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Posts published in “Contesting”

Phone Contest – CQ WPX SSB March 29th @ 8:00 PM

By Tom Schaefer NY4I on 03/11/2019

The CQ WPX SSB contest is a great contest for people that liked the fun of contesting during Field Day. This is a 48 hour contest with exciting runs where we call CQ most of the time. If you have ever wondered what it was like on the other side of the pile-up, this is the contest to find out.

We will use callsign NY4I which is a multiplier. That means other stations want to work us. Last year, my first hour run was 160 stations per hour. It is hard to describe the adrenaline rush one feels when working stations that fast. We will start at 8:00 PM on Friday 3/29 at the club station and go all through the weekend until Sunday night 3/31at 8:00 PM. We obviously need operators to do this level of contest. SPARC is inviting members of other clubs as well since we had so many people involved in our joint Field Day that liked working phone contests.

We need a schedule so please email Tom NY4I at NY4I@NY4I.com to say when you would like to operate. I can get a schedule online for ease of signup.

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SPARC Contesters Operating ARRL Sweepstakes SSB Right Now!

By Tom Schaefer NY4I on 11/17/2018

Bob N2ESP, Rex KB8ESY, Tom NY4I and Frank KN4PZY so far have been operating the ARRL Sweepstakes at the newly relocated SPARC club station. This contest runs until Sunday night at 10:00 PM, but we usually break at night. The best way to ensure we are here is to check the camera where you can view the station in operating. You can always find that on the Upcoming HF Operating Events page. If you want to come down and operate or just hang around talking radio, stop by.

You can see how we are doing in the contest on the real-time scoreboard too.

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W4TA 2nd Worldwide in Makrothen

By Tom Schaefer NY4I on 08/27/2018

The SPARC Contest Team is proud to announce they placed second worldwide and second in North America in the Multi-Op High Power (Single Receiver) category. This was for the Makrothen RTTY contest run from the SPARC station over the weekend of October 14th and 15th, 2017. Contest certificateOur second place score of 2,023,660 points represents the total distance (in Km) between our station and the 545 stations contacted during the contest. The average distance for each QSO was 3,713 Km/QSO. Congratulations to team members Tom W4CU, Paul KA4IOX, Bob N2ESP, Tom NY4I, Ron KP2N, Dave KR4U, Dee N4GD, Richard N4BUA, Rex KB8ESY and Leslie WA4EEZ.

Please click here for a write-up Bob N2ESP did right after the contest last year.  Congratulations to all that participated. We will be trying to grab the number 1 spot during this contest in October. If you would like to participate, please check this website for more info. The contest will be on October 12 – 14 this year.

 

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NAQP RTTY Contest – Summer 2018

By Tom Schaefer NY4I on 07/26/2018

The SPARC Contester–under the callsign W4TA–ran the North American QSO Party Summer RTTY contest this past week. This is a short contest starting at 2:00 PM on Saturday and going only 12 hours until 2:00 AM on Sunday. We ran two stations full-time even with being short-staffed. One of our regular RTTY contesters, Scotty N4RI, sadly passed away this month. Since the exchange for this contest is Name and State, in Scotty’s honor, we sent Scott and FL as the exchange. We were also missing a few others due to vacations and the like so the operators for this contest were: Ron KP2N, Rex KB8ESY, Dee N4GD, Tom NY4I, Paul KA4IOX, Leslie WA4EEZ and Bob N2ESP.

(l to r) Tom NY4I, a guest, Leslie WA4EEZ, Dee N4GD operating[Photo by George W1AAG]
We made a total of 728 contacts with Ron leading the pack with 225 QSOs, followed by Rex with 122 and Dee with 101 QSOs. The equipment worked great as usual. Running two stations is always challenging as we have to rewire the antennas to put the Triplexer in line to allow both stations to use the log periodic antenna on the tower. Thanks to Ron KP2N for setting this up and putting it back.

 

Ron KP2N at the Yaesu station. Antennas switching panel in rear. [Photo by George W1AAG]
Ron KP2N working 15 meters. [Photo by George W1AAG]
Dee working 20 meters [Photo by George W1AAG]
K3 Station [Photo by George W1AAG]

States worked from Raspberry Pi Stats Reporter

 

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Want to Learn RTTY?

By Bob Wanek N2ESP on 07/02/2018

If you would like to learn the art of radioteletype, aka RTTY, do we have a deal for you. The ARRL is sponsoring the North American QSO Party – RTTY. Starting on Saturday July 21st at 2:00PM local time, and running for 12 hours. We will be running two stations simultaneously at W4TA in class M2.

NAQP – RTTY is a fun contest as all stations are required to run 100 watts or less. This makes for a relatively even playing field, with advantages to stations with good antennas and good operators. If you have never operated in a RTTY contest, one word of caution…it’s addictive. Once you get started, you will not want to miss the next contest. We will have mentors available to assist you with your first few QSOs. Once you get the hang of it, you can watch the QSO rate meter quickly rise.

All SPARC members are welcome to join us. Remember to bring your own headphones. If you would like to learn more about RTTY, the following web site will get you started: https://www.aa5au.com/rtty/

More information is available on our Upcoming HF Operating Events page here. If you have any questions, contact Ron KP2N.

RAH RAH RTTY.

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W4TA Scores to a Different Drummer in the FQP

By Bob Wanek N2ESP on 04/30/2018

The SPARC Contest Group, W4TA, just completed another running of the Florida QSO Party sponsored by the Florida Contest Group. The only good thing I can say about the propagation was that it sucked equally for all contestants. In spite of conditions, the FCG did everything in its power to pull off another successful event. Thanks for all the hard work.

[N2ESPhoto]

SPARC has a habit of keeping score to a different drummer. Yes we had QSOs–1263 to be exact. These break down as follows…

Band      Mode    QSOs     Pts          Mult      Pt/Q

7              CW         334         1336       14           4.0

7              LSB         64           128         4              2.0

14           CW         338         1352       51           4.0

14           USB        501         1002       62           2.0

21           CW         26           104         1              4.0

Total      Both      1263       3922       132         3.1

Rich AA2MF working with new operators [N2ESPhoto]
But those are just the numbers for which most stations vie. At SPARC, we keep score differently. We introduced two hams to Radiosport that had no clue what a contest was. We re-introduced two more hams whose experience was limited to some Field Day QSOs (we all know FD is not a contest…at least until 2:00 PM local time). Finally Dave KR4U beat his old record
for the longest contest QSO. Running on the CW station on 20M, Dave put the brakes on the CW keyer to answer a 5 WPM call. As has happened in previous FQPs, Dave learned the operator’s name, antenna and rig type, and most importantly, 599 in PA. SIX MINUTES after calling CQ, another CW QSO was in the log. This is the true spirit of amateur radio, and in our eyes, the only way to keep the hobby growing.

Rich AA2MF helps Gail KD2PCS make her first contest contacts. [N2ESPhoto]
Competing in the FQP were the following SPARC operators: Lisa KC1YL, Rich AA2MF, Gail KD2PCS. Ron KP2N, Bob N2ESP, Dave KR4U, Pat KX4HL, Dee N4GD, Scotty N4RI, Tom NY4I, Tom W4CU, Johnnie W4TSP and Rex KB8ESY.

“The Schaef[f]er Brothers”, Tom W4CU and Tom NY4I [N2ESPhoto]

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