In
this Issue: Your usual Editor, Paul Bourque, N1SFE, will be resuming
with the next issue. Brian Moran, N9ADG, is the Editor for this
issue. Upcoming Contests - Things
to Do The is front and center the weekend of January 6. The mode is RTTY
only, 80 meters through 10 meters. For those that haven't tried RTTY before:
If you are set up for FT modes, you can run RTTY! There are many
information sources that will get you going, one of which is ; for more advanced topics,
check previous years' presentations on . Test your RTTY setup this
Thursday evening (0145z Friday) with the inaugural . Alternatively, you can test your
receive configuration by copying the which occur twice per evening (US
time) on each weeknight. As January 6 is also the first Saturday in
January, be on the lookout for . Kids day events are held twice per year. The weekend
of January 13, the North American QSO Party (NAQP) will fill the CW
segments of the HF contest bands for 12 hours. The show that over 1200 logs
were submitted comprising 465,000 contacts. Last year, 10 meters was hopping!
Perhaps it will be even hotter this year. This contest has a power
limitation of 100 watts for all entrants. Contest Summary See
the "Contests" section below for complete contest
information. January 4, 2024 - January 17, 2024 January
4 January 5 - - **
NEW CONTEST ** (Note that this is Thursday evening in US
Timezones)
January 6 January 8 January 9 January 10 January 11 January 12 January 13 January
14 January
15 January 16 January 17 News, Press Releases, and Special Interest The use of
RTTY as a mode outside of contests is waning. The weekly on Thursday
evenings (US time), sponsored by the Northern California Contest Club, have
been . HOWEVER, A new Thursday
evening (US timezones) RTTY Contest is has started - Organized by Tim
Shoppa, N3QE, and Ron Koenig, WV4P. It's a conventional, non-sprint
RTTY contest in the same time slot as the recently-departed RTTY NS. RTTY
neophytes are encouraged to particpate in the WRT, and the contest has a
Facebook page to help get people going. CWT participants will be familiar
with the "every unique call is a multiplier" rule. The exchange is name and
state/province for US/VE, Name and country for DX. Larry, K8UT, notes: "The
_v5 CW/RTTY Keyer is in its final stage of development and should be
released in January. We've completed three rounds of Beta testing and all
production components are on order. Some Key changes from Mortty_v4 to
v5: - Replaced Arduino Nano with RPi RP20450 microcontroller
- Replaced USB
B-mini connector with USB C connector
- Merged both v4 Mortty modes into one
app: CW Keyer (Winkey emulator) and TinyFSK
- Added rear-panel slide
switch for mode switching (CW<->RTTY)
- Added rear-panel mode status LEDs
(CW or RTTY)
- Added internal speaker fed by sine-wave Audio Sidetone,
with rear panel volume control
- Added opto-isolators to radio
outputs
- Added RF chokes on radio outputs and paddle input
- Improved SO2R support
with discrete 1/8" TRRS rear-panel jacks (2 * PTT, CW, RTTY outputs)
- Added
individual front-panel status LEDs for both R1 and R2 (2 * PTT, CW,
RTTY)
For you RTTY ops: There is also experimental RTTY code for SO2R RTTY
(one cable, one com port, two radios) and RTTY Sidetone. Working with
developers to enable that through their desktop apps. It might get posted as a
separate download depending on how integration with loggers works. Stay
tuned for that..." Larry also notes that announcements of ordering
availability will be made to the MORTTY groups.io
group first. Curt Bowles, on how his
radio life has changed since he decided to construct a "big gun" station.
Beyond the nuts and bolts and towers and amps, he talks about the commitment
required to maintain it, and how having access to such a station has changed
his operating technique. One upon a time, when contests were over on
Sunday evenings in the Eastern US timezone, hams would gather on a well-known
frequency, 3830 kHz (there were no megahertz back then), and exchange
reports of how well they did in the contest. Over time, hams in other timezones
wanted to report their scores, and by then more people discovered email, so
in 1995 or 1996 Dave Pascoe, KM3T, made an email reflector for the purpose
of reporting scores. Fast forward to early December 2023: Dave announced
the planned cessation of the 3830@... reflector on December 31,
2023, for a number of reasons, the primary one being that it is
increasingly difficult to consistently deliver email messages. Then, last week, Bruce
Horn, WA7BNM, webmaster of , announced: "In preparation for the sunsetting of
the 3830@... mailing
list, I've added a new chronological list of score postings on to mimic the
list that is available on the mailing list archive. The new list displays all
score postings for the past 3, 10, or 30 days and allows for weekly
contests to be excluded (default) or included in the list. If a post is updated,
the timestamp associated with it is updated to the time of the update. A
horizontal line within the list separates postings that are new/updated since
the user last viewed the page from those that are older (this
functionality is dependent on the user allowing browser cookies). Previously visited
links to specific postings are indicated by a screened-back text color. The
site navigation menu at the top of the 3830scores.com page now includes a
link to
the new list. Happy contesting in 2024! 73 de Bruce, WA7BNM" Scott
Davis, N3FJP, has updated a number of his logging programs for "the newer
Prince Edward Island (PE) and Northwest Territories (NT) abbreviations where
applicable." Updates for all of this programs are available for download
from . The 20th International
EME (Earth-Moon-Earth) Conference will be held this Summer in Trenton, New
Jersey, on The College of New Jersey campus. The program includes sessions
on all aspects of EME communications including antennas, amplifiers,
software, operating, and so on. Associated with this of the event is a separate
full day course on how to get started in Earth-Moon-Earth communications -
EME101. For more information, see the conference website: Word to the
Wise Big Gun and Little Pistol There are no hard and fast
definitions of either of these terms. Big Gun generally means that the station
is capable of producing big signals and being able to maintain high run
rates despite crowded band conditions. Big Gun also comes with the implication
of tall towers, extensive antennas, amplifiers, and great radio locations.
Little Pistols are stations that, despite missing one or many of the
physical components of a Big Gun station, make up for what they don't have with
strong operating skills and on-the-air "." Sights and Sounds Part of Bob Shohet's,
KQ2M, : "Congrats to the
ionosphere for nailing EVERY ARRL, WPX and CQ CW/SSB contest in 2023 with an M
Class flare and/or CME! First time that I have ever seen/experienced this in
50 years of contesting." Dave Cuthbert, KH6AQ and Rob Van Geen, NH6V,
teamed up for a portable operation, putting . According to , they ran "1500W to a full-size quarter-wavelength wire
sloping about 50¡ã up to the top of a 150-foot Cook pine tree across the
road from the beach. It ran off of two 130' elevated radials that were
parallel to the coastline and perpendicular to the direction of North America
and Europe... 35¡ã. The feedpoint was back about 25' from the ocean and
it even got occasionally hit by the large crashing surf (!)." They
described their antenna as "pretty ideal." They also used a K9AY receive loop to
minimize the effects of a noise source in a local neighborhood. You can see
photos from their operation in their .  : "The biggest solar
flare in years made it more difficult to communicate via radio on December
14." The Sun on December 31, 2023: "Hold my corona,
watch this!" (The December 31st solar flare was much
larger than the December 14 flare.)
[Photo courtesy of NASA/SDO and the
AIA, EVE, and HMI science teams] |
 Back on Earth, John
Mertel, WA7IR, captured this picture of the Aurora over Aurora Pointe near
Fairbanks, Alaska, at 12:23am local time, January 1, 2024. John notes that
the "The aurora was moving so fast we had to quit using tripods and shoot
freehand which made for cold fingers - it was -15F at the time." [Photo:
John Mertel, WA7IR] |
Steve Babcock,VE6WZ, has a
to listen to your transmitted
signal. According to Steve: "This is not a new thing, but in this video I
describe the method for those that may not be familiar with it." See below for
information on getting your own KiwiSDR v2 hardware.  Rob Fanfant, N7QT, stopped by
on January 1 to build some . Rob is a
well-traveled DXpedtioner, and some of these may be used on his trips in 2024.
[Photo: Brian Moran, N9ADG] |
Results and Records Conditions during the
ARRL 160 Meter contest early in December were lacking. It didn't seem to
matter where you were on in North America - conditions were lousy. Operating Tip Benefits of Diversity on Receive If you have
two receivers in your radio, listening with two different antennas at the
same time, one in each ear, can yield benefits. Being able to hear from
different directions can separate the stations in the sound field, making easier
to identify callers that may be worth more points. Sometimes the effects of
ionospheric fading can be mitigated, since as a signal recedes on one
antenna, it could be increasing on the other. Technical Topics and Discussion ADIF stands
for "Amateur Data Interchange Format" and is useful when contact log
information needs to be exchanged between different applications, or processed
by websites. ADIF has had many revisions over the years; one can keep
current on the current and past standards via the ADIF website: . Changes to the ADIF
standard are reflective of what's in vogue for operating: recent changes have
seen the addition of fields for Parks on the Air (POTA) information, altitude
(useful for Summits on the Air, or SOTA contacts), and so on. Using
small Form Factor (SFF) PCs in the ham shack is a way to free up space for...
more gear of course! Reconditioned SFF PCs end up on the usual online buying
sites after they're tested and reinstalled with an operating system. They
can represent a great value for a shack computer - for example, an HP
Elitedesk 800 G3 with a 3.1GHz 4-core intel i5 processor, 16G of memory, 25GB
SSD, 4k resolution DisplayPort output, keyboard, mouse, Microsoft Windows 10
Pro for... $110.00, currently on Amazon. Switching an inductive load as
one might find with transformers, motors, and the like, can be tough on
switch or relay contacts due to the back-EMF generated when the contacts are
opened. discusses
the theory behind switching at moments of zero-current, and provides a
sample circuit for low power inductive loads. Version 2 of hardware is orderable via . According to the website, this version will
have a new RF front end with programmable attenuator and gas discharge
tube for better input protection, a new GPS chip, and better reverse supply
voltage protection. See the Sights and Sounds section, above, for a video
from Steve, VE6WZ showing how to access other KiwiSDRs around the
world. LDMOS amplifier builders might find the surplus Eltek Flatpack2 series power
supplies available on eBay to be useful. With 48-53.5v nominal outputs at
2kw to 3kw power levels, it's a straightforward way to power LDMOS pallets.
Printed circuit boards that plug into the Elteks are also available on eBay
- add a few components, and you're ready to get power in and out of these
units and control them through their CANbus. Search github.com for "eltek
Flatpack2" to get more information on these beefy power supplies, and example
software to control them. Conversation Why Not Use Faster RTTY? RTTY
contests conventionally use 45.5 baud as the transmission speed. However, if
you're using a computer to send/receive RTTY you're likely able to send and
receive RTTY at 75 baud, nearly twice as fast! At the higher speed, contacts
are quicker, and rates can be higher. Configuration instructions for N1MM
Logger+ are at , and you
can use your favorite search engine to find relevant information if your
setup is different. But where will you find others to work at these faster
speeds? contest in April is the one place where 75 baud RTTY is the
only mode in use. Higher RTTY speeds are allowed in the ARRL RTTY Contest,
but because there are relative few people currently using 75 baud, everyone
sticks with the slower speed. PS: can help with
troubleshooting your 75 baud configuration, especially if you have an issue
with switching back to slow speed RTTY when S&P mode is used. That's all
for this time. Remember to send contesting-related stories, book reviews,
tips, techniques, press releases, errata, schematics, club information,
pictures, stories, blog links, and predictions to contest-update@.... 73, Brian, N9ADG (filling in
temporarily for Paul, N1SFE) Contests January 4, 2024 - January 17, 2024 An expanded,
downloadable version of QST's is available as a PDF. Check the sponsors'
website for information on operating time restrictions and other
instructions. HF CONTESTS , Jan 4, 0000z to Jan 5, 0300z;
CW; Bands: 40; Maximum 13 wpm, RST + (state/province/country) + Name +
(Member No./power); Logs due: Jan 11.
, Jan 4, 0300z to Jan 4, 0400z; CW;
Bands: 160, 80, 40, 20, 15, 10; Member: Name + Member No./"CWA", non-Member:
Name + (state/province/country); Logs due: Jan 6.
, Jan 4, 0700z to Jan 4,
0800z; CW; Bands: 160, 80, 40, 20, 15, 10; Member: Name + Member No./"CWA",
non-Member: Name + (state/province/country); Logs due: Jan 6.
, Jan 4, 1800z to Jan 4, 2200z; CW, SSB, FM, Digital; Bands: 10;
RS(T) + 6-character grid square; Logs due: Jan 18.
,
Jan 4, 2000z to Jan 4, 2200z; CW; Bands: 160, 80, 40, 20, 15, 10,
6; RST + (state/province/country) + Name + (SKCC No./"NONE"); Logs
due: Jan 11.
, Jan 5, 0100z to Jan 5, 0130z; FT4; Bands: (see rules);
4-character grid square; Logs due: Jan 7.
, Jan 5, 0145z to Jan 5, 0215z;
RTTY; Bands: 80, 40, 20, 15, 10; Name + (state/province/country); Logs
due: Jan 7. ** NEW CONTEST **
, Jan 5, 0200z to Jan
5, 0330z; CW; Bands: 20; RST + (state/province/country) + name + power
output; Logs due: Jan 6.
, Jan 5, 0230z to Jan 5, 0300z; CW; Bands: (see rules);
Serial No. + Name + QTH; Logs due: Jan 7.
, Jan 5, 2000z to Jan 5,
2100z; CW; Bands: 160, 80, 40, 20, 15, 10; Maximum 20 wpm, Name +
(state/province/country); Logs due: Jan 7.
, Jan 6,
0000z to Jan 6, 2359z; PSK31; Bands: 80, 40, 20, 15, 10; RST +
(state/province/country); Logs due: Jan 13.
, Jan 6, 0700z to Jan 6, 2100z; CW; Bands: 80, 40, 20; Marconi
Club Member: RST + "MC" + Member No., non-Members: RST + Serial No.; Logs
due: Jan 13.
, Jan 6, 1200z to Jan 7, 1200z;
CW, SSB; Bands: 160, 80, 40, 20, 15, 10; PMC: RS(T) + PMC abbreviation,
World: RS(T) + CQ Zone; Logs due: Jan 14.
, Jan 6, 1300z to
Jan 6, 1700z; CW; Bands: 80, 40; RST + Serial No.; Logs due: Jan 7.
, Jan 6, 1800z to Jan 7, 2359z; RTTY; Bands: 80, 40,
20, 15, 10; W/VE: RST + (state/province), non-W/VE: RST + Serial No.; Logs
due: Jan 14.
, Jan 6, 1800z to Jan 6, 2359z;
SSB; Bands: 80, 40, 20, 17, 15, 12, 10, 2m repeaters; name + age + QTH +
favorite color; Logs due: Feb 6.
, Jan 6, 2000z to Jan 7, 0700z;
CW; Bands: 160; Affiliated Club Member: RST + name + club + membership no.,
Other: RST + name + "NM"; Logs due: Feb 8.
, Jan 8, 0000z to Jan 8,
0100z; CW; Bands: 160, 80, 40, 20, 15, 10; Maximum 20 wpm, Name +
(state/province/country); Logs due: Jan 10.
, Jan 8, 1300z to Jan
8, 1400z; CW; Bands: 160, 80, 40, 20, 15, 10; Name + QSO No.; Logs due:
Jan 11.
, Jan 8, 1630z to Jan 8, 1729z; CW; Bands:
80, 40; RST + Serial No.; Logs due: Jan 12.
, Jan 8,
1900z to Jan 8, 2000z; CW; Bands: 160, 80, 40, 20, 15, 10; Name + QSO No.;
Logs due: Jan 11.
, Jan 9, 0100z to Jan 9, 0159z; SSB;
Bands: 160, 80, 40, 20, 15, 10, 6; RS + age group (OM, YL,
Youth YL or Youth); Logs due: Jan 10.
, Jan 9, 0300z to
Jan 9, 0400z; CW; Bands: 160, 80, 40, 20, 15, 10; Name + QSO No.; Logs
due: Jan 11.
, Jan 9, 1800z to Jan 9, 1929z; RTTY; Bands: 80, 40; DL: RST +
(DOK/"NM"), non-DL: RST + Serial No.; Logs due: Jan 16.
, Jan 10,
0200z to Jan 10, 0330z; CW; Bands: 20; RST + (state/province/country) +
name + power output; Logs due: Jan 11.
, Jan 10, 0230z
to Jan 10, 0300z; SSB; Bands: 160, 80, 40, 20, 15; NA: Name +
(state/province/country), non-NA: Name; Logs due: Jan 12.
, Jan 10, 1200z to Jan 10, 1300z;
CW; Bands: 160, 80, 40, 20, 15, 10; Member: RST + Name; Logs due: Jan 15.
,
Jan 10, 1300z to Jan 10, 1400z; CW; Bands: 160, 80, 40, 20, 15, 10; Member:
Name + Member No./"CWA", non-Member: Name + (state/province/country); Logs
due: Jan 13.
, Jan 10, 1700z to Jan 10, 1759z; CW; Bands: 40; RST + Serial No.;
Logs due: Jan 12.
, Jan 10, 1800z to Jan 10, 1859z; CW; Bands: 80; RST + Serial No.;
Logs due: Jan 12.
, Jan 10, 1900z to Jan 10, 2000z; CW; Bands: 160, 80, 40,
20, 15, 10; Member: Name + Member No./"CWA", non-Member: Name +
(state/province/country); Logs due: Jan 13.
, Jan 11, 0300z to Jan 11, 0400z; CW;
Bands: 160, 80, 40, 20, 15, 10; Member: Name + Member No./"CWA", non-Member:
Name + (state/province/country); Logs due: Jan 13.
, Jan 11, 0700z to Jan 11,
0800z; CW; Bands: 160, 80, 40, 20, 15, 10; Member: Name + Member No./"CWA",
non-Member: Name + (state/province/country); Logs due: Jan 13.
, Jan
11, 1900z to Jan 11, 2000z; CW; Bands: 80, 40; EACW Member: RST + Member No.
+ Nickname, EA non-Member: RST + Nickname + EA province, non-EA: RST +
Nickname + DXCC prefix; Logs due: Jan 13.
, Jan 12, 0100z to Jan 12,
0130z; FT4; Bands: (see rules); 4-character grid square; Logs due: Jan 14.
,
Jan 12, 0145z to Jan 12, 0215z; RTTY; Bands: 80, 40, 20, 15, 10; Name +
(state/province/country); Logs due: Jan 14. ** NEW CONTEST
**
, Jan 12, 0200z to Jan 12, 0330z; CW; Bands: 20; RST +
(state/province/country) + name + power output; Logs due: Jan 13.
, Jan 12, 0230z to
Jan 12, 0300z; CW; Bands: (see rules); Serial No. + Name + QTH; Logs due:
Jan 14.
, Jan 12, 2000z to Jan 12, 2100z; CW; Bands: 160, 80, 40, 20,
15, 10; Maximum 20 wpm, Name + (state/province/country); Logs due: Jan 14.
, Jan 13,
0000z to Jan 13, 2359z; SSB; Bands: 80, 40, 20, 15, 10; RS + Serial No.; Logs
due: Jan 20.
, Jan 13, 1200z
to Jan 14, 2359z; CW; Bands: 160, 80, 40, 20, 15, 10, 6;
RST + (state/province/country) + Name + (SKCC No./"NONE"); Logs due: Jan
21.
, Jan 13, 1200z to Jan 14, 1200z;
BPSK63; Bands: 80, 40, 20, 15, 10; ON: RSQ + UBA Section, non-ON: RSQ +
Serial No. (starting with 001); Logs due: Jan 21.
, Jan 13,
1800z to Jan 14, 0559z; CW; Bands: 160, 80, 40, 20, 15, 10; NA: Name +
(state/DC/province/country), non-NA: Name; Logs due: Jan 21.
, Jan 13, 1900z to Jan 13, 2300z; CW, SSB; Bands: 160; British
Isles: RS + serial no. + WAB square, Other: RS + serial no. + country; Logs
due: Jan 23.
, Jan 14, 0630z to Jan 14, 0830z; SSB; Bands: 80, 40; RST +
Serial No. + 2-letter Fylke/Lan/Province/Region; Logs due: Jan 21.
, Jan
14, 0900z to Jan 14, 1100z; CW; Bands: 80, 40; RST + Serial No. + 2-letter
Fylke/Lan/Province/Region; Logs due: Jan 21.
, Jan 14, 0900z to Jan 14, 1059z; CW, SSB; Bands: 10; DL:
RS(T) + QSO No. + DOK, non-DL: RS(T) + QSO No.; Logs due: Jan 21.
, Jan 14, 1300z to Jan 14, 1700z; RTTY, PSK; Bands: 80, 40;
RST + Serial No.; Logs due: Jan 15.
, Jan 15, 0000z to Jan 15, 0100z; CW;
Bands: 160, 80, 40, 20, 15, 10; Maximum 20 wpm, Name +
(state/province/country); Logs due: Jan 17.
, Jan 15, 0100z to
Jan 15, 0300z; CW, SSB; Bands: 160, 80, 40, 20, 15, 10; Member: RS(T) +
(State/Province/Country) + Member No., Non-member: RS(T) +
(State/Province/Country) + Power; Logs due: Jan 17.
, Jan 15, 1300z to
Jan 15, 1400z; CW; Bands: 160, 80, 40, 20, 15, 10; Name + QSO No.; Logs
due: Jan 18.
, Jan 15, 1630z to Jan 15, 1729z; CW;
Bands: 80, 40; RST + Serial No.; Logs due: Jan 19.
,
Jan 15, 1900z to Jan 15, 2000z; CW; Bands: 160, 80, 40, 20, 15, 10; Name +
QSO No.; Logs due: Jan 18.
, Jan 16, 0100z to Jan 16, 0159z;
SSB; Bands: 160, 80, 40, 20, 15, 10, 6; RS + age group
(OM, YL, Youth YL or Youth); Logs due: Jan 17.
, Jan
16, 0300z to Jan 16, 0400z; CW; Bands: 160, 80, 40, 20, 15, 10; Name + QSO
No.; Logs due: Jan 18.
, Jan 17, 0200z to Jan 17, 0330z; CW; Bands:
20; RST + (state/province/country) + name + power output; Logs due: Jan
18.
, Jan 17, 0230z to Jan 17, 0300z; SSB; Bands: 160,
80, 40, 20, 15; NA: Name + (state/province/country), non-NA: Name; Logs due:
Jan 19.
, Jan 17, 1200z to Jan 17, 1300z; CW; Bands: 160, 80, 40, 20, 15, 10;
Member: RST + Name; Logs due: Jan 22.
, Jan 17, 1300z to Jan 17, 1400z; CW;
Bands: 160, 80, 40, 20, 15, 10; Member: Name + Member No./"CWA",
non-Member: Name + (state/province/country); Logs due: Jan 20.
,
Jan 17, 1700z to Jan 17, 2100z; FT8; Bands: 1.2G; 4-character grid square;
Logs due: Jan 22.
, Jan 17, 1700z to Jan 17, 1759z; CW; Bands: 40; RST + Serial
No.; Logs due: Jan 19.
, Jan 17, 1800z to Jan 17, 1859z; CW; Bands: 80; RST + Serial
No.; Logs due: Jan 19.
, Jan 17, 1900z to Jan 17, 2000z; CW; Bands: 160, 80,
40, 20, 15, 10; Member: Name + Member No./"CWA", non-Member: Name +
(state/province/country); Logs due: Jan 20. VHF+ CONTESTS , Jan 10, 1700z to Jan 10, 2100z; FT8; Bands: 432 MHz; 4-character
grid square; Logs due: Jan 15.
Log Due Dates January 4, 2024 - January 17,
2024 January 4 January 5 January
6 January 7 January 8 January
9 January 10 January 11 January 12 January 13 January 14 January 15 January
16 January 17 ARRL Information Click here to advertise in this newsletter,
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Contest Update wishes to acknowledge information from . |
|
KK7MA, Mike
