Denny, KX7M, laments losing a multiplier. He claims to have had lots of fun despite how he looks here!
Newsletter of the Northern California Contest Club
May 1998
George Daughters, K6GT, Editor
(W0YK and FrontPage take the blame in equal measure for any formatting weirdness caused by conversion from George's original copy.)
DATE: Monday, May 11
At South Beach Yacht Club
In San Francisco
DIRECTIONS BELOW!
Directions to South Beach Yacht Club:
From the SOUTH: Take 280 north, and in SF stay to the left until 280 becomes King Street. (Don’t take any exit to the right!) Follow King Street for a few blocks until it merges onto The Embarcadero. Turn right into the Pier 40 parking lot -- if the parking spaces are filled, drive into the building on the pier for more spaces. The SBYC is the first building next to the yacht harbor, right off the parking lot and adjacent to the pier building just noted for additional parking.
From the NORTH: Get on The Embarcadero, and Pier 40 is just South of the Bay Bridge.
From the EAST: Cross the Bay Bridge into San Francisco and get on The Embarcadero to Pier 40 just South of the bridge.
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President .... Steve Merchant, K6AW ... merchant@garlic.com
Vice President/CC ....... J.T. Utley, K7CO ......... k7co@vcr.com
Secretary/Treasurer ... Al Maenchen, AD6E ............... ad6e@aol.com
Directors ....
Andy Faber, AE6Y ............... ae6y@aol.com
Ken Silverman, K2KW ... ken.silverman@airtouch.com
Al Crespo, NH7A …….. nh7a@radiomaui.com
Bob Wolbert, K6XX ………….. k6xx@jps.net
JUG Editor .... George Daughters, K6GT ... gdaught6@leland.stanford.edu
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Greetings and thanks to those who offered their encouragement and support to me as NCCC president this term. It’s a very exciting prospect, and I hope we’ll be able to have a lot of fun. (Special thanks to The California Kilowatt – K2KW – for the name of this column!)
Please join me in a warm thank you to Andy Faber, AE6Y and his team – Bob Wilson N6TV, and Ed Muns, W0YK, with board members Ken Silverman, K2KW, Bruce Sawyer, N6NT, Jim Hollenback, NK6L (ex-WA6SDM), Carl Cook, AI6V plus George Daughters, K6GT, for an outstanding year. They all brought an exceptional level of enthusiasm, energy and personal involvement to the job, and it showed everywhere. Thanks, guys! I hope we will do as well. The other new officers are Jon Utley, K7CO, as VP/CC, and Al Maenchen, AD6E, as Secretary-Treasurer. The board consists of Andy Faber, AE6Y, Ken Silverman, K2KW, Al Crespo, NH7A and Bob Wolbert, K6XX, plus Ed, W0YK, continuing as Awards Chairman, and George, K6GT, agreeing to continue his fine job as JUG Editor for another term. We have held our first board meeting and have sketched out several exciting events for the year. There’ll be more about them soon.
The April meeting was held at H-P in Cupertino. W6OAT provided dinner; we elected officers and board members, and had a contest logging program shootout between CT, NA and TRLog. In typical NCCC fashion, the election was conducted in short order; the gavel passed from AE6Y to K6AW and the regular program began with N6TV moderating.
Bob presented the CT logging program, the de facto standard. The person presenting the NA program was its author, Dave Pruett, K8CC. Dave was planning to be in the area on business and graciously rearranged his schedule so he could come to our meeting. He highlighted the main differences between NA and CT, and gave us a peek at some new functionality including rtty support, which should be available at Dayton. N6TV also demonstrated Topo, GeoClock and BeaconWizard, three very useful programs for contesters.
Logging programs tend to be a little bit like spaghetti sauce – people have their own personal favorites – so it was good to see the three most widely used programs demonstrated so everyone could compare features.
We will be doing some Internet things soon that will make non-radio communications lot easier for club members. If we don’t have a current e-mail address for you, please forward it to any of the officers or board members listed on the masthead.
I’m working on a short survey to find out what folks would like to see, do, and get from their club this year. In the meantime please e-mail me any thoughts you have on the subject:.. merchant@garlic.com.
I hope the club has a good turnout at Visalia this year. If I don’t see you there, I’ll look for you in San Francisco on May 11 for a great roundtable discussion of single-op strategies for improving your WPX CW and IARU scores.
73, Steve, K6AW
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NEW NCCC BOD HOLDS FIRST MEETING
The board meeting was held on Sunday, April 19, 1998, at K6AW's work QTH in Belmont. Those in attendance included K6AW, K7CO, AD6E, N6TV, K6XX, K2KW, K6GT, NH7A, and AE6Y.
Old business discussed:
2. CQP '98 rules changes.
3. CQP '97 status.
New Business
73, Al, AD6E
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Some things always taste better when you have to wait for them, like a 12-inch, loaded pizza after a 4-day camping trip, or a burger from In `N' Out when you've been out of state. Apple pie tastes even better when you've been forced to wait for it to come out of the oven while the tantalizing aroma wets your mouth.
In ham terms, we've all been on a long safari and are returning to a great feast - Cycle 23 is here! The sun is finally coming out of the oven! The only problem is I don't have a fork or a spoon! I live in the top level of a Victorian home and my landlord thinks my small 2-meter vertical antenna is going to be hit by lightning at any moment. The yagi I would like to have for Cycle 23 is out of the question. I’m lucky that I have a father (AF7Y, Dennis) who is into the hobby, and we are in the middle of installing a new tower and yagi.
A few months ago my father found a used US Tower 55-foot crank-up for sale in Fremont. He bought it, but because of all the rain these past few months we delayed taking it down. We finally found a sunny Saturday early in March and took full advantage of it. It took us nearly 14 hours to get the 4-element quad and tower down to the ground and into the U-Haul truck. It was hard work and I was exhausted at the day's end. But I knew what would come from my efforts - visiting rights to AF7Y/6. Now, the hole has been dug, the 4x4x7 feet of concrete poured, and the mounting hardware put in place. We should soon have the tower up. We're thinking of using a 20-foot mast and a Force 12 C4-SXL.
October 10, 1989 is a date I will never forget. I was 17 years old. With a Heathkit SB-101 in my closet and a 10/15m multi-band dipole in my attic, I was able to work all continents in one day. I owe it all to the sun. October 10, 1998, 1999, and 2000 will find me trying to repeat that feat!
Now on to contesting. The CQWW WPX CW contest is coming up - 0000Z May 30 to 2400Z May 31. Our club owns the record for club score in this contest: 97,527,906 in 1992. With improved conditions we should be able to beat our own record.
I look forward to the next year serving as your VP/Contest Chairman. TV-Bob has done a great job: I hope to do as well.
P.S. W6RGG has a secret weapon for WPX - 6 quarts of chocolate milk! (So Bob, what do you do with all of the chocolate milk!? … ed)
73, JT / K7CO
Call (ops) QSOs Mults Score Class
KO6N
(KX7M, K6AW, K3EST, N6IG, AE0M, K1KI,
K2KW, KM6F, IK8ETA)
4710 1038 12166398 M/M
VP5E (K6HNZ) 3491 824 7021304 SOLP
KT6RA (+KD6KKP) 1646 628 2002692 M/S
K6BZ 1156 592 1251488 SOHP
N1CS 553 302 267270 SOLP
W6ISO 366 260 202540 SOHP
W6PLJ 333 217 172515 SOLP
K6III 312 218 146496 15M
NP4IW/WX6 353 216 142776 15M
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Mark June 27 and 28 on your calendar as the day that NCCC will be having the annual June meeting and Field Day at the club station, K6ZM.
This year, thanks to Stan, K6WG, the antennas are back up and running, and with those things called sunspots, look for 24-hour propagation. The station has an operative loop for 80, a 4 el yagi on 40, and 5 el yagis on 20-10. The club will be operating 5D and would like to keep the station on the air the entire contest.
A general meeting will start around noon, the same time as the barbecue starts delivering food, so come early, enjoy the food, the company, and also operate.
We plan to link the stations so that it will be like a multi-multi and the club encourages all of those who have never been to a multi to come on over and operate. Some of the hotshots in the club will have their arms twisted to show up for this laid back operation and will be available to lend a helping hand to our less-experienced operators and, of course, to join in on the fun.
The barbecue will be chicken, links, and all the other usual picnic stuff, and will cost $8.00 for all you can possibly eat and drink. The picnic is from 12:00 PM to 3:00 PM. For those who come later and operate, there will be food in the evening.
Contact me via e-mail at nh7a@radiomaui.com so we can plan the food and operating time.
Bring guests, prospective new members, and even wives and husbands to Field Day!
K6ZM
44 Toyon Terrace
Danville, CA 94526
(925) 837-6894
Directions to K6ZM:
From the South on Highway 680, take the El Cerro off ramp, Left on El Pintado, right on Toyon Terrace.
From the North on Highway 680, take the El Pintado off ramp, left at stop sign, proceed to next sign and turn right, then finally left onto Toyon Terrace.
See you there!
73, Al/NH7A
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A group of NCCC stalwarts showed up at N6RO’s place to put in a serious effort in WPX/SSB. It seems to have paid off, big time! The group is claiming "Number One" position in the U.S…. again! Here are some details and photos of the weekend.
Band Captains : N6RO, KX7M(T94WW), K6AW, K3EST, N6IG, AE0M
Relief Operators : K1KI, K2KW, KM6F(JH1SBE), IK8ETA
Radios : 2x FT1000MP, 2x FT990, TS950S, TS930
Amps : 4x ALPHA 76, LK550, 3-500Zs
Software : TRlog v. 6.24
BAND QSOs Points Prefix Antennas Operator
160SSB 189 164 21 4-Sq, Bevs. N6RO 80SSB 680 2196 87 Yagi/Quad,Wires
KX7M, KM6F
40SSB 609 2632 99 4/4 K6AW
20SSB 1603 3118 474 5/5 K3EST
15SSB 1309 2842 275 6/6 N6IG
10SSB 320 769 82 3/5/5 AE0M,
IK8ETA
Totals 4710 11721 1038
Final Score = 12166398 points!
This year we had some intramural competition to keep things interesting. Despite our attempt to slow him down by using feature-rich TRLog, 'EST Bob wins the QSOs and Mults crowns 1603/474. Challenger Jim, N6IG, took over 15m for a not too shabby 1309/275 and is our new rate champion with a first hour of 158.
Also, unlike last year, our team had some real competition ...
Call used: KU8E (@ QTH of K8CC)
Club or Team Name: Mad River Radio Club
Operators: K8CC, K8GT, K8MM, KU8E, N8CQA, N8NX, W8MJ, WD8S
BAND QSOs Points Antennas
160SSB 224 131 Vertical, Bevs
80SSB 511 1104 4-square
40SSB 353 1502 3L, dipoles
20SSB 1375 2967 5L/5L, 4L south
15SSB 1510 3985 5L/5L, 4L south
10SSB 285 714 5L/5L, 4L south
Totals 4258 10403 1072 = 11,152,016
Too close for comfort! On 80m, where we had the Miki advantage, we had nearly double the QSO points. We may still need that 2nd 4 square on 80m. (Imagine Miki with a 4 square; would he get excited and raise his voice?) With the stack on 40m sans nearby horizontal wires we could "Kick Butt" once again. We probably don't need a 4 square here. Dave, K8CC came to the April NCCC meeting and proffered the usual excuses (it was a new crew, we were still arguing what call to use 10 min before the contest started, etc...) but we agreed that it was a FUN competition.
Drop-in Paolo, IK8ETA, had never logged with a computer before, but was up and running 'em on 10m within two hours Saturday afternoon. His Spanish was very effective into South America. He had so much FUN he stayed overnight and did it again Sunday.
Steve and Tony as usual pounded them out on 40m and 10m with lots of help from the relief ops Kenny and Paolo. Kenny treated the whole team to a BBQ Saturday evening; careful Kenny, or we will start calling this a 'tradition'.
Once again, zero point Qs were one third of our total(!) but one third of our multipliers! Can't live with 'em; can't live without 'em. 'EST-Bob worked 'em fast, he worked 'em first, but this means he worked the highest fraction of zero pointers, too. Once again, casual operators were important, but not nearly as prevalent. Perhaps this means they were making more QSOs this year!
We worked these two counters on all six bands:
KH7R
ZL4SO
and these eight on five bands (missing):
VA3DX (10)
VA3SK (10)
VE6FI (10)
VE6FR (10)
VE6JY (10)
VE6SV (10)
VE7SZ (10)
VE7ZZZ (10)
(wait until 10m REALLY opens!)
and, finally, two clueless non-counters as well on five bands (I'm certain their hearts were in the right place!)
Our score was up nearly 50% from last year (as AE0M), with slightly better conditions, but not much better EU conditions. Eighty and 160 were noisy. It was nice to have an operating team with international flavor, plus a distinguished visitor from the east coast, K1KI!
Ken, N6RO, and Tony, AE0M
|
Owner/Host Ken, N6RO, prepares spaghetti for the world-beating KO6N effort for CQ WPX/SSB! | |
Denny, KX7M, laments losing a multiplier. He claims to have had lots of fun despite how he looks here! |
|
"What’s the call!?" Bob, K3EST, continues to have fun running stations… again, despite his expression. | ||
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(As an Air Force vet, I thought I could sneak this in. Besides, it sounds like a good event, and it would probably be a good practice for the major QSO party of the year, our very own CQP, the following month…ed)
1998
Air Force Anniversary
QSO Party
In response to an enormous number of requests following the Air Force 50th Anniversary QSO Party in September 1997, the AF Anniversary QSO Party is ow an annual event!
It will be held on the third weekend of September, 1998 from 0001UTC on Sept 19th until 2359UTC on Sept 20th. Full rules are at The Razorback Radio Club web site:
http://ourworld.compuserve.com/homepages/k5xs
PURPOSE: The purpose of the annual event is gathering on the air as many active and former members of the Air Force as possible for a weekend of fellowship and in remembrance of all those who served.
POINT IDENTIFIERS: Point identifiers will be used to identify participants' Air Force experience. The point values will be determined by subtracting the year the participant entered the Air Force from the year 1998. For example, people who joined in 1947 will have a point value of 51 (1998-1947 = 51) and will identify "/AF51" on CW or digital modes, and "Air Force Fifty-One" on voice. People who joined in 1988 would have a point value of 10 (1998-1988 = 10) and will identify as "/AF10" or "Air Force Ten." Participants without Air Force experience will identify as "/AF1" or "Air Force One."
Participants may use experience in any Air Force component (active, Air National Guard, or Air Force Reserve) to determine their point identifier. Members of our Air Force auxiliary, Civil Air Patrol, may use point identifiers based on when they joined CAP as a cadet or senior member. Previous members of our parent organization, the Army Air Corps, may use a point identifier of "AF51."
MULTIPLIERS: In 1997, final score was determined by totaling all of the point identifiers for all of the stations worked. For 1998, we are adding a multiplier which will be determined by counting the number of different point identifiers worked and multiplying your score by that multiplier. For example, if you work four stations with point identifiers of "AF8," "AF22," "AF8," and "AF4," you would determine your final score by first adding together all of the point identifiers (8+22+8+4 = 42) and then multiplying that number by three (since you worked three different point identifiers: AF8, AF22, and AF4), for a final total of 126 (42 x 3 = 126). (Note that you can count each identifier only once for the multiplier. So in this example, you can count "AF8" only once as a multiplier, even though you worked two "AF8" stations.) This new scoring scheme should encourage more "hunting" for even the smaller point identifiers, since it will be in the best interest of participants to work as many of the 51 different point identifiers (AF1 through AF51) as possible.
BONUS STATIONS: We will also be awarding point bonuses for working stations operating from the premises of Air Force installations worldwide. All stations (club or individual) operating within the boundaries of an Air Force base will identify the name of the base they are on. For example, K5TYP (the Mississippi winner for 1997) will identify "K5TYP, Air Force 51, Keesler Air Force Base." Our Razorback Radio Club station here on Hickam Air Force Base will identify "K5HOG, Air Force 24, Hickam Air Force Base." For each of those stations you work (even if more than one are on the same base), not only will you count their usual point identifiers (and use them to compute the multiplier above), but you will also earn a bonus of 100 points per station to be added to your final score. If you work four stations located on AF bases, you will add 400 points to your score.
SCORING SUMMARY: To summarize how 1998 final scores will be computed, you will:
Step 1: Add the total of all point identifiers of all stations worked
Step 2: Count the number of different point identifiers worked, and multiply your score in Step 1 by that number (maximum multiplier will be 51)
Step 3: Count the number of stations worked which were operating from Air Force installations, and add 100 points for each of those stations to determine your final score.
A score calculation worksheet is available for download on The Razorback Radio Club web site.
CLUB STATIONS: Clubs may use as their club point identifier the point identifier of any bona fide club member.
CQ's: Contest CQ calls to be given as "CQ AF" on CW and digital modes, and "CQ Air Force" on voice.
Stations may be worked once per band/mode.
FREQUENCIES: Operation is allowed on any authorized frequency, but we will encourage the following frequencies ending in "47" (to celebrate 1947, the year of our formation as a separate Service) as meeting places (e.g.-3547, 3947, 7047, 7247, 14047, 14247, 21047, 21347, 28047, 28447). Exchanges should consist of callsign with point identifiers and signal reports. (e.g.-CW/Digital: "K5HOG/AF24 DE K5XH/AF1 599 K" Voice: "K5HOG Air Force Twenty-four this is K5XH Air Force 1, you are five by nine, over.")
LOG SUBMISSIONS: Log submissions for awards must include for each contact: the callsign of the station worked, its point identifier, date, time, frequency, and mode.
Each page must have point identifiers totaled at the bottom of that page. Each log submission must include on the final page the following:
1. The total of all point identifiers.
2. The multiplier claimed.
3. Bonus points claimed for working stations which are operating from the premises of a U.S. Air Force installation worldwide.
4. Total points claimed.
5. A declaration as to whether the station is competing as a single operator station or a multiple operator station.
6. Signature of the licensee or other participant.
Logs must be received by The Razorback Radio Club not later than October 15, 1998 for award consideration. Logs may be submitted by e-mail (ASCII text file only) to:
k5hog@aol.com.
AWARDS: Awards for 1998 will include plaques for overall worldwide single and multiple winners, and certificates for high single and multiple operator stations in each country, state, and province.
We look forward to a fun 1998 QSO party. We hope you'll spread the word and join us. Please contact us (e-mail k5hog@aol.com or k5xs@compuserve.com) or by mail at:
The Razorback Radio Club
604 Julian Avenue
Honolulu, Hawaii 96818
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Here are the people who will be at the helm of the Northern California Contest Club for the next year. Setting our course and keeping us to it will be (from left to right) Steve Merchant, K6AW, President; Kenny Silverman, K2KW, Director; Jon "JT" Utley, K7CO, Vice President/Contest Chairman; Bob Wilson, N6TV, ARRL Pacific Division CAC Representative; Andy Faber, AE6Y, Director; Al Maenchen, AD6E, Secretary/Treasurer; Al Crespo, NH7A, Director; and Bob Wolbert, K6XX, Director.
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