NEW SECTION IN CONTESTS
pke22 at rz.uni-kiel.d400.de
pke22 at rz.uni-kiel.d400.de
Thu May 23 10:15:21 EDT 1996
Hi folks,
maybe this is the most stupid question in the world, but how can I know
that before someone tells me?
Why is there no multi-op/single band section in WPX? You can do single band
as single-op or all band as multi-op. How about something in between for
little teams?
I would have liked to participate in the contest with a friend of mine
but we both didn't want to spend the whole weekend in an all band effort.
Our idea was to take part on one of the upper bands during the day and do
other nice things during the night (yes, there are. Try to remember the time
before you started contesting :)).
I think the contests are loosing quite a lot of activity by little teams if
they don't allow single band operation for them. My friend and me will not
take part in WPX now. That's no loss at all for WPX, but a big loss for my
friend and me.
Thanks for reading and good luck in the contest!
Mark, DF4PA.
Email: pke22 at rz.uni-kiel.d400.de
>From ah3c at burgoyne.com (PETER GRILLO) Thu May 23 17:31:10 1996
From: ah3c at burgoyne.com (PETER GRILLO) (PETER GRILLO)
Date: Thu, 23 May 1996 10:31:10 -0600
Subject: N6TJ's Swapping CQWW Weekends
Message-ID: <199605231036.EAA01180 at burgoyne.com>
At 08:31 PM 5/22/96 -0400, you wrote:
>
>I fully support NOT messing with CQWW. I'm sure nothing will change, but
>just in case they are thinking about it...
>
>>From my perspective:
>
>SSB contests should be during periods of more light. If you really want to
>switch some contests, the WPX weekends should be switched. Moving the SSB
>contest to a weekend where there is more dark, would mean moving the contest
>(in spectrum) to bands that have less available (usefull) spectrum. Which
>means less enjoyment for the majority since only the biggest signals will be
>able to occupy the small amount of spectrum. Keeping SSB contests on 20, 15
>and 10 is best.
>
>73
>
>Bill, KM9P
> ---------------------------------------------
>| Contesting Online... The ultimate |
>| source of ham radio contest information |
>| http://www.contesting.com |
> ---------------------------------------------
>
>The comment from KM9P and the comment from the East Coast regarding antenna
CW/PHONE SWR problems have no merit. Long term impact must be addressed,
not just what is just on the horizon.
First, day/night propagation is relative to the sunspot cycle. High scores
are tougher to achieve during minimums such as what we are going through
now. Nightime conditions on the high bands during sunspot maximums can be
very exciting! These conditions affect your competition just as much. It
is an equal playing field and propagation criteria should be ignored. The
sun has surprised us many times. It can enhance our enjoyment or cause our
disappointment.
Making antenna limitations decide what contests will be participated is the
operator's choice. For broad band operation there are many options, one of
the most clever options we have discovered came from an excellent contest
forum presentation at Dayton! I even heard Frank (W3LPL) say that he is
seriously considering this option.
As a roving CQWW CW guest operator, I agree with Jim for personal reasons,
since I have missed many Thanksgiving dinners with my family (my XYL is a
remarkable cook!). However, because of its international appeal and well
established program, comment from all sides of the pond should be reviewed
before making such a serious decision.
Changing the weekend is an administrative effort that could be difficult to
communicate the entire international contest community. First year of its
implementation could be confusing to some DX stations, not in the
circulation of CQ. It is conceivable that some of our precious QSO's come
from DX tuned in to the specific mode/weekend connection.
I believe this subject warrants further discussion, based on long term
considerations....
73, Pete
ah3c at burgoyne.com
>From k1vr at k1vr.jjm.com (Fred Hopengarten) Thu May 23 12:44:40 1996
From: k1vr at k1vr.jjm.com (Fred Hopengarten) (Fred Hopengarten)
Date: Thu, 23 May 1996 07:44:40 EDT
Subject: Privity
Message-ID: <31a44fb0.k1vr at k1vr.jjm.com>
K1VR asked:
> The question is: If a ham, who is an
>engineer, writes a program which calculates stresses of
>combinations of antennas on a tower for the purpose of
>submitting a building permit application, and that tower
>should subsequently fail, would a court hold the author
>civilly liable for damages resulting from the tower failure?
Perry (callsign and e-mail address?) replied:
I am not sure I am competent to express any definitive opinion on this
question.
My (non-researched) opinion is that the engineer could be liable if, in fact,
his calculations were wrong, if he made a material omission, or failed to
warn of hazards that a person reasonably using the program might run into.
I agree with you, though, that, generally speaking, I would imagine the
engineer would have no more liability for errors or omissions in a computer
program than in a book (although that might not be the case if the engineer
did something unwise, such as, for example, inviting the user to modify the
calculations to accomplish his own "custom design").
My company [a publisher]
has been sued over directions for a homemade chicken pox
paliative. We were in error and settled it. We have had claims that did not
come to litigation, arising out of such things as exploding wine jelly,
combustible towels in the microwave, etc. Because we hold ourselves out as
experts (as the engineer writing the software would), I would guess
circumstances could arise under which we would be liable.
In the engineering situation, given the appropriate disclaimers, and making
allowance for local conditions (soil, wind, etc.), I would guess the
liability issue could be pretty adequately managed.
Dear Perry:
In each of the situations mentioned, it would seem that
the reader sued. Would you be kind enough to comment on
(with an amount of research equal to your last answer) the
question of liability to a third party, presumably someone
who did not buy the magazine, or someone who did not buy the
computer program?
Inquiring minds of the contest reflector are also
asking if the neighbor of the ham who bought the computer
program could successfully sue the author of the computer
program after "an incident"? In this modern world, has the
defense of "lack of privity of contract" survived to any
effect?
This area of inquiry is particularly interesting to
contesters because we put up more aluminum than other hams.
--
Fred Hopengarten K1VR
Six Willarch Road * Lincoln, MA 01773-5105
home + office telephone: 617/259-0088 (FAX on demand)
internet: k1vr at k1vr.jjm.com
"Big antennas, high in the sky, are better
than small ones, low."
>From DFREY at maila.harris.com (DFREY) Wed May 22 19:19:11 1996
From: DFREY at maila.harris.com (DFREY) (DFREY)
Date: Wed, 22 May 1996 14:19:11 -0400
Subject: ETO 91-B
Message-ID: <1a4569c0 at maila.harris.com>
Has anyone out there recently purchased a 91-B
>From DFREY at maila.harris.com (DFREY) Wed May 22 19:21:06 1996
From: DFREY at maila.harris.com (DFREY) (DFREY)
Date: Wed, 22 May 1996 14:21:06 -0400
Subject: ETO 91-B
Message-ID: <1a456a30 at maila.harris.com>
Has anyone out there recently purchased a 91-B?
If so, I'd like some info on your experiences with it.
dick K4XU
>From wr6r at ccnet.com (al crespo) Thu May 23 12:22:33 1996
From: wr6r at ccnet.com (al crespo) (al crespo)
Date: Thu, 23 May 96 12:22:33 0100
Subject: CQWW Raw Scores
Message-ID: <199605231217.FAA23605 at ccnet.ccnet.com>
K3EST has posted raw scores for the 95 CQWW on the OH2KI website.
>From jan.sundberg at skovde.se (Sundberg Jan, TK) Thu May 23 11:53:00 1996
From: jan.sundberg at skovde.se (Sundberg Jan, TK) (Sundberg Jan, TK)
Date: 23 May 1996 11:53 +0100
Subject: NEW SECTION IN CONTESTS
Message-ID: <199605230953.LAA31750 at vhojd.skovde.se>
Very good idea for the small gang.
Maybe in next big contest?
73! Jan, SM6REA
E-mail: jan.sundberg at skovde.se
----------
Hi folks,
maybe this is the most stupid question in the world, but how can I know
that before someone tells me?
Why is there no multi-op/single band section in WPX? You can do single b=
and
as single-op or all band as multi-op. How about something in between for=
little teams?
I would have liked to participate in the contest with a friend of mine
but we both didn't want to spend the whole weekend in an all band effort=
.
Our idea was to take part on one of the upper bands during the day and d=
o
other nice things during the night (yes, there are. Try to remember the =
time
before you started contesting :)).
I think the contests are loosing quite a lot of activity by little teams=
if
they don't allow single band operation for them. My friend and me will n=
ot
take part in WPX now. That's no loss at all for WPX, but a big loss for =
my
friend and me.
Thanks for reading and good luck in the contest!
Mark, DF4PA.
Email: pke22 at rz.uni-kiel.d400.de
>From kb2hun at wizvax.wizvax.net (William R Liporace) Thu May 23 14:35:13 1996
From: kb2hun at wizvax.wizvax.net (William R Liporace) (William R Liporace)
Date: Thu, 23 May 1996 09:35:13 -0400 (EDT)
Subject: Our Clique - SK?
Message-ID: <Pine.LNX.3.91.960523091946.16584A-100000 at wizvax.wizvax.net>
This has been a very interesting thread on the net!! I have been a new
ham since May 89. I became a member of the Albany ARA. The club was very
friendly and encouraged me to participate! We had a few contesters in
the club (K2XA, N1CC, N2DU, K2ONP, & a few others) that encouraged the
new comers to become active on HF & HF contests.
I was doing some contesting from home. I was invited to K2TR's for a
visit. This was nice, I was put on the 10mtr position and told to look
for a clear freq and give a call. I was also invited to operate from
K2VV's during a 10mtr contest. This was even more exciting, some CW help
that was needed( and still is :-).
After a couple of contests, I was also invited to a YCCC meeting. I got
to meet AK1A, K1EA, KY1H, K1VR, and many of the big guns of the east
coast. I was hooked. I love this contesting and DXing. Last year I
helped organize a multi-multi from KY1H and we had 4 new contesters show
up.
Friendly is all reletive. I like to think that we are all in the hobby
to have FUN!! I hope that many peaple do not sight of this fact. I will
probly not make Dayton for a few years, Now it falls around my wifes
bithday. That is not good to miss :-) I will get to Dayton and I want to
meet many of the big guns from around the country and world that I have
had the pleasure to work and get QSL's from.
73 es 55 de KB2HUN ...-.-
William Liporace KB2HUN kb2hun at wizvax.net
325 Mountain Street KB2HUN @ K2TR (yccc packet cluster)
Albany, NY 12209 KB2HUN @ WA2PVV (NEDA)
518-449-1397 home 518-471-2837
>From k3sa at access.digex.net (Steven Affens) Thu May 23 14:37:16 1996
From: k3sa at access.digex.net (Steven Affens) (Steven Affens)
Date: Thu, 23 May 1996 09:37:16 -0400 (EDT)
Subject: CQWW Raw Scores
Message-ID: <Pine.SUN.3.93.960523093553.22359D-100000 at access1.digex.net>
They are also on the CQ CONTEST MAGAZINE web site:
http://www.access.digex.net/~cqmag
73 Steve Webmaster CQ CONTEST and PVRC
Steven C. Affens
k3sa at access.digex.net
On Thu, 23 May 1996, al crespo wrote:
> K3EST has posted raw scores for the 95 CQWW on the OH2KI website.
>
>From mudcp3 at uxa.ecn.bgu.edu (David C. Patton) Thu May 23 15:51:11 1996
From: mudcp3 at uxa.ecn.bgu.edu (David C. Patton) (David C. Patton)
Date: Thu, 23 May 1996 09:51:11 -0500 (CDT)
Subject: Swapping weekends
Message-ID: <199605231451.JAA15650 at ecom4.ecn.bgu.edu>
This is an interesting subject. I find good reasons to swap weekends
for WW and WPX. But none are strong enough in my opinion to warrant
a change.
(1) I really like the 2 month separation between WPX modes. I expect
condx to be very much different in late May compared to late March.
I have experienced phenomenal propagation at both times. In 1988,
WPX CW 15 meters never died. In WPX SSB tests at the peaks of the
cycle condx have been so bad that as a M/M we made as few as 65 QSOs
with JA on all bands combined.
(2) Part of the nature of each contest includes the timing of the
event. For WW I appreciate the availability of the Thanksgiving
break to facilitate travel overseas. We have our thanksgiving meals
wherever we go, but frankly, it makes no difference to me. The
argument of changing low band antennas to accomodate each mode is
just as strong as claiming that Thanksgiving is an inappropriate time
for a contest.
(3) I do strongly believe that records mean something. We (NS0Z) set
the M/M record in WPX CW in May. Move it to March, and somebody else
breaks the record under totally different condx. Both marks then are
mostly inconclusive as to the best efforts. The condx are so
different in these months too, that people may just skip the May WPX
CW events to wait another year for it to occur in March. And the
same goes for SSB.
(4) A very large part of the world's population practices the
religion of Islam. I am sure they don't agree with the way "our"
contests occur on "our" weekends. If contests weren't on Sat/Sun we
might see more big efforts from Muslim lands. So, how big a deal
once again is the Thanksgiving day issue?
(5) The WW DX contests are close enough together that propagation
differences by season are subtle and in my opinion, minimal, for
consideration to swap modes. Wouldn't it be nice if the WW CW
followed the SSB event by one or two weekends? If it was the very
next weekend then lots of DXpeditioners could just hang around for
another week and do the CW test. On the other hand, great guy
travelers like N6AA and ZZ and all the OH boys probably appreciate
the month in between so they can organize for the trip to the next
different zone.
So, I don't find any strongly compelling evidence to change. If
Thanksgiving is so important to you, and you must hold it precisely
on that particular Thursday, well, that is fine. Do Thanksgiving and
do whatever you can in WW. Priorities are personal. But, I believe
in the "sanctity of our records," and the acceptance of the
propagation differences as part of the individual contests, just as
in the acceptance of different exchanges for different contests.
73, Dave Patton, WX3N
mudcp3 at uxa.ecn.bgu.edu
>From 74734.2670 at CompuServe.COM (Joe Fitzgerald) Thu May 23 15:55:29 1996
From: 74734.2670 at CompuServe.COM (Joe Fitzgerald) (Joe Fitzgerald)
Date: 23 May 96 10:55:29 EDT
Subject: Our Clique - SK?
Message-ID: <960523145528_74734.2670_EHL181-1 at CompuServe.COM>
I cannot disaggre more with our friend who believes that contesters are
arrogant and unsociable. All through my contest carreer I have received
support from many well known contesters who have welcomed me into their
homes and given me access to competitive stations, starting when I was a
college student. All that these people have asked in return is that I be
serious about operating and to sometimes help build/repair antennas.
It's been 8 or so years since college, but I still do not have an HF station
of my own as I have been moving around from apartment to apartment and city
to city as I try to get my real (?) carreer off the ground - yet I can
always find somewhere to operate for any given contest.
For the newcomers I recommend using your ears and eyes not your mouth ... I
have never learned anything with my mouth open. Sure, ask questions, but
read back issues of NCJ, CQ, QST etc. Read posts on the reflector. Listen
on the air. And in person don't be shy! Introduce yourself. Show up at
antenna raising parties. Offer to op at Multi Op stations.
You don't get to be a BMOC unless you are active, positive and outgoing.
Complaining will not get you there.
>From george at epix.net (AA3JU) Thu May 23 16:08:22 1996
From: george at epix.net (AA3JU) (AA3JU)
Date: Thu, 23 May 1996 11:08:22 -0400 (EDT)
Subject: Young Gun Contesters
Message-ID: <1.5.4.16.19960523112156.30bfd6ca at epix.net>
I am going to take a minute to comment on the Greying of the contest
community. It seems to be a pretty hot ticket. First let me say that I am
37 years old. Idon't think that is what you would call real real old. I
have held my license now for just about 3 years and I am a dedicated
contester. So here at least is one "young" guy that is in the ranks and I
know that there are many others. I personally doubt that many will enter
the contest ranks much before the age of 30 - 35 there are considerations of
family and economics on guys much younger than that. Fact is it is easier
to dedicate a weekend to contesting when the kids are well out of diapers
say around 8 years old at the youngest. They understand that "daddy" is
doing something this weekend and that it is real important to him. Also I
think by your mid 30s you are out of that entry level stage at work and have
a little more discresionary income for radio gear. My contest crew is made
up of fellows that are age 32 to about 40 so none of us are ready for
retirement.
Recently this was posted and I will add some answers to it:
>The corrective has to be more aggressive than what he's talking about. My
>own impression as an outsider who's done a little contesting is that "new
>guys" like me are scared away by (1) the arrogance and/or unsociability of
>many "big gun" contesters
I don't understand how someone who has done "little" contesting can discuss
the contest community as a whole or say that they are arrogant. I have
found this to be 180 degrees the opposite. ALL of my elmers are contesters.
I belong to FRC (Duh) but have met quite a few fellows from YCCC and PVRC
and the vast majority are eager to answer questions and share techniques.
Right on this fourum we regularly see posts by W3LPL, N3RS, K3WW, K1ZZ and
many many others. THESE ARE THE BIG GUNS!!! I have yet to see any of these
guys be arrogant or nasty to anyone. Fact is that the bigger the gun seems
that the more likely they are to disregard flames and simply put out good
info. A suggestion if you want to have a friend be a friend put your hand
out and start shaking other hands. Ask if you can go to a meeting of the
nearest competitive contest club. I know they will welcome you. Ask if you
can help at a multi multi. Maybe if you are lucky you will get my first
digs 10 meters durring the night and 160 durring the day. PROVE YOURSELF!!!
And yes you can work Canada on 10 meters at night and those poionts count
(CQWW) Make some scores of your own and learn how to be part of the team
TEAM!!! Not everyone gets to be a star. But if you belong to a club you
may well become part of a winning team and that counts!
>(2) the financial investment that *seems* to
>be necessary to join the in-crowd. There really needs to be a more open door
>and recognition that some of us are, by necessity or by choice, going to be
>second-tier or third-tier or (gasp! hold onto your heart,) QRP contesters or
>(gasp again!) mobile contesters. The present (maybe past) situation reminds
>me of when I was in high school, and the BMOCs were the guys who went out
>for sports and had their names and pictures all over the papers and the
>yearbook. Then there were the rest of us.
Radio contesting is where the physically weak can finnaly make up for there
inadequacies in High School. I wasn't weak but horribly clumsy still am but
I am a barbarian on the radio. And the guy that was the Cpt of the football
team now today puts gas in my car. Today I forge ahead and make a name for
myself. So can you. It does not take tons of cash. I think that AA3JU has
become a fairly competitve station and I have not bought one piece new! My
rig is 20 years old but works good. (Kenwood 930) I have now got 2
comercial antennas one I got for free and I lovingly repaired it and that
took time! (Both Quads and by golly I am gonna stack them!!) My amplifier
I saved for a full year to buy second hand. I did without some luxuries for
myself. A cup of coffee here a bottle of pop there Bologna instead of roast
beef in my lunch you know the drill. And here it sits a real honest to god
25 year old Henry 2K.
I've rambled on long enough and I leave with this:
Argue for your limtations and they are yours!
George
*********************************************
*George Cook.....AA3JU.....AKA "The Ratman" *
*george at epix.net.....AA3JU@W3PYF *
*http://www.epix.net/~george *
* *
*Proudly Frankford Radio Club......... *
*.......Proficiency Through Competiton. *
*"Not just words but a way of life" *
*********************************************
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