UK ROPOCO contest
Neil Smith
g4dbn at cix.compulink.co.uk
Sun Feb 26 22:44:00 EST 1995
Tim KJ4VH asked about the RSGB contest which uses postcodes as
part of the exchange.
The ROPOCO (ROtating POst COdes) contest is a 2-hour 80m contest
early on a Sunday morning. Exchange is RST and the postal code
sent to you by the station you last worked. On the first QSO you
send your own postal code. After two hours of this torture you
feel like you've done a REAL contest.
If you work a contest where you have to send your eye color, favourite
food, Country, Zone or other exchange which is the same in each qso, then
a station that miscopies or only gets partial info can listen to your
next contact. Even serial numbers allow a station making a partial qso
to check the next contact you make and subtract one from the serial you
send, but in ROPOCO you really have to be certain you get the info
correct. It works because the logs can be cross-checked easily (the
mangling that some codes suffer is quite impressive over the 2 hours) and
the whole thing is like a huge game of Chinese Whispers.
On another point, the legal max power here is 400W output, measured at
the antenna terminals. I heard a friend sending 5NN KW as the exchange in
a recent contest, he said he had 4dB feeder loss. On 160?
Neil G4DBN/AA1EG g4dbn at cix.compulink.co.uk
>From Richard F. DiDonna" <rdidonna at liberty.uc.wlu.edu Sun Feb 26 22:27:01 1995
From: Richard F. DiDonna" <rdidonna at liberty.uc.wlu.edu (Richard F. DiDonna)
Date: Sun, 26 Feb 1995 18:27:01 -0400 (EDT)
Subject: Unacceptable QSO's ??
Message-ID: <Pine.3.89.9502261849.A13675-0100000 at liberty.uc.wlu.edu>
On Fri, 24 Feb 1995, Jim Hollenback wrote:
> On Feb 24, 6:25am, Bill Fisher, KM9P Concentric Systems, Inc. wrote:
> > Subject: Unacceptable QSO's ??
>
> case 1: experienced contester knows the rule, but to cut a corner does
> not send power in exchange unless asked. Assumes those listening
> copy the power and do not need a 'fill'.
I wonder if some of the high volume contest stations are assuming
that everybody is running a contest program where, once the program
recognizes that the call has been worked before, the power level is
automatically added in the exchange field.
I figure that if one does not receive the full exchange, one ought not
to count the contact. One can ask for repeats, etc., but each station
ought to communicate to the other the entire exchange.
Rich KI6ZH
>From Steven Affens <k3sa at access.digex.net> Mon Feb 27 04:19:31 1995
From: Steven Affens <k3sa at access.digex.net> (Steven Affens)
Date: Sun, 26 Feb 1995 23:19:31 -0500 (EST)
Subject: Frequencies in .all log print
Message-ID: <Pine.SUN.3.91.950226231528.19761A-100000 at access3.digex.net>
W2UP figured out that if you operated the contest with ct9.10 to around
9.13 the writelog does not generate an .all log that contains the
frequencies. Only the bands.......and he figured out that if you take the
bin file so generated and fire it up in 9.20 and then do a writelog, low
and behold the .all file has the actual frequency of the qso as
interfaced from the FT1000.
Thanks to Barry W2UP.
73 Steve K3SA
Steven C. Affens
K3SA at ACCESS.DIGEX.NET
>From Eugene Walsh <0004504465 at mcimail.com> Mon Feb 27 04:36:00 1995
From: Eugene Walsh <0004504465 at mcimail.com> (Eugene Walsh)
Date: Sun, 26 Feb 95 23:36 EST
Subject: W2GD 160M PHONE SCORE
Message-ID: <10950227043601/0004504465PK1EM at MCIMAIL.COM>
Did 160 Phone contest with W2GD and his orchestra.
Never dreamed wud do 160 Phone for any reason!
This was, however, a real good time. A GAS!
A good bunch, for sure.
At USCG Station, Sandy Hook, NJ on the tip of
a needle like peninsula sticking in to the
Atlantic. 6.5 miles south of New York City
(Coney Island and Rockaway Point) with water
all around, but not quite as much water to
the south. NS2K and W2GD responsible for
causing this to happen.
Full wave loop (Top at 200 feet). Sloper west.
>1000 ft Beverages NE, E/W, N/S propped up on
poles stuck in the sand. Very quiet! Could
hear real good most of the time. 90 minutes
after contest's end you could not tell anyone
was ever there. Real field day style.
For the first time in 39 years of this game, I heard
what seemed like someone following us causing QRM
(AB4XA). It is hard to believe he is one of us.
We lived through it.
1426Q 49DXCC 59S/P missed VE8, VO2 441,288 Score.
OPS: W2GD, WU3A, KB2JAQ, K2TW, KU2C, KZ2S, NS2K, N2AA.
Something completely different!
73 Gene N2AA
>From Norton, Richard" <nortonr at MRD.SRL.dsto.gov.au Tue Feb 28 00:06:00 1995
From: Norton, Richard" <nortonr at MRD.SRL.dsto.gov.au (Norton, Richard)
Date: Mon, 27 Feb 95 16:06:00 PST
Subject: GB prefix in Wales in ARRL Contest - Part II
Message-ID: <2F52691D at msmail.dsto.gov.au>
I have received a good number of replies to my comment about using GB6AR
from Wales in the ARRL Contest. Almost all of them have agreed with my
position. A few have written to tell me that GB is not only a prefix for
England, but is valid for the entire United Kingdom.
It is very apparent that GB is a valid call for Wales. My argument was not
that it was illegal, but that it was simply a bad idea.
We have the same situation in the USA. N6 Mickey Mouse is occasionally used
as a special call at Disneyland. KM9P could be used as a special call at the
Kumquat and Mango Festival of Peoria.
It is perfectly valid to use N6MM or KM9P on American Samoa or Navassa
Island. There is no need to sign portable anything.
If I were going to either American Samoa or Navassa Island for a contest
where countries were multipliers, I would not use either of those calls
alone. I would sign a call that allowed my rare country status to show up in
my callsign. I also would not sign N6MM, American Samoa. For example, I
note that N6VI always signs N6VI/KH6 in contests, although N6VI alone is a
perfectly valid callsign to use from Hawaii.
If I were going to operate in the WPX Contest, on the other hand, it might
be a different story. KM9P is just as rare a prefix as AH8 or KH8, and it
wouldn't make that much difference.
Despite the fact that there may be other stations active from Wales, it is
still a reasonably rare country. England, Germany, and Italy are common.
France, Portugal, and Switzerland are uncommon. Wales is moderately rare.
Most USA entrants are not going to work Wales on a lot of bands.
There are not a lot of people in the ARRL Contest chasing prefixes. There
are a lot fewer who do and have not worked GB6 at some time in their lives.
People in the next country may not appreciate how rare Wales is. Although I
have seen Wales stations listed in the callbook, I understand Welsh radio
clubs hold secret meetings in old castles, where they agree to use small
transmitters and wet-string antennas. This allows them only to be able to
work the rest of the UK and all those big guys in New England. This could
explain why some Gs think Wales is not rare and guys from California do.
In summary:
1) It is not to the benefit of the group to use GB6AR. They will work less
contacts. People have told me they will tune past a GB6 if they already have
England.
2) It is not to the benefit of the Ws. They will be probably be confused as
to the location, and at best, will need to do unfamiliar things to their
logging programs to log the contact correctly.
3) It is not to the benefit of the contest sponsors. They will receive many
logs where the country is not recorded correctly.
4) It is to the benefit of GB6AR's competitors, because GB6AR will have a
slightly smaller score than they would have if they used a call like GW4VAG,
GW4XFA, GW0KJV, or GW4XKR.
However, I agree that they have every right to use the call, and
unfortunately, in my opinion, it appears that they will.
73,
Dick N6AA/VK5 NortonR at MRD.SRL.DSTO.GOV.AU
>From De Syam <syam at Glue.umd.edu> Mon Feb 27 06:43:39 1995
From: De Syam <syam at Glue.umd.edu> (De Syam)
Date: Mon, 27 Feb 1995 01:43:39 -0500 (EST)
Subject: HS1AH in ARRL SSB and CQ WPX SSB
Message-ID: <Pine.SUN.3.91.950227013820.17383D-100000 at latte.eng.umd.edu>
A letter from the trustee of the Radio Amateur Society of Thailand's club
station at the Asian Institute of Technology (formerly HS0A) says that
the station has been completely refurbished and is back in operation.
They can no longer use the call HS0A because the King of Thailand is now
HS1A and they don't want to cause any confusion. They have applied to be
assigned another call but the paperwork is not complete yet.
However, they promise to be very active in both the ARRL SSB and CQ WPX
SSB contests using the call HS1AH, which belongs to the radio club in a
neighboring province.
The station trustee, by the way, is John, HS1CHB/N9WMS.
73, Fred Laun, K3ZO
>From Gardin Petter, SEME" <M.P.Gardin at telub.se Mon Feb 27 08:19:00 1995
From: Gardin Petter, SEME" <M.P.Gardin at telub.se (Gardin Petter, SEME)
Date: Mon, 27 Feb 95 08:19:00 GMT
Subject: CQ WW 160 m SSB from 7S3OWG
Message-ID: <2F5C893F at noak>
>From Scandinavia. The black hole in the aurora zone.
CQ WW 160 meter SSB contest.
Valid QSO 496
Points 2556
States/prov. 2
Countrys 59
Final score 155916
Operators: SM3BDZ, SM3CVM, SM3PXO
Equipment: TS-850, HB PA, Antenn se below
We have a 40 meter tower in the middle of the array and have halfwave
dipoles from it in 3 directions.
We feed each dipole, leaving the other ones open and use the tower as an
reflector.
ELNEC say F/B=15 dB, Gain=5,5 dBi and Takeoff=27deg. It works great in real
life too.
( Hope this comes out allright )
I
I
I \
I \
I \ 160 m dipol
I \
I \
I \feedpoint
I \---------------
I
--------------------------------------- ground level
40 m tower
Petter Gardin callsign: SM3PXO
Frosovagen 18B email: m.p.gardin at telub.se
S-832 43 OSTERSUND
SWEDEN
>From dick.mcduffie at hollis.maine.com (DICK MCDUFFIE) Sun Feb 26 19:05:00 1995
From: dick.mcduffie at hollis.maine.com (DICK MCDUFFIE) (DICK MCDUFFIE)
Date: Sun, 26 Feb 95 14:05:00 -0500
Subject: NY1E 160M score
Message-ID: <8A4434D.00010011A5.uuout at hollis.maine.com>
CQ 160 M phone score for NY1E, SO high power.
Qso's countries states score
512 9 51 72,360
3 hrs first night, 9 hrs second night.
TS-690S > HB 4-1000A > inverted Vee 90' & 500' EU beverage.
Lots of QRN first night, second night much quieter.
73, Dick NY1E in Maine
>From Setzler" <Setzler at C813.NPT.NUWC.NAVY.MIL Mon Feb 27 13:54:20 1995
From: Setzler" <Setzler at C813.NPT.NUWC.NAVY.MIL (Setzler)
Date: 27 Feb 1995 08:54:20 -0500
Subject: K1NG 160M PHONE SCORE
Message-ID: <n1418246767.81202 at C813.NPT.NUWC.NAVY.MIL>
The Test: 1995 CQ 160 Meter Contest
The Station: K1NG
The QTH: Exeter, Rhode Island
The Ops: K1NG, KI1G, WF1B, KD1NG
The Equipment Suite: FT-1000, Amp Supply LK780
The Antennas: East/West Dipole @ 115', North/South Dipole @ 105'
West, East, and South Beverages, rotatable loop
The Results:
QSOs: 1304
DXCC: 45
S/Prov: 59 - missed NWT and Yukon
Score: 370 K
K1NG and KI1G start the test with both listening nearly all the time. WF1B
and KD1NG take the dog shift and run from midnight to about 0800 (local).
The station is pretty much shut down during the day. EVERYONE has
unavoidable commitments: children with chicken pox, Cub Scout Pinewood
Derby, hockey tournement, Mardi Gras Ball (in New England?)... - you name
it!
The first night it seemed Europe was just not there like during 160 CW. The
Beverages seemed fine but the E/W dipole seemed "sluggish". KI1G climbed the
tower and replaced feed line on E/W dipole Saturday afternoon (wind chill at
-20!!). Second night the dipoles heard better than Beverages - go figure.
The second night rate was just about as good as the first night - slow but
steady, just enough to keep you awake.
All in all, a fine way to spend the weekend.
73 de James, KD1NG
>From bill at tenet.edu (Bill Parry) Mon Feb 27 14:22:00 1995
From: bill at tenet.edu (Bill Parry) (Bill Parry)
Date: Mon, 27 Feb 95 08:22 CST
Subject: log submission
Message-ID: <m0rj6L1-000ZhyC at postoffice.smu.edu>
I tried to submit my ARRL DX log by ftp to contest at arrl.com as stated in QST
but got message back stating "host not found". Anyone else have this problem?
Bill, W5VX
bill at tenet.edu
Bill Parry, W5VX e-mail bill at tenet.edu
SBDM/Administrator Training office: (210) 383-5611
Education Service Center, Region 1 home (210) 686-1639
1900 West Schunior, fax (210) 381-8412
Edinburg, TX 78539
>From gdo at aloft.att.com (Glenn D. O'Donnell) Mon Feb 27 14:19:14 1995
From: gdo at aloft.att.com (Glenn D. O'Donnell) (Glenn D. O'Donnell)
Date: Mon, 27 Feb 95 09:19:14 EST
Subject: N3BDA CQ 160 Phone Score
Message-ID: <9502271419.AA12711 at dasher>
Here are the rather wimpy results from N3BDA. My antenna situation is
horrible but I had a real blast anyway!
Biggest thrill: Cracking the pileup to work California! That may not be much
of an achievement for most of you, but considering my setup,
I was definitely psyched.
Biggest bummer: Trying so long to break the pileup for the Idaho/Oregon
duo without any luck.
When the WX breaks, I plan some major antenna improvements.
73 es CU in the ARRL DX Contest this weekend.
de Glenn O'Donnell, N3BDA
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------
CQ 160 METER PHONE CONTEST -- 1995
Call: N3BDA Category: Single Operator Low Power
QTH: Palmerton, PA
Totals 140 QSOs = 313 points X 39 states = 12,207 points
Equipment Description:
Icom IC-736 running 100 watts through a Dentron antenna tuner
into an 80 meter half-wave dipole at 40 feet.
Total operating time = 12 hours
>From joe.ham at ctobbs.com (Joe Ham) Sun Feb 26 13:39:35 1995
From: joe.ham at ctobbs.com (Joe Ham) (Joe Ham)
Date: Sun, 26 Feb 1995 13:39:35 GMT
Subject: Query
Message-ID: <9502270630182420 at ctobbs.com>
The newest data base of issued ham calls DOES NOT show a Kevin
Mitnick--doesn't mean he isn't a ham since, via electronic filing, he
could have been licensed two days ago and the data base wouldn't show it
yet. Anyhow, until Monday 2-27-1995, he can't show up as licensed
73
Jerry
KG6LF
>From joe.ham at ctobbs.com (Joe Ham) Sun Feb 26 13:28:06 1995
From: joe.ham at ctobbs.com (Joe Ham) (Joe Ham)
Date: Sun, 26 Feb 1995 13:28:06 GMT
Subject: WRTC operator application
Message-ID: <9502270630172419 at ctobbs.com>
Sorry, but K6XC and I provided a detailed letter outlining our interest
and qualifications MANY MONTHS ago. Never heard ANYTHING but rumors.
Now we see something on the Internet. Doesn't strike me/us as the way
to do things. It would seem appropriate to respond directly to those who
communicated directly, rather than "hope" we'd see "updates" on some
BBS. Since I have formed the very clear opinion that WRTC '95 is, at
best, disorganized, you probably wouldn't consider Ron and I as
operators anyhow.
Wish you luck, and IF there is a WRTC 1996, hope whomever takes it on
has their stuff a bit better together!
73
Jerry Boyd
KG6LF
>From Alan Brubaker <alan at nah.dsd.ES.COM> Mon Feb 27 15:24:08 1995
From: Alan Brubaker <alan at nah.dsd.ES.COM> (Alan Brubaker)
Date: Mon, 27 Feb 1995 08:24:08 -0700
Subject: CQWW 160 phone contest.
Message-ID: <199502271524.IAA07934 at nah.dsd.ES.COM>
K6XO/7 Multi-op. Operators: K6XO, KI7WX.
323 QSOs, 51 States/Provinces, 2 DX 40,704
Tough going Friday night. It was almost like there was a wall at the
Mississippi - just could not punch through it. Saturday night was
much better - picked up most of the eastern states. A good opening
between 0400 and 0700 allowed us to pick up nearly all of the remaining
missing W/VE multipliers. Lots of activity.
Alan, K6XO
alan at es.com
>From Trey Garlough <GARLOUGH at TGV.COM> Mon Feb 27 15:38:33 1995
From: Trey Garlough <GARLOUGH at TGV.COM> (Trey Garlough)
Date: Mon, 27 Feb 1995 07:38:33 -0800 (PST)
Subject: log submission
Message-ID: <793899513.457392.GARLOUGH at TGV.COM>
> I tried to submit my ARRL DX log by ftp to contest at arrl.com as stated in QST
> but got message back stating "host not found". Anyone else have this problem?
You sent your message to contest at arrl.com, rather than contest at arrl.org.
Try again.
--Trey, WN4KKN/6
>From Larry Schimelpfenig <lschim at mailstorm.dot.gov> Mon Feb 27 15:23:37 1995
From: Larry Schimelpfenig <lschim at mailstorm.dot.gov> (Larry Schimelpfenig)
Date: Mon, 27 Feb 1995 10:23:37 -0500 (EST)
Subject: An Exchange Student?
Message-ID: <Pine.3.07.9502271034.C29801-b100000 at mailstorm.dot.gov>
In point 6B, the requirement is a three digit number representing
approximate transmit output power. This rule was probably written before
the maximum power allowed by the FCC went to 1500 watts out. How does one
indicate 1500 using three digits? Time for a minor rule rewrite? Was
V44KAO's BK the traditional break, or perhaps he used the B to indicate
his power level was high, as is done in sweepstakes?
New question. Why does it seem that most of the Italiano 300 watters are
so much louder than most of the Brit 400 watters? Yeah I take propagation
into account but.........
73 de Larry K7SV - lschim at mailstorm.dot.gov
On Fri, 24 Feb 1995, John Zapisek K2MM wrote:
> I thought it'd be useful to see what the rules actually say, so I FTP'd
> /pub/hamradio/arrl/infoserver/msd/dx.rls from oak.oakland.edu. Here are
> some relevant excerpts:
>
> > 6) Contest Exchange: (B) DX stations send signal report and power
> > (three-digit number indicating approximate transmitter output power).
> >
> > 8) Miscellaneous: (A) Call signs and exchange information must be
> > received and logged by each station for a complete QSO.
> >
> > 9) Reporting: (B) Logs must indicate times in UTC, bands, mode, calls,
> > complete exchange sent, complete exchange received and QSO points.
>
> Rule 6B requires a signal report, but not necessarily in RS(T) format. I
> think "NN" could be considered a signal report. So could "awesome signal",
> "five by loud", or "dead full clobbering"!
>
> Re rule 8A: I looked but didn't find anything about sending exchange info,
> just receiving and logging. Also didn't find anything about a penalty for a
> QSO not being "complete". Hmmm.
>
> Rule 9B requires that you log what you sent. If the V44 didn't send his
> power but his logs say he did, has he falsified his log?
>
> Duh. --John/K2MM
>From jesposit at sctcorp.com (Joe Esposito) Mon Feb 27 15:48:00 1995
From: jesposit at sctcorp.com (Joe Esposito) (Joe Esposito)
Date: Mon, 27 Feb 95 10:48 EST
Subject: V44
Message-ID: <m0rj7gh-0003I6C at sctladm.sctcorp.com>
Boy, I must be slipping. I copied his report as 5996 and thought he
was QRP with 6 watts!
Joe, K2YJL/M
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