul Weather Bluff with 120-MPH gales. The entire property would howl like a choir of angry Banshees. One memorable February morning during an ARRL DX Contest, we lost the 8JK and the 3element 40 (eye-bolt failure, of all things) within 15 minutes of each other. By the second weekend, a Delta Loop for 80 and two Lazy-H arrays for 40 were up in the air, providing gain and a pattern that carried the day. I dont think ARRL CW has been won from the West Coast, single-op, since that year. But that was Rush! He knew we were on the verge of something special and he found a way to make it happen. Rush was good at his craft and the results proved it. After all, when was the last time that a multi-multi from the West Coast earned top honors in the ARRL or CQWW DX Contests? One year, I remember that a lowly crew of five guys prevailed in ARRL. Of course, the level of competition back then was inferior. We only had to go head-to-head with the likes of W3AU, K2GL, W4BVV, N2AA and W2PV on the East Coast. Just having to listen to Gene Zimmermans endless CQ tape snorting Doubya Forrr Braahvo Vicarrr Vicarrr was intimidating enough! Fun times? Oh yeah! I vividly recall the first night of the 1972 CQWW competition on 15 meters. The JAs disappeared, right on schedule, at 0415 UTC. At 0425, UA4QX suddenly appeared over the top, well over S9. And the band went all night to Central Asia, Europe and even Japan on the 1200 UTC opening that the East Coast hams usually keep to themselves. We cleaned the Russians (tough to do from W7 on 15), had 9N1MM call us in the middle of the night and yet missed an XE for Zone 6! The same year, I think, it was CQWW CW when and Cam Pierce, K6RU, Al Francisco, K7NHV, and I enjoyed a fantastic night on 40 meters to Japan. We had two keyer paddles, a 75A4 and a 75S3C, and we each took the high side and low side of the JA pile-up calling us. Cam would work one guy, then without breaking, Id work another guy I had found on the other side of the pile. Then wed go QRZ and pick off two more JAs. This went on for hours. The DNDs really sang that night. Sweepstakes provided a special run for us in the early 1970s when we had sunspots. Rush had built a six-over-

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three-over-three-over-three array for 15 meters, our money band in SS, and the bottom beams could be manually rotated (by a man on the tower) between Europe and about Virginia. So, Rush would have the beams turned to the east and the wide variety of vertical angles we could cover really helped us pick off stations near and far. The four-stack concept is now considered a normal array in a big station. Being able to split power between California and the East Coast really helped maintain run frequencies, and I always had a second receiver pinned down on 10 meters, just waiting for a KZ5 to show up. It might be the only QSO I made on 10 meters in Sweepstakes, but I just knew a KZ5 would eventually appear (I miss the Canal Zone!). To see the effort that Rush made to get the station ready for a domestic contest, only one weekend after the big CQWW blast, was truly touching. It was an honor to be a part of the dual-mode three-peat in 1971-1973. In the late 1970s, the health of Rushs lovely wife LaVonne became precarious. Rush made the difficult decision to sell Foul Weather Bluff to his next-door neighbor, W6RR, and move to the farm in La Center, Washington. Of note is the fact that the six-element 20-meter Yagis in La Center are the same beams that served so reliably at The Bluff for all those years. Sad to say, LaVonne passed away on an operating table within a year of the move to La Center, but I am proud to note that her recipe for Snickerdoodles lives on, much to the detriment of my waistline. Rush brought curiosity and passion to his station and his crew. To give you an idea of his openness to new concepts, this was a former Navy Commander who had assembled a bunch of hippies into a world-class operating group! Not a common achievement in those days! Working together, this ragtag band of small-station crazies had an incredible run and I feel like we were a part of a contesting revolution at a key point in Amateur Radio history. Through howling winds and cries of wheres my %$&)%# spin-tight while suspended a hundred and seventy feet in the air, Rush Drake was an enthusiastic and powerful leader. And he was my friend. I am humbled to have been afforded the privilege of competing from his station. Keep the rate up, Rush. Chip Margelli, K7JA

years were behind him. He lived longer than most of us will, and was really living well up until a year or two ago. He passed away peacefully and painlessly with his son Bruce by his side. While his station wasnt very active in contests for the past few years, he kept his weekly sked with K4VX up until the fall of 2004. One has to wonder where people like K7JA, K7SS, W7XR and all the other W7RM ops would

be today if Rush had never existed. The current owner of the Foul Weather Bluff QTH is also a CQ Contest Hall Of Fame member, W6RR. He can still be found roaming the airways occasionally. And John, N7TT, bought Rushs La Center QTH and is very active on the bands in and out of contests. So, when you hear either of them, youre actually hearing a bit of contesting history.

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Thanks Chip! Im sure that Rush is dancing the nights away with LaVonne again, and having a grand time talking about the good old days with W2PV, W3AU, K2GL, W6VSSet al. Unlike our friends N8SM, KL7Y, W4AN and K4OJ who left us much too early, Rushs best
28 May/June 2005

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NCJ

Software for Contesters

Last time, I wrote about contest trainers for use under Windows XP. Just as I was putting the column to bed, Alex Shovkoplyas, VE3NEA, the author of DXAtlas, released his freeware trainer, called Morse Runner (www.dxatlas.com). For those of you familiar with his other efforts, it will come as no surprise that this trainer is exceptionally good. It permits speeds down to 10 WPM, and the CW sounds good at that speed. There are a variety of special effects, including very realistic QRN, QRM, QSB and flutter, as well as a lids mode in which the stations coming back to you periodically mess up (see Figure 1). I found myself grabbing for my paddle to send fills, the simulation is that good. The simulator operates in WPX mode (with serial numbers) and emulates CT commands, as well as the ESM (Enter Sends Messages) mode familiar to users of N1MM Logger and TR Log. There are pileup, single signal and competition modes available. Since December, Alex has introduced 2 new versions; the latest, version 1.4, even adds RIT for received signals via the Up and Down Arrow keys. One of the features I like most is the rate meter, which counts down constantly while you operate, giving an excellent reminder of which pileup problems cost the most in terms of rate. For those of you who are competitive even when running a simulator, the competition mode offers the option of doing a 60-minute contest and then reporting it to VE3NEAs Web site, where a list of top scores is maintained and available to users. So far, the top scorers are reporting as many as 270 QSOs in the hours time. Most of us are probably familiar with DX Atlas, Alexs super evolution of the Geoclock idea. One of the most fascinating improvements he has developed is integration with other programs of his. In addition to providing world maps, with grey line, relief and prefix information, when used in conjunction with his other programs (discussed below) DX Atlas can also display near-real-time ionospheric maps and even plot the paths of QSOs being spotted on DX Summit as the spots are posted. Perhaps my favorite among Alexs other programs, from the standpoint of pure utility, is IonoProbe , a shareware application that resides in the system tray, accesses Internet reporting of ionospheric and geomagnetic conditions, and displays summaries and full text on demand. It even sounds a horn and turns its tray icon red when disturbed conditions are reported. It is a great adjunct to any Windows logging program for keeping on top of conditions in real time. As I write this, the IonoProbe icon in the system tray is red, denoting disturbed conditions, and a single click on it gives me all the current parameters, as well as the texts of all the major alerts (see Figure 2). One click of the mouse will show you trends for the last week or year, and placing the cursor on any of the graphs will give specific numbers.

Pete Smith, N4ZR

on integrating HamCAP with their programs so that right-clicking on a DX call will display the propagation to that area.

BandMaster Recently, Alex introduced Band Master, a standalone band-map/spot listing program that takes Internet spots downloaded from DX Summit and displays them on a bandmap that links to your radio. Initially I thought that this would be basically a fun program, since it duplicates much of the functionality we are used to in contest loggers (a clickable bandmap, for example). Im now wondering, though, whether it couldnt be used to advantage in conjunction with a Windows general logger; one issue is that two programs cant normally share the serial port used to communicate with your radio, so you would have to disable radio control in the general logger, and then remember to keep it on the right band. Potentially, BandMaster could interact with logging programs through the COM/OLE interface, as DX Atlas does, and Alex says that his Omnirig radio control engine, which is used by the Band Master as well as MixW and some other loggers, could allow this sort of operation if it were to be adopted by other logging programs. Omnirig is available from Alexs Developers Corner (www.dxatlas.com/Dev).

IonoProbe I wont usually do this, but since I started with VE3NEA, I thought Id devote the rest of this column to Alexs superb group of programs. Several are freeware, and the more ambitious ones are available as shareware from www.dxatlas.com.

Figure 1VE3NEAs Morse Runner.

HamCAP My second favorite is HamCAP , a freeware front end for the powerful but complex VOACAP propagation modeling software. Once you have VOACAP installed, HamCAP provides a userfriendly and simplified interface for using it to predict conditions on any path or worldwide. One of the harder things to do in VOACAP is to incorporate the effect of antennas at both ends of the path; HamCAP makes that easy by giving you lists of antennas that can be used in calculations on each band. The resulting MUF versus time charts mimic the look of the ARRLpublished charts. Propagation modeling is a very complicated business, so there is lots of room for debate about the particular parameters anyone uses, but the charts so far seem to meet the sanity test. Its always worth remembering that the predictions are statistically derived, and cannot reflect the dynamic conditions on a particular day. Alex tells me that several logging software makers are working

Figure 2VE3NEAs IonoProbe.

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Medit One last notable utility that Alex has produced is the Master Callsign Database Editor, Medit. The idea, as the name implies, is to allow individual contesters to edit their Super Check Partial (master.dta) databases, either manually or through adding other source files to them. It will accept other master.dta files, Cabrillo, ADIF, or ordinary text files containing lists of call signs, and allow the operator to do QRZ lookups or otherwise decide whether to delete calls as busted. One unique feature is that the program can capture call signs from the upcoming contest DXpedition list maintained by Bill, NG3K on his excellent Web site (www.his.com/~wfeidt/index.html). For nothing but this feature alone, this editor will become part of my toolkit. Medit is undocumented, so its worthwhile doing a little exploration before trying to use it for real. Fortunately, it is organized so that nothing is changed in the file being edited or augmented until you exit Medit or explicitly save it or save it as another filename (always the best idea). Also, the default locations for downloading master.dta files and upcoming contest operations are severely outdated, so you need to provide your own in the Settings dialog before using. And finally, as a longtime user of the expanded trmaster.dta files, which also store state, section, check, name, etc., I was sorry that Medit is limited to call-only master.dta files. I do understand, though, that modifying Medit to handle those files would not be a trivial undertaking, and it is freeware.
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Features: CW generation is independent of the processor load on your PC running WRITELOG. Separate opto-isolated CW outputs for a LEFT and RIGHT rig. Paddle inputs for sending CW. Separate R and L rig antenna relay outputs. Headphone audio switching. The keyer includes a speed control potentiometer and a SPST switch on a remoting cable to control CW speed and L/R radio switching manually w/o the PC running.

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Propagation
Dreaming About 10 Meters
Cycle 23 continues its decline to solar minimum, which is predicted to occur in the late 2006 to early 2007 time frame. The predicted smoothed sunspot number for May 2005 (when youre reading this) is 18. As you would expect, a smoothed sunspot number this low means 10 meters wont be too productive in contests over the next several years. Unusual activity by the Sun can still create some short-term 10-meter excitement, so keep an eye on your favorite space weather Web site as we approach solar minimum. Two good examples of unusual sunspot activity were the active sunspot regions that occurred in late 2003 to help 10 meters for CQWW Phone and CW (which was covered in this column in the March/April 2004 NCJ ), and in late 2004 to help the band for CQWW Phone. All three of these contests had much better propagation on 10 meters than expected based on the smoothed sunspot number at the time. My comment that 10 meters wont be too productive in contests over the next several years is depressing. All we can do now is dream about the good old days when 10 meters was open to the entire world. As long as were dreaming, lets ask the question could 10 meters ever be open around the clock for a contest? This basic question was posed on the cq-contest e-mail reflector in December 2002, and several contesters responded. Ed, K4SB, commented that during sunspot peaks a good contest location would be around the equator. David, VK8AA, commented that 10 meters is generally open at least 22 hours a day from his QTH. Lets first review a relevant contest operation from PY in 1998, and then tie this review to the two comments. In late November 1998, Randy, K5ZD, traveled to Rio de Janeiro for a business conference with a Brazilian distributor. This was a great oppor tunity for a CQWW CW operation from PY, and Randy did a 10-meter single-band entry as ZW5B from the QTH of Oms, PY5EG, in Curitiba (about 400 miles southwest of Rio). The full narrative of Randys effort is at www.k5zd.com/articles/wwcw98_zw5b.html . Figure 1 shows the number of QSOs that Randy made for each hour of the contest. Note that Randy made at least one QSO during each hour of the entire 48hour contest. Thus, we could assume that there was some mode of propagation on 10 meters from deep PY to somewhere

By Carl Luetzelschwab, K9LA

Figure 1ZW5B QSOs by hour.

in the world around the clock. Were there any extenuating circumstances for the four low-Q hours (05000600 and 0600-0700 on the first day, and 0200-0300 and 0900-1000 on the second day) that suggest many more QSOs could have been made? Yes, there are, at least for three of the four periods and they suggest that propagation wasnt the problem. For example, Randys low amount of QSOs in the 0500-0600 and 0600-0700 time periods (a total of 6 Qs) on the first day could be due to unfamiliarity with the station specifically the rotators. Sometime in the 2300-2400 hour on the first day, PY5EG came into to the shack and commented that Randy was turning the 15-meter stack! Marcelo, PY1KN, who was doing a single band 15-meter effort, had been turning the 10-meter stack! Who knows how many more QSOs Randy could have had in this slow period on the first day if he had been pointing the correct antenna? The low amount of QSOs from 0200-0300 on the second day (5 Qs) was mostly due to taking a break. The low amount of QSOs from 09001000 on the second day (6 Qs) is the puzzler. Randy states in his narrative At 0900Z it stopped. Instantly the band just went away to EuropeThings finally returned about 1030Z and I get a run started to Europe. Looking at space weather on Sunday November 29, 1998 doesnt give any clues. There werent any big solar flares on Sunday to cause a blackout on the sunlit path to Europe, the 3-hour K indices on Sunday were low (not that it mattered too much anyway, as the path to Europe does not get to

auroral latitudes), and there werent any big spikes in the K index in the previous several days that could have resulted in a traveling ionospheric disturbance disrupting the F region. Another issue to consider when thinking about the amount of QSOs during those slow periods is where November 1998 was in terms of Cycle 23s maximum. The smoothed sunspot number for November 1998 was 73. Thus, Randys operation was still about a year and a half before the Cycle 23 maximum of 121 in April 2000. My guess is those slow hours might have been a little bit better if he would have gone in November 1999 or November 2000. Whats Going On? So, what allows deep PY to have propagation around the clock on 10 meters? The first condition is being at or near solar maximum. The second condition is its location with respect to the geomagnetic equator. The equatorial ionosphere is the most robust in the world in terms of F2 region ionization. More importantly, from mid afternoon through early evening, clumps of intense F2 region ionization form around 10 to 15 degrees on either side of the geomagnetic equator, allowing trans-equatorial propagation (TEP) to occur, with its extremely high MUFs. The key is to be on the correct side of the geomagnetic equatorabout 20 to 25 degrees south of the geomagnetic equator to take advantage of TEP to Nor th America and possibly to Europe. Figure 2 shows the geomagnetic equator (solid line) circling Earth. Locations near the dashed line (20

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degrees South geomagnetic latitude) are likely to be the best locations for 10 meters to be open around the clock at or near solar maximum. And of all the locations along the dashed line, deep PY and thereabouts might just be the best location due to the proximity to North America and Europe. The short path to JA may be tough, but theres a great opportunity for JA long path. In terms of K4SBs comment that during sunspot peaks a good contest location would be around the equator, I would add the qualifier that being in the correct equatorial area (20 to 25 degrees south of the geomagnetic equator) is important, too. And VK8AAs comment falls in line with this as his QTH in Darwin is in the vicinity of the dashed line. Unfortunately hes quite a distance from North America, which probably would hurt his score even though 10 meters may be open almost around the clock. What can you do with all this knowledge? The only thing you can do right now is put this information in your back pocket. Then bring it out in 2009 or 2010, when you can star t planning your contest DXpedition for the next solar maximum.

Figure 2Geomagnetic Equator (solid line) and 20o South Geomagnetic Latitude (dashed line).

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Contest Tips, Tricks & Techniques

Learning Propagation Quickly
Knowing propagation is an important key to being a successful contester. You need to know what band to be on to maximize your QSO rates. You also need to know when and where to be to get those all-important rare multipliers. Casual contest operating from your home station will help you get these skills, but what if you are operating as a guest operator or on a contest DXpedition from a new location? There are some aids to get you started. Propagation programs are one of them. You enter your location, solar flux or sunspot numbers, and maybe the A or K index, and you can get a good idea of what openings you can expect. The W6EL propagation program (W6ELProp) is a popular one and was mentioned by several readers. Before the contest K8IA uses it to print out hourly predictions for what bands are open to what locations. Bob also likes to keep it running on a laptop computer next to the logging computer during the contest to follow the gray line. For those interested in W6ELProp, check out the tutorial (telling how to download it, how to set the options, how to run predictions, and how to interpret the results) at www.arrl.org/ tis/info/pdf/W6elprop.pdf. Mark, N7MQ, has a system he uses when operating from a different location. First, Mark starts out with the W6EL program to generate predictions to the high ham populations of the world. He then fills out other compass directions where he hopes to get the more rare multipliers. This all goes into a booklet. Next, Mark fills in information by contacting other contesters who have operated from that location to learn about some of the less obvious openings. He ends up with a matrix that shows best times for each target area by band. From this Mark comes up with operating plans for each 2-hour segment of the contest. Finally, he tries to arrive at least 3 or 4 days ahead of the contest to get on the air. Mark writes down what he hears in his booklet. N7MQ also points to an excellent article on this subject by propagation guru and NCJ editor K9LA, Propagation Planning for DXpeditions6 Steps for a More Successful Trip. You can download a copy from the ARRL at www.arrl.org/tis/info/pdf/ propplan.pdf. This is a very informative article and worth reading even if you are not planning a trip. W5GN recommends the ACE-HF program. Barry has found it to be very accurate. He relates an experience about a year ago when he was running Europe on 40 meters under poor conditions. He got a call from a JY1 station. After the contest Barry ran the program and found that it predicted a 30-minute opening between Jordan and Dallas. He worked the station right in the middle of the predicted opening. Other propagation programs mentioned were VOACAP, WinCAP Wizard 3 and GeoAlert-Extreme Wizard. Geography Lessons N7MQ reminds us of an old tool, the DX Edge. This was very popular before computerized propagation programs. The main part is a map of the world. There are 12 sliding overlays, one for each month, showing the areas of daylight and night. You slide the overlay to the current time and instantly see what parts of the world are in light, dark, or on the gray line. Besides propagation and gray line maps, you might also consider getting a great circle map centered on your operating location. It is surprising how little you have to move to throw off those memorized beam headings from your home location. No Substitute for Experience There is really no substitute for actual experience, and a common response is to try to get there at least a week before the contest to get a feel for propagation and how your station plays. Besides using the time to gain some experience on the air, Mike, W7DRA, notes that you will need at least two tries to get a good antenna going. If you will be operating as a guest op from an established station, KU5S suggests consulting with the station owner for propagation information. Martin, LU5DX, went to Slovenia in 2000 to participate in the WRTC. Martin used propagation programs but also examined S5 contest logs from the previous year to find band openings. He found the conditions in 1999 repeated quite well in 2000. Still Martin felt that the most important thing was to be there a week in advance to see what the bands are like. VK2CZ passes on the approaches he

By Gary Sutcliffe, W9XT

has used for his trips to Christmas Island, VK9XD. Davids first approach was to basically follow the sun. The higher bands will be open to the east in the morning, and move towards the west as the day progresses. The lower bands will be open during the darkness hours. His second approach was to study ARRL propagation charts and Australian IPS space weather predictions. This provided a rough guide to Europe and North and South America. Reviewing logs from a DXpedition-type operation provided additional information. Davids final approach is experience and recommends arriving early and doing some listening between setting up the antennas. Paul, K5AF, recommends concentrating some of your propagation recon around local sunrise and sunset. He recommends starting a half hour before and continuing on a half hour afterwards. Randy, K5ZD, moved to W1-land from Texas in 1984. He says he thought he was a hot shot who knew how to operate but was humbled in the first CQWW from the area. Randy thinks it took him 5 years to achieve a level of propagation understanding that allowed him to compete with the best. He still feels there are things that he completely misses. Randy says there is no substitute for experience and time on the radio. Next Issue Thanks this month go out to AE9B, K5AF, K5ZD, K8IA, K9GY, KU5S, LU5DX, N7MQ, VK2CZ, W5GN, and W7DRA for passing on their ideas on this subject. Perhaps you have some tips to pass on next time, or a suggestion for a topic for a future column. Send it in! Also, stop by and say Hi at Dayton. Topic for next time (deadline May 12, 2005): Stealth Contesting Do you do your contesting from a location with antenna or other restrictions? What equipment and antennas do you use? What are your favorite contests? Have you ever operated a portable stealth contest operation? Send in your ideas on these subjects or suggestions for future topics. You can use the following routes: Postal mail 3310 Bonnie Lane, Slinger, WI 53086. E-mail w9xt@unifiedmicro.com . Be sure to get them to me by the deadline.

NCJ

May/June 2005

33

RTTY Contesting
Macro University
Macros are at the heart of RTTY contesting. For those not familiar with the term, a macro is a short string of text that is sent either manually or automatically at some point in the QSO. Macros are huge time savers during a contest, if used properly. In fact, I cant imagine RTTY contesting without them. But like anything in contesting, macros have to be used wisely. A lot of hams do and a lot of hams dont. So lets enroll at Macro U and take a leisurely course in a fascinating subject. Macros 101 In every contest, sooner or later, someone will need a repeat of something, normally either a call sign or the exchange. You should have macros set up for these requests and ready to go. Very important: When someone asks you to repeat your exchange, do not send the whole thing, i.e. W1XX 599 001 001 W6WRT. All he needs in this case is the serial number. He already knows your call and his call, as well as the RST, so just send the serial. Obvious, right? Its amazing how many stations do it wrong. In this example, I would have a macro set up to send 001 001 001 001 001 001a total of six times. Why six? I cant say exactly, just that over the years, six seems to be the magic number. It seems to be enough to get it across without taking too much time. When conditions are really bad, I just tap the key twice or more. In contests that have two elements to the exchange, such as serial and state, I have two separate macros. If Im not sure which element he needs, I send them both, one after the other. You should also have macros to ask for his information. More on this later. Macros 102 Some guysnot you, of course refuse to work dupes and will send you a message saying so. Do not accept this. Create a macro that says, NOT IN LOG ON THIS BAND PSE WORK ME AGAIN W6WRT W6WRT. Keep sending it until he caves in. Dont be rude, but do be persistent. Include your call at least twice so he can get a good look at it. He probably busted it the first time around. Another useful macro is for the times when you think the other guy has indeed busted your call. Have one that says MY CALL IS W6WRT W6WRT W6WRT. I find the MY CALL IS really gets his attention, much more than just sending my call by itself. And there are others. CALL? CALL? is good, as is NR? NR? or STATE? STATE? and so on. If you really do want the whole exchange, send AGN AGN, but try to avoid this because it wastes time. Better to ask specifically for what you need. If you contest for any length of time, you will come across stations that are well meaning but uninformed about the rules of a particular contest. Its wise to be prepared for these guys who would love to give you a point, but dont have a clue. Depending on the contest, I will have macros that say RULES REQUIRE SIGNAL REPORT PSE SEND RST RST TNX or NEED TIME TIME IN GMT GMT PSE or NEED SERIAL NUMBER PSE AM I NR 001? You get the idea. Graduate Macros Most contest programs come with a pre-defined set of macros. Some of them are okay as they are and some need a little work. Perhaps the single most important factor is the length of a macro. Every character you can omit from a macro saves about 167 milliseconds. Not much, you say? Well, ask yourself this: If I could save 167 milliseconds on each QSO, how much would I save over the length of the contest? If you make 1000 QSOs, you would save 167 seconds, a bit under three minutes. How many QSOs can you make in three minutes? Enough to edge out the number two station? But waitit gets better. How many times do you call CQ in a contest? Perhaps 3000? Save one character on each CQ and you have saved 501 seconds, a bit over eight minutes. Put both together and you have saved about 11 minutes. Eleven minutes can easily make the different between victory and defeat. But its likely you can save more than 11 minutesway more, in fact. For example, here is a typical CQ macro as it might come with the program: CQ CQ CQ TEST DE W6WRT W6WRT W6WRT K. Looks okay, you think? Well, this one is a gold mine of milliseconds. Consider this macro instead: CQ CQ DE W6WRT W6WRT. One less CQ, one less W6WRT and no K. How much time is saved? Including the spaces (they are a character), it looks like ten. But there are actually two more. Between the W and the 6 there is a FIGS shift character, and between the 6 and the next W there is a LTRS shift character, for a total of 12. Thats 12 characters times 167 ms for a net saving per CQ of almost exactly two seconds. With 3000 CQs in a contest, 6000 seconds are saved, or 100 minutes! It is possible to go too far with this. For example, experienced contesters know there should be a character, either a space or carriage return, at the end of each macro. Do not omit this apparently useless character. Its purpose is to separate the end of the macro from random characters that would otherwise print on the other guys screen. For example, with a space he would see W6WRT NTWMCNBSLLADJ. With no space, he

Bill Turner, W6WRT

would seeW6WRTNTWMCNBSLLADJ. If thats all he copies, whats my call? Is it W6WRT or W6WR or W6W? Who knows? A request for a repeat is a certainty. Dont economize on that last character. In my example above, I removed the K? Why? The K is a carryover from CW, where it serves a good purpose. CW, being a noncontinuous carrier mode, has periods of no carrier where it could be interpreted that the sending station has turned it over to you. Using the K makes it clear. With RTTY this is not the case. If the RTTY carrier drops, its your turn to transmit. Clear and unmistakable. The same applies to KN and BK. Dont use them, as they just waste precious milliseconds. The DE in the macro is a bit more problematic. Opinions vary on whether to use it or not. Not using it will save a half second every time its not there, counting the extra space. In our 1000 QSO contest, it would probably be used twice per QSO, once during the exchange and once during the confirmation. Thats 2000 times, or 1000 seconds, or 16.6 minutes. Likewise, eliminating it from the 3000 CQs saves another 1500 seconds, or 25 minutes for a total of nearly 42 minutes. So why would anyone want it? Some programs use the DE as a trigger to highlight the word that follows, normally a call sign. That can be important because a highlighted call sign can be grabbed by a keystroke or mouse click and either placed in the entry box or embedded in a macro or both. That does save time, to be sure. But does it save more than the 42 minutes it costs? That will have to be for you to decide. But after I did the math, DE vanished from my macros. Postgraduate Macros To hyphen or not to hyphen, that is the question. Years ago, someone realized that a macro with hyphens in certain locations would transmit faster while conveying exactly the same information. Sounds like a winning situation, right? Well, maybe. In an exchange like this W1XX 599-001-001 W6WRT, those two hyphens instead of spaces will save two additional characters. How, you ask? Doesnt a hyphen take 167 ms, the same as a space? Yes, strictly speaking it does, but the way the RTTY works complicates things. For reasons which could occupy an entire column all by themselves, nearly all programs use a feature called Unshift-On-Space, or USOS, which works beautifully with text containing only letters, but which complicates things when numbers are present and separated by spaces. The USOS function occurs whenever a space character is received. When USOS sees the space it automatically re-

34

May/June 2005

NCJ

sets the receiver back to letters mode. This is great when youre sending letters only, because it re-synchronizes the receiver and transmitter with each space. Re-synchronizing is good when using radio because sometimes the LTRS and FIGS case characters get lost and the wrong text can print for quite a long time and becomes almost useless. You could have long strings of garbled text. So why use the hyphen instead of a space? Follow me on thisits a bit complicated. When numbers are separated by a space, two characters are sent: The space itself and the FIGS character required because the next character is a number. Got it? Sending 001 001 takes eight characters, but 001-001 takes only seven because the hyphen does not require the FIGS shift to be sent. As we have seen, saving even one character can add up to significant savings. The downside is possible garbling of text, followed by a request for a repeat, possibly followed by another request, etc, etc. This issue is still hotly debated in some circles, but lets just say there are no hyphens in my macros because I get far fewer requests for repeats than when hyphens are present. This is an issue each contester will have to decide for himself. Extra Credit How many times to send each part of

the exchange? Heres my thinking: If I send it once, it could be garbled and the other guy would have no way of knowing. If I send it twice, he can presume it is right if both print the same. The odds of the identical garble in two separate words are extremely small. If the words are different, he will ask for a repeat. If I send it three times, he can be almost positive that whichever two are the same are correct. So which do I do? The only thing I send once is the RST, since he knows what that will be anyway. When CQing I send my call twice because its likely he has seen it before, either over the air or on Super Check Partial. I send my exchange three times because he doesnt know what that is going to be. Again, this is open to debate, but it works for me. Final Exam A lot of guys send QRZ? at the end of a macro. What would be better and why? (Hint: A well-known two-letter prosign beginning with C. Why? Its shorter and more correct anyway. How do you know if anybodys calling you?) See you on the air!

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NCJ

May/June 2005

35

VHF-UHF Contesting!
January 2005 VHF Sweepstakes
As operators prepared for this years January contest, many hoped for a big aurora and subsequent geomagnetic storm. There had been an X.7 class solar flare and the biggest proton storm of solar cycle 23 earlier in the week. The coronal mass ejection from the flare struck the Earths geomagnetic field Thursday January 20. What great timing! A geomagnetic storm soon followed. On January 21 (the day before the contest), OZ1DJJ in Denmark worked K1TOL on 6 meters via auroraaurora Es! What an amazing contact. You can listen to it here: www.oz1djj.geronne.dk/6m.htm. Out in Kansas I had a 4-hour Es opening on 6 meters to Arizona that evening, with K7TOP, K7NN, AC7XP and others heard loudly. Expectations were high for a good contest. If the conditions had just lasted a few more days, the 2005 VHF Sweepstakes could have gone down as one to remember. Instead, the Bz component of the magnetic field swung north, and stubbornly remained there. The geomagnetic storm abated and there was little or no aurora, and scant E s. The January VHF Sweepstakes ended up being slow and disappointing for many. Working scatter allowed the betterequipped stations to eke out contest QSOs on 6 meters. Bill, KHA, in EN10, made 31 6-meter QSOs over 1000 km away via scatter. Bill noted one weak Es opening Sunday afternoon to NT6K in CN91, and good scatter to W2, W3 and W8. Bill was my only 6-meter contact in the contest, via ground wave, Sunday afternoon. There was a weak Es opening Sunday evening for stations in Florida to W3 and W8. Fur ther south in Mexico, XE1MEX had F2 propagation to LU7YZ, LU1VD and LU2DEK at 2010 UTC on Sunday afternoon. Had there been some Es to the south from Arizona, Texas, etc. during the contest, there may have been Es link to F2 QSOs made. As I write this column, XQ3SIX FF46 was heard in KS, OK, IL, WI and MO via an Es to F2/TEP link on 6 meters. The accompanying illustration describes the opening. There were double hop Es modes from the central USA to the region around and west of Costa Rica. This linked to trans-equatorial F layer propagation on to Chile. Dave Powers, KAKCI, ran rover in the contest from the Midwest Division. Dave drove 489 miles and made 87 36 May/June 2005 Table 1 Highest 6-Meter QSO Totals, June VHF QSO Party
QSOs 1358 1212 1161 1129 1104 1090 1077 1066 1031 1023 1020 1011 1009 992 991 985 983 976 Grids 245 233 269 252 260 221 262 240 234 232 260 260 210 219 219 256 229 278 Call W5KFT N5HHS W5KFT K5TR W5KFT W5UWB N5HHS W1XE KGU N5HHS K5AM K5AM W8CM K5IUA WB2WIH K5CM AA9D WBDRL Class L S L L L S B L S S B B S M B S M L Year 98 98 96 03 00 98 99 98 98 96 00 03 98 98 00 87 98 92

Jon K. Jones, NJK n0jk@hotmail.com

Section STX STX STX STX STX STX STX CO CO STX NM NM NTX STX SFL OK IL KS

QSOs for a score of about 4000 points. He notes that while driving through Pratt, Kansas, he saw the two municipal water towers side-by-side painted hot and cold! He noted no tropo or Es. Out east, ops like Buck, KC2HIZ/r, found blizzard weather conditions but still managed to activate four grids. Buck found activity to be low. That seemed to be the story for many in the contest. So What About The June VHF QSO Party? The February and March minor E s season in 2005 has been one of the best ever recorded in over 40 years. Normally March is the slowest month for Es propagation. Pat Dyer, WA5IYX, has kept detailed records of commercial FM broadcast stations he has logged via Es since the 1970s. Pats loggings show that for many years there were no Es openings in the month of March. March 1996 was one of the best recorded with two openings. So far, in 2005, there have been 6meter Es openings on March 1, 2, 3, 6, 9, 10, 16, 26, 27, 28 and 29. I have written an article for CQ VHF Quarterly about the 2005 minor Es season. Probably the most March VHF Es that Ive seen in 40+ years of this. Pat Dyer, WA5IYX. Posted to the Magic Band Internet chat room March 09, 2005 It was a truly amazing March, with several Es links to TEP openings from the USA to South America. The best was

March 26 2005 Es to F2/TEP links on 6 meters.

on March 10, with CE, CX, LU and ZP heard on 6 meters for over 4 hours. There have been Es links to F2/TEP reported in the June VHF QSO Parties. I am researching a possible article for QST about the March 9 and 10 6-meter Es-to-TEP opening to South America. Will the great conditions continue into

NCJ

June? Does a good February/March minor Es season predict a good June? Or will it be a poor one? The June 1996 VHF QSO Party had some of the best E s openings on 6 meters in the 1990s. In 1996, two stations made over 1000 QSOs on 6 meters in the June VHF QSO PartyW5KFT and N5HHS. See Table 1. There was one March 1998 Es opening, but the higher QSO totals in 1998 may reflect the increasing number of rigs with 6-meter capability. Looking back to the 1980s, the 1983 and 1987 June VHF QSO Parties coincided with the best Es conditions for that decade. In both years, March Es were reported. So perhaps a great March Es season may bring outstanding conditions on 6-meters in June. We can hope. WSJT Digital Contest Comments And Chat Rooms In the previous column, I discussed the digital modes in VHF contesting and the use of Internet chat sites such as Prop Loggers and Ping Jockey. To clarify the appropriate use of these chat rooms in the ARRL contests, if you participate in one during the contest you are

in the assisted category. There is not an assisted single op category for the ARRL VHF Contests. On the other hand, it is okay for multi-op stations to use one of the chat rooms for spotting assistance. You cannot self spot your station and you should not set up skeds via the chat room or tell people now we are QSYing to 222 MHz. This is considered soliciting contacts via non-amateur means. An appropriate use of the chat room would be to monitor spots, or to spot

other stations. The chat rooms are fun and interesting, but be careful that you use them according to the rules established for the contest. There are several VHF/UHF contests that permit the use of chat rooms for single-operator stations, and they even allow the solicitation of contacts. One of these is the Spring Sprints. The 50 MHz Spring Sprint is May 14 this year (2300 UTC May 14 to 0300 UTC May 15) and can be a good warm up for the June VHF QSO Party.

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May/June 2005 37

Workshop Chronicles
Tools for Gripping, Cutting and More
I grew up on a farm in Ohio and that experience forms the basis for much of the how and why of my character. (Its hard to write, let alone admit, but its true.) Early on, I was faced with issues of problem solving, limited resources and questions of urgency related to both. I learned to be practical, self-sufficient in several ways and to not allow broken things to bother me. I learned that I liked working with my hands, even though my family preached the value of higher education so that I wouldnt have to work as they did. Many years later, several of those lessons and solutions come back to me in moments of reverie and wonder. Combining some of those lessons with classroom instruction (along with the discipline and methodologies learned) and I find Im often the guy who folks call on when they want to build a tower, or want to get their new 40-meter beam installed. Im that practical ham, or utility infield team player, who just happens to own the necessary tools and knows how to use them. This column began life (as evidenced from last issues reprint) in the Potomac Valley Radio Clubs monthly newsletter. Reactions and response to that writing prompted our editor Carl, K9LA, to ask if Id be interested in a somewhat wider audience. Since all writers are always seeking readership, I naturally accepted. As such, the column will focus on some of those practical matters and lessons learned in over 40 years of hamming. Wrenches Lately, it seems some of the more interesting tools I carry in my tool pouch is a set of ratcheting combination wrenches. Whats unique about them (besides the novelty of a ratcheting boxend wrench) is that the ratchet works in only 5-degrees of rotation. When youre working atop a tower, sometimes in cramped conditions, that smaller ratchet turning angle can make a difference. It can certainly save you time. Plus, the box-end wrench gives you a little more torque compared to a typical socket wrench. Craftsman, along with Husky, Snap-On and so for th, make these wrenches. Mine have proven so useful that I now own two sets. Folks sometimes ask me about brands. Heres my opinion: Snap-On makes the best wrenches, period. They are also the most expensive. And you 38 May/June 2005

Don Daso, K4ZA k4za@juno.com

Among the more interesting tools I carry in my tool pouch is a set of ratcheting combination wrenches.

must track down the Snap-On salesman servicing your areathats the rolling display truck you can spot at auto dealerships and other professional service areas. That truck can supply everything youll ever need. Mac, Matco and Cor nwell are other professional brandsalso available from similar display trucks. Craftsman tools, available at Sears, are not as good as they once were, but will probably suffice for the average ham. Their lifetime warranty makes them attractive, as do their sale prices. SK tools are another brand worth your consideration. Wrenches come in 6-point and 12point styles. The 12-point wrenches are more useful for general work, but 6-point wrenches have more gripping power. If I had to choose one style over the other, I would pick 12-point wrenches, although I have complete sets of both in my toolbox. I only carry deep sockets up the tower. Unless Im working on big hardware, a 3/8-inch ratchet drive should suffice. (Again, I have ratchets and socket sets ranging from 1/4-inch up to 3/4-inch-drives, but I do more of this work than the average ham, so dont think you have to have everything.) Robo-Grip For years, I relied on Klein lineman pli-

ers to solve many gripping and cutting problems. But recently, I have found the Robo-Grip pliers to be more useful when faced with aluminum elements, larger connectors on baluns and so forth. They made the difference a few weeks ago when taking down some old Telrex beams that had been up in the air since 1978. The hardware on these beams was so rusted that regular wrenches wouldnt fit. Again, several manufacturers make them, including Craftsman. I still rely on the Kleins, so Im carrying a little more weight in the pouch. But again, the Robo-Grips can save time. PB Blaster Working on those same Telrex beams, I once again relied on PB Blaster (a chemical catalyst) to loosen that rusty hardware. Once we had trammed the beams down, the owner began taking them apart. He sprayed everything with WD-40 and started struggling. Then N4ZC (my ground crew guy) sprayed the parts with Blaster and the beams were soon in pieces. The old tag line this stuff really works truly applies to this product! I buy mine at Wal-Mart, so it should be available everywhere. Multi-Bit Screwdrivers I used to carry multiple screwdrivers.

NCJ

PB Blaster is a chemical catalyst that does a great job of loosening rusty hardware.

control cables that cutting them apart was actually hard work. The owner said hed had friends climb up and cover the old tape from time-to-time. But in each case, the tape had been tugged and pulled apart and each wrap came apart, flapping in the breeze, requiring another trip, to be re-done the same way. Following the procedure outlined above solves this dilemma. And, its also been said thousands of

times, but it bears repeating: never saddle a dead horse. This same tower used 1/4inch EHS with Crosby clips, but the owner had alternated each clip at each end of the guys. Naturally, he didnt appreciate my pointing out how to prevent such a faux pas since his tower rode out Hurricane Hugo just fine back in 89. Fortunately, the installation had multiple Crosby clips at each guy end, so the holding power wasnt compromised too much.

But a few years ago, I switched to one of those cheap multi-bit screwdrivers two sizes of straight as well as Phillips blades. Only once have I needed something that would provide a bit more torque. Its a simple approach, but my pouch is lighter by not carrying multiple screwdrivers. It Bears Repeating Its been said thousands of times but bears repeating: if you want your electrical tape to last on the tower, use only Scotch 88 and cut the last wrap, allowing the tape to relax before smoothing it out. This same tower had so many layers of tape wrapped around the coax and
New!!

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Check out our web site for the latest prices on coax, rotor cable, baluns, insulators, connectors, adapters, TVI filters, antenna wire, M2 HF and VHF-UHF antennas and much more.

W5XD Multi-Keyer
More Features Than Any Ordinary Keyer!
Connect the W5XD multi-keyer to your PC via a serial port. Among a variety of functions the W5XD multi-keyer even acts as a switchbox for single-op, 2 radios (SO2R) contesters. Windows 95, 98, ME or 2000 is needed. Requires only one COMM port which the keyer can share for rig control.

Featuring Davis Bury-Flex, (tm) 9914, low loss, direct burial coax. Tuff as nails, outer jacket, flexible and designed for HF to UHF applications. Reasonably priced. Great Value! We also stock Davis Flex-weave (tm) antenna wire. Easy to work with and quite strong. We have bare and coated #12 and #14 wire in stock. Looking for connectors? We have high quality Amphenol Silver plate PL-259s plus an easy-to-install, two piece N connector. Need to go from BNC to UHF? We have the adapters in stock.
Mon-Fri 10am-6pm * Fax (603) 899 6826 e-mail @ radware@radio-ware.com

Features: CW generation is independent of the processor load on your PC running WRITELOG. Separate opto-isolated CW outputs for a LEFT and RIGHT rig. Paddle inputs for sending CW. Separate R and L rig antenna relay outputs. Headphone audio switching. The keyer includes a speed control potentiometer and a SPST switch on a remoting cable to control CW speed and L/R radio switching manually w/o the PC running.

Radioware & Radio Bookstore

PO Box 209 Rindge, NH 03461-0209

(800) 457-7373

$215 +s/h includes keyer, remote speed and L/R switch box on a 3 cable, mating power connector (7.5 V to 25 VDC req.)
www.writelog.com e-mail:k5dj@writelog.com

Ron Stailey, K5DJ

504 Dove Haven Dr Round Rock, TX 78664-5926 Tel/Fax (512) 255-5000

NCJ

May/June 2005

39

Contesting On a Budget
A Cheap HighGetting Antennas Up Inexpensively
We all know that bigger and higher is better, but many of us are limited by residential covenants, lot-size limitations, spouse constraints and family budgets. Despite these limitations, many of us have enjoyed highly successful contesting careers without the gleaming metal of towers and stacks of beams. I was quite amazed at some of the interesting approaches you all took to utilize available resources. Organic Towers Trees are Mother Natures gift to ham radio. How many of us owe our first QSO to that tall oak tree in the yard that supported a meager wire antenna? Well, many of us still owe our success to Mother Natures organic towers, a term attributed to trees by NCCCer Gary, NI6T. Ron, KK9K, was quick to respond to the call for inputs, describing his 160meter four square that consists of inverted Ls made with #12 stranded black PVC coated wire. Ron used a fishing rod to get the line over the treetops and a progressive combination of fishing line and ropes to pull the wire over the tops of several 70-foot trees on his lot. Ron has yet to experience any breakage with the inverted Ls, and feels that they outperform a previous commercial set of shorter aluminum elements. Ron humorously noted that putting up this antenna system also impresses the new neighborsa big guy walking around in the woods looking at the sky carrying a fishing rod in the middle of winter! Several others, including Mike, W7DRA and Ted, K1BV, further attest to the success of the fishing rod/slingshot/bow and arrow approach to getting wires high up in the trees. Mike notes that the hard part is to have 347 old pieces of wire hanging in your trees that are too high to get down after doing the above for 49 years at the same residence. Teds 80-meter dipole, strung between two tall trees and fed with open feeders, proved to be such a successful antenna that he continues to use it even after he assembled his more robust tower system. But the creative minds of scheming contesters dont stop at just hanging wires from trees! From Henry, K4TMC, came a description, with pictures, of hanging beam antennas from the branches of tall trees. Henry enthusiastically states Yes, you can successfully 40 May/June 2005

Paul Schaffenberger, K5AF

K4TMCs Yagi in the trees.

install HF Yagis in trees. I have easily hung 10-meter three and four element Yagis in oak trees. I hang my arrays from large limbs that are anywhere from 30 to 50 up in the trees. Several things to consider when mounting arrays this way are: (1) you first have to make sure there is adequate clearance underneath and around the support limb. You want to avoid too much banging around against other limbs and the trunk; (2) the boom and elements must be of a heavy duty design if there is any chance of bumping anything, plus there is the real possibility of upper limbs falling during storms and hitting the array; (3) rotation can be via lightweight cords attached to the boom ends, which can also serve as stabilizers to prevent unnecessary rotation; (4) using the standard boomto-mast plate mounted at the center of balance, attach a short (2 - 3 foot) mast above the boom and attach the support rope to the top end. Fifteen and 20-meter Yagis can be mounted the same way; however, clearances become even more of a problem, and there is the obvious heavier weight of such arrays. Henry installs pulleys on the trees, so the antennas easily can be raised from the ground. K4OGG was also mentioned as having great success with tree-mounted Yagis. Jim, KI7Y, took this approach to a whole new level, quite literally! He

states, I have a cedar tree that once had a dead top section. I was advised that the tree may survive if it was topped. I did that and a year later got the idea of putting a small tribander (A3S) in the top of the tree. I built a metal frame to hold the rotator and bolted through the tree. I used 2-inch EMT (I know its not very strong) for the mast and it has been up 10 years plus. Rick, K6VVA, has lashed masts to the tops of trees to get additional height and clearance for wire antennas. He progressively has gotten his antennas higher using this method, and currently has a Carolina Windom with its apex at 42 feet. He is now looking into the possibility of using 4-foot military green mast sections to go directly up from the ground through the tree. He thinks he can achieve a 50-foot height this way without ever having to leave the ground! Ricks next brainstorm? Run a mast horizontally through the tree to support a wire Yagi. Gary, W9XT, used processed trees (lumber) to reinforce a 25-foot PVC pole that supports his K9AY receiving loop. He inserted a 2 2-inch board inside the PVC, and he says it survived the brutal Wisconsin winter with no problems! Mi Casa The responses regarding house-

NCJ

mounted systems were less than enthusiastic. Bill, AA4LR, related his experience with a roof-mounted tower. He recommends using liberal amounts of roofing tar when installing one, as his developed leaks. Bill also noted that the roof mounts arent very tall and the proximity to house wiring and electronics can wreak RFI havoc. Bill, along with Billy, AA4NU, recommend against chimney-mounted antennas on masonry chimneys. Billy notes most of the older chimneys were not made for the constant stress of wire antennas, much less trying to secure a small Yagi to such. My own experience with wood frame chimney boxes that contain zero-clearance metal chimneys has been altogether positive. The chimney box runs vertically through two floors and the attic and is extremely strong. I know this because when the house was being built, the construction crew used a pulley attached to the top of the chimney box to pull palettes of roofing supplies (weighing several hundred pounds each) onto the roof. I have a 16-foot fiberglass pole attached to the chimney box that

supports a 40-meter dipole and expect I could support much more weight from this structure. Trends There are a couple of trends that are favorable from a budget standpoint. They deal with availability and technology. Availability: The trends toward wireless and cable systems means that towers and tower sections will become increasingly available, especially smaller, lighter-duty systems. John, W2GD, relates that hes found that used towers can be had for free if you are willing to do the work of taking them down. For any number of reasons, tower owners may need a tower removed quickly and do not have the resources or desire to do it themselves. John states Over the years Ive obtained at least 300 feet of Rohn 25G this way. At least 100 feet of this free tower is now in the air at P4W. Technology: The other trend working in our favor is a technology trend of portability. Weve seen it in the size of HF radios, and now were starting to see it in mast and antenna supports. The same carbon fiber technology that will be used

for the body of the new Boeing 787 is also being used for increasingly longer and stronger masts. I recommend visiting K4TMCs site (www.TMastCo.com) and the DL4SA spiderbeam site ( www.spiderbeam.net/pole.htm ) to see some good examples. There are 40foot masts available for a little over $100 that weigh about 7 lbs and collapse down to a length of less than four feet. While these arent strong enough to support a beam, they are great for low-band verticals or for supporting wire antennas. This technology is likely to get better and cheaper as time goes by. Thanks to all for some interesting inputs, including K1BV, W2GD/P4W, AA4LR, AA4NU, K4TMC, K6VVA, W7DRA, KI7Y, KK9K and W9XT. Topic for July/August Decision Matrix for New Equipment. I will introduce the concept of using a decision matrix for the purchase of new equipment. Ill include my own search for a small amplifier to show how this concept works. If your response warrants it, I will expand on this concept in future articles.

EZMaster
75 sec HQ Digital Voice Keyer K1EL Winkey CW keyer All Mode SO2R capabilities

the ultimate contest device

Two Audio Insulated I/O for Audio Digital Mode

Two Radio control port Two 16 line Antenna Matrix Ports, for driving CI-V, FIF-232, IF-232, RS-232 Remote Antenna Switch Band Decoding Four independent PTT lines Twin Headphone jacks USB - RS232 CW interface PTT delays to prevent relay hotswitching USB, Parallel, COM Port connection LPT Port for CW, Band Map, SO2R and PTT Double Power USB & External Power Supply

If I keep contesting it is because of SO2R, otherwise contesting would be very boring for me. If one wants to win, break records, than the very best is needed, and of all the SO2R equipment available, there is one well ahead of all other - its EZMaster. My best buy in years Jose CT1BOH

Compatible with : CT, CTWIN, TR, NA, WRITELOG, N1MM, WINTEST, YPLOG, RCKLOG, MMTTY, MIXW, RCKRtty and more ..

Visit our WebSite :

www.hamradiosolutions.com
NCJ
May/June 2005 41

All Time ARRL Field Day Records

ARRL Field Day 2004 saw a record number of entrees submitted with 13 records broken and 4 new records set (as indicated in bold type). Be sure to check the new rules for Field Day 2005. Good luck, be safe, and have fun! The listing shows class, call sign, year record set, club or group name, number of QSOs, power level (5 - less than 5W, 2 - less than 150W, 1 - more than 150W), number of operators, and total score. Commercial classes are not listed.
Class 1Abat 1A 2Abat 2A 3Abat 3A 4Abat 4A 5Abat 5A 6Abat 6A 7Abat 7A 8Abat 8A 9Abat 9A 10Abat 10A 11Abat 11A 12Abat 12A 13Abat 13A 14Abat 14A 15Abat 15A 16Abat 16A 17Abat 17A 18Abat 18A 19Abat 19A 20Abat 20A 21A 22Abat 23Abat 23A 24A 25Abat 26A 27A 28Abat 28A 30A 35A 38A 50A 51A
1B-1bat 1B-1 1B-2bat 1B-2 2B-1bat 2B-1 2B-2bat 2B-2 3B-1bat 3B-1 3B-2bat 3B-2 4B-2 5B-2 6B-2 1C 2C 3C 4C

Denis Catalano, W4DC w4dc@arrl.net

Call K6MI N5RR WCQC KP2N WCQC WGG KP2AA W2GD W3VPR W2GD AA5B W2GD W4DW W3AO N6WG W4IY VE3NAR W4IY W6PIY W4IY K8UO W4IY AA6CV W4IY AA6CV W4IY AA6CV W4IY K6CAB W4IY K8UO WY8M K6CAB W4IY K6CAB N1FD KK8M K2AA KK8M N1NH N1FD AD6T K5DX N1FD N1NH K6CAB W3AO N1NH K8UO N1FD W3AO VA3RAC W3AO W3AO W3AO
KW8N W8TK W8DL N5RZ KW8N KW8N WB8JBM W2GD KW8N KW8N KW8N K5TA KW8N W8TQE K6Z WA4YRN N6BT WB4GQX WA5FRF

Year 03 92 00 93 01 00 04 02 84 99 04 00 89 99 00 02 95 98 04 85 04 90 00 04 99 99 97 00 94 01 01 94 89 03 90 00 98 86 99 96 04 91 89 01 95 92 01 97 02 99 00 00 02 04 03
95 96 02 03 02 00 81 88 04 03 97 93 98 89 04 91 80 76 00

Name Chews Ridge Gang Albuerque DXA Colorado QRP Club Virgin Islands ARC Colorado QRP Club Pikes Peak DX Group Pina Colada Contest Club Cherryville Rpt Assoc II Anne Arundel RC Cherryville Rpt Assoc NM FD Coalition Cherryville Rpt Assoc II Raleigh ARS Potomac Valley RC 1 Alameda County Rpt Club Woodbridge Wireless Nortown ARC Woodbridge Wireless West Valley ARA Woodbridge Wireless Utica Shelby ECA Woodbridge Wireless Conejo Valley ARC Woodbridge Wireless Conejo Valley ARC Woodbridge Wireless Conejo Valley ARC Woodbridge Wireless Conejo Valley ARC Woodbridge Wireless Utica Shelby ECA Utica Shelby ECA Conejo Valley ARC Woodbridge Wireless Conejo Valley ARC Nashua Area RC Utica Shelby ECA South Jersey Radio Assn Utica Shelby ECA Nashua ARC Nashua Area RC Conejo Valley ARC Texas DX Society Nashua ARC Nashua ARC Conejo Valley ARC PVRC & CARA Nashua ARC Utica Shelby ECA Nashua ARC PVRC & CARA Capital Region FD 2000 PVRC & CARA PVRC & CARA PVRC & CARA

QSOs 1080 2870 1688 5252 2310 5825 3400 6626 2495 656 1643 6694 1236 9163 1305 7839 1105 6217 1081 5067 1363 4669 1340 6583 1142 7329 1246 8064 3460 6572 2111 5917 3119 5922 2569 6246 2233 4320 2527 6738 3467 2962 3326 4484 6209 2343 10141 6768 2193 7902 9908 1940 10150 9304 7754
945 1460 1095 2136 727 1698 953 2560 723 1346 962 2137 1720 272 94 934 1885 836 301

Pwr 5 2 5 2 5 2 5 2 5 62 5 2 5 2 5 2 5 2 5 2 5 2 5 2 5 2 5 2 5 2 5 2 5 2 5 2 5 2 5 2 2 5 5 2 2 5 2 2 5 2 2 2 2 2 2
5 2 5 2 5 2 5 2 5 2 5 2 2 2 2 5 2 2 5

Ops 7 28 12 16 10 17 11 57 49 42 6 43 12 17 25 63 30 56 16 67 11 60 38 55 30 65 55 83 34 68 153 295 40 73 30 100 177 65 176 85 55 52 28 80 95 62 40 87 17 96 50 190 45 60 60

1 1 2 2 1 1 2 2 1 1 2 2 2 2 2 1 3 3 5

Pts 11,725 8550 17,410 15,580 20,360 17,306 25,630 20,112 26,570 20,520 16,445 20,628 11,215 26,224 10,850 24,088 7930 18,834 10,240 15,474 12,850 14,688 11,490 21,002 9880 22,780 10,795 24,904 30,150 22,056 19,015 21,468 23,685 20,272 21,275 19,614 18,650 13,178 20,920 21,756 12,984 23,500 25,260 15,740 21,648 20,255 31,760 22,080 20,595 24,358 31,534 10,136 33,442 32,372 27,834
8975 6586 11,250 7524 7525 6374 8965 8814 7515 5556 8695 7000 6040 1212 1390 8080 4912 2162 2525

W4DC at his home station.

Class 5C 6C
1D 2D 3D 4D 5D 6D 7D 8D 9D 1E 2E 3E 4E 5E 6E 7E 8E 9E 11E 13E 15E 41E 1F 2F 3F 4F 5F 6F 7F 8F 9F 11F 12F

Call AB3A VO1AA

NA5TX W4MYA K1AR N6TV W1AW W1AW W1AW N4T N6OP KRB KRB NNI W3PP WNT W6YX W6YX WU8A K5PXP W4WVP AA5EQ K9GL K7AUO W3CF W5UR W9REG W8FY W6NWG W8VND W6YX W6YX W4WVP N7ACS K2K

Year Name 80 78
99 99 78 92 91 95 94 00 91 88 89 99 99 04 01 02 95 02 01 90 82 91 04 03 04 04 04 03 03 04 03 04 04 Montgomery Co Races Albuquerque DX Assn Tippecanoe ARA Van Wert ARC Palomar ARC Stanford University ARC Stanford ARC Arlington (VA) ARC Yuma Aux Comm Service HREG

QSOs 694 30
1450 4019 3825 2253 1650 3200 2890 2465 2849 1525 2000 4421 3720 3171 4722 4304 1963 1605 205 235 8179 567 1674 2621 369 2029 3086 1461 4349 7183 352 250 618

Pwr 2 5
2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 5 5 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 1 1 2 2 5 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2

Ops 8 8
1 14 6 17 6 16 7 10 22 3 5 6 8 18 22 24 21 23 13 7 25 20 4 18 9 17 60 26 30 35 23 11 17

Pts 1696 715

5800 10,758 8928 5708 4726 9290 8820 6034 8206 11,490 13,975 12,480 10,504 9202 13,902 12,570 6474 4820 632 554 10,541 815 3498 8494 4475 6236 10,582 4586 15,610 22,694 2618 1260 3,340

42

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DX Contest Activity Announcements

CQ WPX CW Contest (May 28-29, 2005)
Call E21EIC T93M VK6AA ZL6QH Entity Thailand Bosnia Herz Australia New Zealand Class SOAB LP SOAB HP SOAB M/M Operators E21EIC T93M VK2IA ZL1AZE, ZL2AGY, ZL2BSJ, ZL1CT Call 8R1EA EA8/F6GOE FS/KR7X IG9R
PJ7/K7ZUM VK9XD ZD8C

Bill Feidt, NG3K

CQ World Wide DX SSB Contest (October 29-30, 2005)

Entity Guyana Canary Is St Martin African Italy
Sint Maarten Christmas Ascension

Class SOAB HP SOSB 20M SOAB HP M/S

SOAB HP SOAB M/M

Thanks to: E21EIC, T93M, VK2IA, ZL1CT See www.ng3k.com/Misc/wpxc2005.html for further details

Operators AH8DX F6GOE KR7X IK8HCG, IZ8DFO, IZ8FBU, IZ8GCB K7ZUM VK2CZ EA1DGZ, EA1DBC, EC1KW, EA1CNF

RSGB IOTA Contest (Jul 30-31, 2005)

Call CY FP
K1VSJ M8C TMEME

Thanks to: AH8DX, EA1CNF, F6GOE, IK8HCG, VK2CZ See www.ng3k.com/Misc/cqs2005.html for further details

Entity Sable St Pierre Miq

USA NA-046 England France

IOTA NA-064 NA-132

K1VSJ EU-011 EU-074

Operators W8GEX, K8LEE, W9IXX K9OT, KB9LIE, as FP/home call

GVJG, GFDZ, G4BUO, G7GLW, 2EATY, M3CVN ON4CJK, ON4DPX, ON5FP

CQ World Wide DX CW Contest (November 26-27, 2005)

Call FS/K7ZUM VK9AA Entity St Martin Cocos (Keeling) Class SOAB SOAB Operators K7ZUM VK2IA

Thanks to: 425DXN, K1VSJ, K9OT, M3CVN, ON5FP See www.ng3k.com/Misc/iota2005.html for further details

Thanks to: K7ZUM, VK2IA See www.ng3k.com/Misc/cqc2005.html for further details

UM

Unified Microsystems

KXG Systems
Bettendorf, IA 52722 USA

k0xg@k0xg.com (563) 355-7451

Guy ring bearing installed on Rohn 55G tower.

VK-64 Combo Voice/CW Keyer

Voice keyer and full feature CW memory keyer in a single package. Front panel operation or control through your laptop or PC printer port.

The W9XT Contest Card

This voice keyer and CW interface plugs into your PCs ISA slot. Four 15 second messages.

BCD-10 Band Decoder

Use band port signals from selected Yaesu rigs or PC printer port for automatic antenna switching as you change bands.

XT-4 CW Memory Keyer

Battery powered and small size for VHF rover, FD, DXpeditions and vacations. 4 memories.

XT-4BEACON - CW Beacon IDer

Easy to program IDer for VHF beacons. Low power. Selectable speeds 5-25 WPM.

Rotating tower equipment for LF, HF, VHF and UHF applications. Guy ring bearings for all size towers. Ground or tower mount rotors. Boom to tower plates and brackets for most brands and tower sizes. Boom to tower plates and mounts. Computer control available. Visit our booth at the Dayton Hamvention. Professional installations by: XX Towers (603) 878-1102

Visit our web site for new products.

Unified Microsystems
PO Box 133 Slinger, WI 53086 262-644-9036

www.unifiedmicro.com

Ground mounted base for 300 feet of Rohn 55G/AB105.

Dayton Booth #7 Visit our web site! www.k0xg.com

NCJ
May/June 2005 43

Contest Calendar

Compiled by Bruce Horn, WA7BNM

Heres the list of major contests of possible interest to North American contesters to help you plan your contesting activity through August 2005. The Web version of this calendar is updated more frequently and lists contests for a 12-month period. It can be found at: www.hornucopia.com/contestcal/. As usual, please notify me of any corrections or additions to this calendar. I can be contacted via e-mail at: bhorn@hornucopia.com. Good luck and have fun! May 2005
May CW Sprint AGCW QRP/QRP Party MARAC County Hunter Contest, CW Nevada QSO Party US IPARC Annual Contest, CW 10-10 International Spring Contest, CW Microwave Spring Sprint Oregon QSO Party Indiana QSO Party ARI International DX Contest New England QSO Party US IPARC Annual Contest, SSB Portuguese Navy Day Contest, CW/SSB CQ-M International DX Contest VOLTA WW RTTY Contest Mid-Atlantic QSO Party FISTS Spring Sprint 50 MHz Spring Sprint VK/Trans-Tasman 80m Contest, Phone EU PSK DX Contest Portuguese Navy Day Contest, PSK31 Manchester Mineira CW Contest His Maj. King of Spain Contest, CW CQ WW WPX Contest, CW ARCI Hoot Owl Sprint MI QRP Memorial Day CW Sprint 0000Z-0400Z, May 1 0000Z-1900Z, May 1 0000Z, May 7 to 2400Z, May 8 0000Z, May 7 to 0600Z, May 8 0000Z-2400Z, May 7 0001Z, May 7 to 2400Z, May 8 0600-1300 local, May 7 1400Z, May 7 to 0200Z, May 8 1600Z, May 7 to 0400Z, May 8 2000Z, May 7 to 1959Z, May 8 2000Z, May 7 to 0500Z, May 8 and 1300Z-2400Z, May 8 0000Z-2400Z, May 8 0800Z, May 14 to 2300Z, May 15 1200Z, May 14 to 1200Z, May 15 1200Z, May 14 to 1200Z, May 15 1600Z, May 14 to 0400Z, May 15 and 1100Z-2400Z, May 15 1700Z-2100Z, May 14 2300Z, May 14 to 0300Z, May 15 0800Z-1400Z, May 21 1200Z, May 21 to 1200Z, May 22 1300Z, May 21 to 1300Z, May 22 1500Z, May 21 to 2400Z, May 22 1800Z, May 21 to 1800Z, May 22 0000Z, May 28 to 2359Z, May 29 2000Z-2400Z, May 29 2300Z, May 29 to 0300Z, May 30 10-10 International Summer Contest, SSB 0001Z, Aug 6 to 2359Z, Aug 7 National Lighthouse Weekend 0001Z, Aug 6 to 2359Z, Aug 7 European HF Championship 1200Z-2359Z, Aug 6 ARRL UHF Contest 1800Z, Aug 6 to 1800Z, Aug 7 North America QSO Party, CW 1800Z, Aug 6 to 0600Z, Aug 7 SARL HF Phone Contest 1230Z-1630Z, Aug 7 WAE DX Contest, CW 0000Z, Aug 13 to 2359Z, Aug 14 Maryland-DC QSO Party 1600Z, Aug 13 to 0400Z, Aug 14 and 1600Z-2359Z, Aug 14 SARTG WW RTTY Contest 0000Z-0800Z, Aug 20 and 1600Z-2400Z, Aug 20 and 0800Z-1600Z, Aug 21 ARRL 10 GHz and Up Contest 0600 local, Aug 20 to 2400 local, Aug 21 Keymans Club of Japan Contest 1200Z, Aug 20 to 1200Z, Aug 21 North American QSO Party, SSB 1800Z, Aug 20 to 0600Z, Aug 21 New Jersey QSO Party 2000Z, Aug 20 to 0700Z, Aug 21 and 1300Z, Aug 21 to 0200Z, Aug 22 ALARA Contest 0600Z, Aug 27 to 1159Z, Aug 28 Hawaii QSO Party 0700Z, Aug 27 to 2200Z, Aug 28 SCC RTTY Championship 1200Z, Aug 27 to 1159Z, Aug 28 YO DX HF Contest 1200Z, Aug 27 to 1200Z, Aug 28 Ohio QSO Party 1600Z, Aug 27 to 0400Z, Aug 28 SARL HF CW Contest 1230Z-1630Z, Aug 28

I shudda used NA

June 2005
VK/Trans-Tasman 80m Contest, CW IARU Region 1 Field Day, CW RSGB National Field Day QRP TAC Sprint WorldRadio Friends Day QSO Party ANARTS WW RTTY Contest Portugal Day Contest Asia-Pacific Sprint, SSB GACW WWSA CW DX Contest ARRL June VHF QSO Party SARL Kids Day All Asian DX Contest, CW SMIRK Contest West Virginia QSO Party Quebec QSO Party Kids Day Contest Marconi Memorial HF Contest ARCI Milliwatt Field Day ARRL Field Day His Maj. King of Spain Contest, SSB 0800Z-1400Z, Jun 4 1500Z, Jun 4 to 1459Z, Jun 5 1500Z, Jun 4 to 1500Z, Jun 5 1800Z-2359Z, Jun 4 1800Z, Jun 4 to 1800Z, Jun 5 0000Z, Jun 11 to 2400Z, Jun 12 0000Z-2400Z, Jun 11 1100Z-1300Z, Jun 11 1500Z, Jun 11 to 1500Z, Jun 12 1800Z, Jun 11 to 0300Z, Jun 13 0700Z-0900Z, Jun 16 0000Z, Jun 18 to 2400Z, Jun 19 0000Z, Jun 18 to 2400Z, Jun 19 1600Z, Jun 18 to 0200Z, Jun 19 1700Z, Jun 18 to 0300Z, Jun 19 1800Z-2400Z, Jun 18 1400Z, Jun 25 to 1400Z, Jun 26 1800Z, Jun 25 to 2100Z, Jun 26 1800Z, Jun 25 to 2100Z, Jun 26 1800Z, Jun 25 to 1800Z, Jun 26

NA

Contest Logging Software

July 2005
RAC Canada Day Contest Venezuelan Independence Day Contest Original QRP Contest DARC 10-Meter Digital Contest MI QRP July 4th CW Sprint VK/Trans-Tasman 160m Contest, Phone IARU HF World Championship FISTS Summer Sprint ARCI Summer Homebrew Sprint CQ Worldwide VHF Contest North American QSO Party, RTTY RSGB Low Power Field Day Great Lakes Sweepstakes VK/Trans-Tasman 160m Contest, CW RSGB IOTA Contest ARS Flight of the Bumblebees 0000Z-2359Z, Jul 1 0000Z, Jul 2 to 2359Z, Jul 3 1500Z, Jul 2 to 1500Z, Jul 3 1100Z-1700Z, Jul 3 2300Z, Jul 4 to 0300Z, Jul 5 0800Z-1400Z, Jul 9 1200Z, Jul 9 to 1200Z, Jul 10 1700Z-2100Z, Jul 9 2000Z-2400Z, Jul 10 1800Z, Jul 16 to 2100Z, Jul 17 1800Z, Jul 16 to 0600Z, Jul 17 0900Z-1600Z, Jul 17 0000Z, Jul 23 to 2359Z, Jul 24 0800Z-1400Z, Jul 23 1200Z, Jul 30 to 1200Z, Jul 31 1700Z-2100Z, Jul 31

NA is a contest program that is easy-to-use, has templates for most contests, will allow you to design your own templates and can be used as a general logging program. Operation is simple and most active contesters can sit down and use it right away. Runs on almost all computers from 8088 to stateof-the-art Pentiums. You get an illustrated manual and one year of free upgrades with your purchase. NA is fimly committed to the future of contesting and ensuring that the program is kept up-to-date and fun to use. NA Contest Logging Software v 10.x $60 US Shipping $5.95 Overseas $9.95 NA Website: www.datomonline.com

http://www.radio-ware.com
e-mail @ radware@radio-ware.com

Radioware & Radio Bookstore

PO Box 209 Rindge, NH 03461-0209

August 2005
TARA Grid Dip Shindig 0000Z-2400Z, Aug 6

(800) 457-7373

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August 2004 NAQP SSB Contest Results

In an incredibly close finish, W9RE used his outstanding multiplier total from Indiana to edge Floridian K4XS by a little more than 300 points to take first place in the August edition of the North American QSO Party SSB contest. W5WMU operated from his Louisiana QTH for third place with K7RL and K0DU following closely behind for fourth and fifth from Washington and Colorado, respectively. N6NF took sixth from California, while N2IC operated from New Mexico for seventh. Tennessean N4ZZ captured eighth by less than 100 points over NN3W who operated from Maryland, and N3AD was tenth from Pennsylvania. In the single-op QRP power category, Georgian NA4BW repeated his January 2004 QRP SSB win by slightly more than 100 points over second-place finisher W1KLM, operating from Arkansas. N8IE, WAVBW and W6AQ were third through fifth from Ohio, Minnesota and California, respectively. The KTR operators used their superior multiplier total to capture first place in the multi-two category from Minnesota. W4MYA took second from Virginia, while K9SEX was third from Texas. W9REs first place single-op finish helped power the Society of Midwest Contesters #1 team to first-place in the team competition. The Tennessee Contest Group Thunderbirds team was second, while the Southern California Contest Club #1 team was third even though it had no members with top-ten single op finishes. Single Op Top Ten Breakdowns
Call Score W9RE 178,374 K4XS 178,035 W5WMU169,920 K7RL 168,792 KDU 167,844 N6NF 138,861 N2IC 136,041 N4ZZ 130,050 NN3W 129,978 N3AD 125,417 QSOs Mults 160 80 822 217 74/30 210/49 1079 165 3/3 57/27 1062 160 19/10 103/30 1082 156 9/9 69/31 1182 142 4/3 84/30 999 139 0/0 67/27 993 137 5/3 81/26 867 150 35/17 161/41 783 166 44/19 59/25 751 167 43/22 74/30 40 250/50 133/44 343/52 236/53 319/53 147/45 233/46 370/50 190/43 182/45

Bruce Horn, WA7BNM bhorn@hornucopia.com

20 229/52 829/58 569/55 764/59 773/54 759/58 653/55 299/40 435/45 430/52

15 10 43/22 16/14 31/21 26/12 22/10 6/3 3/3 1/1 0/0 2/2 22/8 4/1 21/7 0/0 1/1 1/1 48/27 7/7 20/16 2/2

Team SMC #1 FCGOJ#1

GMR #2 GMR #2 TCG TB PVRC U FRC

Single Op QRP Top Five Breakdowns

Call Score QSOs Mults NA4BW 20,608 224 92 W1KLM 20,501 247 83 N8IE 19,096 217 88 81 WAVBW 17,982 222 W6AQ 8,540 140 61 160 0/0 1/1 12/7 0/0 2/1 80 41/19 18/13 13/9 24/18 5/1 40 96/31 164/39 99/33 40/21 18/14 20 79/35 61/27 81/29 150/35 96/39 15 6/6 3/3 9/7 8/7 12/4 10 2/1 0/0 3/3 0/0 7/2 Team SECC 2 TCG GTO MRRC
HHQRP

Multi-Two Breakdowns
Call Score KTR 229,582 W4MYA 215,798 K9SEX 206,976 QSOs Mults 160 80 1202 191 55/28 111/36 1154 187 66/23 177/39 1232 168 25/11 101/32 40 525/55 403/53 405/56 20 466/51 485/59 659/57 15 35/16 16/7 32/9 10 10/5 7/6 10/3

4. 5. 6. 7. 8. 9. 10. 11. 12. 13. 14. 15. 16. 17. 18. 19. 20. 21. 22. 23. 24. 25. 26. 27. 28. 29. 30. 31. 32. 33. 34. 35.

GM Rockies #2 (KDU, N2IC) ................................................................. Yankee Clipper Contest Club (K1KD, KK1L, KG1E, K5ZD) .................. FCG TEAM OJ #1 (K4XS, W7RN, KK4TA) ............................................. FOs Fone Fellows (W5FO, N5QQ, W5GN, N5TY, K5IID) ..................... PVRC UNO (NN3W, NX9T, N4ZR) .......................................................... NCCC #2 (K6LRN, N6ZFO, NI6T, ND2T, KJ6RA) .................................. Team FRC (N3AD, N2NC, W2RDS) ........................................................

303,885 293,685 287,664 255,270 244,872 224,960 213,248

Team Scores
1. SMC #1 W9RE 178,374 KOU 104,819 W9IU 78,970 N9RV 48,026 Total 410,189 2. TCG Thunderbirds N4ZZ 130,050 KEJ 101,060 W7GG 99,630 KE5OG 54,439 Total 385,487 3. SCCC #1 N6ED 101,394 N6KI 93,564 K6AM 86,112 WN6K 54,466 K4RO 308 Total 335,536

SECC Team 1 (WW4LL, K4BAI, AA4LR, W4ATL) .................................. 186,101 NCCC #1 (W6LD, W6YX) ......................................................................... 184,468 SCCC #2 (N6HC, W6TK, K6EY, WA6BOB) ............................................ 122,132 GM Rockies #1 (WA7LNW, KUK, KGAS, KRI, KO7X) ..................... 120,882 TCG Corvettes (NA1QP, K4BEV, AB8NI, K1GU) ................................... 111,996 Team LDXA (N9FN, N9LF, K9WX, KF9UP, K9EFP) .............................. 110,605 SECC Team 2 (KT4ZB, WA4TII, NA4BW, KU8E, K4AQ) ....................... 109,140 SMC #2 (WT9U, KA9F, KM9M, WI9WI) .................................................... 95,008 Mad River Radio Club (K8MR, N8IE, W8CAR, K8KHZ) .......................... 91,587 SECC Team 3 (KA1DWX, W4BD, WB4SQ, NJ8J) ................................... 88,052 Team CTRI (NW1E, NY1Q, KO1H, W3TB) ............................................... NCCC #3 (AE6Y, W6OAT, K6DGW, WA6ST) ............................................ Wed Rather Be Dragracing (AF4QZ, K3ASK) ......................................... NCCC #4 (W6FRH, KO6LU, N6RCE, NU6T) ........................................... TCG GTOS (W1KLM, KE4OAR, N1WI, WA4JA, AF4QB) ...................... FCG TEAM OJ #2 (K4PV, W4WR)) ........................................................... NCCC #5 (KE6ZSN, WA4FIB, N6AJR, W6ZZZ) ...................................... PVRC DOS (K7SV, KB3KAQ, K4AF) ........................................................ SMC Team 3 Part Timers (K9JS) ............................................................... Hollywood Hills QRP Contest Club (W6AQ, W6RCL) ............................. 86,520 79,462 62,550 53,600 52,397 44,310 33,543 22,033 21,000 11,335

TCG Roadrunners (K4BP, NN5A) .............................................................. 10,761 TCG Cameros (WETC, KM4H, W4TDB) ................................................... 8489 SECC Team 4(W4NTI) .................................................................................. 3312 TCG Mustangs (N4JN) ..................................................................................... 936 SCCC #3 (K6ZCL) ............................................................................................ 520

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Single Operator Scores Call Score QSOs Mults K1KD 123,080 905 136 KK1L 98,658 609 162 K1TTT (K2WR) 70,077 497 141 KG1E 43,912 499 88 NA1QP 36,673 403 91 NW1E (K1JN) 33,674 298 113 K5ZD 28,035 267 105 NY1Q (N1HRA) 23,730 339 70 KK1KW 22,400 224 100 KO1H 20,746 253 82 KA2KON 3,612 84 43 K1IR 3,520 88 40 K1YK 1,785 51 35 W1DMM 748 34 22 WBR 532 28 19 W1CRK 144 16 9 KQ1R 108 12 9 N2NC W6XR W2RDS N2CU W3TB WA2RY K2BL AB2SA K2HVE NN3W N3AD W3IQ K3ASK KB3KAQ NA3V AA2AD WA3G KB3GQK K4XS N4ZZ NX9T K0EJ NA4K WW4LL K4BAI AF4QZ AA4LR K4PV KT4ZB WA4TII KT4Q KA1DWX K4BEV W4BD N4BP W4ATL *NA4BW KK4TA N1JAC N4ZI AA4CF K1GU K7SV K4GM N4JED KE4OAR N1WI WB4SQ K5EEE N2IXX KI4EVF NJ8J K4AT N7DLS AJ4IM WB2RHM WA4JA K4BP KU8E NN5A AF4QB KG4URP KC9LC NY4N *K4AQ W4NTI KF4EJB KG4ZXP 71,426 31,040 16,405 11,152 8,370 2,156 1,012 943 374 129,978 125,417 28,512 15,624 9,664 7,500 2,079 1,148 1,080 178,035 130,050 112,412 101,060 87,120 70,485 49,910 46,926 45,008 42,420 40,392 39,330 38,040 37,750 34,086 32,032 30,951 20,698 20,608 20,232 20,111 19,095 18,177 13,797 12,225 11,850 10,950 10,664 10,304 10,080 9,790 9,230 9,042 8,190 7,252 7,250 6,324 6,120 6,077 5,763 5,238 4,998 4,851 4,752 4,664 4,524 3,572 3,312 3,192 3,174 503 320 193 164 135 77 46 41 22 783 751 352 217 151 125 63 41 45 1079 867 716 652 605 555 434 474 388 420 396 345 317 302 299 308 543 262 224 281 221 201 219 189 163 158 150 172 161 144 178 130 137 126 148 125 102 102 103 113 97 98 99 88 106 87 94 72 76 69 142 97 85 68 62 28 22 23 17 166 167 81 72 63 60 33 28 24 165 150 157 155 144 127 115 99 116 100 102 114 120 124 114 104 57 79 92 72 91 95 83 73 75 75 73 62 64 70 55 71 66 65 49 58 62 60 59 51 54 51 49 54 44 52 38 46 42 46

QTH VT VT MA MA CT CT MA RI NH RI NH MA ME CT CT MA NH
NJ NY NJ NY NY NJ NJ NJ NJ MD PA PA MD MD PA PA MD PA FL TN NC TN TN GA GA SC GA FL GA GA GA AL TN GA FL GA GA FL NC TN GA TN VA VA VA TN TN GA FL SC VA GA KY TN VA NC TN TN GA TN TN VA VA TN GA AL FL KY

Team Yankee Clipper Contest Club Yankee Clipper Contest Club

Yankee Clipper Contest Club TCG Corvettes Team CTRI Yankee Clipper Contest Club Team CTRI Team CTRI

Call K4AMC KM4H W4WR W2OO W4SOU/M N4JN W4TDB KG4MWO WA4OSD K4RO K4AF (K9GY) K9GWB

Score QSOs Mults 3,120 78 40 1,953 63 31 1,890 70 27 1,392 58 24 1,000 40 25 936 36 26 920 40 23 476 28 17 416 26 16 308 22 14 144 16 9 49 7 7
160 137 141 125 125 132 85 112 101 97 116 98 85 83 73 82 87 83 61 47 33 23 23 11 139 129 142 138 138 127 113 114 109 110 105 112 103 104 88 93 94 89 77 78 63 75 75 58 74 63 56 58 61 60 59 61 48 45 46 48 44 43 40 29 34 29 26 26 20 5 156 135 129

QTH TN TN FL TN KY TN TN FL TN TN VA TN
LA NM TX TX TX TX NM TX TX TX TX TX AR AR LA AR LA TX TX OK TX TX NM LA CA CA CA CA CA CA CA CA CA CA CA CA CA CA CA CA CA CA CA CA CA CA CA CA CA CA CA CA CA CA CA CA CA CA CA CA CA CA KH6 CA CA KH6 CA CA CA CA

Team
TCG Cameros FCG TEAM OJ #2 TCG Mustangs TCG Cameros TCG Thunderbirds PVRC DOS

Team FRC Team FRC Team CTRI

PVRC UNO Team FRC Wed Rather Be Dragracing PVRC DOS

W5WMU 169,920 1062 N2IC 136,041 993 N5DO 97,713 693 K5TR (WM5R) 89,500 716 W5FO 70,375 563 N5QQ 67,320 510 K5AM 58,820 692 K5XR (W5ASP) 56,336 503 KE5OG 54,439 539 W5GN 52,089 537 N5TY 48,720 420 W5LEX (KC5YKX)40,278 411 W5MK 26,350 310 *W1KLM 20,501 247 N5CRO 20,440 280 K7RB 19,024 232 N5YE 17,922 206 K5IID 16,766 202 NA5VY 8,601 141 NEP 4,183 89 K5WWT 2,112 64 N5DTT 874 38 AD5BK 805 35 N5II 176 16 N6NF 138,861 N6ED 101,394 W6LD (@W6YX)100,394 N6KI 93,564 K6AM 86,112 W6YX (K6UFO) 84,074 WN6K 54,466 K6LRN 50,844 N6EE 50,140 N6ZFO 49,060 W6TK 48,930 NI6T 47,488 ND2T 46,041 AD6TF 37,960 W6FRH 32,912 KJ6RA 31,527 AE6Y 29,516 W6OAT 23,852 K6RB 21,098 K6DGW 18,174 KE6ZSN 18,018 WB6JJJ 17,700 KO6LU 15,150 W6XU 13,166 K6QK 12,580 K6VVA 9,639 WA4FIB 9,352 K6EY 9,338 *W6AQ 8,540 WA6ST 7,920 WA6BOB 7,729 KD6PQF 7,686 K6III 6,192 N6AJR 4,230 N6VH 4,186 N6RCE 3,600 WB6KDH 3,344 *W6RCL 2,795 AH6NF 2,600 W6ZZZ 1,943 NU6T 1,938 AH6RH 1,827 AE6IP 832 KG6NDO 806 K6ZCL 520 *W6IER 30 K7RL 168,792 W7GG 99,630 W7RN (K5KG) 89,397 999 786 707 678 624 662 482 446 460 446 466 424 447 365 374 339 314 268 274 233 286 236 202 227 170 153 167 161 140 132 131 126 129 94 91 75 76 65 65 67 57 63 32 31 26 6 1082 738 693

GM Rockies #2 FOs Fone Fellows FOs Fone Fellows TCG Thunderbirds FOs Fone Fellows FOs Fone Fellows TCG GTOS

FOs Fone Fellows

FCG TEAM OJ #1 TCG Thunderbirds PVRC UNO TCG Thunderbirds SECC Team 1 SECC Team 1 Wed Rather Be Dragracing SECC Team 1 FCG TEAM OJ #2 SECC Team 2 SECC Team 2 SECC Team 3 TCG Corvettes SECC Team 3 SECC Team 1 SECC Team 2 FCG TEAM OJ #1

SCCC NCCC SCCC SCCC NCCC SCCC NCCC NCCC SCCC NCCC NCCC NCCC NCCC NCCC NCCC

#1 #1 #1 #1 #1 #1 #2 #2 #2 #2 #2 #4 #2 #3 #3

NCCC #3 NCCC #5 NCCC #4

TCG Corvettes PVRC DOS TCG GTOS TCG GTOS SECC Team 3

NCCC #5 SCCC #2 Hollywood Hills QRP Contest Club NCCC #3 SCCC #2 NCCC #5 NCCC #4 Hollywood Hills QRP Contest Club NCCC #5 NCCC #4

SECC Team 3

TCG GTOS TCG Roadrunners SECC Team 2 TCG Roadrunners TCG GTOS

SCCC #3

SECC Team 2 SECC Team 4

WA OR TCG Thunderbirds NV FCG TEAM OJ #1

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Call N7LOX WA7LNW NC7M W7KB N7RX W6IXP/7 KC0NNT W6RLL W7SST KO7X AL1G K7AEK N7ON KI7Y
K8MR K8IR N8RY AB8NI WA8WV *N8IE KB8TYJ W8CAR W8TM K8MJZ K8KHZ AK8B WR0N W8KNO KC8UMB N4ZR KC8YKQ KC8YIP *WB8JUI KC8UR *N8PVZ W9RE KE9S W9IU WT9U KB9OWD N2BJ N9RV N9FN N9LF N9HZ K9JS

Score QSOs Mults 70,882 581 122 62,328 636 98 25,916 418 62 17,886 271 66 15,311 251 61 13,524 196 69 7,526 142 53 6,786 117 58 3,535 101 35 3,219 87 37 2,378 82 29 2,145 65 33 2,016 72 28 1,560 65 24
47,192 36,421 29,532 27,440 24,528 19,096 17,302 15,614 13,176 10,600 9,685 6,902 6,441 3,780 3,078 2,482 2,139 1,908 1,666 1,479 1 178,374 79,895 78,970 72,226 59,438 50,504 48,026 39,530 37,878 30,200 21,000 347 301 321 280 336 217 211 211 183 212 149 119 113 84 81 73 69 53 49 51 1 822 551 530 539 526 428 407 335 354 302 250 290 211 208 201 122 81 86 57 58 79 54 49 43 35 24 1182 733 696 545 426 334 335 212 237 222 214 195 289 198 142 132 171 104 113 108 80 136 121 92 98 73 88 82 74 72 50 65 58 57 45 38 34 31 36 34 29 1 217 145 149 134 113 118 118 118 107 100 84 70 87 83 77 43 45 34 41 36 26 30 33 15 18 19 142 143 147 103 92 105 98 95 79 81 79 78 45 62 61 55 41 54 47 44 38

QTH Team WA UT GM Rockies #1 OR UT WA OR AZ AZ OR WY GM Rockies #1 KL7 NV NV OR

OH Mad River Radio Club

Call NMWY KMPH *KCPMH KPHB KC9UMR AKM

VE1SKY VE2AWR VE5SF VA3AVP VE3MGY VA7LC VA3OX VA3XRZ VE3KP VA3NR VY1MB VE3TPZ VY1CQ VA7MJR VY1JA VA3HUN VA2SG PT2ND

Score QSOs Mults 2886 78 37 2048 64 32 1,274 49 26 1250 50 25 620 31 20 320 20 16

37,024 24,182 22,022 17,496 17,325 14,400 8056 6608 6372 5130 4477 3900 2835 2516 882 140 140 10,829 356 226 242 216 225 200 152 118 108 90 121 78 105 74 42 14 14 221 104 107 91 81 77 72 53 56 59 57 37 50 27 34 21 10 10 49

QTH Team CO MN KS MO MO IA
NS PQ SK ON ON BC ON ON ON ON YT ON YT BC YT ON PQ DX

MI MI OH TCG Corvettes WV OH Mad River Radio Club MI OH OH MI MI Mad River Radio Club

* Indicates QRP entry Mad River Radio Club Multi-Two Scores KTR 229,582 1202 191 MN (KAD, WGM, KTR) W4MYA 215,798 1154 187 VA (W4MYA, WA4PGM, KI4FDF) K9SEX 206,976 1232 168 TX (K5NZ, NT5TU, NX5M, N5XJ, K5PI) K5NA 188,256 1184 159 TX (KM5JH, KD5SQF, KI5DR, K5DU, K5NA) NK7U 155,930 1006 155 OR (KL9A, KW7J, W7ZRC, K7ZO, NK7U) W4WS 74,949 581 129 NC (NKTY, KG4ECI, WS4NC, W2DZO, KG4NEP) K4HTA 53,130 462 115 VA (KA4YMA, AF4PM, KF4OD, KG6ZR, KO1D, K4TCM, KF4PPF, KG4JBJ, KF4KJQ, K2HYD, KG4OJT, N4ZPT, AC4LT) VE7FO 14,278 242 59 BC (VE7HAK, VE6IMR, VE7FO) WBTRA 11,072 173 64 MN (KASNC, KACSW, WBTRA) VE4VV 10,752 192 56 MB (VE4VV+Spencer) WA5SOG 7708 164 47 AR (KB5MSN, WA5SOG) W3ARS 5476 148 37 MD (W3ARS) KC9BXV 2244 68 33 IN (WD9EYB, KB9ZVA, KC9AGL, KC9UU, KA9OKO, K9VDQ, AB9GI, N9VMH, WA9TGO, KB9WVX, KG9GN) W6YV 748 34 22 CA (WB2TVB, KG6CUK, KG6CUX) Check Logs: AF5P, K5WW, K5ZG, KB1HDO, KB9WQJ, N3JI, N4GG, N5LT, N8PUG, SP6IEQ, W3PT, W4KAZ. Team LDXA GM Rockies #2 SMC #1 SCCC #2 GM Rockies #1

OH WV OH MI WV PVRC UNO OH MI OH OH MI IN WI IN IN WI IL IN IN IN IN IL WI IN IN IN IL IL WI IL WI WI IL IN WI IL IN CO MO MN ND MO CO KS MN MN MN IA SD CO MN MN CO MN IA NE KS MN SMC #1 SMC #1 SMC #2 SMC #1 Team LDXA Team LDXA SMC Team 3 Part Timers SMC #2 Team LDXA Team LDXA

WW9R 20,300 KA9F 18,357 K9WX 17,264 KF9UP 15,477 K9UQN 5246 N9LYE 3645 K9QVB/9 2924 KM9M 2337 WI9WI 2088 W9YT (KC9CJW) 2,054 N0ICV 1620 N9KT 1617 KF9YR 645 K9PLX 630 K9EFP 456 KDU KOU NAT N6HC KRAY KUK NAG KUH KEL *WAVBW NTF KHW KGAS NBUI KCRET KRI WA2MNO WETC NWY KCDEB *KVH 167,844 104,819 102,312 56,135 39,192 35,070 32,830 20,140 18,723 17,982 16,906 15,210 13,005 12,276 8662 7260 7011 5616 5311 4752 3040

SMC #2 SMC #2

Top Ten Combined Single Operator Scores for August 2004 NAQPs
Mike, W9RE, won the combined CW/SSB NAQP competition with his first place SSB and fourth place CW finishes. W5WMU and N2IC took second and third places, respectively. Congratulations to all of these great ops! Operator W9RE W5WMU N2IC N4ZZ N3AD KOU NAT N5DO N6NF N2NL CW Points 417 417 439 444 309 311 303 299 165 500 SSB Points 500 476 381 364 351 294 287 274 389 0 Total Points 917 893 820 808 660 605 590 573 554 500

GM Rockies #1 GM Rockies #1 TCG Cameros

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8-Direction Transmit Four Square With Controller

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Receive Four Square With Controller

W8JI design Performance of a 2-wavelength Beverage antenna in a fraction of the space Better than EWE, Flag, Pennant, or K9AY arrays Operates from 100 kHz to 30 MHz 4 directions selectablesuperior F/B Can use with DX Engineering 102 inch Active Antenna with full size performance DXE-RFS-1P Receive Four Square with Controller...$289.95 First units available at Hamvention!

When You Want The Best!

Remote Antenna Switches

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Rugged, lightweight design 5KW /10KW DX Engineering Antenna Tuner Balun included Stainless steel hardware Includes 100 feet of premium ladder feedline DXE-WA-260 260 foot Dipole Antenna for 160m and below .............................$175.00 DXE-WA-135 135 foot Dipole Antenna for 80m and below..........................$165.00 DXE-WA-070 70 foot Dipole Antenna for 40m and below..........................$155.00 First units available at Hamvention!

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W8JI design Operates from 100 kHz to 30 MHz killer SWL antenna! Receive only Same performance as DXE-ARAV-1P a full size 160m dipole in just 210 inches Uses 102 inch whip for antenna element Directional arrays easily set up using DX Engineering Receive Four Square Can be vertical or dipole configuration DXE-ARAV-1P Active Receive Antenna, Vertical Configuration .................$229.00 DXE-ARAH-1P Active Receive Antenna, Horizontal Configuration ............$259.00 First units available at Hamvention!

Saratoga EZ-PSK Interfaces

Sound card interface for digital mode operation No jumpersjust plug in and go No external power required Icom, Kenwood, and Yaesu versions available USB interface versions also available All packages include CD with HamScope and Digipan software EZ-PSK, non-USB models ..........................................$43.95 EZ-PSK, USB models..................................................$73.95 See DXEngineering.com for more details!

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Reduce or eliminate ignition/injector noise 3 S-units improvement not uncommon! Hear many more stations New 31-mix is optimal for HF Special large-mass beads Snaps onno cutting Mobile or home useany RFI application DXE-CSB-275P Up to 0.275", 10 pack..........................$23.25 DXE-CSB-525P Up to 0.525", 5 pack............................$22.25 DXE-CSB-750P Up to 0.750", 5 pack............................$25.80

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Rugged, lightweight design Use with your tuner (3.5 through 30 MHz) 500-watt transmit rating Works with Ham and SWL 70 feet long no coils Works best with 4:1 balun (in-tuner or separate) Includes UV-rated DX Engineering wire, End-Insulators and Center-T Stainless steel hardware and 100 feet of premium ladder feedline included DXE-SWA-073 ............................................................$75.95 First units available at Hamvention!

Stainless Radial Plate with Coax Attachment

Makes radial attachment a snap Fits pipe, 4x4s and 6x6s Patent 0.125" thick 304 stainless steel Pending High current coax connection to radials Accommodates 60-120 radials (20 bolt sets included) DXE-RADP-1P Complete with 20 stainless bolt sets ......................................$49.95 DXE-RADP-1HWK 20 sets of 0.25" stainless hardware .........................$4.95 DXE-8x16RT Coax jumper cableinterface cable for easy connection to Hustler BTV; $13.95 DXE-CAVS-1P Stainless Saddle Clamp, 0.5" to 1.75".....................................$7.89 DXE-363-SST Silver/Teflon bulkhead .................$6.95

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Available in nine sizes ranging from 0.5" to 3.0". Complete dimensions available on our website. Starting at just $3.99!

Clamp Size 2.0" 2.5" 3.0"

Torque That One Clamp Will Hold 213 ft.-lbs. 245 ft.-lbs. 286 ft.-lbs.

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Easy to installmuch cheaper than a new radio! See website for higher power and other frequencies. PPC-IS-50UX-CO Flange, 2kW at HF, 375W at VHF ........$56.95 See DXEngineering.com for many more Polyphaser products!

Radial Kit
Kit includes four radials cut to length for each of 10, 15, and 20 meters. 1/4 inch ring lugs are included. Just strip the wire ends, crimp, and solder. Attach to a radial plate to maximize the performance of your HF vertical antenna. DXE-RADW-1K 12 Radial wire set for 10, 15, and 20m ............................$14.95 DXE-RADW-40MK 4 Radial wire set for 40m...$12.95 DXE-RADW-80MK 4 Radial wire set for 80m...$23.95

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Doubles the efficiency of short antennas for mobile and base. Includes 6", 12", and 24" Rodz. DXE-HR-1P For Hustler Mobile antennas .....................$37.50 DXE-HR-2P For Screwdriver antennas .....................$47.95 DXE-RODZ-48P 48" rods ......................$12.95 DXE-RODZ-72P 72" rods ......................$22.50 DXE-MM-1* Auto transformer ........$34.95
*Auto-transformer matches low impedance of short antennas for lower SWR.

Tilt Base
Easily raise/lower your Hustler, Hy-Gain or Butternut for tuning, weather or CC&R accommodation. DXE-TB-1P For Hustler verticals...$39.95 DXE-TB-2P For Butternut and most Hy-Gain 1/4-wave verticals .....................$59.95

Patent Pending

Verticals on Sale! Best Antenna Value Anywhere!

Easiest assembly and tuning of any multi-band vertical 4BTV (10, 15, 20, 40m).................................$108.75 5BTV (10, 15, 20, 40, & 75-80m) .................$138.75 6BTV (10, 15, 20, 30, 40, & 75-80m) ...........$168.75 See DXEngineering.com for details!

Patent Pending

See us at Hamvention in 1-7, Dayton! Were in Booths oth next to the prize bo !

DX Engineering Current Baluns

Starting at just $84.95!
Patent

Reversible Beverage System RBS-1P

Two beverage antennas in the same space, receive in opposing directions Both antennas can share common feedline to one receiver or use two feedlines to different receivers Simply apply 12-15 Vdc to the feedline to switch receive direction DXE-RBS-1P.............................................................$129.00

Amateur and commercial models with Pending power handling of 5, 10, and 10 kW-plus High power baluns for use w/antenna tuners High efficiency, low lossdesigns by W8JI 1:1, 2:1, 4:1, 6:1, 9:1, and 12:1 ratios available

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1.800.777.0703

Check our secure website for Sales, Specials, E-mail and the parts that you need! Tech/International: 330.572.3200
SOURCE CODE: 0505QS

SAVE BIG ON ANTENNAS, TOWERS & CABLE

DRAWN 6063-T832 1.250" ........$1.55/ft .375 ............. $.70/ft 1.375" ........ $1.75/ft .500" ............$.80/ft 1.500" ........$1.95/ft .625" ............$.90/ft 1.625" ........$2.25/ft .750" .......... $1.00/ft 1.750" ....... $2.50/ft .875" ...........$1.10/ft 1.875" ........$2.75/ft 1.000" ........ $1.20/ft 2.000" ....... $3.00/ft 1.125" ......... $1.35/ft 2.125"........ $3.50/ft IN 6' OR 12' LENGTHS. 6' LENGTHS SHIP UPS. CALL FOR 3 /16"AND 1 /4" ROD, BAR STOCK, AND EXTRUDED TUBING.

TELESCOPING ALUMINUM TUBING

CUSHCRAFT ANTENNAS
13B2/A148-10S ............................. $159/89 A270-6S/A270-10S ........................$79/99 A3S/A4S .................................... $439/549 A50-3S/5S/6S ...................... $99/169/269 A6270-13S ......................................... $199 AR2/ARX2B ....................................$55/69 AR270/AR270B ..............................$89/99 R6000/R8....................................$309/459 X7/X740...................................... $649/269 XM240 ................................................ $679 CALL FOR MORE CUSHCRAFT ITEMS.

FORCE 12MULTIBAND
C3 10/12/15/17/20m, 7 el .................$659 C3E 10/12/15/17/20m, 8 el .................$699 C3S 10/12/15/17/20m, 6 el .................$579 C3SS 10/12/15/17/20m, 6 el .................$599 C4 10/12/15/17/20/40m, 8 el ............$799 C4S 10/12/15/17/20/40m, 7 el ............ $719 C4SXL 10/12/15/17/20/40m, 8 el .......... $1019 C4XL 10/12/15/17/20/40m, 9 el .......... $1189 C19XR 10/15/20m, 11 el .........................$999 C31XR 10/15/20m, 14 el .......................$1389 CALL FOR MORE FORCE 12 ANTENNAS.

TRYLON "TITAN" TOWERS

SELF-SUPPORTING STEEL TOWERS T200-64 64', 15 square feet ..............$1209 T200-72 72', 15 square feet ..............$1429 T200-80 80', 15 square feet ..............$1649 T200-88 88', 15 square feet ..............$1949 T200-96 96', 15 square feet ..............$2249 T300-88 88', 22 square feet ..............$2189 T400-80 80', 34 square feet ..............$2089 T500-72 72', 45 square feet ..............$1979 T600-64 64', 60 square feet ..............$1869 MANY MORE TRYLON TOWERS IN STOCK.

BENCHER / BUTTERNUT
Skyhawk, Triband Beam ...................$1129 HF2V, 2 Band Vertical ....................... $249 HF5B, 5 Band Minibeam .................... $359 HF6VX, 6 Band Vertical ..................... $339 HF9VX, 9 Band Vertical ..................... $369 A1712, 12/17m Kit ................................. $54 CPK, Counterpoise Kit ....................... $129 RMKII, Roof Mount Kit ....................... $159 STRII, Roof Radial Kit ........................ $125 TBR160S, 160m Kit ........................... $139 CALL FOR MORE BENCHER/BUTTERNUT.

M2 VHF/UHF ANTENNAS
6M5X/6M7JHV ............................$209/269 6M2WLC/6M9KHW ....................$459/499 2M4/2M7/2M9 ........................$95/109/129 2M12/2M5WL ..............................$165/209 2M5-440XP, 2m/70cm ....................... $179 440-470-5W/420-450-11 .............. $139/95 432-9WL/432-13WLA ................. $179/239 440-18/440-21ATV ..................... $129/149 SATELLITE ANTENNAS 2MCP14/2MCP22 ....................... $169/239 436CP30/436CP42UG ...............$239/279

ROHN TOWER
25G/45G/55G ...................... $99/209/259 25AG2/3/4 .............................$119/119/129 45AG2/4 ......................................$229/249 AS25G/AS455G............................$49/109 BPC25G/45G/55G................. $89/119/129 BPL25G/45G/55G .................$99/129/149 GA25GD/45/55 ...................... $79/109/139 GAR30/GAS604 .............................$39/29 SB25G/45/55 .........................$49/109/129 TB3/TB4........................................ $99/119 PLEASE CALL FOR MORE ROHN PRICES.

US TOWER
MA40/MA550 ..........................$1099/1699 MA770/MA850 ....................... $2799/4349 TMM433SS/HD ...................... $1479/1789 TMM541SS ...................................... $1939 TX438/TX455 ......................... $1379/1899 TX472/TX489MDPL ...............$3139/8239 HDX538/HDX555....................$1649/2889 HDX572MDPL.................................. $7549 PLEASE CALL FOR HELP SELECTING A US TOWER FOR YOUR NEEDS. SHIPPED FACTORY DIRECT TO SAVE YOU MONEY!

COMET ANTENNAS
GP15, 6m/2m/70cm Vertical ............. $159 GP6, 2m/70cm Vertical ..................... $149 GP9, 2m/70cm Vertical ..................... $189 B10NMO, 2m/70cm Mobile.................. $39 SB14, 6m/2m/70cm Mobile ................. $59 SBB224NMO,2m/220/70cm ................ $69 SBB2NMO, 2m/70cm Mobile .............. $39 SBB5NMO, 2m/70cm Mobile .............. $55 SBB7NMO, 2m/70cm Mobile............... $69 UHV4/UHV6 ................................ $109/149 MORE COMET ITEMS IN STOCKCALL.

HYGAIN ANTENNAS
AV18HT/AV18S .............................$689/79 AV620/AV640..............................$259/339 DIS71/72/73K...................... $269/569/359 DX77A/DX88 ...............................$389/319 EXP14/QK710 ............................. $519/159 LJ103BA/105CA/155CA ......$145/259/379 LJ203BA/204BA/205BA ..... $289/479/679 TH3MK4/TH3JRS .......................$399/319 TH5MK2/TH2MK3 ......................$849/319 TH11DX/TH7DX ..........................$995/749 VB64DX/VB66DX ....................... $139/249

GLEN MARTIN ENGINEERING

HAZER ELEVATORS FOR 25G H2, Aluminum Hazer, 12 sq ft ............ $359 H3, Aluminum Hazer, 8 sq ft .............. $269 H4, HD Steel Hazer, 16 sq ft .............. $339 ALUMINUM ROOF TOWERS RT424, 4 Foot, 6 sq ft ......................... $159 RT832, 8 Foot, 8 sq ft ........................ $239 RT936, 9 Foot, 18 sq ft ...................... $389 RT1832, 17 Foot, 12 sq ft ................... $519 RT2632, 26 Foot, 9 sq ft ....................$869

UNIVERSAL ALUMINUM TOWERS

4 -40'/50'/60' ..................... $539/769/1089 7-50'/60'/70' .....................$979/1429/1869 9 -40'/50'/60' ....................$759/1089/1529 12- 30'/40' ...................................$579/899 15 -40'/50' ............................... $1019/1449 23 -30'/40' .................................$899/1339 35 -40' .............................................. $1569 BOLD IN PART NUMBER SHOWS WIND LOAD CAPACITY. PLEASE CALL FOR MORE UNIVERSAL MODELS. SHIPPED DIRECT TO YOU TO SAVE YOU MONEY.

DIAMOND ANTENNAS
D130J/DPGH62 ............................ $79/139 F22A/F23A.................................... $89/119 NR72BNMO/NR73BNMO ..............$39/54 NR770HBNMO/NR770RA .............$55/49 X200A, 2m/70cm Vertical.................. $129 X500HNA/X700HNA ................. $229/369 X510MA/510NA .......................... $189/189 X50A/V2000A ...............................$99/149 CR627B/SG2000HD ......................$99/79 SG7500NMO/SG7900A ................$75/112 MORE DIAMOND ANTENNAS IN STOCK.

MFJ
259B, Antenna Analyzer .................... $219 269, Antenna Analyzer ...................... $299 941E, Antenna Tuner ......................... $109 945E, Antenna Tuner ........................... $99 949E, Antenna Tuner ......................... $139 969, Antenna Tuner ........................... $169 986, Antenna Tuner ........................... $289 989C, Antenna Tuner .........................$309 1798, 802m Vertical ......................... $249 1796, 40/20/15/10/6/2m Vert............. $199 BIG MFJ INVENTORY PLEASE CALL.
9106 ......... 6m 9115 ........15m 9130........30m 9110 ........ 10m 9117 ........ 17m 9140........40m 9112 ........ 12m 9120 ........20m 9175 ........75m

COAX CABLE
RG-213/U, (#8267 Equiv.) ...............$.36/ft RG-8X, Mini RG-8 Foam ................. $.19/ft RG-213/U Jumpers ..................Please Call RG-8X Jumpers .......................Please Call CALL FOR MORE COAX/CONNECTORS.

TOWER HARDWARE
3/8"EE / EJ Turnbuckle ...................$11/12 1/2"x9"EE / EJ Turnbuckle ............. $18/19 1/2"x12"EE / EJ Turnbuckle ........... $21/22 3/16" / 1/4" Big Grips ..........................$5/6 PLEASE CALL FOR MORE HARDWARE.

TIMES MICROWAVE LMR COAX

LMR-400 ..........................................$.59/ft LMR-400 Ultraex............................$.89/ft LMR-600 ........................................ $1.19/ft LMR600 Ultraex ...........................$1.95/ft

HIGH CARBON STEEL MASTS

5 FT x .12" / 5 FT x .18" ..................$35/59 10 FT x .18" / 11 FT x .12" ............. $129/80 16 FT x .18" / 14 FT x .12" .......... $179/109 19 FT x .12" / 21 FT x .18" .......... $129/235 22 FT x .25" / 24 FT x .25" .........$349/379

GAP ANTENNAS
Challenger DX .................................... $289 Challenger Counterpoise ..................... $29 Challenger Guy Kit ............................... $19 Eagle DX ............................................ $299 Eagle Guy Kit ....................................... $29 Titan DX ............................................. $329 Titan Guy Kit ........................................ $29 Voyager DX ........................................ $409 Voyager Counterpoise ......................... $49 Voyager Guy Kit ................................... $45 PLEASE CALL FOR DELIVERY INFO.

LAKEVIEW HAMSTICKS

ANTENNA ROTATORS
M2 OR-2800P .................................. $1249 HAM IV / T2X Tailtwister............ $499/569 Yaesu G-450A ................................... $249 Yaesu G-800SA / G-800DXA .....$329/409 G-1000DXA ........................................ $499 Yaesu G-2800SDX........................... $1089 Yaesu G-550 / G-5500 .............. $299/599

PHILLYSTRAN GUY CABLE

HPTG1200I ......................................$.45/ft HPTG2100I ......................................$.59/ft PLP2738 Big Grip (2100)..................$6.00 HPTG4000I ......................................$.89/ft PLP2739 Big Grip (4000) .................$8.50 HPTG6700I ....................................$1.29/ft PLP2755 Big Grip (6700) ............... $12.00 HPTG11200 ....................................$1.89/ft PLP2758 Big Grip (11200) .............. $18.00 PLEASE CALL FOR HELP SELECTING THE PHILLYSTRAN SIZE FOR YOUR PROJECT.

All handle 600W, 7' approximate length, 2:1 typical VSWR .$24.95

HUSTLER ANTENNAS
4BTV/5BTV/6BTV ............... $129/169/199 G6-270R, 2m/70cm Vertical .............. $169 G6-144B/G7-144B....................... $109/179 HUSTLER RESONATORS IN STOCK.

ROTATOR CABLE
R62 (#18) ........................................$.32/ft. R81/82/84 ................. $.25/ft./.39/ft./.85/ft.

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TEXAS TOWERS
(800) 272-3467

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