[CQ-Contest] NCCC Sprint Ladder XXVIII to begin in two weeks

[Jim George]

The twenty-eighth running of the NSL will be held starting Thursday night, 
August 8th US time. The Ladder will run for eight consecutive weeks, ending 
on September 26th US time. The NSL is the only current radiosporting event 
to include multiple weeks; the scores are cumulative and the best five 
scores count for ranking and a certificate to the winners. Four North 
American regions are designated, so skip differences are taken into 
consideration, in addition to the NCCC member stations in CA and NV.

The eight-week long NS Ladder is the prime-time culmination of ongoing 
weekly NS events, which are short, sweet, and very spirited, lasting only 
30 minutes and including five bands: 15, 20, 40, 80, and 160 meters. The 
Sprint QSYformat is used, Mults are similar to the NA QSO party, and are 
counted on each band. Every NS and NSL event is limited to low power (or 
QRP for the intrepid,) so the signals are more even and competition is 
tight, often with close scores. This year, the NS Ladder will overlap the 
September CW NA Sprint, so participants can check out their software, 
station, and Sprint moves in advance.
The NS and NSL are conducted by the Northern California Contest Club and 
all weekly results are posted on the 3830scores.com web site. The NSL 
Ladder cumulative scores are posted on the NCCC website.