160 Contests

[KE6BER1 at aol.com]

In a mesage Bill Coleman, AA4LR wrote

>I've personally suggested getting rid of ALL "59(9)" reports in all
>contests and replacing them with a sequential serial number. So far, it has
>fallen on deaf ears.

By doing this you would make every contest after that change un-comparable to
contests before that rule.  Each QSO would be enterly different, and rates
could be higher, espeically in contests with a report and serial number.  If
you want to wipe out all the old records, and start over this is a good idea,
otherwise comparisons would not be fair.

73 de Al, KE6BER/1, KE6BER at aol.com



>From Pete Smith <n4zr at ix.netcom.com>  Thu Feb 29 21:16:26 1996
From: Pete Smith <n4zr at ix.netcom.com> (Pete Smith)
Date: Thu, 29 Feb 1996 13:16:26 -0800
Subject: What REALLY makes you good?
Message-ID: <199602292116.NAA15906 at ix6.ix.netcom.com>

At 12:35 PM 2/29/96 -0500, Fred K3ZO wrote:

>5) When running, you should be getting the correct calls of 90% of
>the stations that call you the first time, or you haven't arrived
>yet.  I don't maintain a partial call database in my contest
>program; but I do know in my head what calls are likely to be
>issued in each country, and I know by heart a lot of calls of
>frequent contesters (even though I can never remember their
>names!), and this helps a lot.  

Fred's comment prompts me to chime in on one sub-issue.  Running is one
skill you can't learn from an inferior station, because you can't run enough
to "get it."  Now that I have a decent high-bands antenna, I'm having to
learn all this, at my advanced age ...

I'm sure this is elementary to the big guns on here, but maybe this will be
useful to some.  Since I'm far from the 90% plateau, I find it much better
to send "G3? 599wv"  or "SXW 599 wv" than "G3?" or "SXW?"  You can keep your
rhythm and get the fill quickly that way, where asking for call-sign repeats
and *then* starting the exchange only slows you down and positively invites
people to steal your run freq.

73,

Pete Smith N4ZR (n4zr at ix.netcom.com)


>From lvn at fox.cen.com (Larry Novak)  Thu Feb 29 21:51:52 1996
From: lvn at fox.cen.com (Larry Novak) (Larry Novak)
Date: Thu, 29 Feb 96 16:51:52 EST
Subject: What REALLY makes you good?
Message-ID: <9602292151.AA12576 at cen.com>

> I'm sure this is elementary to the big guns on here, but maybe this will be
> useful to some.  Since I'm far from the 90% plateau, I find it much better
> to send "G3? 599wv"  or "SXW 599 wv" than "G3?" or "SXW?" 

  Not that I'm REALLY GOOD, but I tend not to send my exchange until I
  know I have the other call correct. If there's only one station
  calling that may be ok, but in a large pileup you risk having him
  send "599 100 TU" and going on his merry way.

  I'd be interested to hear what others do.

  I'd also be interested in the code speed thing. Do you really find
  that your rates go up significantly when you send at 35 wpm instead
  of, say, 28 or 30 wpm?

  - Larry, K3TLX

-- 
     +=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-+
     | Larry Novak            \-\-\         email:   lnovak at cen.com |
     | Century Computing, Inc.  |             Tel:   (301) 953-3330 |
     | 8101 Sandy Spring Road   |      Tel (@NRL):   (202) 404-7682 |
     | Suite 200                |             Fax:   (301) 953-2368 |
     | Laurel, MD 20707         |   Amateur Radio:    K3TLX, C6AHE  |
     | http://www.cen.com/      |                                   |
     +=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=---=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-+
     +      INSULATOR COLLECTOR'S: http://www.insulators.com        +
     +=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=---=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-+

>From K0RC - Robert Chudek <K0RC at pclink.com>  Thu Feb 29 22:01:47 1996
From: K0RC - Robert Chudek <K0RC at pclink.com> (K0RC - Robert Chudek)
Date: Thu, 29 Feb 1996 22:01:47 +0000
Subject: ETO Amps/contest Amps
Message-ID: <199602292202.QAA31897 at pclink.com>

At 01:59 PM 2/28/96 -0500, you wrote:

>BTW, spoke with Ray Heaton of ETO this week, and, in response to my query
>about discounted products at Dayton, said that he and Dick E. have decided
>NOT to discount the 91b or 89 this year.  
>73, John WD4MUR


Interesting...  When I talked to Ray on Friday 2/23/96, he indicated
Dick would not make a decision until they were at Dayton.  He says 
this keeps the sales people "honest" when asked about a Dayton Special.
They don't know ahead of time.

BTW...  I packed up the Alpha 87A and shipped it into ETO to have a
recurring problem diagnosed.  Over the 4-year life of this amp, it has given
me error 24's.  ETO has updated the PIN diodes and installed a different
set of 3CX800's.  But I continued to be plagued with error 24, a "hard"
fault that kicks the power off and requires a 3-minute startup cycle.

FYI...  Error 24 is a system voltage fault.  High voltage, -15 volts, or
-105 volts below safe operating level.  It scares the dickens out of me
when it trips.  The amplifier makes a loud "thump" and goes silent.  Kind
of like someone sneaking up behind you and popping a paper bag!

I'll post the solution to the problem when I have the results.  I'm sure
gonna miss the no-hands-operation this weekend.  The backup amp is an
Ameritron AL-1500.


   73 de Bob - K0RC
   k0rc at pclink.com