[SECC] North American QSO Party, Saturday--Teams

[John Laney]

Hello all:

Unless I hear from others, we have exactly two full teams for SECC in 
NAQP Saturday.  I will register a third team if others want to be on 
one.  The teams I have as of this time are:
K4BAI JOHN GA
W4OC DON SC
AA4LS CHARLES NC
N4IQ BILL SC
N4ETC EDEN NC

K2SX DENNIS SC (DEN?)
WW4XX ALEX GA
WF4W RJ GA
NJ8J BEN GA
W4DD JEFF GA

Please do not use a different call in the contest than you were 
registered under for a team.

NAQP events on CW, SSB, and RTTY occur twice a year, once in the winter 
and once in the summer or fall.  They are sponsored by the National 
Contest Journal.  Teams of from two to five members may be registered 
and any one can be on a team regardless of club membership or location.

Note that groups or clubs may operate at one station in the multi-two 
category.  These stations may not be a member of a team.  M/s stations 
may operate two stations on different bands for up to the whole 12 hours 
period.  There is no off time required of M/2 stations.  Only single 
operator stations may be on teams.  The maximum power for all 
competitors is 100 watts.  So do not submit a score as "high power." 
You may use QRP, of course, and I think there is an asterisk or other 
recognition of QRP scores in the results.  If you are on a team, it will 
benefit the team if you will run 100W or as close to that mark as you 
can.  QRP operators may be on a team, but they will not contribute as 
much to the team score as they would if they ran LP.

I hope that those of you who are not on teams will be QRV as much as you 
can to have fun and give out QSOs and mults to "the deserving."  You do 
not need to put your team name in the header of your Cabrillo file as 
the sponsors pick up the team members from the pre-registrations of the 
teams.  You may put your team in the Cabrillo file header if you like, 
but there no club aggregate score competition in NAQP.  If your club is 
SECC, spell it out as "South East Contest Club."  Please also post your 
claimed score after the contest to the 3830 score reflector.  In the 
pull down boxes, you should select your team name.  In the club name 
selection pull down, select your club.  Even though there is no club 
aggregate score competition, it is good advertising for the club to have 
it shown on your 3830 posting.

As with most contests, the object is to make the highest score you can 
with the time you have to devote to it.  The score in this one is 
determined by the number of contacts multiplied by the number of states, 
provinces, and North American countries worked PER BAND.

The contest starts at 1800Z Saturday (1 PM EST) and runs until 0600Z Sun 
(1 AM Sun).  The bands are 160, 80, 40, 20, 15, and 10 meters.
Activity on most bands probably centers around 030 kHz, but activity can 
go from 001 kHz to as high as CW stations are operating, probably about 
21070, 14070, 7080, 3590.  On 160 meters the activity will probably be 
centered around 1825 kHz with stations probably from about 1810 to 1840 
khz.  Speeds will vary from very slow to fairly fast, but not many will 
be operating at blindingly high speeds as those speeds discourage slower 
callers who may even be multipliers.  Hawaii counts as a state 
multiplier even though it is not in North America.  DC counts as a state.

The exchange is simple:  Name and SPC.  If stations from outside North 
America participate, they need send only Name as their exchange.  If 
your logging program won't accept only name, put the country prefix or 
"DX" in the section slot.  There are often a few from outside NA 
participating, particularly F1AKK from France (who may use a "TM" prefix 
call) and PY2NY from Brazil.  Others on a hit or miss basis.

The "name" is generally the "handle" that you use on the air.  Some 
people (e.g. W7SW) come up with some cutesy name that changes for each 
contest.  Others may have a group using the same name, usually of a 
recent SK.  For example, friends of Bob ("Dude"), W4MYA, might send 
"Dude" instead of their own names.  Do not rely on pre-fills for names 
or SPC.  Log what is actually sent.  Don't hesitate to ask for a repeat 
if you are running.  If you are doing search and pounce, you can note 
the name and SPC even before you call or listen afterward to the next 
QSO to fill in what you may have missed.

Single ops may not use assistance to determine calls and frequencies or 
QSO information.  You may use your logging program's Super Check and 
Super Check Partial to help you determine if you have the call correct, 
but you may not use packet spots as a single operator.

I start out on the highest open band, because the highest bands will 
close first and I need to get any mults on those bands before they 
close.  10M may not be much in this contest, but you should be able to 
work the surrounding states.  If there is an Es opening (rare but not 
impossible) 10M could be great for a time.  15M is likely to be the 
highest band open.  I will take a listen and make a call or two on 10M 
and then go to 15M.  If there is no activity on 15M, I will go to 20.

I try to work 10M on the hour and 15M on the half hour during the day. 
Of course, I never leave a run frequency when stations are calling.  So, 
20M is for running whenever 10 and 15 are not productive.  So, when 
there are no callers after the hour mark, I will make a quick check of 
10 and the same on the half hour as to 15.

20M may also close early, so it is good to get as many QSOs and mlults 
on 10, 15, and 20M during the daylight hours as you can.  40M may be 
open and active for the whole contest, but if you spend a lot of 
daylight hours on 40 when the higher bands are open, your score will 
suffer.  It pays to do a little on 40M before dusk. It may be that the 
skip zone will be shorter and you may have a better chance to work the 
surrounding states on 40 if you can knock them off before dark.  Of 
course, we know that 40M also has a long skip zone during the day 
sometimes.

After 20 closes, I try to check 80M on the half hour and 160M on the 
hour.  40M will be the main run band for stations in our area.  The 
further south you are, the better off you may be on the high bands, but 
the worse off you are on the lower bands because you are further from 
the highly populated areas to the north of us.

Since multipliers count per band, some of the stations you call may ask 
you to QSY to another band.  I always try to accommodate such requests, 
but always if it would be another mult for me.  Even if it isn't, you 
may find other activity on that band that you would otherwise miss.  The 
running station may be SO2R and know that the other band is open to our 
area.

It is always OK to ask someone else to QSY to other bands if you need 
them for a multiplier.  However, if you are doing search and pounce, 
unless the running station is a close friend, it is usually a waste of 
time to ask the running station to QSY.  Of course, if he turns out to 
be SO2R, he can give you his run frequency on the other band.

This takes some experience, but you can sometimes make a successful QSY 
back to a band that you think is closed.  If you are asked to QSY, it is 
worth the effort to try for a new mult that way.

If you are running and ask someone who calls you to QSY to another band, 
it helps if you have a frequency in mind.  You can have that frequency 
in a memory or your second VFO for a quick QSY.  Some people like to QSY 
to frequencies low in the bands (which requires both stations to be 
Extra class on some bands) and others like to pick a frequency pretty 
high in the band, where a clear frequency might be expected.

Probably most participants are not expecting to be full time (10 hours). 
  For those who can work all or most of the 12-hour contest period, 
there is need to plan off periods.  Note that an off period must be at 
least 30 minutes long (unless it is the period before your start, which 
can be a shorter time).   If your last QSO is at 2000Z and you take a 
30-minute period off, do not make your next QSO until 2031Z.  If you 
make it at 2030Z, you will have takes only 29 minutes off and those will 
be counted as "on" time.

SK Bill Fisher, W4AN, who regularly made 1000 QSOs in NAQP CW contests, 
liked to take his off times in the afternoons, taking them in 30 minute 
segments when the rate seemed to drop.  That meant that he would operate 
right up through 0559Z and would be QRV for the best times for the west 
coast on the low bands.  On the other hand, I have found that east coast 
participation drops significantly during the last two hours and that the 
west coast action doesn't make up for that.  Probably my low band 
antennas are just not as good as Bill's were.  You almost certainly will 
get more western multipliers in those last two hours, but the drop in 
overall rate could negate their benefit to your score.

What I usually do is operate straight through until my XYL calls me to 
dinner, probably around 0000Z.  I'eat dinner and visit with her for 45 
minutes or so and then resume the contest.  Then I will work through 
until I run out of the ten hours.  That means, I miss about the last 1 
hour and 15 minutes.

What you do about the off time if you are participating full time is an 
important part of your contest tactics and different conditions may 
dictate a change of plan.

A visit back to 20M later in the evening after most activity has moved 
to 40 may give you a few missed western mults such as KH6 and KL7.  40M 
may be a productive band right up until the end.  80M can be very 
important in the January contests.  160M is good for multipliers even if 
you can't run well there due to your antenna system.

I hope some of this will be of help to those of you who have not worked 
this contest much in the past.  It can be a lot of fun and you will be 
working some of the best CW ops in North America.

The log must be submitted in Cabrillo format to the sponsor in 
accordance with the rules within 5 days after the contest.  If you are 
on a team, please be sure to do that.  Others are encouraged to do so 
also.  Results will be available on the internet and will be published 
in an upcoming issue of NCJ.

Don't hesitate to e-mail me if you have questions.

73, John, K4BAI.

P.S.  Please let me know if you would like to be on a team for the NAQP 
SSB the next weekend and for NAQP RTTY in February.