[CQ-Contest] 2001 NA HSMS Contest

Fri Mar 16 21:28:35 EST 2001

Announcing the 2001 North American High Speed Meteor Scatter (HSMS) Contest.

Purpose: To promote the development of skilled HSCW operators in North
America.

Objective: Work as many North American stations as possible via meteor
scatter during the contest period using HSCW on the amateur radio bands
above 50 MHz. HSCW for the purpose of this contest is any speed no less
than 495 LPM (99 WPM).

Contest Period: 0000Z, 1 May 2001 through 2359Z, 9 May 2001 (Monday night
through Wednesday night of following week local time). You may operate up
to 48 hours during this time period. An operating period begins with your
first TRANSMISSION and includes time spent listening between transmissions.
Operating time must be taken in 30 minute blocks. Time spent listening
outside of your operating periods does not count towards your operating
time. Multi-ham households--Each licensed ham is eligible to operate 48
hours under their own callsign.

Contest Operation: Random and scheduled QSOs count for contest credit. The
use of the letter system for CQing is REQUIRED, ie. CQF, CQX. Report is
your four digit grid square. Real-time skeds, spotting assistance,
DX-alerting nets, etc. are permitted for the purpose of arranging contact
attempts. Refer to the Region II HSCW standard operating procedures
<http://www.nitehawk.com/rasmit/hscw-sop22.html> for suggested HSCW
techniques and meteor scatter calling frequencies. The use of HSCW on VHF
SSB calling frequencies is poor operating technique. A station may only be
worked once per band during the contest period unless one of the stations
has changed grid squares. A separate log is required for each grid
activated. Each grid activated will be scored separately.

QSO Requirements: To log a completed contact you must copy: both calls,
report, rogers. Any form of liaison communication between the parties
involved in a contact in progress is prohibited. Any interruption of a
contact in progress requires both stations restart the QSO attempt from the
beginning. All information required for a complete contact must be
exchanged using meteor scatter and no other propagation mode.

Classes:
Single Operator Limited--2 meters only
Single Operator Limited--Multi-band
Single Operator Unlimited--2 meters only
Single Operator Unimited--Multi-band

Limited: Station ERP is restricted to less than or equal to 5kw. Unlimited:
Station ERP is greater than 5kw. Multi-band stations must enter in the
class corresponding to the highest ERP used. A station may only enter in
ONE class.

Multipliers: The sum of each unique four digit grid square worked on each
band.

Scoring (QSO points):
BAND   ASSISTED   RANDOM
6m        1          1
2m        3          6
1.25m     9         18
0.7m      9         18

The final score is the sum of all QSO points from each band times the
multiplier.

Awards: Certificates will be awarded to the top three overall, and to the
highest scoring station in each USA/VE call district and each North
American DXCC country for each category. In addition, a certificate will be
awarded to the highest scoring portable station activating two or more
grids (based on the sum of their scores from each grid activated). A
minimum of 2 QSOs are required to qualify for any award. Additional
certificates may be awarded where activity warrants. Participants can only
enter in one class for contest credit.

Reporting: The following information must be contained on the summary sheet
which must accompany the log: Callsign used, Grid Square(s) activated,
Maximum ERP used, Name, Address, and Email Address (if available). Log
information must contain the following data: Callsign of station worked,
starting and ending times/dates of contact (and operating periods),
Frequency, Reports, and sked or random.

Miscellaneous: Station equipment can only be used under one callsign, with
the exception of multi-ham households. Single Band Entrants, time spent
working stations on bands other than 2 meters does not count against your
48 hour operating time. Single band entrants are requested to send in check
logs for all contacts made on other bands. The decisions of the awards
committee are final. All logs must be postmarked or email dated no later
than May 31st. Email logs must be sent in ASCII format to:
hscw at contesting.com. Postal mail logs may be mailed to: HSCW Contest, C/O
Steve Harrison K0XP, 7 Well Avenue, Danbury, Connecticut 06810.

Sample blank log page/summary sheets are available from
<http://www.vhfdx.com> or a reasonable facsimile may be used. A printed
copy of the rules and sample log/summary sheet can be obtained by sending
an SASE to the above address. Please enclose an SASE if you would like to
receive a printed copy of the results via postal mail.

Note: The radiant of the Eta Aquarids shower is projected to provide the
best conditions during the contest (in North America) from approximately
one hour before sunrise local time for approximately eight hours daily.
This is the suggested best operating time each day. Remember though, HSCW
contacts can be completed at any time of the day.

Further Information about HSMS: The following Internet web sites contain a
wealth of information about High-Speed-Meteor-Scatter. Please note that
there are several minor operating practice differences between North
America and European techniques; for example, in North America, the
northern- or eastern-most station normally transmits during the odd minutes
(those minutes beginning with odd numbers: 1231Z, 1415Z; etc.). Also, North
American sked speeds (and sometimes CQ speeds) tend to be somewhat higher
than in Europe because most North American HSMSers are using computers to
record and playback recorded reflections. Suggested HSMS operating
practices are described in HSCW Procedures (v. 7), available at
<http://www.nitehawk.com/rasmit/hscw-sop22.html>. Information regarding
calculating station ERP can be obtained from W5UN's website
<http://web.wt.net/~w5un/>. Other information, including hardware
modification tips, software, and HSMS articles may be found at these URLs:

http://www.nitehawk.com/rasmit/ws1_15.html
http://www.ilk.de/sites/gap
http://www.mint.net/~n1bug/
http://www.qsl.net/k0sm/
http://www.sci.fi/~oh5iy/
http://www.cannon.net/~mattmc/kb0vuk/hsms/hsms.html
http://www.qsl.net/kd5bur/
http://www.vhfdx.com

Many more links covering other HSMS topics may be found on most of the
above web sites.

73, Robert KR7O/YB2ARO, DM07ba/OI52ee  (ex.  N7STU)
kr7o at vhfdx.com

www.vhfdx.com/wswss/psnw.html (Norcal WSWSS activities & KR7O/YB2ARO
homepages)
www.vhfdx.com/hscw.html (N. American High Speed CW Meteorscatter Contest
Info.)

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