Well said Greg. I think you hit the nail on the head. I too really enjoy the
club but like you I have a small low power station so we are not as competitive
as we would like to be.
The officers and club elders if you will are doing a great job
Bob
N4YT
On Nov 4, 2010, at 20:50, "Greg Potter" <gregpotter at charter.net> wrote:
>
>
> Hi Folks,
>
> I am not sure how to say this exactly. It is always dangerous because my
> fingers sometimes move faster than my brains.
>
> Let's start by saying that I THINK THE CLUB OFFICERS ARE DOING A GREAT JOB
> and this is a super contest club. Joining the SECC is one of the best moves
> I ever made in ham radio. It is pure fun and the friendly, but sometime
> intense competition is invigorating! (Several club members beat me out in
> this last contest...:) & every preceeding one)
>
> Now on the subject of plaques. I am sometimes embarassed by some of the
> really nice looking hardware that gets handed out. The fact is that not all
> of us have a lot of money floating around these days. Many are retired or
> approaching retirement and with the way the country has appeared to be
> heading, things have been just too uncertain around here for some folks to
> be able to sponsor plaques.
>
> I love the competition and the sheer fun of contesting. The plaques are
> beautiful, but I just like seeing my call come up in the totals and knowing I
> made a contribution to the club score and that I didn't do too bad for a
> beamless, ampless puny peanut whistle station. I recently received a very
> nice packet of GA QSO party certificates for my mobile operation in GQP. It
> was really nice, but I was a little embarrassed to think that someone had to
> spend all that time on them and then pay to mail them to me. All that aside,
> there is still nothing better than one of the veteran superstars taking a
> minute to send a "nice score" email if it is warranted.
>
> Participation will pick up. My humble opinion is that quite a few folks will
> not committ because they don't want to make committments they are not 100%
> sure they can keep. Life keeps getting in the way. Maybe some "part time
> accolades" are something to think about for folks that just cannot commit to
> a full contest.
>
> I would hope that all of our current club officers know they are doing just
> fine! WE LOVE THE CLUB AND WE LOVE THE JOB YOU ALL ARE DOING! Keep putting
> out those totals, post them where they can be seen and then sit back and
> relax until the next contest starts. Take it easy and have some fun. I
> applaud your efforts and the dedication of those willing to donate plaques,
> but my gut feeling is most folks are just having fun.
>
> Oh one last thing. When a chance to compete with another club presents
> itself, it certainly gets my blood stirring. That NAQP gig was a real hoot!
>
> Thanks folks!
>
> 73 de Greg NM2L
>
>
>
>
>
> -----Original Message-----
> From: secc-bounces at contesting.com [mailto:secc-bounces at contesting.com]
> On Behalf Of Ralph K1ZZI
> Sent: Thursday, November 04, 2010 9:09 AM
> To: secc at contesting.com
> Cc: NA4bw at bellsouth.net
> Subject: [SECC] CW Sweepstakes Final Update - All Members
>
> SECC Members,
>
> Six (6) award plaques are sponsored and only 7 people have committed to show
> up for Sweepstakes CW. Your officers have tried to put together a nice
> internal awards program to stimulate participation, however, it has had
> little positive effect.
>
> The officers have discussed participation issues since day one, however, I?m
> sorry to say that it appears that you want simply a place to post your scores
> and little more than that from your club. We have 231 members, yet our
> contest participation levels are consistently below 6%. We have asked you
> for ideas/suggestions for the direction you want to see the SECC take, but
> even that has yielded very few responses. Tommy W4BQF asked what you wanted
> from your contest club and because of the lack of feedback, we can only
> deduce that you want a place to post your scores and nothing more. We share
> Tom's frustration in getting almost no feedback and little participation from
> the membership.
>
> We sincerely thank all the plaque sponsors that came forward to help us and
> we are sorry that it did not provide the incentive that we had hoped for.
>
> Ralph K1ZZI
> SECC VP
>
>
> ----- Original Message -----
> From: Ralph K1ZZI <mailto:k1zzi at comcast.net <mailto:k1zzi at comcast.net>
> >
> To: secc at contesting.com <secc at contesting.com>
> Sent: Monday, October 25, 2010 10:54 AM
> Subject: Nov 6th CW Sweepstakes - Sponsor Update
>
> We had a very good response from volunteers willing to sponsor plaques for
> SSCW. Here are the categories and sponsors:
>
> Rookie - Contesting 2 years or less - WB4MAK
> SOLP Tribander / Wires 40-160 (no yagis) - W4IX
> SOLP - K4BAI
> SOHP - NA4BW
> QRP - NT9K
> Unlimited - K1ZZI
>
> Award Eligibility:
> Signup - commit to contest and post score
> All SECC members in or out of Circle*
> Need minimum of 2 people competing per category
> Log 50 QSO's minimum
> Prior 2010 winners limited to one plaque annually
> SECC officers not eligible
> *Unlike the NAQP contest, the club aggregate score cannot include OP's from
> outside the SECC Circle for this contest,
> however, we still want to provide award eligibility to all our club members
> regardless of your location.
>
> We will need at least 20 participants to support the investment of six
> sponsors. Except for our sponsors there has been practically no
> response or input received from anyone. Please reply by Nov 1st if you want
> to participate. I will add you to the current big list of (2) contesters!
>
> 73,
> Ralph K1ZZI
> SECC VP
> k1zzi at comcast.net
>
> ----- Original Message -----
> From: Ralph K1ZZI <mailto:k1zzi at comcast.net>
> To: secc at contesting.com
> Sent: Sunday, October 17, 2010 10:58 AM
> Subject: Nov 6th CW Sweepstakes - SECC Get Ready!
> Nov 6th - 8th CW Sweepstakes
>
>
>
> One of the favorite contest events of the year! SECC get ready to for some
> fun competition.
>
> One of our members suggested we setup teams for a little extra internal fun.
> What do you think about that idea? Depending on the total number interested
> we could have 4 or 5 people on a team.
>
> Are you planning to participate in SS CW? Would you be interested in joining
> a team? Let me know if you are and I will start a list. I would like to get
> something going and make this a fun event for everyone. We are open for
> ideas and I encourage discussion. We could blow the doors off this one and
> win the ARRL Gavel? The SECC has won it before so we have the power. It's
> all up to you. Sign up now!
>
> Wait there's more: NA4BW, K4BAI, K1ZZI will sponsor one plaque each for
> SOHP, SOLP and "Unlimited". How about plaques for QRP, Multi-Op? Or can you
> think of another category of interest? Oops we will need more sponsors! No
> club dues / nothing in the treasury. If you are interested in sponsoring a
> plaque for a particular category just let me know. Plaques are $20 each and
> they are very nice, first class. Same as our NAQP and GQP plaques.
>
> Ralph K1ZZI
> SECC VP
> k1zzi at comcast.net
>
>
> Complete ARRL SS Rules here:
> http://www.arrl.org/files/file/Contest%20Packets/2010%20ARRL%20November%20Sweepstakes%20Package.pdf
> <http://www.arrl.org/files/file/Contest Packets/2010 ARRL November
> Sweepstakes Package.pdf> <http://www.arrl.org/files/file/Contest
> Packets/2010 ARRL November Sweepstakes Package.pdf>
>
> ----- Original Message -----
> From: Ralph K1ZZI
> To: secc at contesting.com
> Sent: Friday, October 22, 2010 1:43 PM
> Subject: [SECC] ARRL Sweepstakes Contest Overview & Tips
>
> This is an informative article written by John, K3TN on ARRL Sweepstakes
> Contesting. A good read for all experience levels and some excellent tips
> to help get you started!!
>
> 73, Ralph K1ZZI
>
> History
>
> The ARRL Sweepstakes has its roots in ?The January Contest? announced in
> December 1929 QST. It was originally structured as a message handling contest
> for hams in Canada and the US (which at the time included Cuba, the
> Philippines and ?Porto Rico?) and ran for two solid weeks in January. A
> successful two way exchange of a minimum ten word message would result in two
> points for each station. The number of message points would be multiplied by
> the number of ARRL sections at the time (68) for the final score. A key rule
> was ?Participating stations will be limited for the purposes of the contest
> to sending but one test message to each station worked; that is, further
> messages can be transmitted but will not add to the contest score of either
> station.? Thus was born the dreaded ?work stations once per band? rule.
>
> While a lot about the contest has stayed the same over the years, much has
> also changed. Sweepstakes was moved to November in 1932; a separate phone
> contest was added in 1941; and operating time was limited to 24 hours along
> the way. However, for the past half-century not much has changed, other than
> the ARRL section list gradually expanding to its current level of 80.
>
> Description and Rules Summary
> The ARRL Sweepstakes consists of two contests, one for phone and one for CW,
> that are open to US and Canadian hams only. A summary of the important rules:
>
> Contest Period:
> CW: First full weekend in November
> Phone: Third full weekend in November
> Operating Period ? 24 of the 30 hours from 2100Z Saturday to 0300Z Sunday
> Exchange ? Serial Number; Precedence; Your Call; Check; Section
>
> Where: Precedence = Q (5 watts output or less), A (under 150w), B (above
> 150w), U (Single Op Unlimited), M (Multiop), or S (school station)
>
> Check = last two digits of the first year of license of the operator or
> station
>
> Section ? ARRL/RAC section location of the station. List of standard section
> abbreviations is here
>
> Duplicate Contacts ? stations can only be worked once per band.
>
> The full rules can be found here. For any given year substitute the current
> year for ?2009? in that URL.
>
> Strategies
> Like any contest, selecting the best strategy for Sweepstakes depends on your
> goals. You can play to win in one of many categories or in your section, just
> help out your local club?s score, try to fill in the states you need for
> 5BWAS or just try to see how quickly you can make a Clean Sweep. As long as
> your strategy matches your goal, you are bound to have fun.
> Whatever your goal is, scoring more points is always more fun. Maximizing
> score per hour means the most fun per unit time invested. Look here for some
> great operating tips on maximizing your SS score.
>
> Equipment
> Station design is always an important starting point. Sweepstakes is a very
> ?little gun? friendly contest and doesn?t require huge antenna farms Since SS
> is a domestic contest, low antennas in many cases are preferable. N6BV has
> some excellent pointers on optimizing your antenna choices for SS ? click
> here. In low sunspot years, forty and eighty meters are the ?money bands? in
> Sweepstakes, with 20 meters being the usual workhorse. Near sunspot peaks, 15
> and 10 meters provide wide open spaces for more QSOs.
> Sweepstakes doesn?t have any unique demands on other aspects of station
> design, though the ?work once per band? rule does give a lot of benefit to
> having a second radio. Run rates on Sunday often slow down to glacial speed
> (especially CW SS), and having a second radio to search and pounce between
> automated CQs brings in a lot of extra QSOs.
>
> If you aren?t planning an extensive effort, you can still get paper forms
> here and log by hand. However, logging contests real time on a computer is
> just so much more efficient ? and green. Just about every popular contest
> logging program supports SS ? check Contest logging software. If you aren?t
> going to use a computer to send CW, the long exchange in SS means at least
> using a memory keyer with an incrementing serial number capability, to
> maintain your sanity.
>
> Operating Time
> There are all kinds of theories on strategies for selecting the optimal
> operating time periods for SS, but like all contests more hours in the chair
> will always translate to more points. In general, if you are going to put
> more than 12 hours or so into SS being on from the start for the first 8-10
> hours is key to getting that QSO total up. If you can only put in a few
> hours, calling CQ on Sunday afternoon will bring some nice high run rates
> since you will be fresh meat to all the stations putting in full time
> efforts. If your goal is to maximize points for your club, a common strategy
> is to operate from one station on Saturday and then from another station
> (with that station?s call) on Sunday ? basically combining both of the above
> strategies.
> Common wisdom in Sweepstakes is to let the multipliers come to you ? unless
> your goal is to just get a Clean Sweep, the best strategy is to maximize
> QSOs. For a 100,000 point SS effort, a multiplier is worth about 8 QSOs -
> spending more than 10 or 15 minutes to get that elusive section will
> basically lower your score. But if you just want that Clean Sweep mug,
> knowing propagation paths from your location is the secret sauce: what
> times/bands will give you the short hops to nearby sections and which will
> provide openings to the Pacific or quasi-polar distant sections. Barring
> entering the unlimited category and using packet spotting, working the rare
> sections that don?t have a lot of operators is pretty much just luck of the
> draw.
>
> As in any contest, maximizing score means running (calling CQ) as much as
> possible, and SS is one of the easier contests for the average station to
> find and hold a CQ frequency. However, if you did a lot of running on
> Saturday, searching and pouncing on Sunday to find those ?Sunday drivers?
> will be important.
>
> Sweepstakes Etiquette
> Sweepstakes is a contest that attracts the full spectrum of hams: top
> operators at big stations looking to win, serious contesters looking to beat
> last year's score or come in ahead of their buddies, club members just
> looking to help the club score, and first time contesters just trying this
> thing out. Just like in a marathon running race, that means there are
> competitors at a wide level of capabilities. To deal with that there are some
> norms of ?etiquette? that have evolved to let everyone have the most possible
> amount of fun. These are not hard and fast rules, just common norms that have
> evolved over the years. You won?t be disqualified by going against any of
> these norms, but by following them you will definitely save a lot of whining
> on CQ-CONTEST after SS is over.
> There many areas where standard contest etiquette applies, but there are also
> some specific norms for SS:
>
> The exchange in Sweepstakes is complicated on purpose ? Sweepstakes tradition
> comes from traffic handling - this is what makes SS fun and different. Learn
> the exchange before the contest and get comfortable sending and receiving it
> in the expected order. There are basically three scenarios to be comfortable
> with:
> The CQ Scenario: You will either be calling CQ or answering CQs and following
> a standard protocol will make everything go faster and more smoothly:
>
> K3TN: CQ SS K3TN K3TN SS
> W8ABC: W8ABC
> K3TN: W8ABC 123 B K3TN 69 MDC
> W8ABC: 55 A W8ABC 74 OH
> K3TN: TU K3TN SS
>
> Remember, SS is one of those contests where you do not have to send RS(T).
> When you send the exchange the first time, no need to send anything twice ?
> send it once and let the other station ask for a fill if needed. Also, there
> is no need to send ?NR? at the start of your exchange when replying to a CQ,
> though some feel it helps the receiving station get ready to copy the
> exchange.
>
> Note: Sweepstakes does not require that the station answering the CQ send
> back the CQers call. It is not a bad idea to do so if you think there is any
> doubt who you (W8ABC above) are responding to, such as on a crowded band
> where multiple CQers are ?sharing? a frequency. In that case, W8ABC
> would reply ?K3TN 55 A W8ABC 74 OH?
> The Fill scenario: Contests are about speed and accuracy, so before you hit
> enter in the log you want to make sure you have the info right. Good
> operators will always ask for a repeat or ?fill? if they missed part of the
> exchange or aren?t 100% certain they copied it right. The generally
> accepted ways to ask for fills are:
>
> CK? ? Please send the Check (last two digits of the first year you were
> licensed) again
> NR? ? Please send the serial number again.
> PREC? ? Please send the Precedence (A, B, M, U, S, Q) again.
> SEC? ? Please send your Section again.
> CL? ? Please repeat your call?
> AGN or ? ? Please resend the entire exchange again.
>
> It is only really necessary to send the entire exchange if the station sends
> AGN or ? but many operators aren?t familiar with the abbreviations for Check
> and Precedence and so on.
>
> K3TN: CQ SS K3TN K3TN SS
> W8ABC: W8ABC
> K3TN: W8ABC 1%& B K3TN 69 MDC
> W8ABC: NR?
> K3TN: 123
> W8ABC: 55 A W8ABC 74 OH
> K3TN: TU K3TN SS
>
> If there appears to be any confusion, just resend the entire exchange.
> The Dupe Scenario: This is a tricky one. When you are calling CQ and a
> station calls you that you have already worked, in most contests it is just
> faster to work them a second time. However, the long exchange in SS changes
> that equation a bit ? many stations choose to not work dupes and
> will send ?K3TN B4? or ?K3TN QSO B4? or ?K3TN DUPE.? This may or may not be
> the right thing to do, depending on circumstances. N6TR (who manages
> the log-checking for SS) has made it clear that a repeat QSO in one log that
> is a first QSO in another will not result in a penalty to either op. On the
> other hand, a NIL (not-in-log) QSO, where a QSO shown in one log is not even
> loosely matched in another log, will result in a fairly significant penalty.
> On Saturday evening, when rates are high, it may make sense to say "QSO B4"
> and go on to the next station, because if you are not in his log, chances are
> good that the station will call you again on Sunday. On Sunday, when rates
> are low and "fresh meat" is scarce, it makes sense to insist that the
> previous QSO is "not in my log" and say "pse work again". You're really doing
> the other station a favor, and not costing either of you much precious time.
> Send the entire exchange! - don't forget, you must send your callsign as part
> of the exchange.
> Cut numbers and leading zeroes: In contests where RST is required, sending
> 5NN is universally recognized to mean 599 ? just as CW is universally
> recognized as an abbreviation for Continuous Wave. However, in SS using cut
> numbers in the CK field (6N instead of 69) or even in the serial number field
> leads to confusion because of the mix of numbers and letters in the
> exchange. Just avoid cut numbers. Similarly, there is no reason to send
> leading zeroes ? they just increase the chance for confusion.
> Use the standard abbreviations for sections on CW and standard phonetics on
> SSB. In Sweepstakes, you are not in ?Maryland? or ?Massachusetts,? you are in
> ?Maryland DC (MDC on CW)? or ?Eastern Mass (EMA on CW)" or wherever. You can
> find the list of standard ARRL sections here. Similarly, leave the fun
> phonetics on the shelf for contests ? stick with the ICAO standard phonetics
> found here.
> Send (or say) the exchange in the standard order: number, precedence, your
> call, your check and your section. There's no need to say "precedence",
> "check" or "section" if they are in sequence, making it faster and clearer
> both for you and for the other station. In general, the fewer words the
> better.
> Don?t repeat what you copied back to the CQer. Especially on SSB, it is
> tempting to say ?Thanks for number 123 B in MDC, you are number ?? Just stick
> to sending your information and everything will move along more quickly.
> Send ?QRL?? or ??? twice to check if a frequency is in use. The long SS
> exchange also means that there will be longer than usual gaps while a CQer is
> listening to someone reply. Just sending ?dit dit? and then hitting that CQ
> key is just rude ? do the right thing and check twice. If you are running
> stations and don?t respond to QRL? checks, the frequency is assumed to be up
> for grabs. A corollary to this principle is?
> Just because you own two radios doesn?t mean you own two frequencies. If you
> are operating SO2R and don?t respond to a legitimate ?double QRL?? because
> you were off on the other radio trying to break the VE8 pileup, that
> frequency is up for grabs.
> Send CW at the code speed of the other operator, or the fastest you are
> comfortable copying ? whichever is lower. If you answer someone CQing at 35
> wpm, but are only able to copy 20 wpm, reply at 20 wpm. If you are sending CQ
> at 35 wpm and someone responds at 20 wpm, slooow down to something near the
> other station?s code speed. Hitting Page Down or twisting the K1EL knob a bit
> isn't that hard. Exceptions: on Sunday, everyone slows down their CQ code
> speed to attract casual operators. Also, if you hear a buddy calling CQ at 20
> wpm and you know they can copy 35 wpm, call them at the higher speed. Even
> more fun: call him or her at 45 wpm and throw in some cut numbers: "ATN B
> K3TN 6N MDC" Remember: only do this out of love.
>
> _______________________________________________
> SECC mailing list
> SECC at contesting.com
> http://lists.contesting.com/mailman/listinfo/secc
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