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Posts published in “Contesting”

SPARC August Operating Event – North American QSO Party SSB

By Tom Schaeffer W4CU on 07/28/2022

SSB Operators needed: The SPARC Club Station at DMI will be fired up for the SSB edition of the North American QSO Party (NAQP) on August 20th. The contest starts at 2PM Eastern Time and runs for 12 hours. The North American QSO Parties are favorites of beginners and seasoned operators alike. Everyone is invited to participate. We would particularly like to see newly licensed hams and new club members get involved or just stop by to see what’s going on.

Details of the event can found at: https://ncjweb.com/NAQP/

If you plan to participate or need additional information, please contact Rich (AA2MF) at: rcariello49@gmail.com or Tom (W4CU) at: tom_w4cu@yahoo.com

 

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SPARC July Operating Event – North American QSO Party RTTY

By Tom Schaeffer W4CU on 06/30/2022

Following up on a successful Field Day, SPARC is planning to participate in the July North American QSO Party (NAQP). The NAQP takes place 6 times a year with 2 RTTY, 2 CW, and 2 SSB. events. The upcoming RTTY event will be held Saturday July 16 starting at 2PM Eastern Time and lasting 12 hours.

Details can be found at: https://ncjweb.com/naqp

Experienced operators and anyone wishing to learn more about RTTY or improve their skills are encouraged to contact either Rich AA2MF at: rcariello49@gmail.com or Tom W4CU at: tom_w4cu@yahoo.com.

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SPARC Member A Top Ten Finisher

By Bob Wanek N2ESP on 08/07/2021

SPARC member and former club Vice President Rich, AA2MF, was among the top finishers in the 2021 ARRL RTTY Roundup radiosport event. Competing in the Single Operator, RTTY Only, Low Power category, Rich earned 102,178 points, giving him a top ten finish in the US and Canada. Congratulations Rich for a job well done.

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4 QSO Parties this Weekend Covering 16 States.

By Tom Schaefer NY4I on 04/30/2021

This weekend (May 1 and 2) is the “4 QSO parties in one” weekend.

This includes the New England QSO Party (6 NE states), 7th Call Area (8 states), Indiana and Delaware.

QSO parties are a great way to pick up states you need to WAS on different bands. With better propagation lately, you may even be able to get some 10 meter states.

To make it easier to log, the organizers of these four events will all accept logs with contacts of the others. They will filter out the ones that matter to them. Both TR4W and N1MM support a combined log (including full dupe checking and multiplier counting). In each program, you use the contest name of IN7QPNE (yes Delaware is included in there too if not in name).

As a special treat, the Delaware QSO Party only will allow FT8/FT4 contacts. It is a bit strange in how they do it so read the rules but do not be surprised if you see stations calling CQ FD this weekend on FT8 (again, read the rules here https://www.fsarc.org/qsoparty/rules.htm)

Start times are as follows:

Delaware QSO Party: 1700Z, May 1 to 2359Z, May 2 (1:00 PM EDT start)
New England QSO Party: 2000Z, May 1 to 0500Z, May 2 and 1300Z-2400Z, May 2 (4:00 PM EDT start)
Indiana QSO Party: 1500Z, May 1 to 0300Z, May 2 (11:00 AM EDT start)
7th Call Area QSO Party: 1300Z, May 1 to 0700Z, May 2 (9:00 AM EDT start)

You can get the latest version of TR4W here: https://tr4w.net

For N1MM, just run M1MM and follow the update prompts.

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Winter Field Day This Weekend!

By Tom Schaefer NY4I on 01/27/2021

Winter Field Day is this weekend. Full rules can be found at the Winter Field Day website at https://www.winterfieldday.com. The event starts at 2:00 PM EST Saturday and goes until 2:00 PM EST on Sunday. Available modes are SSB, CW, RTTY, PSK31 and other conversational digital modes–not FT8 or FT4 according to their rules.

For the last several years we have joined with our friends at the Clearwater Amateur Radio Society and the Upper Pinellas Amateur Radio Club at the Clearwater Fire Training Center to setup for Winter Field Day. Due to COVID-19 restrictions, we are not setting up there and instead people are operating own their own. However, just like the past ARRL Field Day, there is an allowance in the rules this year to add your score to your favorite club. More on that process later.

Many people participate in Field Day (both summer and winter) by coming out to help setup or operate but may not be familiar with setting up the logging aspects. A few weeks ago, I conducted a Zoom session to show attendees how to setup various programs for Winter Field Day. I covered TR4W as well as the N1MM logging software. You can see a video of that session at the following YouTube link: https://youtu.be/F7CSWfjFzfA

As mentioned earlier the rule change that allows home stations to send their log in with a club name so the score is aggregated to that club. But this requires the submitted club name to be exactly like everyone else in the same club submits their log. To aid in standardization, I would recommend one of the following depending upon which club you want to submit your score under (spell it exactly like it is here):

  • Clearwater ARS/St. Petersburg ARC/Upper Pinellas ARC (This is the tri-club effort which I use).
  • Clearwater Amateur Radio Society
  • St. Petersburg Amateur Radio Club
  • Upper Pinellas Amateur Radio Club
  • Aardvark Wireless Group

It is imperative if you want your score to count properly that you spell this the same as everyone else in your club of choice. SPARC, St. Pete ARC, St. Petersburg ARC and St. Petersburg Amateur Radio Club will all end up in separate “buckets” and will dilute the club’s score. Spelling counts!

Another thing that is missing in doing Field Day at home is the social, camaraderie aspect. To help with that a bit, I have a Slack channel setup on the UPARC Slack channel we can use. Please feel free to join the UPARC Slack channel and stay in touch during the contest.  Check here for more info: https://join.slack.com/t/w4afc/shared_invite/zt-hz1v87k7-E9BDIkOXjm4IUypQm4EyGA

Of course, everyone is welcome to setup in the field as you would do for any Water Field Day. You can still setup in a park or even your backyard. Again, read the full rules to understand he categories and other details about Winter Field Day.

Finally, I am planning a session in two weeks to show people how to submit their logs. This again follows the idea that not many people have experience with the particular quirks in submitting a Cabrillo log for Winter Field Day. You have just over 30 days to submit the log for Winter Field Day so this leaves us plenty of time. More info on that session will be shared later.

While it is not the same as being there, hopefully you can get on the air this weekend and make some contacts. That’s a 2:00 PM Saturday start time so “see you there”.

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Aardvarks Rank High in Makrothen RTTY Contest

By Bob Wanek N2ESP on 11/27/2020

Seeing the need for a small Radiosport (contest) group, two SPARC members, Tom W4CU and Rich AA2MF asked members of CARS, SPARC and UPARC if they would be interested in learning more about contesting by joining a small local group. As a result, the Aardvark Wireless Group was formed.  When asked how the name was chosen, Tom stated “we’ll always be at the top of the list.” Members of the group consist of both experienced contesters and folks that have never participated in a contest. The group provides a focal point for assisting operators in setting up and using the various logging, operating and contesting programs as well as developing and improving operating skills. To keep things focused, there are no officers, dues, or formal meetings. Just the will to enjoy the great hobby of amateur radio. With lots of Elmering (mentoring) by fellow Aardvarks, a number of stations have participated in numerous contests, both local and worldwide.

One of the contests the group entered is known as the Makrothen RTTY Contest. Makrothen is a Greek word meaning “great distance” or “some distance away”. In this contest Maidenhead grid locators are exchanged between stations. Using two grid locators, the distance between the two stations in kilometers is calculated and used as the point value for the QSO.

The final standing in the 2020 Makrothen RTTY Contest were just released. The Aardvarks finished in 8th place out of 158 team entries. Only four of our six entries were included in final tally, indicating either two entries did not list the club name correctly or two entries were misplaced. It should be noted that those two entries, if found and counted, would not lift our score enough to move to seventh place.

Final individual placements in their respective categories are:

Rich AA2MF took first place in both World and North America in the Single Operator SO2R category out of a total of ten entries. Congratulations on an outstanding effort Rich.

The Single Operator, Single Transmitter, High Power (SO-ST-HP) category had 246 entries. Two Aardvarks placed well:

  • Tom W4CU placed 7th in North America and 19th in the world.
  • Dave KR4U placed 33rd in North America and 73rd in the world.

The Single Operator, Single Transmitter, Low Power (SO-ST-LP) category had 502 entries. In this category, three Aardvarks turned in the following scores:

  • Bob N2ESP placed 9th in North America and 36th in the world.
  • Leslie WA4EEZ placed 21st in North America and 74th in the world.
  • Julia NF1T placed 43rd in North America and 153rd in the world.

Fantastic job Aardvarks. And just in, the Aardvarks just missed placing in the top ten on the ARRL 2020 Field Day Club Aggregate Score list.

If you would like to learn more about Radiosport contesting or the Aardvark Wireless Group, contact Tom W4CU or Rich AA2MF.

 

 

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