[CQ-Contest] W1AW/5 IARU 2002 Bulletin #3

[Kenneth E. Harker]

BULLETIN #3
5 July 2002

Propagation Predictions for W1AW/5

Central Texas area contesters are gearing up for the 2002 IARU HF World
Championship the weekend of 13-14 July.  Six area contest stations will 
be signing W1AW/5, representing the United States of America as the ARRL
"Headquarters Station."

To help prepare for the contest, W1AW/5 team member Tom Whiteside N5TW 
has prepared a set of propagation predictions for the weekend. Tom used 
IC Graph, a Visual Basic application he wrote for use inside Microsoft 
Excel. IC Graph uses the IONCAP HF propagation software engine to produce 
data that it then charts in Microsoft Excel. For more information on Tom's 
software, which he has made available to the Amateur Radio community, visit 
the IC Graph distribution page on the Central Texas DX & Contest Club web 
site at: http://www.ctdxcc.org/icgraph/.

The propagation predictions are available online and are based on an assumed 
solar flux of 135: http://www.kkn.net/~k5tr/misc/w1aw/iaru_propagation.html
The predictions include specific short path predictions between the central 
Texas W1AW/5 stations and England, Germany, Russia, Japan, Australia, China, 
Siberia, Jordan, the Caribbean, north Africa, south Africa, Argentina, and 
India. Long path predictions were also generated for Russia and India. The 
predictions can be viewed by destination or by band. Please send comments 
and questions about the IC Graph predictions to Tom Whiteside N5TW at 
n5tw at igg-tx.net.

The W1AW/5 stations are some of the most exceptional contest stations in 
the central United States. The team considers these predictions to be merely 
rough guides and will certainly be looking to make every QSO with every 
station possible worldwide, whether the predictions suggest it is likely 
or not. W1AW/5 will be on all the band-modes for the entire twenty four hours.

ARRL Headquarters will handle all QSL requests.  QSL via W1AW: 225 Main 
Street, Newington, CT 06111, USA.  Please do not send QSL cards to the 
W1AW/5 station owners or operators.

Please direct comments or questions about W1AW/5 in the 2002 IARU HF World 
Championship to Richard King K5NA at k5na at texas.net.  For more information
about the Central Texas DX & Contest Club visit http://www.ctdxcc.org/.

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Kenneth E. Harker      "Vox Clamantis in Deserto"      kharker at cs.utexas.edu
University of Texas at Austin                   Amateur Radio Callsign: WM5R
Department of the Computer Sciences      VP, Central Texas DX & Contest Club
Taylor Hall TAY 2.124                         Maintainer of Linux on Laptops
Austin, TX 78712-1188 USA            http://www.cs.utexas.edu/users/kharker/
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