IOTA Contest 1995 Results

[Brian McGinness]

Forwarding note from: Jan Almedal <janalme at sn.no> 02/05/96  8:10pm +0100

>At 01:18 05.02.96 EST, you wrote:
>>Here are the results of the 1995 IOTA Contest. Results booklets have been 
>>posted to all entrants. The 1996 contest will be on 27-28 August 1200-1200z
>>and I will post the rules here next week. If anyone would like the full
>>results including IOTA ref, points and mults, please send me an email.
>>
>>73, Dave G4BUO
>
>Suppose you mean July.....
>
>Best 73 de
>Jan / LA9HW
>
>http://www.sn.no/~janalme/hammain.html

Which is it? July or August???? I have to apply for special use permits and  
sure would like to have the correct date!

73, Brian


*****************************
* Brian McGinness WA3WJD    *
* wa3wjd at wirelessinc.com    *
* Potomac Valley Radio Club *
*****************************


>From k9vv at indy.net (Fred Kleber K9VV)  Tue Feb  6 04:33:04 1996
From: k9vv at indy.net (Fred Kleber K9VV) (Fred Kleber K9VV)
Date: Mon, 05 Feb 1996 22:33:04 -0600
Subject: Contesters in Disaster Communications
Message-ID: <199602060331.WAA01513 at IndyNet.indy.net>

K3ZO's recollections of the 1985 Mexico City quake brought back many vivid
memories of my interactions with our southern neighbors.  I too was involved
in passing numerous messages (about 5000 I think) over the course of a week
or so.  The primary traffic frequency became so congested that we went to a
three frequency solution.  (One for passing traffic, one for taking new
traffic & one for passing received answers)  A local radio club would
collect all of the incoming traffic & pass it to us on packet.  We'd pass
the replies to another member of the club who would pass it over the air.

Some key things I learned

-    Assign a traffic number to each message encoding the origination date
into the number
-    Make sure you clearly annunciate the difference between "seis" and "tres"
-    All of the long distance bills are justified by one emotional, teary
eyed, thank you.
-    If K1MAN comes on the frequency and claims it's his god given right to
be NCS, call the FCC

With the progress in the packet world, I'm sure a disaster of the '85
quake's magnitude would be handled mostly with packet.  Maybe someone should
have a WRTC type contest that would be a simulated national disaster to hone
some of the raw talent that exists among our fraternity.

73,
Fred Fubar, K9VV
(New e-mail k9vv at indy.net)


>From Ronald R. Sigismonti" <sig at locke.ccil.org  Tue Feb  6 04:04:58 1996
From: Ronald R. Sigismonti" <sig at locke.ccil.org (Ronald R. Sigismonti)
Date: Mon, 5 Feb 1996 23:04:58 -0500 (EST)
Subject: TIC RING REPAIR (fwd)
Message-ID: <Pine.3.89.9602052313.A27685-0100000 at locke.ccil.org>



---------- Forwarded message ----------
Date: Mon, 5 Feb 1996 11:35:58 -0500 (EST)
From: Ronald R. Sigismonti <sig at locke.ccil.org>
To: CQ-CONTEST at TGV.COM
Cc: 6481603 at MCIMail.com
Subject: TIC RING REPAIR

Hi Fellow Contesters on the eve of the ARRL CW DX Contest.  I am in the 
sad position of having a TIC Ring at 117 ft. that has a bad potentiometer 
in it.  I've spoken to TIC and received a perlacement pot and plastic 
gear.  Alas, as is usually the case with TIC General, no instructions re 
replacement of the gear were available!  Has anyone made such repairs out 
there?  If you know of anyone that has, please give me the contact to 
call.  We have only this weekend coming to make this and 2 Tailtwisters 
that have suddenly gone south operable.  I can get the motor off of the 
ring, just need to know if there are any tips as to what to look out for, 
or be careful about when we try to replace the pot.

Thanks a ton!  This is our high 20M beam and it must rotate if we are to 
be competitive.  OOOP's maybe I shouldn't have said that!

73 and GL in the CW Test.

de Sig, N3RS
Sig at Locke.CCIL.org

P.S. I had to resend this because I was somehow dropped from the mailing 
list.  Not sure why, but wonder if that has happened to anyone else?


>From Steven Sample <aa9ax at iglou.com>  Tue Feb  6 04:22:24 1996
From: Steven Sample <aa9ax at iglou.com> (Steven Sample)
Date: Mon, 5 Feb 1996 23:22:24 -0500 (EST)
Subject: good ol' boys on 75m (fwd)
Message-ID: <Pine.SOL.3.91.960205225903.9965E-100000 at iglou>

You know...it's hard enough to try the Sprint with CT not supporting the 
contest, NA not working with my DVP, and Tree's program having not yet 
arrived in the mail, and me without a voice to use.  (Been pretty hoarse 
for three weeks!)  Let alone trying to operate on 80, 40, and 20 with 
noting but a 160 meter wire.  BUT...worse than all those things is the 
rediculous crap you have to contend with from those guys on 75 meters.  
There was one guy who called "CQ SPRINT" until we would answer him, then 
he injected his own "jamming" on the frequency for fun.  This is, in my 
opinion, substantially worse than just simply QRM'ing us in the first 
place.  There was also a bunch on 3853 that claimed to "OWN" the 
frequency way up and down the band.  I would listen at about 3855.5 OR 
HIGHER for several minutes hearing no activity.  Then, when a contester 
would get on the frequency, these guys would immediately race to tell the 
contester off.  I heard it time-after-time.  There is no way we could 
have been within their passbands and bothering them to the extent that it 
was a problem for them.  To tell the truth, I guess they got from me what 
they are after.  They completely ruined any fun I may find in the Sprint 
(which is certainly NOT one of my favorites anyway), and deterred me from 
desiring to compete in the phone Sprint again.

A couple of years ago, I recorded some guys on 10 meters who constantly 
QRM'ed others and used frequent vulgar language and obscenities.  I 
figured it would go for naught, but sent it to the ARRL/FCC anyway.  Half 
a year later (or so), I read about the guys.  The FCC nailed 'em hard 
with confiscations of equipment, fines, and potential sentences.  I felt 
that justice was served.  I'm sure that many people have voiced their 
displeasure at those goofballs to the authorities, and perhaps enough 
squeeks get the grease.  These kinds of people do not deserve to be radio 
amateurs, and they give everyone in the hobby a bad name.

I would only hope that these bunches on 75 meters come to their senses.  
You often think the FCC has lost its teeth, or no longer cares...but once 
in a while they pop up and bite somebody right in the rear-end.

For all the good this post will do, I might as well sign up for a ride in 
the Fish Head gas balloon at Dayton this sSpring, but nonetheless -t 
makes me feel better now that I have had my say.

It's easy to see why I have always been empassioned with CW for the 
last  35 years, and have lost my desk mike for over a year at a time, 
even as recently as 1993.  My hat goes off to all you highly-skilled and 
courteous hams that make up the ranks of contesters.  I think it to be 
the finest group of amateurs I have ever had the pleasure to join.

Steve / AA9AX

>From David L. Thompson" <thompson at mindspring.com  Tue Feb  6 04:36:33 1996
From: David L. Thompson" <thompson at mindspring.com (David L. Thompson)
Date: Mon, 05 Feb 1996 23:36:33 -0500
Subject: Crank up
Message-ID: <199602060429.XAA03993 at borg.mindspring.com>

All the comments made by K7LXC about crank ups are correct except that I
disagree with the point about stacking a KT-34XA and a 40-CD Cushcraft.   I
have an old Tristao crank up bought from Lou Tristao in 1969 (The current US
Tower would be TX 472) except mine is designed to be guyed .  Un guyed it is
rated 15Sq feet in 50MPH and guyed it is rated 26sq in 50MPH.  The 85MPH
calculations turned out to be 5 and 11.8 sq feet.  The tower went thru
Camille and the recent storm that blew thru Atlanta Metro (I logged wind
gusts to 83MPH).  A number of hams lost towers and beams.

I found that after wrapping the Cushcraft coils with black electrical tape
and sealing them with a sealant used on bamboo Quad spreaders and finally
securing the capacitive hats better( so they don't flop)  that the cushcraft
takes far less maintenance than the KT-34XA.  The XA was bought in 1980 or
81 as the KT-34X and kitted in 1986 to the XA.  The elements and perhaps the
balun again need to be replaced as my SWR jumps on high power on 20 and 10
and 15 meters has lost F/B again (reflector caps go bad).  The elements on
the XA are prone to twist in heavy wind and ice..right now the reflector has
swung under the boom from first the hurricane and next the ice and snow of
early January.

The 40 plays better 10' above the XA and I can reach the XA from my roof
when I crank the tower down.  I did get a WD9IIX ladder mast several years
ago so I can easily reach both the 40 boom center  and the bottom of an 2
meter ISO-POLE 3 feet above that if repairs are needed.  I last worked on
the 40 7 years ago!

The KT-34XA and Cushcraft 40 make a great pair for those of us on 1/2 acre
lots. When I first moved into this QTH I had 5el 20, 6el 15, and homebrew 7
el 10 and except for 10 you can't tell much difference and my neighbors at
least speak to me now!   The cushcraft plays better than the old 2el Mosley,
too.   Now if someone can get me a killer XMIT Contset antenna for 80 and 160...

Plus for those who don't know the Cushcraft 40 plays well on 17!

Dave K4JRB

(now where is that guy on the boatanchor net with the 114 foot motorized
tower????)


>From Robert <w5robert at blkbox.COM>  Tue Feb  6 04:40:35 1996
From: Robert <w5robert at blkbox.COM> (Robert)
Date: Mon, 5 Feb 1996 22:40:35 -0600 (CST)
Subject: good ol' boys on 75m (fwd)
Message-ID: <9602052240.aa17004 at blkbox.COM>

Perhaps the contest should be 20/40/160.
This might get alot going on 160 and get away from the 75mtr bunch?
-- 
73 Robert  WB5CRG  w5robert at blkbox.com   

>From Jim - KK7A <kk7a at micron.net>  Tue Feb  6 06:07:00 1996
From: Jim - KK7A <kk7a at micron.net> (Jim - KK7A)
Date: Mon, 5 Feb 96 23:07 MST
Subject: Common Data Exchange Format - Reflector
Message-ID: <m0tjgZH-000QiBC at mis01.micron.net>

Greetings to all!

I would like to take just a minute to let everyone know of a 
new reflector that has been set up to discuss the topic of 
creating a "common format for exchanging QSO data."  

A number of amateurs have been discussing the difficulty in
transferring QSO data between the various ham radio software
packages that are available, and the desirability of having a
standard format so that data can be easily transferred between
any two programs.  This mailing list has been set up to
facilitate the formation of such a specification.

Any software developer or any ham who wishes to contribute to
this discussion is welcome to participate.

PLEASE!!! It is my desire that this group be handled in a very
constructive manner.  It would be very easy for everyone to get
on their own personal soapbox about why their way is the only
right way to do things.  I encourage all of you to post your
ideas and read the constructive criticism of your peers.  View
this criticism positively and put some deep thought to what has
been said.  Don't take pot shots at others just for argument
sake, but truly try to work to a successful end.  

Because of the very positive comments I received from dozens
of interested people around the world, I feel this can be a very
productive discussion.  Many of you are professional data
processing types with great ideas and experience in this type
of project.  Many others are relatively new to computers but 
still may have brilliant ideas that may have been overlooked by 
some of the professionals.

There are several items to consider on this project.  I will list
a few but I am sure there are many more.

1. What are the different fields required for successful
   data exchange?
     Date, Time, Callsign, Band, Mode, State, SigRpt, etc.

2. How should this data be organized?
     YYMMDDhhmmCallSign   Band  Mode   STsigrpt
    or
     "YYYYMMDD","hhmm","CallSign","Band","Mode","State",... etc.
    or 
     YYYYMMDD,hhmm,CallSign,Band,Mode,State,... etc.
    or
     Whatever you see as a good idea....AND WHY!

3. Fixed length or variable length records?

4. Human readable ASCII files or allow fields with binary data?

5. How should the records be delimited?  CR, CRLF, LF, etc.

6. Should the first record contain some kind of identifier
   showing the "version" of the file format?

7. The list goes on and on............


To subscribe to this reflector by sending an e-mail as described
below:

To: listserv at hosenose.com

In the SUBJECT field, enter 
       -------

     SUBSCRIBE ADIF

You will be sent a confirmation message within 24-48 hours of
subscribing.


Well guys (and gals), it is up to us to see what can be put together.
This is a project that has many variables (pun intended) and will 
certainly see quite a bit of discussion.  Please notify any ham radio
software authors you know how to get involved in the discussion.

73 to all, 

     Jim - KK7A



>From N7AVK <lew at teleport.com>  Tue Feb  6 07:50:41 1996
From: N7AVK <lew at teleport.com> (N7AVK)
Date: Mon, 5 Feb 1996 23:50:41 -0800 (PST)
Subject: The "Good Old Boys on 75M"
Message-ID: <Pine.SUN.3.91.960205230720.25098A-100000 at julie.teleport.com>

   Contesters,
       I have to speak up about the various ideas involving changing 
times, bands or rules regarding radio contests. If these changes to 
better the contest are due to "natural phenomena" such as propagation or 
providing a window for more participants.... then lets discuss it and 
implement the rational changes.
     If rule changes are considered on the basis of bully -boy tactics by 
sociopathic individuals who obtain their kicks by interfering with 
contesters, then I would go out of my way NOT to change any aspect of the 
contest. There are legal and illegal methods of dealing with these 
sociopaths. I would hope the members of this reflector would utilize the 
legal methods: Tx identifiers, tape recordings, FCC, etc. etc. The 
illegal methods, while emotionally satisfying, may be costly individually 
and for amateur radio, if used against the "Good Old Boys".
     Dealing with these types is very difficult and frustrating. Kind of 
sounds like a contest itself doesn't it? But it has been done since 
contesting started and will always be a part of using the limited 
frequencies that we have available. 
     I have every right to a clear frequency... especially during a 
contest... and will use every method I know of to use that frequency... 
especially when being the object of flak from the deviants. I have in the 
past and will continue as long as I seriously contest.
     The intense emotions that come out of these confrontations can be 
unsettling. But keep in mind that the sun will come up in the east in the 
morning, the solar cycle will continue and nobody died as a result of the 
deviants trying to get you upset!  
    In other words, Don't let the b**tards get you! Which is what I'm 
getting at here.... Don't make any changes to any test due to jerky 
behavior that you have no control over!  I may turn the other cheek in a 
fight, but I won't leave the ring. I think radio contesting should 
operate the same way.
      73 and I remain,        Lew  
    

         Lew  Sayre   N7AVK               lew at teleport.com
         P.O.Box  3110                    Fax 503-391-2258
         Salem, Oregon 97302              160M thru 1296MHz



>From SHAWN LIGHTFOOT <shawn.lightfoot at lun.lis.ab.ca>  Tue Feb  6 00:25:00 1996
From: SHAWN LIGHTFOOT <shawn.lightfoot at lun.lis.ab.ca> (SHAWN LIGHTFOOT <shawn.lightfoot at lun.lis.ab.ca>)
Date: Mon, 05 Feb 96 17:25:00 -0700
Subject: Barb wire antennas
Message-ID: <8BA3415.0065001923.uuout at lun.lis.ab.ca>

Hello all.

With a move planned for this summer to an acreage, I am curious to  know
if anyone has had experience with using *many* acres worth of barbed
wire fence for a receiving antenna on 80 and 160. My guess is that it
would work really well, but there may be other ways of making it even
better. I would estimate that there is about 100 acres or so that could
be tied together.

Thanks in advance,

Shawn
VE6PV