![]() | NAQCC News |
May 17, 2008 | NAQCC Web Site | Issue #070/071 |
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In this issue: 1. May Sprint. 2. April Challenge Results 2a. June Challenge 3. General Club News 4. CW Cartoon of the Month 5. Member News |
1. SPRINT: Our sprint is this Wednesday evening, May 21st at 8:30-10:30 PM EDT (Thursday 0030-0230Z). This month marks the debut of our new time zone divisions. We are dividing our SWA category into 4 divisions - Eastern, Central, Mountain, and Pacific to try to level the playing field for our Western members. We are now awarding a certificate to the top score from each time zone. This means in effect that hams in each time zone effectively only compete against others in the same time zone. We are hoping this encourages our Western members to be more active in our sprints despite the early time frame out there. We'll see how it works the next few months on a trial basis. Incidentally in the recent W7 QSO Party, I worked stations from all of the W7 states on 40M using just 930 mW and most of the QSO's were in the same time frame as our sprints, so it is definitely not too early for E-W coast propagation on 40M in our sprints. One AZ QSO even came in the 2100Z hour. Our new time zone divisions means we are eliminating our current 2nd place and Top Non-Winner certificates as of this month. We will continue our Special Award though. However it will now be based on a drawing among the 4 SWA time zone division entrants (and GAIN category entrants if we have any). The top qualifier from each will go into a drawing and the winner will get the certificate. This month's special award is for working the most different call areas in the USA (maximum 10). Let's get out there now and see if we can break more records for participation this month as we have done the previous two months. I'd love to have to process at least 70 logs this month. That would be a great birthday present for me (May 24th) and Tom (May 18th), and would make an even stronger pro-CW statement which is what we are all about at the NAQCC. There are the usual prizes and certificates topped off by our monthly giveaway of the CW books on CD donated by Chuck K7QO. Chuck is currently giving away one CD to the high scorer who hasn't won a CD before. Club officers are not eligible. If you're entering one of our sprints for the first time, we welcome you and hope you will be a regular participant from now on. Last month we welcomed W3TS, AD5VC, K3HPS, K4PQC, WD5INA, N1PQ, NV9X, WK8S, KC2MHU, N1QLL, AA8XX, N8ZYA, KI6OFN as first time participants and/or log submitters. Remember this is only a brief overview of the coming sprint. Be sure to read and understand the full general sprint rules and any specific rules for this month's sprint here. ![]() 2. APRIL CHALLENGE RESULTS: If you don't enter our challenges, you probably don't read the soapbox comments in the results and don't know how enjoyable the challenges are. So... I'm going to reprint a couple comments culled from the April soapbox here. KC2LYQ - I had a great time completing this challenge. This is my first time working on an NAQCC challenge, and it definitely won't be my last...... and it was one of the best amateur radio experiences I've had so far in my four years of being licensed. VE3HUR - I'm glad Mike (KC2LYQ) enjoyed this challenge so much. I wish more members would participate and discover for themselves just how worthwhile the challenges can be. Wouldn't it be fun to see what John does if 2000+ members decided to send in entries some month? KC2EGL - (The idea of the monthly challenges is simply brilliant.) I am enjoying the NAQCC challenges more and more each month. They have me sitting at my rig more often, trying to make QSO's......I am looking foward to May's mW challenge. Once again we hit double digits in the number of entrants (13) for our challenges, continuing a streak we started in the fall. Now I'm looking forward to the next step upward as our challenges increase in popularity. I'd love to process, not 2000+ as Don suggests, but at least a couple dozen or more entries each of the next few months, and then move on upward from there. That will definitely increase the CW presence on the ham bands. We have another giveaway coming up in our August Challenge - a book of ham radio cartoons ("N0UJR and His Friends" by Greg Trook) donated by Paul N8XMS. And logically, it will be an alphabet challenge involving cartoon character names. Rules will be posted shortly if they are not already there by the time you get this newsletter. Three members maxxed out on the April challenge, using 63 distinct calls for the 63 letters of the challenge. KC2LYQ, K3WWP, and K4PBY will get a certificate for their accomplishments. All our other participants also did very well in completing those tricky names from Shakespeare's plays. Thanks to Don VE3HUR for suggesting this challenge. The bug/paddle handles donated by Gregg WB8LZG went to KH6OZ in a drawing conducted by Gregg among those satisfying the challenge. ![]() 2a. JUNE CHALLENGE: - Because this is a combined issue (see General Club News below), we are also including a 'promo' for our June challenges here. Yes, challenges is not a typo, we are having two challenges in June. Our annual FD challenge has been very popular, and is continuing this year. We promised at one point to have challenges that involved the whole month, so we are having a second June challenge that qualifies. It's simply to see how many NAQCC members you can work during the month. Those who qualify for a Participation point in either or both challenges as described in the rules will go into a drawing for the bug/paddle handles donated by Gregg WB8LZG. You can see examples of the handles on Gregg's web site. Full challenge info including my tutorial/work sheet for our alphabet style challenges here. ![]() 3. GENERAL CLUB NEWS: - This is the first of a couple combined issues of our newsletter this year. Because of the innovative scheduling of our sprints, it sometimes happens that the sprint newsletter and the end of the month newsletter come just one week apart. That just involves too much work in too short a time for everyone involved in putting out the newsletter. So whenever the two issues would come just a week apart, we are eliminating the end of month issue and combining the material that would go into that issue with that of the sprint issue. ![]() ![]() ![]() That's right, Field Day! Anyone living in or near western Pennsylvania, eastern Ohio, southwestern NY, or northern W Va. (oh heck, anywhere for that matter) is welcome to sign up for the first NAQCC QRP Field Day. Providing we can get enough operators signing up we will hold the event on my property in Armstrong County (western) Pennsylvania. The event will be strictly primitive -- a porta-potty and primitive camping -- battery power (a generator if someone brings one). There are trees to string random wire or dipoles -- whatever. Somewhat rough access to property but not that difficult. Any takers? For details e-mail Tom, WY3H, NAQCC 0001, at: ![]() Please reply by May 31 at the latest. NOTE: So far, only Karl N3IJR has shown any interest. Thanks Karl. ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() I do think that most every ham who wants to get QSO's verified in this day and age should join either or both LotW and eQSL. There is still nothing like regular paper QSL's, but they are rapidly becoming less and less of a presence in ham radio because of rising postal rates as well as the ease of getting QSO's verified electronically. It is so very easy to use both LotW and eQSL, that I have all my QSO's uploaded to both at the end of each month. You can read more of my (K3WWP) thoughts about electronic QSL's in the entries for May 8 and 9 in the diary on my web site at k3wwp.com/. ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() 5. MEMBER NEWS: Send your news items to our news editor Paul KD2MX at ![]() ![]() Here are pictures of the Plates of the Champions ( QRP Station - North America and South America) awarded to winners of the Manchester Mineira All America CW Contest / 2007. ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() From the Terre Haute News, Terre Haute, Indiana: Telegraphers celebrate Samuel Morse's birthday. A train rambled north on tracks beside the Clee J. Spague Memorial Platform as Bill Foster and Dave Mason tried to guess its length. "A mile?" Mason guessed. The sender says: To read the rest of the story, go to Morse Story . ![]() ![]() Today, if the signal isn't 40 db over S9, it is to be devoutly ignored, not by all but by many. Especially many of those who have matured or are maturing in these days of cell-phones, internet radio, and internet phone calls. That same level of signal strength and purity is, frequently, expected on the amateur bands. Well, I will continue to continue my QRP efforts, despite lack of a proper QRP antenna which is definitely a disadvantage, and an S9 signal. And, despite coming up with an empty creel from time-to-time. I hope other QRP operators will also do likewise. I also hope we will listen for each other on or near the QRP calling frequencies. And on all the frequencies available to us. And, practice what we preach. Answering the CQ of a weaker signal. I might just be a QRP operator sending that CQ. ![]() ![]() This was my first use of a G5RV antenna and I heard a lot of Spanish speaking stations in the Caribbean. Because of length restrictions, I couldn't properly orient the antenna towards Europe and besides, 20 meters, was hardly active last week. (Sometimes it's there...and sometimes it's not) I had hoped for the Eastern-Western direction but with a solar flux in the low to mid 60's, I was happy to work these two guys on 40 meters. I also had a great QSO with fellow NAQCC member, N1LT, who was running 4 watts from his location in Laconia, New Hampshire. Despite more distant contacts, QRP X QRP contacts are always the best and most challenging. (This was my most prized catch on the sea) In the mornings, I was able to check into the Navy Amateur Radio net on 7245. A lot of these guys are in the Georgia and Florida area, and with me running QRP, sometimes it's difficult to check in from West Virginia. As I was sitting on the balcony, near my last day at the beach, exchanging the essentials with a station at Pocona Summit, PA (WB2KKI), the rain started to heavily fall. I had to break down the radio, key, and battery and run inside to dry ground. I was able to break down, and reconnect everything, from inside, in about 10 minutes. I sent my call sign again and Mike answered immediately. We continued the QSO for almost half an hour laughing about QRP and the weather. Then the tornado moved in.....It crossed the inlet about 10 miles below us, without any damage. I'm now glad to be back in the mountains. I see no reason to ever run more than 5 watts QRP with a simple wire antenna. The G5RV gave me the option of operating on all bands and the scenery outside was wonderful. I much prefer my radio shack in the great outdoors! ![]() Also I'm delighted to read the comments about the effectiveness of QRP/CW. Of course I've known that for years, but it's good to hear others talking about it and confirming my views. |
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