[UK-CONTEST] SD for the ARRL 10m Contest

[Paul O'Kane]

The ARRL 10m Contest takes place from 0000 UTC on Saturday
11th December to 2359 UTC on Sunday 12th December.  Full rules
at http://www.arrl.org/contests/rules/2004/10-meters.html

SD directly supports this contest, and is freeware from
www.ei5di.com.  SD runs on any Windows PC.

Select Type 10 - General, County and Area Multipliers.

.MLT File            : ARRL10 
.CTY File            : DXCC 
Multipliers Count    : B (by band) 
Points per QSO       : 0 (variable) 
Pts/Bonus            : 0 (multipliers) 
Points / Area QSO    : 0 (same as other QSOs) 
Non-Area QSOs count
           as Mults  : Y
Points vary by mode  : Y 
             by band : N 
         by location : N 
Points CW            : 4 
Points SSB           : 2 
Receive Serial from 
    Area QSOs (W/VE) : N 
Mode                 : CW or SSB (your mode now) 
Mixed Mode           : Y/N (your choice) 
If Mixed - 
   Mults count on
          both modes : Y 
   Work same station 
       on both modes : Y 
___________________________________________

Work everyone. 
Send 59(9) and Serial. 
Receive 59(9) + State/Province from W/VE
              + Serial from all others.

The latest ARRL10.MLT file has been updated to include
Hawaii (HI) and Alaska (AK) as USA-area stations.

QSOs with /N and /T (USA Novice and Technician) stations
are automatically scored as 8 points.  However, SD does
not count maritime mobile stations in Regions 1, 2 and 3
as separate multipliers. Don't worry, ARRL will re-score
your Cabrillo log.  I mention this in case you need to
adjust your claimed score.

After the contest, use SDCHECK to create your Cabrillo
.LOG file.  Rename it to YOURCALL.LOG and email it, as an
attached file, to 10meter at arrl.org by 12th January 2005.
_______________________________________________________

Suggested strategy for Mixed-Mode entries.

CW QSOs score double points (4 compared to 2 on SSB). 
Therefore, you should operate CW as much as possible, as 
your QSOs/hour on CW will nearly always be greater than
half your SSB rates.

However, multipliers score on both modes - so use SSB as 
necessary to ensure that your SSB multiplier total stays
in line with the CW total. SD shows SSB and CW multipliers
separately.

At least 75% of your QSOs should be CW - and your average
Points/QSO will then be 3.5 or greater. If your average
falls to 3.0, it means you have equal numbers of CW and
SSB QSOs - you may be having fun, but you're probably not
scoring as well as you might.

73, 
Paul EI5DI