3rd Kids Contest(SquINT) This Sunday

[shaimes at sescva.esc.edu]

Announcing: The 3rd SquINT Kids Contest. The response has
been favorable both over packet radio and the CQ-Contest
mail reflector on the Internet.

Objective: For kids of all ages to take a role in their
dad's or mom's hobby of amateur radio. Many stations who
have participated before said they would love to do it
again. Other stations said they missed the 2 previous events
and would love to participate in this one. Additionally,
this is an opportunity for kids all around the world to get
their feet wet and experience the thrill of ham radio
contesting. License holders will act as control operators
for the event and the kids will do all the talking. Moms and
dads may assist by offering tips and maintaining the log.

Contest Period: 2000 - 2200 Zulu on Sunday the 16th of July.

Operator Classes: There are no specific operator classes in
this contest. The main goal is just to have 2 hours of fun
on the radio. Multi-op stations such as more than 1 kid in
the family are encouraged but will not count as a typical
multi-op contest entry. Each kid will use the same
callsign(of course).

Modes and Bands: All contest activity will take place on 20
meter SSB between the frequencies of 14.270 and 14.300 Mhz
inclusive.

Exchange: Give first name, age, favorite color and state. In
the event of 2 or more kids with the same first name no
special designator is necessary. Just the name of the kid
will be fine no matter how many Georges (as in Foreman, hi)
in the family are participating. For those of you who have
been harping on using more meaningful exchanges than 59,
this is it!

Valid Contacts: Each kid in the family may be contacted only
once by another station. Duplicate contacts with the same
kid are invalid. In the case of more than one kid with the
name George, make sure the age is not the same. I haven't
calculated the odds of working twin or triplet Georges who,
of course, would all have the same age. If this happens,
whoever runs the next SquINT can take that into
consideration.

QSO Points: Count 2 points for each QSO. QSOs with multiple
kids in the same family count 1 point for each kid
worked(not 1 point for the whole family).

Multiplier Points: Count 1 multiplier for each favorite
color. Depending how creative kids are when choosing their
favorite color, there could be a huge number of multipliers.
Only the Crayola Corporation knows how many.

Final Score: Total QSOs times the total different colors.
Pretty simple, eh? Maybe some of the major DX contests
should take note.

Log Submissions: This is the best part. There is no official
form or summary sheet. By all means you should submit a
printed log for each kid in your family but as far as the
summary sheet is concerned, Use the back of your QSL card
and print the total number of QSOs, total number of QSO
points(which should be double), the total number of
multipliers, and the final score.
                    # QSOs    QSO Pts.    Mults.    Score
                    =====================================
                      25       50          15        750
It's that simple! Send your logs and your QSL cards to:
                                   Stuart Haimes N2AUK
                                   11 Lever Place Plainview,
                                   New York 11803 USA
My son will be in the contest so if you want to QSL him you
should enclose a separate card. DO NOT USE YOUR SUBMISSION
CARD TO QSL US!

Deadline: Please submit logs and submission cards by August
15th. I will send a complete listing of the results to the
National Contest Journal and I will post the results on the
contest reflector and on DXcluster. Another thrill for the
kids will be seeing their names in print.

Awards: At this point I don't have any plans to offer prizes
for first, second, or third place, but every kid who sends
in a log will receive a participation award suitable for
framing. I don't know whether the award will contain a
signature on it. I don't know who would sign it. Perhaps the
editor of the NCJ? I don't know. I could use some help on
this one.

There's nothing more I can say. Get your kids ready! If you
don't have any kids rent some. Go knocking on your
neighbor's door. Maybe he'll stop complaining about the TVI
if his or her kids get excited about the hobby. Call your
grandchildren, nieces, nephews and friend's kids. The more
the merrier! See you Sunday.

Stuart Haimes N2AUK