A contester is born...

JGellerRVZ at aol.com JGellerRVZ at aol.com
Wed Apr 3 03:08:22 EST 1996


>Unless, I don't understand Part 97, since we don't have third party
>agreements with Croatia, Russia, and Bulgaria (to the best of my knowledge),
>your unlicensed guest is not supposed to talk to them.

If there were no personal messages relayed on behalf of a "third party," how
the devil do the third party agreements, or lack thereof, come into play in
this situation???

GO FOR IT, TAD!! KEEP ON GETTING PEOPLE INVOLVED IN THE HOBBY!!!!!

73, Jeff N6RVZ

>From w7ni at teleport.com (Stan Griffiths)  Wed Apr  3 09:30:12 1996
From: w7ni at teleport.com (Stan Griffiths) (Stan Griffiths)
Date: Wed, 3 Apr 1996 01:30:12 -0800 (PST)
Subject: S units
Message-ID: <199604030930.BAA22938 at desiree.teleport.com>

>At 01:24 PM 4/2/96 -0500, N6CQ wrote:
>
>>All I wanted to do is disagree with the statement that 5** would not offer
>>a significant advantage over 1.5** anyhow. More than TRIPLING
>>your POWER is NOT an insignificant change (whatever the effect on your
>>S-meter) and has to give an advantage in a contest. 
>>73 Bill
>>N6CQ at paonline.com
>
>And anyone who don't believe this is nuts. 

Or, at the very least, they aren't winning contests . . .

>de Hose  KN5H -- an ex-resident of the 'land of 2-holers' 
>(and I aint talkin' about out-houses)
>

Stan  w7ni at teleport.com


>From w7ni at teleport.com (Stan Griffiths)  Wed Apr  3 09:53:38 1996
From: w7ni at teleport.com (Stan Griffiths) (Stan Griffiths)
Date: Wed, 3 Apr 1996 01:53:38 -0800 (PST)
Subject: A contester is born...
Message-ID: <199604030953.BAA27320 at desiree.teleport.com>

>>Unless, I don't understand Part 97, since we don't have third party
>>agreements with Croatia, Russia, and Bulgaria (to the best of my knowledge),
>>your unlicensed guest is not supposed to talk to them.
>
>If there were no personal messages relayed on behalf of a "third party," how
>the devil do the third party agreements, or lack thereof, come into play in
>this situation???
>
>GO FOR IT, TAD!! KEEP ON GETTING PEOPLE INVOLVED IN THE HOBBY!!!!!
>
>73, Jeff N6RVZ

The "First Party" is the control op of the U.S. station.  The "Second Party"
is the op at the DX station.  The "Third Party" is the unlicensed guest.
The personal message passed was the contest exchange.

By the way, the "Third Party" could actually be a licensed ham who is not
licensed to operate in the portion of the band the QSO is taking place in.

I agree that getting people involved in the hobby is a great idea.  Just
have them operate in Field Day or Sweepstakes and give them an "incentive"
to get a licensed to work DX.

Stan  w7ni at teleport.com


>From David Robbins <robbins at berkshire.net>  Wed Apr  3 18:58:52 1996
From: David Robbins <robbins at berkshire.net> (David Robbins)
Date: Wed, 03 Apr 1996 10:58:52 -0800
Subject: A contester is born...
References: <199604030953.BAA27320 at desiree.teleport.com>
Message-ID: <3162CA6C.6215 at berkshire.net>

Stan Griffiths wrote:
> 
> >>Unless, I don't understand Part 97, since we don't have third party
> >>agreements with Croatia, Russia, and Bulgaria (to the best of my knowledge),
> >>your unlicensed guest is not supposed to talk to them.
> >
> >If there were no personal messages relayed on behalf of a "third party," how
> >the devil do the third party agreements, or lack thereof, come into play in
> >this situation???
> >
> >GO FOR IT, TAD!! KEEP ON GETTING PEOPLE INVOLVED IN THE HOBBY!!!!!
> >
> >73, Jeff N6RVZ
> 
> The "First Party" is the control op of the U.S. station.  The "Second Party"
> is the op at the DX station.  The "Third Party" is the unlicensed guest.
> The personal message passed was the contest exchange.

but the person at the mic is not passing that information for themselves.
i would see it the same as having someone record your dvp messages for you
because you had laryngitis and all you did was push buttons.  you have a
slightly smart voice keyer under your control.  now if they were holding 
an independent conversation i could see where there might be problems, but
not in a contest situation.  there are still lots of misconceptions, most
over conservative about these rules... another common one is that the
control op has to identify the station personally, there is no such rule...
he just has to make sure it gets done.

> 
> By the way, the "Third Party" could actually be a licensed ham who is not
> licensed to operate in the portion of the band the QSO is taking place in.
> 

check on that... i am pretty sure the revised rules make it clear that a
third party is an unlicensed person.  any licensed ham can talk anywhere
with the proper control op at the power switch.

> I agree that getting people involved in the hobby is a great idea.  Just
> have them operate in Field Day or Sweepstakes and give them an "incentive"
> to get a licensed to work DX.
> 
> Stan  w7ni at teleport.com

-- 
ky1h at berkshire.net   or   robbins at berkshire.net
http://www.berkshire.net/~robbins/ky1h.html
WWW Page now has New England Flea Market list from W1GSL


>From David Robbins <robbins at berkshire.net>  Wed Apr  3 19:08:14 1996
From: David Robbins <robbins at berkshire.net> (David Robbins)
Date: Wed, 03 Apr 1996 11:08:14 -0800
Subject: WPX Survey
References: <70960403025807/0006008716DC6EM at MCIMAIL.COM>
Message-ID: <3162CC9E.7C9D at berkshire.net>

Doug Grant wrote:
> 
> Due to several circumstances, I was unable to operate full-time in the WPX SSB.
> 
> ONe problem was the feedlines melting down after I installed 2x4CX5000A
> amplifier to try to stay competitive...
> ...snip...
> 
> ANd, yes, I broke the rules by signing bootlegged calls. But it was worth it.
> 
> Doug  K1DG

ok, what is going on here.... are these true confession messages for 
real or has someone started pirating e-mail addresses.  this one isn't 
even dated april-1 like some of the other ones were.  i am not normally 
one of the humor impaired, but personally i have found some of these 
messages confessing to obvious illegal practices to be in very poor 
taste.  and i would not be at all surprised to find excerpts from them 
(with out the 1-april date, but with the powers and callsigns) get into 
some anti-contester's finger pointing messages.

if they are all jokes, what do i have to do to get loud enough to be 
included????????

73, dave
-- 
ky1h at berkshire.net   or   robbins at berkshire.net
http://www.berkshire.net/~robbins/ky1h.html
WWW Page now has New England Flea Market list from W1GSL


>From palooka at pyrotechnics.com (Joe Pontek, K8JP)  Wed Apr  3 12:11:41 1996
From: palooka at pyrotechnics.com (Joe Pontek, K8JP) (Joe Pontek, K8JP)
Date: Wed, 3 Apr 1996 06:11:41 -0600
Subject: A contester is born...
Message-ID: <199604031211.GAA30541 at kiwi.pyrotechnics.com>

Hi Stan, W7NI

>The "First Party" is the control op of the U.S. station.  The "Second Party"
>is the op at the DX station.  The "Third Party" is the unlicensed guest.
>The personal message passed was the contest exchange.

Correct.

>By the way, the "Third Party" could actually be a licensed ham who is not
>licensed to operate in the portion of the band the QSO is taking place in.

Wrong. Third is a non-amateur licensed person.  If what you said was 
correct, messages from amateurs relayed by amateur to another amateur would 
be third party traffic. It is not. Third-party only refers to NON-licensed 
people.

>I agree that getting people involved in the hobby is a great idea.  Just
>have them operate in Field Day or Sweepstakes and give them an "incentive"
>to get a licensed to work DX.

Again, this year, I am going out to FD with a local club.  So far, I have 
three members starting to get involved in contesting since last years FD and 
a program that I did on contesting for the club.

>Stan  w7ni at teleport.com


73, K8Joe"Palooka"
palooka at pyrotechnics.com


>From Joseph M. O'Brien" <jobrien at minerva.cis.yale.edu  Wed Apr  3 13:30:03 1996
From: Joseph M. O'Brien" <jobrien at minerva.cis.yale.edu (Joseph M. O'Brien)
Date: Wed, 3 Apr 1996 08:30:03 -0500 (EST)
Subject: A contester is born...
Message-ID: <Pine.SOL.3.91.960403081812.3852A-100000 at morpheus>

On Wed, 3 Apr 1996 palooka at pyrotechnics.com wrote:

> Hi Stan, W7NI
> 
> >The "First Party" is the control op of the U.S. station.  The "Second Party"
> >is the op at the DX station.  The "Third Party" is the unlicensed guest.
> >The personal message passed was the contest exchange.
> 
> Correct.
> 
> >By the way, the "Third Party" could actually be a licensed ham who is not
> >licensed to operate in the portion of the band the QSO is taking place in.
> 
> Wrong. Third is a non-amateur licensed person.  If what you said was 
> correct, messages from amateurs relayed by amateur to another amateur would 
> be third party traffic. It is not. Third-party only refers to NON-licensed 
> people.
> 

Actually, Stan is correct. From the 10th edition, FCC rule book, part 
97.3(a)(44): 

	Third Party Communications. A message from the control operator 
(first party) of an amateur station to another amateur station control 
operator (second party) on behalf of another person (third party). 

The "another person" does not distinguish between "hams" and "non-hams." 
Hence a General class ham operating in the extra class sub-band with an 
extra class operator present as the control operator is a third-party.

Joe IS correct when he says that "messages from amateurs relayed by [an]
amateur to another amateur" do not constitute third party traffic.
However, this is because FCC part 97.115(a)(2) creates a specfic EXCEPTION
for cases where "the third party is a licensed amateur" and NOT because 
the rule itself says third parties are only non-amateurs.

Hope this helps clear up things!


						73,
						Joe, WI2E
						jobrien at minerva.cis.yale.edu

>From alan at ES.COM (Alan Brubaker)  Wed Apr  3 14:40:30 1996
From: alan at ES.COM (Alan Brubaker) (Alan Brubaker)
Date: Wed, 3 Apr 1996 07:40:30 -0700
Subject: multiple personalities
Message-ID: <199604031440.HAA04732 at greely.corp.es.com>

We were running a strictly single transmitter station, so it was
not possible for us to transmit on two different frequencies at
the same time. It appears that there are a few people around who
decided to play some games.

Alan, K6XO - one of the ops of KI7WX

alan at es.com

See you in the Utah Centennial QSO Party, August 24/25, 1996

>From De Syam <syam at Glue.umd.edu>  Wed Apr  3 15:15:15 1996
From: De Syam <syam at Glue.umd.edu> (De Syam)
Date: Wed, 3 Apr 1996 10:15:15 -0500 (EST)
Subject: WPX SSB Contest: K3ZO Results and Comments
Message-ID: <Pine.SOL.3.91.960403095201.3209A-100000 at fortran.eng.umd.edu>

This was an interesting contest.  Murphy was present most of the
weekend, but my score improved a lot over last year's anyway.
 
First the results:
   K3ZO: Single Operator/All Band/High Power
 
   BAND   Raw QSOs   Valid QSOs   Points   Prefixes   
 _____________________________________________________
 
   80SSB     402         402       1120      207 
   40SSB     219         219       1236       42 
   20SSB    1476        1476       3692      511 
   15SSB      53          53        143       28 
   10SSB      23          23         66        7 
 _____________________________________________________
 
 Totals     2173        2173       6257      795 
 
    Final Score = 4,974,315 points.
 
Off times:  05:33 - 10:11 (30)                4 hrs  38 mins
            01:57 - 04:33 (31)                2      36
            07:57 - 10:56 (31)                2      59
            13:37 - 15:27 (31)                1      50
            ----------------------------------------------------
                 Total                       12      03 
 
 
The contest started out well.  Tuning around on 20 just before the
contest, I heard my friend Dallas, K3WUW/HS0ZBI, just getting set
for his effort from HS50A, so we talked until the contest started,
and by that time we had been joined by E22AAB (HS0/G3NOM In
disguise) and HS1CHB, so I started off the contest with three
different Thailand prefixes.  The first ten minutes of CQ'ing
brought two JT1's and UA8TAA, but the peak had passed with Japan so
there was little volume to the North and I finally aimed West and
picked up lots of West Coast zero-point prefix multipliers.  (I was
somewhat surprised when an EA1 called me off the back of the beam
at about 0130 his local time;  the high sun angle this time of year
is helping 20 even with the sunpots almost nil;  Why don't we have
good openings at that time of the morning on 20?  Because he's a
lot closer to the Geomagnetic Equator than we are.)
 
After the West Coast runs on 20 tailed off, I went directly to 80,
figuring that the Europeans on 40 would still be running high rates
on their own frequencies, and not many would be listening split
yet.  But before I could get going on 80 I had to cope with
Murphy's first visit.  Because of ice damage two years ago to my
KLM 80 meter beam, I have an antenna tuner in line with the 80
meter beam at all times.  This is because we were never able to get
it completely tuned on the CW end the one time we had a crane in
here since then.  Well, I couldn't get the antenna to tune at all
on any part of the band tonight, so, after determining that a
length of coax between the antenna tuner and the coaxial antenna
switch was shorted, I connected the 80 meter beam directly to the
antenna switch, since the antenna is tuned fine for SSB work, and
I only really need the tuner when I work CW.  Lesson #1:  Check out
everything BEFORE the contest, not after it has already started. 
Not adhering to this adage cost me 20 minutes of non-deductible
prime time.
 
I fired up around 3803 at 0203, listening on 3721 or so, and was
immediately the object of an unbelievable European pile-up, totally
unexpected.  Usually when I work split on 40 or 80, my receiving
problems come from either QRN or stations adjacent to my receive
frequency, and not from stations creating QRM for each other by
calling me.  Not that I minded this turn of events!
 
The pile-up died down in a hurry.  There weren't really that many
stations, but apparently even fewer on this side who were listening
down -- I believe I can name them all:  KE1Y, KC1XX, WZ1R and
myself at that particular point in time.
 
I stayed on 80, running them on my own frequency when the European
string began to end, and then knocked off for my first time out at
0533.  When I came back on again at 1011, I fiddled around on 40
and 80 getting mults and then went to 20 far too soon.   At 1045
GMT, the band was somewhat open but only a few Europeans could hear
me through their regional QRM, and there weren't that many Africans
beyond 6V6U to take up the slack.  Finally at 1140 or so I could
begin to run them at decent rates, and I resolved to stay on the
lower bands later the following morning.  
 
The increasing sunlight over the North Pole has brought back our
morning short-path opening to Asia, and after HS0/G4UAV called in
at 1218, I pushed the 6-el Yagi up to 20 degrees to try to catch
some Asians along with the Europeans in the run.  Lots of Russian
3, 4, 9 and 0 area QSO's resulted along with the odd YB, 9M2 and
9M8.  K1VWL also made his presence at BY1QH known to me.  Things
went on pretty well until about 1545 when the rate began to drop
precipitously.  It seemed that a lot of the Europeans were beaming
in other directions since they were still having good openings to
the East and to each other, and my high 6-el Yagi (150 feet) had
ceased to dominate while the lower 4-el quad (78 feet) had not yet
come into its own.   
 
So I went to 15 and Murphy dropped in again.  March around here is
typically a month of relatively high winds (for us), and this year
was no exception.  The Tailtwister which rotates the 4-el Quad took
a real beating in the ARRL Phone DX Contest and through the rest of
March, and, though still turning, it does not want to go where I
want it to sometimes if the winds are a little high.  So I thought
that for the few South Americans and Africans on the band, I would
use the 40-meter Yagi instead, so I wouldn't have to turn the quad
away from Europe, where I would need it later on 20.  The 40 meter
beam works pretty well on 15 even if the SWR is up around 2:1. 
Well, instead of tuning up carefully I blundered on to the band
with the Titan 425 out of resonance and promptly popped one of my
Bird 10-position coaxial antenna switches, so I had to transfer all
important antennas to the other one, which took a little non-
deductible time again.  
 
About 10 QSO's on 15 and I'd worked everything that was there, so
back to 20 again.  About this time Murphy entered the picture again
in the form of a neighbor accompanied by dictaphone tape recorder
knocking on my door to prove that I was interfering with her TV and
telephone.  I had been warned by a local ham after the ARRL Phone
DX Contest that a neighbor was gunning for me but I didn't know who
it was until she knocked on my door.  This was a person with whom
my attorney and I had dealt unpleasantly before -- my earlier
attempt to solve this family's problem had ceased abruptly when I
was forcibly ejected from their home after ascertaining that one of
their TV sets -- the one I was bothering -- had been illegally
hooked up to the cable TV system -- using zip cord, no less!  The
husband is a former CB'er who fancies himself as an electronics
expert -- you get the picture.  He "knows" how to hook up to the
cable system for free and then the spoil-sport ham neighbor comes
along with RFI and foils his little plot!  Well, at least this time
I had a bullet-proof phone to give her so hopefully half the
problem has been solved.  More non-deductible time wasted! 
 
I suffered so-so rates again until 1900 or so when the 4-el quad
finally came into its own, along with most Europeans being forced
to look our way because we were now the only game in town.  At 2300
I went to 40 and after working 15 or so loud ones who were
listening up, I found a frequency to CQ on and again was promptly
set upon by a monstrous and surprising European pile-up.
 
A pause here to describe how I find a good run frequency on 40,
though it will concern relatively few on this reflector because it
probably requires a 40 meter beam to be able to run sufficient
volumes on 40.  No, I DON'T listen to what the Europeans running
W's are calling out for listening frequencies and fire up there. 
I know it's been done, but is there really any moral difference
between doing this and knowingly firing up on "someone else's"
transmit frequency when using simplex?  I tune through the USA
phone band from the bottom up to about 7225 (my 3-el Telrex takes
in both the phone and CW bands at one setting  - it's tuned for
about 7075 -  so I don't like to run people above 7225 due to the
higher SWR) and use the clearest frequency I can find in that
range.  I choose a .5 split so in case I do get near "someone's"
listening frequency I won't be right on top of them.  
 
And, yes, I always find a listening frequency above 7040 which is
the lower limit for SSB in the IARU Region 1 band plan.  OK, I
admit that I do it partly in self-defense because I don't want to
feel guilty when IARU Region 1 President PA0LOU, who I see
regularly at IARU meetings, harps on this topic once again as he
does every time I meet him.  But I also respect my fellow
contesters in Europe, and their desire to adhere to their IARU
Region's voluntary band plan.  I don't want to force them to make
the decision between going down below 7040 to work me and thereby
possibly subjecting themselves to the wrath of other European hams,
or not working me at all.  On 80 meters I also avoid listening in
the IARU Region 1 Contest-Free-Zone from 3650 to 3700.  In addition
to the above-stated reason, my Yagi, which is a good low-noise
receiving antenna (except when there are thunderstorms off the back
in W4- and W5-land -- its F/B ratio on 80 phone is not the
greatest), is fairly narrow-band and the closer the frequency I can
find nearest to 3750, the better I am able to use its all of its
available forward gain on receive. 
 
At any rate I had this immediate pile-up of Europeans to handle,
and it seemed to hold up pretty well.  True, I had to dodge loud
stations who showed up near my transmit frequency and change my
listening frequency a few times, but they just kept on coming. 
OD5NJ even acquired a remote VFO between the ARRL contest and now -
I could answer him without a pause this time!  Another surprise was
RV0AR calling in at 2348 GMT.  
 
80 wasn't as productive as the night before into Europe so once 40
died down it wasn't hard to convince myself to take a break at
0157.  My decision was helped by a comment made by single-band KE1Y
in the middle of a CQ that he was getting bored!   Back on the band
at 0433, there were a fair number of additional Europeans to be
worked, and then I went to listening on my own transmit frequency
at about 3810.  One station that called me there was 8P6NE, who
gave me the big number 006.  I didn't work another 8P6 the whole
contest.  This reminded me that there is a Caribbean Net that meets
on 3815 around 1030 GMT and if you use a nearby frequency for
running between 1000 and 1030 you can sometimes attract these net
participants to call you.  And somebody said we contesters don't
have any secrets?  I was earlier berated by a couple of our
brethren for revealing that for the Spanish-speaking cogniscenti
there is an LU Novice band which runs between 28900-29100 just
loaded with eager beginners ready to acommodate the Spanish-
speaking contester.  You would have thought I had sold the family
heirlooms!  Frankly, my great desire is to have everybody know
everything I know and then to be able to more-or-less compete with
them anyway.  If there is something I haven't mentioned, obviously
it's not because I don't like to run off at the mouth about things! 
Either I didn't know it myself or I just forgot to bring it up.   
 
I went to 40 to get South American mults rather quickly and then
knocked off again at 0757. 
 
Up again at 1056, I resolved to stay on 40 and 80 longer this time
and not to go to 20 too soon.  After all, you do get double points
on 40 and 80 in this contest, so you can get by with half of the
rate you would want on 20 and above.  It was at this time that I
got my one and only sudden inspiration of the contest.  HC8A was
running stations on 3799 and several VK's were taking turns trying
to attract his attention, but HC8A was hearing the W's and the JA's
better than the VK's, obviously.  And the VK's were LOUD here.  I
asked myself the question: "How can I get those VK's to call ME?" 
The VK's theoretically have a window between 3794 and 3800, but
long ago their authorities told them not to use 3794, and lately
the issue of how far the lower sidebands extend out from the
carrier frequency has moved the authorities to limit them to 3798-
3800 for all practical purposes.  Well, I figured, maybe HC8A
wouldn't mind all that much if I fired up on 3798 for a brief run. 
I was immediately rewarded with four quick VK and one FK QSO plus
a few USA and Canadians thrown in.  Then I heard VK3EW break
through to HC8A on 3799 so I folded my tent and stole away to 40,
where I ran a few VK's and ZL's on my own transmit frequency,
before being asked to listen down by someone who turned out to be
an FK!  Yes it does help to have beams on these two bands!  On 40
I worked the only two JA's I could hear; they were coming in over
Hawaii instead of direct path which always makes things more
difficult here.
 
Twenty Sunday was essentially a repeat of Saturday's conditions.  
Therefore when the high Yagi lost its edge I used up the rest of my
time off starting at 1337.  I think taking the time off this early
rather than being forced to do it during high-rate hours later on
was the key to a better score for me this time.  It seems counter-
intuitive to take a time off so early in the morning but since you
only have 20 meters for high rates at this point in the cycle, why
not?  Later I came back on and found both 15 and 10 good for a few
mults that hadn't been available on 20.  9R1A and J56CK were also
begging on 15, as was AH8A. 
 
Murphy returned to the fray about four hours before the contest
ended.  I was running them reasonably well on 20 and the frequency
had cleared up nicely, but it became harder and harder for me to
answer callers.  At times I had to try three or four times before
the rig would come on the air.  And it just got worse.  A couple of
times it took so long to come back that I briefly lost my run
frequency.  Baffled Europeans were repeating their numbers to me
again and again, wondering why I hadn't acknowledged.  In
retrospect, I had noticed that toward the end of both the ARRL CW
and Phone contests I had had similar problems, but of a much more
intermittent nature.   Lesson #2:  I should have fixed them then
instead of waiting for the problem to aggravate itself.   Anyway,
#2 TS-830-S was substituted for TS-830-S #1, and the problem was
solved.  Except that TS-830-S #2 has a dirty bandswitch on the 20
meter position which caused me to "lose the nixies" a couple of
times, once while in the middle of giving my exchange to an HC2. 
Resolved:  Immediately prior to the next major contest, all
antennas, coaxes, connectors, exciters, and amps will be given a
smoke test!
 
A couple of final comments:  Boy it was great to see all those 
LU-H's (Cordoba Province) in there.  That was my old stamping
grounds as LU5HFI in 1972-1974 and I like to think some of my
enthusiasm for contesting rubbed off on some of the locals who have
passed it on to the next generation of hams.  Old friend LU3HAK,
one of the mainstays of the LU4HH club,  was up here this past
summer, attended a PVRC meeting with me, and I believe he took some
of the continuing enthusiasm back with him.  
 
And I was non-plussed when KB3TS/NH6, after giving me his #001,
proclaimed: "Go FRC!"  Can it possibly be a case of mistaken
identity?  A fortuitous one in this case. 
 
Murphy and all, it was fun!  Now we can relax and chat up all you
guys at Visalia and Dayton before returning to the other half of
WPX in late May.             

Oh yes, I had once promised to give out some tips for phone 
operating to go with some CW tips I gave out earlier.  That 
won't be necessary now.  Pile-up master N6KT has said it 
all in a beautifully written three-part series in CQ 
Contest Magazine.  There is nothing I can possibly add to 
Rich's excellent piece.  Read, for example, Rich's succinct 
explanation of why "last two letters" is useful for DX nets 
but not for contest pile-ups.  A beautiful piece of work, 
just terrific!                  
                                         
                                    Very 73,
 
                                    Fred Laun, K3ZO          


>From AA3JU George Cook <george at epix.net>  Wed Apr  3 15:20:55 1996
From: AA3JU George Cook <george at epix.net> (AA3JU George Cook)
Date: Wed, 03 Apr 1996 10:20:55 -0500
Subject: Gags and stuff
Message-ID: <199604031515.KAA27355 at coconut.epix.net>


A couple fellows seem to have there underware all bunched up over what are
obvious Gags surrounding April 1st.  Fellows please relax they are jokes you
are supposed to get a little chuckle out of it and move on with your life.
Kinda like the funny papers in the Sunday news.  Sometimes someone will
respond a day or two after the fact so they may not all carry an April 1
date on them.

So please take a little prune juice and go in peace knowing that soon we
will be back to normal endlessly discussing SSTV, Pig Farmers, Rules we
Wanna Change, Code/NoCode, Why  Scarbourough Reef is/is not a country,
leaveling the playing field, why WRTC is great/sucks, and why guys on the
east coast have an unfair advantage.

Oh yeah just a little hint there really isn't a Poisson de Avril contest
those posts are supposed to be funny too.  Now where the hell did I put
those 8Cx10000 tubes I bought down in Timonium?
AA3JU  george at epix.net    AA3JU at W3PYF
Proudly  F R C...........
"FRC When second best just isn't good enough!"


>From jfenster at hpux.mesd.k12.or.us (Jim Fenstermaker)  Wed Apr  3 16:01:49 1996
From: jfenster at hpux.mesd.k12.or.us (Jim Fenstermaker) (Jim Fenstermaker)
Date: Wed, 3 Apr 1996 08:01:49 -0800
Subject: A contester is born...

I'll skip the commentary about 3rd Party, et all...

I have been conducting radio merit badge classes to a group of 10 scouts for
the last two months.  Last weekend, one of the guys came over to the house
and I put him on the radio to work the TEST for a little while.  After
giving him some basic instructions, I let him go and he had 60 Q's in about
90 minutes!  He was really flying!!!

This little guy is 12 years and loves baseball.  After he left, he went to
the first Little League game of the season.  His mom called later and told
me that he was so excited about the radio that he wanted to come back to my
house rather than play the round ball game.

So, this week, a supply of "Now Your'e Talking" is being purchased along
with code tapes.  I want to insure my station will be manned in the upcoming
years with the new crop of contesters!

73 Jim K9JF/7 


>From Jimmy R. Floyd - Personal DYN - D000909" <floydjr at Interpath.com  Wed Apr  3 16:10:32 1996
From: Jimmy R. Floyd - Personal DYN - D000909" <floydjr at Interpath.com (Jimmy R. Floyd - Personal DYN - D000909)
Date: Wed, 3 Apr 1996 11:10:32 -0500
Subject: No subject
Message-ID: <199604031610.LAA04518 at mail-hub.interpath.net>


>From Jimmy R. Floyd - Personal DYN - D000909" <floydjr at Interpath.com  Wed Apr  3 16:12:14 1996
From: Jimmy R. Floyd - Personal DYN - D000909" <floydjr at Interpath.com (Jimmy R. Floyd - Personal DYN - D000909)
Date: Wed, 3 Apr 1996 11:12:14 -0500
Subject: No subject
Message-ID: <199604031612.LAA04571 at mail-hub.interpath.net>


>From Jimmy R. Floyd" <floydjr at Interpath.com  Wed Apr  3 15:25:38 1996
From: Jimmy R. Floyd" <floydjr at Interpath.com (Jimmy R. Floyd)
Date: Wed, 03 Apr 1996 11:25:38 -0400
Subject: CQ WPX Contest 96 Scores III
Message-ID: <199604031634.LAA06268 at mail-hub.interpath.net>

CQ WPX CONTEST 96
RAW SCORES

Complied by
WA4ZXA
Email: floydjr at interpath.com

Date Posted: 04/03/96


CALL               HRS           SCORE      QSO'S      PTS     PREFIXES
__________________________________________________________________________

QRP

KA1CZF                         135,000       215                 196
KV8S                            77,121       200       451       171
VE7CQK                          75,504       200       528       143


SO/HP/AB

S50A                         8,211,376      2950      8984       914
OT6T  (RA3AUU)               7,347,655      2800      8155       901
S58AB                        4,501,896      2070      5908       762
F6FGZ                        3,764,922      1794      5273       714
OH6KIT                       2,571,320      1882                 715
ZL6CC                        2,008,190      1380      4090       491

VD3EJ                        9,640,752      3151                 912
KQ2M  (@KY3N)                5,400,000      2202                 818
KC1XX  (AA1ND)               5,180,000      2301                 820
KM9P                         5,027,022      2402                 837
K3ZO                         4,974,315      2173      6257       795
VO1MP                        3,408,480      1682                 648
K5ZD                21       3,340,620      1592      4986       670
CG3CRC                       3,273,452      1683                 644
KW8N                         3,200,000      1736                 738
KI4HN  (@AA4NC)              3,000,000      1673                 732
WZ4F                         2,928,101      1861                 737
VE7IN               30       2,324,080      1295      4180       556
KA4RRU                       2,331,146      1595      3359       694
K4VVD               26       1,779,657      1452      2981       597    


SO/LP/AB

DL0IU  (DL2OBF)                949,160       981      1945       488
S50U                           172,200       377       700       246
XE2AC                            9,540        48       212        45 

K1HTV               31       1,325,184       985      2436       544
WS1A                         1,046,657       782                 479
NY5B                           674,422       931      1438       469
WA4ZXA              36         671,841       669      1503       447
KJ6HO               18         483,912       679      1222       396
NZ5O                           477,500       655                 382
AE6Y                           341,376       675                 381
VD6EL                          167,686       278                 196
N3BDA               13          94,864       211                 154
VC3JFF                          34,866       140                 117
AL7PT/NK8                       20,374       140       167       122


SO/UNLIMITED

S59AA                        1,248,628      1023      2308       541
S56A                           572,544       620      1491       384

KF8UM                        1,548,976      1047                 572
K3SW/4              18         642,470       617                 410
K3IXD                          291,264       407                 296
WB4VIM                          86,846       206       502       173


SINGLE BAND

80M
VC3MG                          871,320       767                 318
VE2JTX                          84,480       227                 132

40M
OI3MFP              22         100,036       254                 178

VD7NTT                       4,400,000      1660                 546 
W3GH                           775,390       765      2014       385
WM2V                20         286,896       452      1112       258           
KW4T                           108,000       191                 164
WA5JWU              12           8,320        42       208        40

20M
OI3NXW AS           19         750,000       972                 466
OH3NLP LP           18         152,904       347                 276

VE7NKI                       1,280,000      1110                 525 
NI8L  HP             8         614,880       670      1464       420
N4YGY  LP                      572,390       611      1295       442

15M
S50D                           220,980       404       870       254
OI3LQK              15          32,725       157                 119
S59D  QRP                       26,319       108       283        93

N6MU  (@N6NB)                  266,760       554                 342
N4BP                21         156,123       409       627       249
WA7BNM  LP          19         134,096       479       493       272
W5ASP               15          98,800       303                 190
VE1RAA                          76,867       205                 139
KY2P/4                          48,000       209                 147


10M
WB4HFL              20           6,580        65       188        35
K2YJL/M                            152         9                   8


MULTI/SINGLE

VE6SV                        6,033,529      2708      7349       821
VC3SK                        5,970,685      2372      7417       805
KI1G  (@K1NG)                5,800,000      2316                 890
WE9V  (@KS9K)                5,400,000      2429                 923
CY2A  (@VE2ZP)               5,125,335      2124                 761
VD9WH                        4,322,880      2012                 711
VE3RM                        4,283,300      1901      5908       725
CH6FI                        3,886,212      2104      5988       649
KT8X                         3,880,000      2024                 818
NE8T  (@K8CC)                3,733,248      1932                 768
W5KFT                        3,660,000      2500                 795
K1KP                         3,175,000      1695                 735
II2K                         2,823,156      1692      3954       714
KC7V                         2,629,989      1900      3699       711
KF9PL                        2,100,000      1510                 680
KQ4HC                        2,049,495      1400                 655
K3MD                         1,843,776      1102      3168       582
VE6AO                        1,679,842      1330                 481
KI7WX                        1,536,842      1380                 614
K5XI                         1,500,000      1308                 609
WA3WJD                         660,744       656      1596       414
7J7ABC                         543,312       685                 343
AC5CT                          401,080
W8PZS                3             550        27        22        25



MULTI/MULTI

WZ1R  (@KY1H)               11,200,000      3911                1062
WT1S  (@K1MNS)              10,680,000      3640                1033
WM2C  (@N6RO)                8,958,978      3861      9342       959
VD6JY                        7,919,121      3089      9219       859 
VD5RI                        3,816,919      2411                 631
NE9U  (@W0AIH)               2,700,000      1850                 740


ROOKIE

OI6KZP  (OH6KZP)    27         526,162       772                 413

KG8PE               28         312,600       415                 300


TS

S59A                         4,597,645      2137      5441       845
OH3MMH              31         672,243       821                 429

KG6LF               23       1,002,600      1338      1671       600 
N1CC                14         624,400       645      1561       400
KF9YH               16         190,575       308       825       231


BR

__________________________________________________________________________

OP LIST

MULTI SINGLE
KI7WX      KI7WX,N5CT,K6XO @K6XO
WA3WJD     WA3WJD,AA3HA
7J7ABC     7J7ABC (AB7IT), 7J7ABV (NB9T)
KQ4HC      KO4EW,KQ4HC
AC5CT      AC5CT,N3BUO
NE8T       NE8T,N8CXX,N8BTU,AA8UG,AA8UH,K8CC
VE3RM      VE3WRL,VE3WIB,VE3RM
VC3SK      VA3SK,VA3WTO
CH6FI      VE6AQ,VE6LB,VE6PY,VE6NA
II2K       ISKHM,I2UPG,IK2ZJJ,IK2SGF,I2GXS
VE6SV      VE6SV,VE6WQ,VO1CV


MULTI MULTI
WT1S       WT1S,NX1H,K1FWE
WZ1R       WZ1R,NE1V,KM1P,AA1AA,KE6BER,KY1H,NJ1F,WM1K,WR2I,WA1ZAM
VD5RI      VE5FD,VE5FF,VE5FN,VE5WI,VE6BBP,VE6BDP,VE6EZ,VE6SYM,VE7AV
NE9U       NE9U,N9ISN,W0AIH,K0TG,N0AXL
WM2C       WM2C,N6RO,K3EST,N4TQO,N6IP
VD6JY      VE6JY,VE6FR,VE6SLV,VE6EX,VE6LDX,VE6DGG,VE6LCB,VE6BF,VE6NWG,
           VE6JAG,VE5MX

^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^

THESE SCORES ARE NOT OFFICIAL!!!   I CANNOT ACCEPT ANY LOGS!!!!!
PLEASE SEND ALL YOUR LOGS TO THE ADDRESS IN CQ MAGAZINE!!

The address for the 3830 reflector is 3830 at akorn.net!! Maybe someone can
post on here how to subscibe to it. I am not sure and do not want to put
out any bad information.

Also as I stated in my post before the contest, I cannot do attached 
files. You need to send it in the form of email. Also please state your
full class on it, not just Single OP. If you do you go into the unlimited
class. 

Before everyone starts flaming me about where there scores are, I would 
like to explain. I received a list off 3830 from WZ1R. It only gave me 
classes for people as SO. I know some should be unlimited. If you would
just drop me a note I will be glad to move them.

73's Jim
 
           ********************************************************** 
           * Jimmy R. Floyd  (Jim)   Thomasville, NC                *
           *                                                        *
           * Amateur Call:              >> WA4ZXA <<                *
           * Packet Node:               >> N4ZC <<                  *
           * Internet Address: **NEW**  >> floydjr at interpath.com << *
           **********************************************************


>From Herbert Anderson <andya at eskimo.com>  Wed Apr  3 17:11:28 1996
From: Herbert Anderson <andya at eskimo.com> (Herbert Anderson)
Date: Wed, 3 Apr 1996 09:11:28 -0800 (PST)
Subject: A contester is born...
Message-ID: <Pine.SUN.3.92.960403090430.11858B-100000 at eskimo.com>

Ward
Do You have any info about this summers WRTC contest. I heard that
it will be held in Cal. A team from YL is interested in participating!
Thanks, de Andy YL3GE


>From Gary Nieborsky <k7fr at ncw.net>  Wed Apr  3 17:21:30 1996
From: Gary Nieborsky <k7fr at ncw.net> (Gary Nieborsky)
Date: Wed, 3 Apr 1996 09:21:30 -0800
Subject: 3rd party stuff
Message-ID: <199604031721.JAA26899 at bing.ncw.net>

Looking at the rules makes it apparent that during dx contests quite a few
of us are violating the rules when we M/M or M/S with less than Extra class
licensees at the helm....or am I missing something?  The op becomes a 3rd
party when operating outside of his license class?

Hmmmmmm......guess I can wink at this one a little easier than the power issue.

73 Gary K7FR

"....there are lies, damn lies, and contest submittals" .....sorry Sam...


>From Bob Evans" <bob_evans at maca.sarnoff.com  Wed Apr  3 12:16:47 1996
From: Bob Evans" <bob_evans at maca.sarnoff.com (Bob Evans)
Date: 3 Apr 1996 12:16:47 U
Subject: S Units AGC & dB
Message-ID: <n1383588580.95030 at maca.sarnoff.com>

                      S Units AGC & dB                             4/2/96

Each S unit is doubling of the detected voltage.  In a receiver, the meter is
driven
from the Automatic Gain Control system.  This system has a detector (or
detectors)
that sample the signal level.  The voltage is amplified and used to control
the gain in
stages ahead of the detector ( the RF & IF ).  The voltage is also used to
drive the
meter marked S-units.  Since, the relationship between this Vagc and actual
signal
levels is not simple (due mostlyto non-linearity in control voltage versus
gain),
the meter scale & amp must be calibrated.  The calibration is usually accurate
at
only one or two points on its scale.  Some modern receivers carefully derive
the meter drive from the Vagc by a more complex scheme such a logarithmic   
amp or even a digital look-up table to offer a better approximation.  The
detector,
though, is subject to signals other than just the desired.  Further, the
desired is not
a steady sinusoidal waveform.  The meter is mostly a useful guage to see how
the
receiver is reacting as it processes signals with its automatic gain controls.

If you can shut off the AGC system and are receiving a steady tone, you can
put an AC volt meter on the speaker.  You might have to reduce the RF gain
manually
and introduce attenuation so as to be in a region of low distortion of the
audio.
Once, this is set up, a doubling of voltage is a change of one S-unit.  Which
is a
four times change in power received.  (This measurement assumes interference
and noise to be insignificant).   A 6db change in voltage is still a 6db
change
in power.   Power changes as the square of the voltage.  The definition of dB
accounts for this. (doubling a log of a number relates to squaring that
number)

Watts=(Vrms*Vrms)/ohms

dB=10*log(ratio of powers)        dB=2*10*log(ratio of voltages)

dB is a dimensionless variable since it is just a log of a ratio of two
numbers
     of the same dimension.

The main reason dB is used is because it is mentally easier to add numbers
than to
     multiply.  Adding logs of numbers relates to multiplying them.  When
stages
     of gain are cacaded, for example,  one simply adds their power gains in
dB to
     determine total gain.

If "dB" is followed by other letters then a reference is being made.
 "dBm is a power measurement referenced to milliwatts.
 30dBm=10log(1/.001)=1Watt
 "dBm" is not dimensionless

TTFN.



>From Ward Silver <hwardsil at wolfenet.com>  Wed Apr  3 17:27:26 1996
From: Ward Silver <hwardsil at wolfenet.com> (Ward Silver)
Date: Wed, 3 Apr 1996 09:27:26 -0800 (PST)
Subject: A contester is born...
Message-ID: <Pine.OSF.3.91.960403092003.1247D-100000 at gonzo.wolfenet.com>

On Wed, 3 Apr 1996 JGellerRVZ at aol.com wrote:

> If there were no personal messages relayed on behalf of a "third party," how
> the devil do the third party agreements, or lack thereof, come into play in
> this situation???
> 
> 73, Jeff N6RVZ
> 

The personal message relayed by the unlicensed operator is "59 1234" and 
it does not matter a whit if it's on the station owner's behalf.  Let me 
be clear - an unlicensed person, using an amateur station, is conducting 
third-party traffic.  Call the FCC or ARRL if you need confirmation.  

Similarly, the station owner relaying messages for any other person 
(licensed or not) is conducting third-party traffic.  Unless a 
third-party agreement is in place, contacts are limited to those between 
licensed individuals and unlicensed individuals may not participate in 
that contact in any way.  That is a strict interpretation of the rule.

As Derek AA5BT has pointed out, minor transgressions occur daily and the 
international order has not collapsed.  However, we all need to clearly 
understand what is involved in Part 97.  In emergency situations, of 
course, the rule is generally regarded to be temporarily suspended.

73, Ward N0AX



>From Rich L. Boyd" <rlboyd at CapAccess.org  Wed Apr  3 17:32:42 1996
From: Rich L. Boyd" <rlboyd at CapAccess.org (Rich L. Boyd)
Date: Wed, 3 Apr 1996 12:32:42 -0500 (EST)
Subject: power and big sigs
Message-ID: <Pine.SUN.3.91-FP.960403122813.24558C-100000 at cap1.capaccess.org>


Sorry, I'm still reading the QRO contesting msgs -- got a little behind.  
I've heard stories of W3LPL being harassed by Eu stns who insist he must 
be running illegally high power, because there was no other way his 
signal could be so strong.  hihi.  He has quite good antennas, 2-el quad 
on 80 for instance, top about 170'.

Sometimes propagation is somewhat one-way, like when we heard Europe 
coming into W3 at 1 or 2 PM on 40, and a little later on 80 and hear them 
for as much as several hours before they can hear us.  I've seen computer 
propagation models that explain this, ionosphere tilting and such.

In W3LPL's case, as most know, he's still using homebrew (single) 3-1000 
amps.  We noticed that driven by an OMNI-VI on 40 (we didn't tweak the 
amp to try to reach the legal limit that way) we were only getting 1KW 
out.  It took the FT-1000, with more drive, to reach the legal limit, at 
least without retuning the amp -- don't know if that would have helped -- 
we never touched the amp tuning all weekend.  Obviously no problem, the 
Omni was the mult radio and we got everyone we called with it anyway.  
The point is his amps do the legal limit but no more.

I think it's easy for the many cynics among us to assume everyone uses 
illegal power, but it's just not the case.  There are many other 
explanations for why some signals are louder than others at various 
times, and that's part of what makes contesting interesting.

Rich Boyd KE3Q




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