Contest Callsigns

[frenaye at pcnet.com]

>How many QSO's would W3LPL lose in a contest based on the familiarity
>factor?  

	I wouldn't under estimate how important this can be.  Frank has 
	been active in major contests with big signals on all bands for a 
	long time.  Over the years a lot of friends are made during the 
	contest and by operators outside the contest.  It all adds up!
	QSLing is important as well (I'm not sure if Frank is a good QSLer 
	or not - I saw one of his cards for the first time just about a 
	year ago).  You should at least answer all received QSLs.  

	I'm convinced that one reason we have such a tough time beating 
	'LPL is 8-10 stations who are multipliers make only a handfull of 
	QSOs but make a point of working them each year (a certain VP2V 
	comes to mind!).  The other reason is that they really do keep 	
	stations on the air when bands seem dead to anyone else - and they 
	pull in a several QSOs an hour extra because of it.  They really 
	do want to win!  

				73 Tom

--------------------------------------------------------------------
E-mail: frenaye at pcnet.com   
Tom Frenaye, K1KI, P O Box 386, West Suffield CT 06093 Phone: 860-668-5444


>From steve at rjtrain.demon.co.uk (Steve Jones)  Tue Feb 11 00:00:38 1997
From: steve at rjtrain.demon.co.uk (Steve Jones) (Steve Jones)
Date: Tue, 11 Feb 1997 00:00:38 +0000
Subject: Force 12 c4xl versus Cushcraft 2 ele 40m
Message-ID: <exffyKAma7$yEw4J at rjtrain.demon.co.uk>

Hi All,
I am building up a modest contest station here on the Island of
Anglesey, with my eyes set on this years IOTA contest. I have just put
up a 20m tower to add to my small 12m wind up mast on a rectangular plot
of just under two acres.

I currently have 2 ele Gem quad (10,15,20), Butternut HF2v (40/80), 5
ele mono yagi for 10m, and a 160m inverted v (just installed on the new
tower).

I have had problems with tuning the Gem quad and it is down for the
second time this Winter with a broken 10m director. For contesting this
year I am considering the following:

1/ 20m 4 ele mono plus Cushcraft 2 ele 40m on 20m tower
   10m 5 ele mono y and 3/4 ele mono yagi for 15m on 12m mast
   plus hf2v vertical and dipoles 40/80m

OR:
2/ Force 12 C4XL on 20 tower
   10m 5 ele mono y on 12m mast
   plus hf2v vertical and dipoles 40/80m

Option 1 puts more strain on the 12m mast but may result in a bigger
signal. Option 2 may be a cheaper solution since I only need to buy one
new antenna.

I have read some favourable reports on the Force 12 antenna and I have
also read some summaries as to why lots of contesters are using the
Cushcraft 2 ele 40m beam.

Has anyone tried both? What are your experiences on the performance of
the c4xl on 40m versus the Cushcraft? or the C4xl on 10,15,20, compared
with other tribanders or mono banders? If I have to compromise due to
wind loading etc, which is better, a c4xl or lightweight 3 ele mono
yagis for 20m/15m?  

All suggestions, tips, warnings welcome! Thanks es cu in arrl cw this
weekend (especially on 160m as its a new band for me).

-- 
Steve Jones
GW0GEI in IO73TG, IOTA EU124
Ynys Mon / Island of Anglesey
Gogledd Cymru / North Wales
UK 6M Group Member 295
DX CLUSTER GB7ADX

>From kg5u at hal-pc.org (Dale Martin)  Tue Feb 11 00:09:20 1997
From: kg5u at hal-pc.org (Dale Martin) (Dale Martin)
Date: Mon, 10 Feb 1997 18:09:20 -0600
Subject: Triplet callsigns
Message-ID: <01BC1784.BF2AB3E0 at pm3-140.hal-pc.org>

On Monday, February 10, 1997 8:11 AM, Marijan Miletic[SMTP:s56a at s55tcp.ampr.org] wrote:
>I am sure Bill's K4AAA gets thru but how about Dave's K1TTT?
>The best triplet I heard recently was W3EEE with guaranteed 100% CW copy...
>73 de Mario, S56A, N1YU.
>
It may not be as quick as W3EEE, but I have used W5RRR for many 
years and like it's swing on CW.  I have been chastised on SSB and 
on QSL's I have processed for using the less than absolutely correct 
Whiskey Five Triple R." I do intersperse "Whiskey Five Radio Radio 
Radio" in there every few minutes to satisfy the purists and curious--
"why is there a pile-up on a W5?

The most fun call were those containing "QQQ."  
Yep..."(prefix) Quack Quack Quack" -- cool call....

The triple letter calls can be fun.  

The downside is the repitition of the same phonetic.  I can remember
in late in one contest before voice keyers at W5RRR when I noticed 
that I could no longer tell the end of one phonetic and the beginning 
of the next....Radioradioradio or Romeoromeoromeo was all blended 
into one word.... awful...

73,

Dale Martin, KG5U
kg5u at hal-pc.org
http://www.hal-pc.org/~kg5u


>From jeffrey at wln.com (Jeffrey W. Withers)  Tue Feb 11 04:12:35 1997
From: jeffrey at wln.com (Jeffrey W. Withers) (Jeffrey W. Withers)
Date: Mon, 10 Feb 1997 20:12:35 -0800
Subject: Mosley trap test?
Message-ID: <199702110412.UAA28980 at rs6a.wln.com>

What a frustrating day with my tri-bander.
SWR was 2.5:1 and the antenna only resonated 
below the CW portions of the bands.
I replaced the feedline and the problem improved
somewhat, about 1.5:1 on 20M .. flat at bottom of 10/15.
So if I bring down the driven element, how should I test
for bad trap? Can a bad trap just a little off
allow a load of 1500 watts? Anyone else remember 
having a sudden change in the resonent freq? 
This antenna had flat SWR, but something has changed
since that last ice storm. Ideas? tnx/73  Jeffrey at WLN.com