CQWW vs ARRL DX
N8ET at delphi.com
N8ET at delphi.com
Thu Feb 24 13:00:13 EST 1994
As G4BUO mentioned - this list has a majority of subscribers from the US -
so I thought I would put in my two cents worth based on the 5 years I spent
living in the UK ('78 - '83).
The ARRL DX contests were attractive because as Dave mentions, you could put
up some very good wire arrays pointed at the states and be very loud. I can
remember doing this with a group at Appleton Labs (G3UKS es co.) one year (we
were so loud on 80 that some commerical coastal station came up into the ham
band and asked us to back off....), and EI9CB had a 5 ele wire beam for 75
pointed at the US.
The Planning regulations (translate - zoning) in the UK are much stricter,
so in a lot of cases the antennas can not be put up permanently. Fixed wire
antennas are a lot easier to use under those conditions. I used to put up my
tower and antennas Friday night after I got home from work, operate the test
over the weekend, and then take them down again Sunday after it was all
over...
Keep the ARRL test as is , and keep CQWW as is also....
73 - Bill - N8ET (ex - G5CMX, EI6DR)
>From geoiii at bga.com (George Fremin III - WB5VZL) Thu Feb 24 18:47:39 1994
From: geoiii at bga.com (George Fremin III - WB5VZL) (george fremin iii)
Date: Thu, 24 Feb 1994 12:47:39 -0600 (CST)
Subject: ARRLDX PARTICIPATION
Message-ID: <199402241847.AA05708 at zoom.bga.com>
: The (10) minute rule is killing the multi-single category. It drops the
: multisingle class to just a casual weekend activity where the ops don't get
: "burned-out". The top single-op usually beats the top multi-single because
: the single-op can QSY at will!
i dont understand all of this stuff about the 10 min rule.
i even read a post from k1dg - that complained about it.
the 10 min rule - makes it possible for a station that can
only put one station on the air to do pretty well. unlike the
cq ww m/s - where it takes a station that can have at least two
stations on a the the same time and it is even better if you
can have about 3 or 4 stations. i have done m/s in arrl and
yeah the 10 min rule can be a pain - it is even if you are m/2
but if you were to do away with the 10 min rule it would not
be pretty. i dont know what kind of station you are operating
from but do you really want a group of guys with one station to
go up against stations that are working mults all over place with
5 or 6 stations?
i dont think so.
: Look at last "weakend's" top single-op, K5ZD. Randy had more QSO's than
: any multi-single. His score was good for #2 multi-single! and just missed
: #1 multi-single (AD1C) by 4%!
so? randy was single-op ie. he was in a diffrent catagory with
diffrent rules. they stations you are compeating against are
in the m/s catagory all of them have the 10 min rule to follow.
: As a multi-single group its kinda demoralizing to find yourself beaten
: every year by a lone guy sitting at his radio.
things like this happen - one year the n5au station doing
m/2 in arrl ssb had the biggest socre in the contest.
they beat all the m/2 and all the m/m scores too.
so should we do away with or change the rules to the m/m catagory
because a m/2 is beating them? seems that k1ar/k1ea is doing stuff
like this now - wonder how a room full of guys using 6 stations
with *no* 10 min feels about getting beaten by some guys
with 2 stations *and* a 10 min rule?
: WOW! Randy how do you do it? Nevermind staying awake that long... how does
: one get 45 hours of uninterrupted free-time? You mean in all that time you
: didn't have to call your XYL (or siginificant other)?, Or answer a call
: from work, or get paged on a beeper?
you chose to do this - some of us chose jobs where we have
weekends free - or we take vaction do do contests.
in order to contesting at this level it requires *alot*
of commitment. it is not just 45 hours - try more like 55+
hours - in order to do a 48 hour dx test most take friday
off from work or half of friday and half of monday.
i drove 4 hours one way to operate radio contests - i did
this for 12 years. not to mention the time spentetting
the station ready for contests. (more driving)
--
George Fremin III
Austin, Texas C.K.U.
WB5VZL
512/416-0140
geoiii at bga.com
>From Not a paperless office <young at young.enet.dec.com> Thu Feb 24 19:57:21 1994
From: Not a paperless office <young at young.enet.dec.com> (Not a paperless office)
Date: Thu, 24 Feb 94 14:57:21 EST
Subject: regional competition
Message-ID: <9402241940.AA27876 at us1rmc.bb.dec.com>
I don't think 3830 is a good national indicator. YCCC started using
that frequency years ago after contests (Murphy's Marauders met on 3860).
Eventually it became the place for the East Coast folks to announce how
they did and for the bigger stations to compare numbers. We can find
out how we did against the big guns in the area and whether 'RM or 'LPL
took it and how much 'AR beat (whoever) by.
These days we usually stick K1DG with running the frequency - he does a
good job of it. And the folks who check in are usually in the East Coast
region. I don't think it makes sense to have the whole country check in
there, as the band won't support it, and (mainly) because most of us are
too tired or hungry to want to listen to many scores outside of our region.
I think it would be great if the "black hole" stations met and swapped
scores after the contest. That would probably encourage activity in
the region, as stations could compare themselves with the local big guns
and hear about the fight between the Midwest multi-multi's. Maybe you
should announce a frequency and encourage people to show up there?
The East Coast has a good thing going with 3830, and it sounds like other
parts of the country should try it.
Paul, K1XM (K1TR M/2 in ARRL CW)
>From Tony Brock-Fisher <fisher at hp-and.an.hp.com> Thu Feb 24 21:03:27 1994
From: Tony Brock-Fisher <fisher at hp-and.an.hp.com> (Tony Brock-Fisher)
Date: Thu, 24 Feb 1994 16:03:27 -0500
Subject: Stubs for SSB
Message-ID: <9402242103.AA28917 at hp-and.an.hp.com>
I'm hoping to make a stab at multi-2 in ARRL SSB. My question is, are tuned
stubs useful for SSB contests? What lengths/frequencies should I use as
a design goal? Any info appreciated...
Please reply direct to me at fisher at hp-and.an.hp.com
-Tony, K1KP
>From howie cahn <howi at world.std.com> Thu Feb 24 22:16:08 1994
From: howie cahn <howi at world.std.com> (howie cahn)
Date: Thu, 24 Feb 1994 17:16:08 -0500 (EST)
Subject: WB2CPU/qrp ARRL test score
Message-ID: <Pine.3.89.9402241724.A29741-0100000 at world.std.com>
ARRL INTERNATIONAL DX CONTEST 1994
Call: WB2CPU Country: United States
Mode: CW Category: Single Operator - QRP
BAND QSO QSO PTS PTS/Q COUNTRIES
160 0 0 0.0 0
80 0 0 0.0 0
40 60 180 3.0 32
20 88 264 3.0 43
15 46 138 3.0 27
10 10 30 3.0 8
--------------------------------------
Totals 204 612 3.0 110 = 67,320
Equipment Description:
Various QRP radios, homebrew and commercial, 1 - 4W out
Dipoles/trap dipoles on all bands used
Club Affiliation:
Yankee Clipper Contest Club
This QRP business is starting to be less fun. Was most disappointed in
20M. I don't know whether it was low activity levels in Europe, high
D-layer absorption, or both, but I could only work a relatively small
number of the big stations there. Let me tell you what working the
contest is like running a couple of watts into dipoles. Even when the
band seems reasonably open you sit around and (mostly) unsuccessfully
call people with a rate of several marginal Qs per hour. Then the path
gets a bit better and you can 'run' (using the term very loosely) a dozen
or so stations before things sink back down. At this point in the sunspot
cycle, you get a few such periods per contest -- if you're lucky.
C y'all wpx...
howie, wb2cpu
wb2cpu at world.std.com
>From Bruce B. Sawyer" <zf8bs at twg.com Thu Feb 24 22:36:29 1994
From: Bruce B. Sawyer" <zf8bs at twg.com (Bruce B. Sawyer)
Date: Thu, 24 Feb 94 14:36:29 PST
Subject: ARRL DX Contest Results, ZF8BS
Message-ID: <9402242237.AA25107 at eco.twg.com>
ARRL INTERNATIONAL DX CONTEST 1994
Call: ZF8BS Country: Cayman Islands, BWI
Mode: CW Category: Single Operator, Low Power
BAND QSO QSO PTS STATES/PROV
160 175 525 41
80 475 1425 53
40 725 2175 58
20 1216 3648 58
15 1271 3813 58
10 354 1062 48
-----------------------------------
Totals 4216 12648 316 = 3,996,768
Equipment Description: Icom 761, Mosley TA33 up 50', Cushcraft 40m
beam up 45', wires for 80 and 160.
Soapbox: The decision to go low power was a last minute decision, based on
the final WWV Solar Report before the contest (A=4, K=1) and some checks I
did during the few days preceding the contest. Those tests confirmed that
100w was totally adequate, and in fact several people flunked the test (
Which is better, antenna 1 or antenna 2?) when I switched on the amp to see
what a difference it made. The first day of the contest I was convinced I
could do almost as well low power as if I were running power. The second
day was a different story. All the big east guns who already had worked me
on all 6 decided the only thing I was good for was the frequency I was
occupying. And 100w is no match in a frequency fight. Sunday morning was
just miserable, as I had one after another frequency taken away by people
who were totally deaf to my answer to their QRL? From then on it became a
matter of how quickly I could find a new run frequency and then get in 5 or
10 minutes before I got clobbered again. It was fun having to be quick and
agile in order to get a new frequency over and over again, and in fact I
would say that it required totally different tactics than when you're
running power. By late am Sunday there just weren't any holes left to be
found on 15, and I kept jumping back and forth between 10 and 20, both of
which were suboptimal.
Many thanks to the 48 stations who got me on all 6. (Except, of course, for
the guys who kept stealing my frequency after doing the 6.) I'll shoot
cards right back to anybody who wants one and sends an SASE (via AA6KX, CBA).
Does anybody know what the record for low power on the DX side is? The
summary W0UN published in the NCJ only covered the W/VE side. I'm REAL
curious about this. And, without wanting to sound presumptious, I notice
that there was no plaque donor listed for low power DX in the December QST.
Is there no plaque for this category?
de Bruce, AA6KX (and ZF8BS)
>From Randy A Thompson <K5ZD at world.std.com> Fri Feb 25 04:04:18 1994
From: Randy A Thompson <K5ZD at world.std.com> (Randy A Thompson)
Date: Thu, 24 Feb 1994 23:04:18 -0500 (EST)
Subject: ARRLDX PARTICIPATION
Message-ID: <Pine.3.89.9402242215.A28430-0100000 at world.std.com>
On Thu, 24 Feb 1994, MR KEVEN J DROST WA8ZDT wrote:
> Look at last "weakend's" top single-op, K5ZD. Randy had more QSO's than
> any multi-single. His score was good for #2 multi-single! and just missed
> #1 multi-single (AD1C) by 4%!
>
Why? Because as a well equipped single op, I could CQ continuously on
one band while tuning another band with my second radio. I haven't
counted yet, but would be willing to guess I worked 300+ QSOs on the
second rig. I was using one keyer so I can guarantee I was only
transmitting on one band at a time. Unfortunately, we can't have the
same guarantee if the lid was taken off the multi-single rule. There has
to be some definition of multi-SINGLE!
> Often someone will defend the 10 minute rule by saying that two -or- more
> ops will be fresher and more alert than a "burned-out" single-op. Well,
> last Sunday night on 3830, after the scores were compiled, someone asked
> how many hours he put in. Randy replied...
>
> "about 45 and -a- half ... except for about an hour and a
> half, I just sat at the radio the whole weekend ..."
>
> WOW! Randy how do you do it? Nevermind staying awake that long... how does
> one get 45 hours of uninterrupted free-time? You mean in all that time you
> didn't have to call your XYL (or siginificant other)?, Or answer a call
> from work, or get paged on a beeper?
>
Nope! It is a matter of priorities (however mad they may be). If you
want to be competitive as a single op, you make sure you will be
uninterrupted for the whole weekend.
Randy, K5ZD
PS- I sent my wife and kid to her parents for the weekend!
More information about the CQ-Contest
mailing list