S57AD score ARRL DXC CW

Sun Feb 18 15:38:23 EST 1996

                              ARRL DX SUMMARY SHEET

    Contest Dates : 17-Feb-96, 18-Feb-96

    Callsign Used : S57AD
         Operator : S57AD

         Category : Single Operator All Bands

 Default Exchange : 599 KW

  Equipment description:          

             IC-751A & SB-220 
             JPS NIR-12 DSP filter
             PC386 + N6TR 5.61 

  Antennas: 

              80: sloping dipole
              15:  TH6DXX @ 20m

             Name : Mirko Sibilja, S57AD   
          Address : Savska 31 
   City/State/Zip : Sevnica, 68290
          Country : Slovenia

        Team/Club : Slovenia Contest Club

   BAND   Raw QSOs   Valid QSOs   Points   Mults   
 __________________________________________________

   80CW      227         226        678      35 
   15CW       14          14         42       7 
 __________________________________________________

 Totals      241         240        720      42 

    Final Score = 30240 points.

 Soapbox comments:

 Linear amp does not work on 40 and 20 since last CQWW SSB contest, 
 so planned to work Single Band (15 m), but CONDX weren't good enough
 and I changed mind, HI. Condx on 80 were fair, but band was quite
 noisy. 

 I have observed all competition rules as well as all regulations established
 for amateur radio in my country.  My report is correct and true to the best
 of my knowledge.  I agree to be bound by the decisions of the Awards Committee.

 Date: 18-Feb-1996   Signed :____________________________  Call: S57AD

Have to go to job, so finished my contesting in Sunday morning.
Hope antennas & amp wll be ready for ARRL SSB (at least)...

73 & GL de Mirko
s57ad at s55tcp.ampr.org

>From John Guida" <nj1v at phoenix.net  Sun Feb 18 14:39:06 1996
From: John Guida" <nj1v at phoenix.net (John Guida)
Date: Sun, 18 Feb 1996 14:39:06 +0000
Subject: Side mounted TH7/KT34XA
Message-ID: <199602182042.OAA14801 at mail.phoenix.net>

Starting to plan the antennas systems for my new contest station. Is 
anyone out there turning a side-mounted TH7 or XA with WD9IIX's RM-16 
Antenna/Rotor Mount? 

Or experienced any problems doing or trying to do it?

Would appreciate the input!

To minimize bandwith, please answer directly to me. I will 
consolidate responses and make available to anyone who might be 
interested.

CUL es 73.............................."victor"

John Guida NJ1V
nj1v at phoenix.net

>From jreid at aloha.net (Jim Reid)  Sun Feb 18 23:57:33 1996
From: jreid at aloha.net (Jim Reid) (Jim Reid)
Date: Sun, 18 Feb 1996 13:57:33 -1000
Subject: Reliable Hi-pwr antenna tuner
Message-ID: <199602182357.NAA26892 at hookomo.aloha.net>

Aloha to all,

Having essentialy given up on the ARRL DX test (heard little
DX ;out here, hubdreds of mainlander signals,  of course,
lots of JAs and others,  but nothing over either pole) have
turned my attention back to my tuner quest,  as there were
others here in KH6 land who are better CW ops than I am
anyway to give out the multi.

Thankyou to the nearly two dozen of you who responded
to my query re Viking tuner and 160 operation.  The summary is
that only one (!)  of you spoke well of the unit;  most felt it was not
too great:  arcs on 10,  does need added caps for 160 (why not
added by the factory)  some of the mechanical linkages are
poor,  the switch contacts appear to be really home made from
the heads of small bolts (!),  one of you has used two of them
in a more or less commercial situation,  found them not at all
mechanically reliable,  and is using one of them now as a
foot rest!

Also rcvd several comments re HRO's policy to immediately
charge to your credit card many times months before they have
the product and can ship same.  I called HRO Sarurday and
cancelled the order,  and received assurance I would receive
a credit memo slip refunding the charge to my Visa account.
So that is taken care of; however,  HRO says that is the policy which
comes down from the owner, W6RJ,  Bob Ferraro.

Several of you mentioned other tuners which had served you well,
tho not many comments regarding use at  full legal output power
into high VSWR ladder line into a 160 or 80 meter dipole being
used well away from resonance and its 70 some impedance.
A couple of you pointed to the XMatch high power tuner;  advertised
in NCJ,  by N4XM.  In fact Dave,  K4JRB  has offered to send some
info on the unit.  The picture in the ad shows only one capacitor knob,
and the inductor tuner with counter,  and the antenna selector switch.
Apparently no metering.  I  have looked about in various books and
mags,  and can find no reference to an X-match tuner;  just all the
usual stuff on T,  L,  and Pi circuit tuners (I would really like to have,
I think, and L or Pi tuner,  why I had the Ten Tec,  and thot I wanted
a Viking).

Anyway,  any  users of the XMatch care to offer any comments?
Reliable at power,  operatrion on 10  and 160,  mechanical construction,
(really was surprised to have a few of you say the Viking was "junk").
Is there a balun in the unit,  not mentioned in their ad? 

Thanks in advance,  and will summarize again if enough of you are 
interested.

73 and Aloha,
Jim Reid, AH6NB (Happily retired on the Island of Kauai)
Hawaii,  USA     Email: jreid at aloha.net

>From Mr. Brett Graham" <bagraham at HK.Super.NET  Mon Feb 19 00:34:39 1996
From: Mr. Brett Graham" <bagraham at HK.Super.NET (Mr. Brett Graham)
Date: Mon, 19 Feb 1996 08:34:39 +0800 (HKT)
Subject: 3rd Asia-Pacific Sprint - CORRECTION!
Message-ID: <199602190034.IAA12128 at is1.hk.super.net>

There was an error in the dates for the original announcement.  This is a
corrected version...

The Asia-Pacific Sprint Contest Committee would like to announce the third
running of this spectacular radiosporting event:

Objective: For stations outside the Asia-Pacific region to work as many
           Asia-Pacific stations as possible within the 2 hour time limit.

           For stations inside the Asia-Pacific region to work as many
           stations as possible, anywhere in the world, within the 2 hour
           time limit.

           (A complete list of the Asia-Pacific countries is defined below)

Winners:   Each DXCC country, each continent plus one overall.
           Winners receive a cool Asia-Pacific contest T-shirt.

           (Sponsorship of prizes is solicited - if interested, please
           send an e-mail to ap-sprint at dumpty.nal.go.jp)

Date:  24 March 1996 (future events will be held on the second Saturday of
       February [8 Feb 97], the second Saturday of June [8 June 96] & the
       third Saturday of October [19 Oct 96])

Time:  1230-1430 UTC

Bands: 20m & 40m only

Mode: CW only

Power limit: 150W output

Entry categories: Single operator, Single radio only

Contest exchange: RST + Serial number beginning with 001

Duplicate contacts: Same station may be worked only once on the per band

Multipliers: Prefixes per WPX rules (once only - not once per band)

QSY rule: Called station (usually CQer) QSYs at least 1 kHz after a QSO

Final Score: Number of QSOs x Multipliers

Asia-Pacific countries for this contest (coutries from Asia side Pacific
Rim to 180 degrees longitude):

3D2(all), 1S/9M0, 9M2, 9M6/8, 9V, BV, BV9(Pratas), BY, BS(Scarborough),
C2, DU, FK8, FW, H4, HL, HS, JA, JD1/Ogasawara, JD1/Marcus, KC6(Belau),
KH2, KH9, KH0, P29, T2, T30, T33, UA0, V6/KC6, V7, V85, VK1-9(all except
VK9X & VK9Y), VS6, XU, XV/3W, XX9, YB, YJ, ZL(all except Chatham & Kermadec)

Results will be posted to: CQ-CONTEST at TGV.com
                           AP-SPRINT at dumpty.nal.go.jp
                           CQ Contest Magazine

Rules and results will be distributed by an automated info-server.
Send a request e-mail to: info-contest at dumpty.nal.go.jp
with the command in the body:  #get ap-sprint.rule

All logs must contain complete QSO information plus a summary sheet
and your T-shirt size.  Electronic logs are gladly accepted by e-mail!  The
log & summary sheet must be in ASCII format (no binary files, please).
Sample entry format is shown below.

Post your entry to:

JAs - Tack Kumagai     non-JAs - James Brooks
      P O BOX 22                 15 Balmoral Road #03-08
      Mitaka                     Singapore 259801
      Tokyo 181                  SINGAPORE
      JAPAN

Email: 9v1yc at equator.lugs.org.sg

Log deadline:  E-mail - 72 hours after end of contest
               Post - Postmarked no later than 7 days after contest

Sample Summary Sheet
--------------------
                      ASIA PACIFIC CW SPRINT CONTEST

CALLSIGN USED:
OPERATOR:
COUNTRY:
DATE:

BAND    QSOs     POINTs     PREFIXES
 7
14
--------------------------------------
Total

SCORE:

Comments:

Signature:                                      Date:
____________________________________________________________________________

(TYPE or PRINT)
NAME                    CALL

Address:
City   :
Prefecture/State:
Postal Code:
Country:
____________________________________________________________

Sample Log

Any ASCII file output from CT/TRLOG/NA/ZLOG etc logging software
will be accepted.

BAND MM/DD/YY  HHMM  CALLSIGN      RSTNR    RSTNR   NEW   POINT
                                   SENT     RCVD    MULT
20   09/30/95  1310    JE1CKA      599001   59917   JE1   1
40   09/30/95  1312    9V1YC       599002   59916   9V1   1
40   09/30/95  1316    VS6BG       599003   59922   VS6   1
20   09/30/95  1317    JE1JKL      599004   59931         1
[END]

73, VS6BrettGraham aka VR2BG bagraham at hk.super.net

>From Charles H. Harpole" <harpole at pegasus.cc.ucf.edu  Mon Feb 19 02:09:17 1996
From: Charles H. Harpole" <harpole at pegasus.cc.ucf.edu (Charles H. Harpole)
Date: Sun, 18 Feb 1996 21:09:17 -0500 (EST)
Subject: KG4NA in ARRL DX - cancelled
Message-ID: <Pine.SOL.3.91.960218210815.17604C-100000 at Pegasus>

Yo canna gat 'nother wife, but no can gat 'nother 1996 DX Contest!

On Fri, 16 Feb 1996, Mark Bailey wrote:

> My trip to KG4 for the ARRL DX is cancelled.  My wife sprained her knee
> at the last minute.
> 
> Mark Bailey, KD4D/KG4NA
> bailey at integ.com
> 

>From Charles H. Harpole" <harpole at pegasus.cc.ucf.edu  Mon Feb 19 02:18:04 1996
From: Charles H. Harpole" <harpole at pegasus.cc.ucf.edu (Charles H. Harpole)
Date: Sun, 18 Feb 1996 21:18:04 -0500 (EST)
Subject: Nye Viking Tuners
Message-ID: <Pine.SOL.3.91.960218211105.17604D-100000 at Pegasus>

Jim describes nearly the exact problem I just developed.  Have a Nye 
M...V (the Roman numerial 5 of the latest design) and am trying to get it 
to tune a full size half-wave 160 dipole fed with ladder line.  Tuning is 
weird and unsatisfying on 160 (with balun inside), but fine on all other 
bands, including WARCs.  However, it tunes just fine on 160 via the coax 
output connectors (A or B) into a short (15 ft.) of RG-213 which goes to
a MFJ "Balun Box" and then to the ladder line.  I just let pass a super
clean Nye tuner of earlier design for $300 at Orlando Hamfest.  Did I goof up ?
de K4VUD

>From Charles H. Harpole" <harpole at pegasus.cc.ucf.edu  Mon Feb 19 02:33:28 1996
From: Charles H. Harpole" <harpole at pegasus.cc.ucf.edu (Charles H. Harpole)
Date: Sun, 18 Feb 1996 21:33:28 -0500 (EST)
Subject: crankup caution
Message-ID: <Pine.SOL.3.91.960218212657.17604F-100000 at Pegasus>

Hello all, I have HD-70 HyGain crank up. and have installed it at two 
locations.  NEVER, simply never, climb an extended crank-up!  Own one, 
just climb it only when fully down and "pinned" with a two-by-six for 
good measure thru the rungs.  If you live in a gusty wind area, purchase 
the positive pull down type (not HyGain!) which will make sure the 
cranking down always happens.  With my HyGain, I have to anticipate the 
wind and thunderstorms (try that!) to crank it down prior to side 
pressure winds.  It will not crank down with some amount of side winds, 
but the cranking cables WILL become loose if you keep cranking, then real 
trouble awaits you when the wind lets up for a moment and the tower then 
slides down to take up the slack you have created.  TWANG is not the only 
sound you will hear.  73, Charlie K4VUD

>From Charles H. Harpole" <harpole at pegasus.cc.ucf.edu  Mon Feb 19 02:48:15 1996
From: Charles H. Harpole" <harpole at pegasus.cc.ucf.edu (Charles H. Harpole)
Date: Sun, 18 Feb 1996 21:48:15 -0500 (EST)
Subject: New WPX Categories are good!
Message-ID: <Pine.SOL.3.91.960218214246.17604H-100000 at Pegasus>

> |------------------------- Message log follows: -------------------------|
> Date: Sun, 18 Feb 1996 21:23:07 -0500 (EST)
> From: "Charles H. Harpole" <harpole at pegasus.cc.ucf.edu>
> To: MIKEAA8FE at aol.com
> cc: cq at pegasus.cc.ucf.edu
> Subject: Re: NEW WPX Categoies
 Aw, Mike, ease up.  You know darn well that Texas will never, never, 
> never beat NY/New England just 'cause of geography.  And I KNOW that you 
> know that a tribander at 50 feet is handicapped in the same way against a 
> multiple stack on multiple towers on multiple bands.  Golf has a 
> handicap, we hold doors open for old ladies, and little babies get fed 
> when they cry.  Ease up and enjoy, live and let live.  No skin off your 
> nose, etc. etc.  73, Charlie, K4VUD
> 

>From w7ni at teleport.com (Stan Griffiths)  Mon Feb 19 03:54:58 1996
From: w7ni at teleport.com (Stan Griffiths) (Stan Griffiths)
Date: Sun, 18 Feb 1996 19:54:58 -0800
Subject: crankup caution and HAZERS
Message-ID: <199602190354.TAA10253 at desiree.teleport.com>

>
WA2SYN wrote:

>   Also, I think that caution is in order here, with ANY tower. It's
>almost like driving a car. Sure, there are quite a few horror stories of
>rather ghastly things that have occurred to many people while driving, but
>that doesn't mean you will drive as they do. Good common sense and lots of
>careful thinking will minimize the mishaps you might otherwise incur with
>a crankup. 

There are enough insidious SPECIAL problems involved with crankups that
common sense and careful thinking are NOT enough to keep you out of trouble.
We heard one pretty horrible crankup story here on the contest reflector and
we can ALWAYS point to the problem with 20-20 hindsight and say that won't
happen to us.  You are probably right.  THAT particular thing won't happen
to you, but something else just as bad quite likely could.  I have heard
just TOO MANY crankup horror stories, each one different, to think I have
heard everything.  I have heard enough to know I will never own one and
advise all of my friends to do the same.

>   It's just plain foolish to climb one while it's extended.

The implication here is that it is OK to climb one when it is not extended.
Let me assure you that that is also a very bad idea.  Rich, KL7RA, could
tell you why if only we could get him to tell you his story.  Ask ANY
crankup manufacturer what THEY say about climbing their towers, even when
cranked down.

>Crankups are safe towers.

You and I will NEVER agree on this one.

>You don't have to climb up in the air 

Only if it tilts over as well as cranks down.

>I almost always work on my 
>crankup with a friend for the second set of eyes;

Here is something we agree on.

> we think about what we 
>are planning, and approach it thoughtfully - always.  

If you EVER climb it, it isn't "thoughtfully" enough.

>   As far as what to do if it gets jammed: hire a local professional 
>tower person with strong experience. Let him do the job with learned 
>skills. The price you'll pay is VERY small when the job is safely completed.

Again we agree that professionals are a good idea for the tricky problem of
a stuck tower.  I think the suggestion that K7LXC made about getting a
crankup with a positive pull-down feature is the best way to avoid getting a
crankup stuck in the extended position.  Costs more, but it is certainly
worth it, in my opinion.

Come on you guys with the crankup horror stories.  It is time to do a public
service and tell your stories.  You might be able to save somebody's life or
at least keep them from getting permanently disfigured.   Sure it's
embarrasing to talk about getting maimed by a crankup tower but it has
happened to more people than you can imagine and in dozens of different ways.

Stan  W7NI at teleport.com