[SECC] Announcement: NCCC NS Ladder Series to Begin Next Thursday Night Local Date

Tue Jul 31 16:34:07 EDT 2018

After a vigorous discussion among NCCC Sprint Advisory Group members. . 
. . .

The 28th NCCC Sprint Ladder will start a week from this Thursday. 
That's Aug 10th . . same time and rules as for the weekly NCCC Sprint. 
Thursday nights for 8 weeks at 0230-0300Z.

The ladder will run for 8 continuous weeks, with your 5 high scores 
contributing to the final total. Final week is Sept 27 2018.

Why Participate?
   -- It's a fun, friendly competition.
   -- Good for evaluating operating skills and station performance 
averaged over several weeks.
   -- Opportunity to test new operating techniques, new or different 
antenna configurations, SO2R etc etc.  Compare your scores to another 
participant, to the average score in your division etc.
   -- We'll have an interesting participation certificate for those who 
stick it out for 5 or more weeks.
   -- The Ladder is an excellent practice run-up to the NCJ NA CW Sprint 
on Sept 8 (sept 9 Z)  (but we hope that those who use the Ladder for 
practice will stick around for completion. but please do not use HP).

Some details:
   -- Your Division. . .see http://ncccsprint.com/ladder.html

   (note if you operate two different locations, your final score will 
combine scores. . .
    .. but see special note about divisions following this message).

   -- Most important:
       --  PLEASE -- Low Power only for this event (use of HP can be 
disruptive to others)
       -- Be mindful of the times exactly (0230:00Z - 0300:00 Z) because 
of the short duration and the exponential increase in score with time.

  -- Scores:  The 3830scores.com gives the usual weekly scores. . the 
week-to-week compilation will be at http://n3qe.org/ladder.html
          -- We owe special thanks to N3QE, Tim, for writing the script 
which extracts scores and combines them with prior weeks.  NQ6N did the 
first version of this excellent system.

  -- Questions?  n6zfo at arrl.net or any Advisory Group member; you're 
also welcome to call N6ZFO at 415 209-3084

-- Software:  N1MM/ N1MM+ has the modules for NS .  so use the one 
you're accustomed to.  You could use the NA Sprint CW module and then 
re-score by hand for band-mults.  We did have a module for WL, but not 
sure of its status.

  -- Publicity .  Tell your friends about this event, maybe they will 
get hooked on Thursday night NS, as others have.  Post details to your 
local club.

  -- VOLUNTEER?:
     -- Could one of you post to CQ-Contest? (let me know and I'll 
choose a poster
     -- Mark, K6UFO - - could you post to the NCCC main reflector?

Good luck to all.

Following this message:  A brief history of the NS Ladder; also, I can 
send copy of NCJ article from several years ago, just email me at 
n6zfo at arrl.net.

-- History of NS:  see following message.
-- Divisions: see subsequent message for special note.
-- Dates:  Bruce, WA7BNM, has modified http://contestcalendar.com to 
note NS Ladder for Thursday nights rather than NS.
-- Jim N3BB has submitted a write-up to the ARRL Contest Letter.

73 Bill N6ZFO

NOTE:  I'm posting this msg from the Konocti Coffee near our house, as 
the ongoing Lake County River fire has disabled our internet connection 
at home. .  We transmit via microwave link to a receiver in the fire 
zone, and our provider, Terry,  thinks fire may have burned cables near 
his house where the backbone link occurs.  He's in an evacuated area. 
we are at the border: The mandatory evac line cuts through our house 
between our kitchen and living room.

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History of the NS Ladder (updated July 2018 from 2012)

   Bill, N6ZFO competed for quite a few years in running events in Marin 
County, CA. as a member of the Tamalpa Runners club. One of the yearly 
events of Tamalpa is a ladder competition in which club members 
challenge each other in a series of 6-8 cross country runs over 
sometimes difficult terrain.  The winner received 100 points, 2nd place 
finisher 99 points, and so on.  By the end of the racing season a order 
is established based on cumulative points.  So those who compete are 
rewarded both for effort and for dedication.  Radio-sport had no such 
event.  Now it does.

Upon joining NCCC in 2000 N6ZFO proposed the ladder idea to club 
leadership.  President Rick, N6XI liked it, being familiar with chess 
ladder competitions in bridge.   Rick also understood the near 
impossibility of establishing yet another radio contest, and immediately 
nominated Bill for the Vice President/Contest Chair position in NCCC. So 
much for the Ladder that year .. .

The first Ladder competition, now called NCCC Sprint Ladder I, or NSL-I, 
-- you can see the sports analogy developing a little further! -- was 
held in 2002 as an intra-NCCC event in which about 25 stations competed. 
Rick, the Locust, K6VVA and Bob K6XX came out on top.  As an award NCCC 
club president Tom, ND2T, gave each a copy of the book ï¿½How to Overcome 
Your Addictionsï¿½.

For NSL-I Bill used the rules of an old competition originated by Tree, 
N6TR, called the Internet Sprint -- not held on the internet, but rather 
scores were reported over the internet, an unusual feature in those 
times.  Thatï¿½s where the idea of allowing duplicate contacts to increase 
rate originated ï¿½ thus making our NCCC Sprint more like a real runnerï¿½s 
sprint.   In fact we like to say that participants feel out of mental 
breath after after these weekly half-hour competitions.  QSO rates were 
a breathtaking 120 per hour for top competitors.  The sprint QSY rule is 
the invention of NCCC member Rusty, W6OAT.  Dupes were dropped early on 
as participation made that generally unpopular concept unnecessary.

As Vp/Cc in 2001 Bill served as net control for the NCCC 3830 Thursday 
night Contest Net.  Up to that time, Ken, N6RO organized practice 
sessions for major contests.  Bill began to publicize these on the 
CQ-Contest reflector, and suddenly we had a national audience for the 
Ladder.  Kenï¿½s mantra of ï¿½practice, practice, practiceï¿½ led to a weekly 
session formatted around CW Sprint concepts.  So it was natural to blend 
the ladder into those Thursday night sessions under the general banner 
of ï¿½NCCC Thursday Night Contestingï¿½.  The ladder competition, which 
N6ZFO organizes, usually involves eight sessions, from which an op's top 
five scores are counted. On non-ladder weeks, NS (NCCC Sprint) are held. 
Several years ago we added a RTTY NS organized by Ken K6MR (now by W6SX 
temporarily).  Tom N3ZZ has taken over weekly NS CW management, 
including posting notices to the nccc-blue reflector.

The evolution into a grander scheme called NCCC Thursday Night 
Contesting evolved from discussions held on the Thursday night NCCC 3830 
Contest Net.  And thatï¿½s where the key concept of  ï¿½Summer Funï¿½ 
originated, thanks in part to the enthusiasm of one of our biggest NS 
Ladder fans, Kurt, K7NV.  And when Rick, K6VVA, blurted out ï¿½wine 
prizesï¿½, we were off and running.  Ed W0YK (Muns Vineyard) supplied the 
wine in the years we offered it to competition winners.

Many problems were solved in those Thursday night net discussions.  One 
involved the multi-band nature of the contest:  we could not get folks 
to migrate to to the low bands using the original rules. K7NV suggested 
ï¿½band multsï¿½ and that instantly solved the problem.  So the NSL is a 
combination of NAQP and NCJ Sprint rules.  The original concept of 
allowing dupes, still used in the RTTY NS to maintain rate, was dropped 
early on for the Ladder and weekly CW NS's.

Over the years other contests have mimicked our mid-week format. 
Examples are the Wednesday night CwOps contests and the Phone Fray 
(Dean, NW2K) on Tuesday nights.

In NSL III, the contest caught the attention of NCCCï¿½s Webmaster Ed, 
W0YK and a full set of NCCC Sprint web pages evolved rapidly at 
www.ncccsprint.com.

In 2017 we held the 27th NS Ladder competition, with our now standard 
format of 8 weeks with a station's 5 highest scores counting in final 
rankings in each of five geographic divisions of the contest.  Tim, 
N3QE, following work by Matt, NQ6N, wrote the current script for 
transferring 3830scores.com results into the 8-week cumulative score 
table arranged by division.

The NS Ladder Advisory Group.

N6ZFO runs the contest with an Advisory Group whose original members 
were K4BAI, N3BB, W9RE, N4AF and K3STX and N6ZFO.  These folks were 
chosen for various reasons:  Bill and Mike (ZFO and RE), both Purdue 
graduates, provide a kind of analytic focus to the NS Ladder.  Howie, 
N4AF had the experience of organizing his own N4AF Sprint, a low power 
version of the NCJ NA CW Sprint.  N3BB brings great contesting 
experience and intuition to the group and John K4BAI contributes words 
of great wisdom and judgment, as one might expect, serving as a sort of 
referee for the contest.  K3STX, Paul, contributed the focus of the 
ï¿½family-friendlyï¿½ aspect of NS and NS Ladder intense, fun contesting 
with not too much time invested.  When Paul left the NSL advisory group 
we added Ted, W4NZ.   Subsequent additional members: K6UFO, Mark, W0BH, 
Bob.  Ken KE3X assisted with wine awards.

73 Bill n6zfo
_._,_._,_
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History of the NS Ladder (updated July 2018 from 2012)

   Bill, N6ZFO competed for quite a few years in running events in Marin 
County, CA. as a member of the Tamalpa Runners club. One of the yearly 
events of Tamalpa is a ladder competition in which club members 
challenge each other in a series of 6-8 cross country runs over 
sometimes difficult terrain.  The winner received 100 points, 2nd place 
finisher 99 points, and so on.  By the end of the racing season a order 
is established based on cumulative points.  So those who compete are 
rewarded both for effort and for dedication.  Radio-sport had no such 
event.  Now it does.

Upon joining NCCC in 2000 N6ZFO proposed the ladder idea to club 
leadership.  President Rick, N6XI liked it, being familiar with chess 
ladder competitions in bridge.   Rick also understood the near 
impossibility of establishing yet another radio contest, and immediately 
nominated Bill for the Vice President/Contest Chair position in NCCC. So 
much for the Ladder that year .. .

The first Ladder competition, now called NCCC Sprint Ladder I, or NSL-I, 
-- you can see the sports analogy developing a little further! -- was 
held in 2002 as an intra-NCCC event in which about 25 stations competed. 
Rick, the Locust, K6VVA and Bob K6XX came out on top.  As an award NCCC 
club president Tom, ND2T, gave each a copy of the book ï¿½How to Overcome 
Your Addictionsï¿½.

For NSL-I Bill used the rules of an old competition originated by Tree, 
N6TR, called the Internet Sprint -- not held on the internet, but rather 
scores were reported over the internet, an unusual feature in those 
times.  Thatï¿½s where the idea of allowing duplicate contacts to increase 
rate originated ï¿½ thus making our NCCC Sprint more like a real runnerï¿½s 
sprint.   In fact we like to say that participants feel out of mental 
breath after after these weekly half-hour competitions.  QSO rates were 
a breathtaking 120 per hour for top competitors.  The sprint QSY rule is 
the invention of NCCC member Rusty, W6OAT.  Dupes were dropped early on 
as participation made that generally unpopular concept unnecessary.

As Vp/Cc in 2001 Bill served as net control for the NCCC 3830 Thursday 
night Contest Net.  Up to that time, Ken, N6RO organized practice 
sessions for major contests.  Bill began to publicize these on the 
CQ-Contest reflector, and suddenly we had a national audience for the 
Ladder.  Kenï¿½s mantra of ï¿½practice, practice, practiceï¿½ led to a weekly 
session formatted around CW Sprint concepts.  So it was natural to blend 
the ladder into those Thursday night sessions under the general banner 
of ï¿½NCCC Thursday Night Contestingï¿½.  The ladder competition, which 
N6ZFO organizes, usually involves eight sessions, from which an op's top 
five scores are counted. On non-ladder weeks, NS (NCCC Sprint) are held. 
Several years ago we added a RTTY NS organized by Ken K6MR (now by W6SX 
temporarily).  Tom N3ZZ has taken over weekly NS CW management, 
including posting notices to the nccc-blue reflector.

The evolution into a grander scheme called NCCC Thursday Night 
Contesting evolved from discussions held on the Thursday night NCCC 3830 
Contest Net.  And thatï¿½s where the key concept of  ï¿½Summer Funï¿½ 
originated, thanks in part to the enthusiasm of one of our biggest NS 
Ladder fans, Kurt, K7NV.  And when Rick, K6VVA, blurted out ï¿½wine 
prizesï¿½, we were off and running.  Ed W0YK (Muns Vineyard) supplied the 
wine in the years we offered it to competition winners.

Many problems were solved in those Thursday night net discussions.  One 
involved the multi-band nature of the contest:  we could not get folks 
to migrate to to the low bands using the original rules. K7NV suggested 
ï¿½band multsï¿½ and that instantly solved the problem.  So the NSL is a 
combination of NAQP and NCJ Sprint rules.  The original concept of 
allowing dupes, still used in the RTTY NS to maintain rate, was dropped 
early on for the Ladder and weekly CW NS's.

Over the years other contests have mimicked our mid-week format. 
Examples are the Wednesday night CwOps contests and the Phone Fray 
(Dean, NW2K) on Tuesday nights.

In NSL III, the contest caught the attention of NCCCï¿½s Webmaster Ed, 
W0YK and a full set of NCCC Sprint web pages evolved rapidly at 
www.ncccsprint.com.

In 2017 we held the 27th NS Ladder competition, with our now standard 
format of 8 weeks with a station's 5 highest scores counting in final 
rankings in each of five geographic divisions of the contest.  Tim, 
N3QE, following work by Matt, NQ6N, wrote the current script for 
transferring 3830scores.com results into the 8-week cumulative score 
table arranged by division.

The NS Ladder Advisory Group.

N6ZFO runs the contest with an Advisory Group whose original members 
were K4BAI, N3BB, W9RE, N4AF and K3STX and N6ZFO.  These folks were 
chosen for various reasons:  Bill and Mike (ZFO and RE), both Purdue 
graduates, provide a kind of analytic focus to the NS Ladder.  Howie, 
N4AF had the experience of organizing his own N4AF Sprint, a low power 
version of the NCJ NA CW Sprint.  N3BB brings great contesting 
experience and intuition to the group and John K4BAI contributes words 
of great wisdom and judgment, as one might expect, serving as a sort of 
referee for the contest.  K3STX, Paul, contributed the focus of the 
ï¿½family-friendlyï¿½ aspect of NS and NS Ladder intense, fun contesting 
with not too much time invested.  When Paul left the NSL advisory group 
we added Ted, W4NZ.   Subsequent additional members: K6UFO, Mark, W0BH, 
Bob.  Ken KE3X assisted with wine awards.

73 Bill n6zfo
_._,_._,_