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The ARRL Contest Update

November 15, 2017
Editor: Brian Moran, N9ADG

IN THIS ISSUE

 *  New HF Operators: Sweepstakes
 *  Contest Summary
 *  News: N1MM Logger+ Spectrum Display, PNWVHFS Conference Proceedings,
    Literal Contest Rules, and more
 *  Word to the Wise: Link Margin
 *  Sights and Sounds: Extension Ladder Tower, RFI Sound Library
 *  Results: ZF1A in CQ WW RTTY
 *  Operating Tip: Just the Exchange, Please
 *  Technical Topics and Information: Ground Gain, Bucket Truck Pointers,
    Panadapter Accessory, S-Meter Calibration
 *  Conversation: It Resembles Magic
 *  Contests
 *  Log Due Dates

____________________________________________________________________________


NEW HF OPERATORS - THINGS TO DO

The ARRL Phone Sweepstakes contest is coming up on the weekend of November 18.
While the ARRL website has extensive information on this event, you might also
want to check out the Potomac Valley Radio Club's (PVRC) "ARRL Sweepstakes"
document, which contains links to other documents that could also help.

____________________________________________________________________________


CONTEST SUMMARY

Complete information for all contests follows the Conversation section

16 Nov - 29 Nov 2017

November 16

 *  CWops Mini-CWT Test
 *  NAQCC CW Sprint

November 17

 *  NCCC RTTY Sprint
 *  QRP Fox Hunt
 *  NCCC Sprint
 *  YO International PSK31 Contest

November 18

 *  SARL Field Day Contest
 *  LZ DX Contest
 *  All Austrian 160-Meter Contest
 *  REF 160-Meter Contest
 *  Feld Hell Sprint
 *  RSGB 2nd 1.8 MHz Contest, CW
 *  ARRL Sweepstakes Contest, SSB

November 19

 *  Homebrew and Oldtime Equipment Party

November 20

 *  Run for the Bacon QRP Contest

November 22

 *  SKCC Sprint
 *  QRP Fox Hunt
 *  Phone Fray
 *  CWops Mini-CWT Test
 *  RSGB 80m Autumn Series, SSB

November 23

 *  CWops Mini-CWT Test

November 24

 *  NCCC RTTY Sprint
 *  NCCC Sprint

November 25

 *  CQ Worldwide DX Contest, CW

November 29

 *  QRP Fox Hunt
 *  Phone Fray
 *  CWops Mini-CWT Test
 *  UKEICC 80m Contest

____________________________________________________________________________


NEWS, PRESS RELEASES, AND GENERAL INTEREST

I asked Larry, K8UT, to mention what's new in N1MM Logger+: "The biggest news,
which may be old news to some, is N1MM+'s embedded Spectrum Display. Whereas
the basic premise for packet spots is to tell you what happened a while ago at
somewhere else, panadapters tell you what it happening now on your antenna. All
 spectrum analyzers can show you every signal within the scanned frequencies,
but N1MM+'s Spectrum Display is optimized for contest operation and allows the
operator to ignore signals based on signal strength and desirability (like
dupes and mults). Some contest tools - like packet spots and skimmers -
automatically classify the station as operating Assisted, but you can use
Spectrum Display and still qualify as a non-Assisted contester. You can find
more information in the N1MM Logger+ Documentation for the Spectrum Display.

The Pacific Northwest VHF Society's past conference proceedings have been
posted to the PNWVHFS website. Some of these materials were added from the
historical CD-ROMS from the events "for your nostalgic enjoyment." (Barry,
K7BWH, via PNWVHFS reflector)

Pigeons and Amateur Radio have something in common: They're both considered
"weird" networks of last resort by an Infoworld article.

Sometimes a contest rule is just a contest rule. A couple of issues ago, the
Contest Update contained information related by Bob, N6TV, that would enable
Icom radios with USB sound interfaces to supply the 'monitor' audio of what the
 operator hears during transmit. This capability is driven by the CQ WW DX
contest's rules requiring that an audio recording of what the operator hears be
 made available on request of the judges. This is usually only required of the
top competitive entries in each category. There are some SO2R operators that
don't believe that it's necessary to record the transmitted audio, since when
they operator SO2R, they aren't actually listening to the audio anyway! I
emailed Doug, KR2Q, asking whether SO2R operators need to record transmitted
audio. Here's what he said:

"Well, lots of folks try to see a "spirit" aspect and often can lead to rules
clarifications which more clearly define things. But so far, we are sticking
with what the rules says.

The question you raise is really a question for SO2R guys where they are
transmitting "without listening" so that they can listen on different
frequency.

As the rule is written now, if the operator(s) is(are) not listening to their
own audio or sidetone, then we don't need to hear it either. But if the op is,
in fact, listening to what they are sending, then we want to hear that too.

Just take the rule literally, I guess. Hope this helps. Maybe we'll post a blog
 about it.

Good luck in the contest!

de Doug KR2Q

on behalf of the CQWW Contest Committee"

For many of a certain era, the Zenith Trans-Oceanic Radio was the "gateway
receiver" to becoming an SWL and moving on into Amateur Radio. Martin Rowe,
Senior Technical Editor at EETimes, published a reminiscence of this receiver,
and a mini book review of The Zenith Trans-Oceanic: The Royalty of Radio by
John H. Bryant and Harold N. Cones.

IZ2BKT has published a program for Microsoft Windows, BktTimeSync, which will
synchronize the computer system clock to a GPS receiver locally attached via
USB, serial, or Bluetooth, or alternatively via an NTP server. This could be
helpful if operating from a location that does not have internet access.

____________________________________________________________________________


WORD TO THE WISE

Link Margin: The difference between a receiver's minimum discernable signal,
and the expected level of a signal delivered to the receiver. The value is
usually expressed in dB. Link Margin calculations are used in analyzing receive
 and transmit signal paths for EME communications, and typically contain
allowances for attenuation by atmospheric absorption or other effects.

____________________________________________________________________________


SIGHTS AND SOUNDS

With appropriate guying, an extension ladder can be used to hold up a Yagi
under Field Day or DXpedition conditions. In this picture a SteppIR 2-Element
Yagi for the current VK9MA DXpedition has been mounted is being tested. It can
be turned manually.

Here are some sounds you don't want to hear: RFI. The ARRL "sound library"
contains known RFI sources, and some that have not yet been identified. If you
have a potential RFI problem, compare your noise to these to help eliminate it.

____________________________________________________________________________


RESULTS AND RECORDS

Chris, N6WM, operated as ZF1A in the CQ WW RTTY contest along with Trey, N5KO,
Glenn, W6OTC, and Steve, K6AW. His article in the September Northern California
 Contest Club (NCCC) Jug newsletter discussed contest trip planning and
execution, which resulted in a 7.1 million point result.

____________________________________________________________________________


OPERATING TIP

Just the Exchange, Please

It pays to mention it every contest season: During a contest or at any other
time when contact rate is important, only provide the exchange - nothing more.
If a running station has responded to your call, they only need your report.
Don't repeat their call. If they didn't get your call right, provide your call
again then the report. If your call was correct, just provide the exchange.

____________________________________________________________________________


TECHNICAL TOPICS AND INFORMATION

Amateurs attempting Earth-Moon-Earth communication can take advantage of ground
 gain to enhance their signal by up to 6 dB. In 2011, DUBUS magazine published
an article by ON4KHG explaining ground gain, and how to measure and maximize
it.


The September 2017 issue of The Gray Line Report, The Twin City DX
Association's monthly newsletter, contains practical hints on using a rental
bucket truck to do tower work as part of Al, K0AD's article "Rebuilding my
Force 12 Forty Meter Beam." Among the tips are suggestions on how to estimate
the right size of truck.


Adding panadapter functionality to a transceiver that doesn't have that
capability from the manufacturer is possible with the DX-Patrol Mk4 SDR
Receivers, according to DX Engineering. The Mk4 is an SDR receiver capable of
tuning between 100 kHz and 2.0 GHz, and is compatible with a number of open
source software packages. When used as a panadapter, it can receive signals in
parallel with the transceiver, or can be fed from a transceiver IF output.


The HamSCI Resources web page just added "S-Meter Calibration" by Carl, K9LA. A
 measurement of the out-of-the-box accuracy of a number of radios is compared,
and steps you can use to calibrate your radio's S-Meter are presented.


V-USB is an Atmel AVR software implementation of a USB low-speed device that
you can use with your own open source AVR-based products, to potentially
eliminate the requirement of a dedicated USB chip. Example drivers are included
 for Microsoft Windows, Mac OS X, and Linux, and the driver supports multiple
types of USB endpoints. If you need more than a serial interface for that
project you're building, this might help you.

____________________________________________________________________________


CONVERSATION

It Resembles Magic

Modern DSP noise reduction techniques can be so effective at separating what we
 want to hear from what we don't, the result can almost be described as
magical. The Science Fiction writer Arthur C. Clark even had a "rule" about
this: "Any sufficiently advanced technology is indistinguishable from magic."

In a story about how a visual signal, a QR Code, was decoded from a blurry news
 broadcast to recover $1000 of Bitcoin from an electronic wallet, you can
follow along. The signal being noise-reduced and recovered in this instance is
not RF, but visual. It's not magic, it's math.

Sometimes technology advancement is so good, it's disruptive and unsettling to
those unprepared for it. Some people recognize it for what it is, and benefit,
while others try to ignore it, to their detriment. It can drive people into
opposing camps. I'm talking, of course, about Autotune, which is automatic and
dynamic pitch correction for the music industry. In its initial uses of subtly
(and sometimes covertly) correcting pitch, it eliminated a lot of manual work
(and jobs). Some artists, thinking out of the box, began to use the tool
artistically... and then, all of the sudden, everyone knew about Autotune.

When our radios include the feature to be able to have "SSB Net" buttons to
automatically adjust the receive frequency for normal sounding speech, it will
probably look like magic. But there will be plenty of math involved.

That's all for this time. While you're reading this, your Editor is supposed to
 be making contacts from Mellish Reef as part of VK9MA. He'll be back, so
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@arrl.org

73, Brian N9ADG

____________________________________________________________________________


CONTESTS

16 Nov - 29 Nov 2017

An expanded, downloadable version of QST's Contest Corral in PDF format is
available. Check the sponsor's Web site for information on operating time
restrictions and other instructions.



HF CONTESTS

CWops Mini-CWT Test, Nov 15, 1300z to Nov 15, 1400z, Nov 15, 1900z to Nov
15, 2000z, Nov 16, 0300z to Nov 16, 0400z; CW; Bands: 160, 80, 40, 20, 15,
10m; Member: Name + Member No., non-Member: Name + (state/province/country);
Logs due: November 18.

NAQCC CW Sprint, Nov 16, 0130z to Nov 16, 0330z; CW; Bands: 80, 40, 20m; RST +
(state/province/country) + (NAQCC No./power); Logs due: November 20.

NCCC RTTY Sprint, Nov 17, 0145z to Nov 17, 0215z; RTTY; Bands: (see rules);
Serial No. + Name + QTH; Logs due: November 19.

QRP Fox Hunt, Nov 17, 0200z to Nov 17, 0330z; CW; Bands: 80m Only; RST +
(state/province/country) + name + power output; Logs due: November 23.

NCCC Sprint, Nov 17, 0230z to Nov 17, 0300z; CW; Bands: (see rules); Serial No.
 + Name + QTH; Logs due: November 19.

YO International PSK31 Contest, Nov 17, 1600z to Nov 17, 2200z; PSK31; Bands:
80m Only; YO: RST + Serial No. + County, non-YO: RST + Serial No. + Country;
Logs due: December 2.

SARL Field Day Contest, Nov 18, 1000z to Nov 19, 1000z; CW, SSB, Digital;
Bands: 160, 80, 40, 20, 15, 10m; RS(T) + Number of transmitters + Category (see
 rules) + Province (or "DX"; Logs due: see rules.

LZ DX Contest, Nov 18, 1200z to Nov 19, 1200z; CW, SSB; Bands: 80, 40, 20, 15,
10m; LZ: RS(T) + 2-letter district, non-LZ: RS(T) + ITU Zone No.; Logs due:
December 4.

All Austrian 160-Meter Contest, Nov 18, 1600z to Nov 19, 0700z; CW; Bands: 160m
 Only; OE: RST + Serial No. + District Code, non-OE: RST + Serial No.; Logs
due: December 31.

REF 160-Meter Contest, Nov 18, 1700z to Nov 19, 0100z; CW; Bands: 160m Only;
RST + Serial No. + Department Code; Logs due: December 3.

Feld Hell Sprint, Nov 18, 1900z to Nov 18, 2059z; Feld Hell; Bands: 160, 80,
40, 20, 15, 10, 6m; (see rules); Logs due: November 22.

RSGB 2nd 1.8 MHz Contest, CW, Nov 18, 1900z to Nov 18, 2300z; CW; Bands: 160m
Only; UK: RST + Serial No. + District Code, non-UK: RST + Serial No.; Logs due:
 November 19.

ARRL Sweepstakes Contest, SSB, Nov 18, 2100z to Nov 20, 0300z; SSB; Bands: 160,
 80, 40, 20, 15, 10m; Serial No. + Precedence (Q/A/B/U/M/S) + [your call sign]
+ Check + ARRL/RAC Section; Logs due: November 25.

Homebrew and Oldtime Equipment Party, Nov 19, 1300z to Nov 19, 1500z (40m), Nov
 19, 1500z to Nov 19, 1700z (80m); CW; Bands: 80, 40m; RST + Serial No. + "/" +
 class; Logs due: December 21.

Run for the Bacon QRP Contest, Nov 20, 0200z to Nov 20, 0400z; CW; Bands: 160,
80, 40, 20, 15, 10m; RST + (state/province/country) + (Member No./power); Logs
due: November 26.

SKCC Sprint, Nov 22, 0000z to Nov 22, 0200z; CW; Bands: 160, 80, 40, 20, 15,
10m; RST + (state/province/country) + Name + (SKCC No./power); Logs due:
November 24.

QRP Fox Hunt, Nov 22, 0200z to Nov 22, 0330z; CW; Bands: 80m Only; RST +
(state/province/country) + name + power output; Logs due: November 23.

Phone Fray, Nov 22, 0230z to Nov 22, 0300z; SSB; Bands: 160, 80, 40, 20, 15m;
NA: Name + (state/province/country), non-NA: Name; Logs due: November 24.

CWops Mini-CWT Test, Nov 22, 1300z to Nov 22, 1400z, Nov 22, 1900z to Nov 22,
2000z, Nov 23, 0300z to Nov 23, 0400z; CW; Bands: 160, 80, 40, 20, 15, 10m;
Member: Name + Member No., non-Member: Name + (state/province/country); Logs
due: November 25.

RSGB 80m Autumn Series, SSB, Nov 22, 2000z to Nov 22, 2130z; SSB; Bands: 80m
Only; [other station's call] + [your call] + [serial no.] + [your name]; Logs
due: November 23.

NCCC RTTY Sprint, Nov 24, 0145z to Nov 24, 0215z; RTTY; Bands: (see rules);
Serial No. + Name + QTH; Logs due: November 26.

NCCC Sprint, Nov 24, 0230z to Nov 24, 0300z; CW; Bands: (see rules); Serial No.
 + Name + QTH; Logs due: November 26.

CQ Worldwide DX Contest, CW, Nov 25, 0000z to Nov 27, 0000z; CW; Bands: 160,
80, 40, 20, 15, 10m; RST + CQ Zone No.; Logs due: December 1.

QRP Fox Hunt, Nov 29, 0200z to Nov 29, 0330z; CW; Bands: 80m Only; RST +
(state/province/country) + name + power output; Logs due: November 30.

Phone Fray, Nov 29, 0230z to Nov 29, 0300z; SSB; Bands: 160, 80, 40, 20, 15m;
NA: Name + (state/province/country), non-NA: Name; Logs due: December 1.

CWops Mini-CWT Test, Nov 29, 1300z to Nov 29, 1400z, Nov 29, 1900z to Nov 29,
2000z, Nov 30, 0300z to Nov 30, 0400z; CW; Bands: 160, 80, 40, 20, 15, 10m;
Member: Name + Member No., non-Member: Name + (state/province/country); Logs
due: December 2.

UKEICC 80m Contest, Nov 29, 2000z to Nov 29, 2100z; CW; Bands: 80m Only;
4-Character grid square; Logs due: November 29.



VHF+ CONTESTS

See Feld Hell Sprint, above.



LOG DUE DATES

16 Nov - 29 Nov 2017

November 16, 2017

 *  NRAU 10m Activity Contest

November 18, 2017

 *  South Dakota QSO Party
 *  CWops Mini-CWT Test

November 19, 2017

 *  RSGB 2nd 1.8 MHz Contest, CW
 *  NCCC RTTY Sprint
 *  NCCC Sprint

November 20, 2017

 *  NAQCC CW Sprint

November 22, 2017

 *  Feld Hell Sprint

November 23, 2017

 *  QRP Fox Hunt
 *  RSGB 80m Autumn Series, SSB
 *  Illinois QSO Party

November 24, 2017

 *  SKCC Sprint
 *  Phone Fray

November 25, 2017

 *  ARRL Sweepstakes Contest, SSB
 *  CWops Mini-CWT Test

November 26, 2017

 *  NCCC RTTY Sprint
 *  NCCC Sprint
 *  Run for the Bacon QRP Contest

November 29, 2017

 *  UKEICC 80m Contest

____________________________________________________________________________


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____________________________________________________________________________


ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

ARRL Contest Update wishes to acknowledge information from WA7BNM's Contest
Calendar and SM3CER's Contest Calendar.

____________________________________________________________________________


The ARRL Contest Update is published every other Wednesday (26 times each
year). ARRL members may subscribe at no cost or unsubscribe by editing their
Member Data Page as described at http://www.arrl.org/contests/update/.

Copyright (C) 2017 American Radio Relay League, Incorporated. Use and
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