Call:  W1XX

Operator:  W1XX

Station: W1XX

Class:  Single Op HP

QTH:  RI

Operating Time (hrs):  11.5

Summary:

   80:  115

   40:  509

   20:  140

   15:   50

   10:  282

————————————————–

Total:  1096 Sections = 80 Total Score = 175,040

Club:  CTRI Contest Group

Comments:  Operating less than full bore time-wsie was kinda neat as the runs almost never stopped.  After opening up with 5 solid hours, went to sleep as per normal and operated in short burts thereafter.  RI was apparently a tough one this time as the pileups kept the rate-meter burning.  10 meters was a difference maker as I’m sure I worked a lot more west coast LP stations who probably can’t make it as well on 20 or 40.  40 started out slow but came through with the most Qs in the long run as per usual.  Found VY1EI on 10 a half hour before the contest…so set one vfo on him while running elsewhere and called in about an hour into the contest when his pileup had subsided somewhat. Think I only worked one PR…SK was last to fall but got another one later….KL7s were plentiful….KH6 no problem….I think only one VI.  Unlike on CW, plenty of NEs.  Only heard W1WBB and W1CTN from CTRI.  Worked the last hour of the contest on 40 and it was wall-to-wall callers looking for RI right up the end.  I’m usually done by this time…so maybe I’ve been missing a very productive hour.  SS is always fun!!  73!  –John, W1XX    

Hi Gang, I’ve found a way to instruct WordPress to display your contest score results in aligned columns. Prepare you contest results in your text editor, add the pre and /pre formatting tags with the <> brackets as shown and then copy it into WordPress. The score will show in an equally spaced font, typically “courier”

Contest: Bogus DX
Call: W1AN
Club: CTRI Contest Group

Band      QSOs    Mults    Prefixes
160M       567       89          12
 80M     1,234      567          89
 40M        87       65          43
-----------------------------------
Total:   2,345      234       1,234

Score:   1,234,567

Without the html formatting it may look like this:

Contest: Bogus DX
Call: W1AN
Club: CTRI Contest Group

Band QSOs Mults Prefixes
160M 567 89 12
80M 1,234 567 89
40M 87 65 43
———————————–
Total: 2,345 234 1,234

Score: 1,234,567

John, W1AN

Our very own Rick Davenport has landed in Guam. It’s already tomorrow there. Depending on his workload, he plans to get on the air from someplace while he is there. Here is latest info from him just received. I’ll post new information here as I get it.

73, Ken K3IU

==============================

On 11/15/11, Ken K3IU<kenk3iu@nullcox.net> wrote:

Thanks, Rick! I’ll put the word out around here when you sort out your schedule.
73,
Ken K3IU
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
On 11/15/2011 5:18 PM, Rick Davenport wrote:

Ken

I finally got in touch with N2NL, I am planning on going to see him either Saturday or Sunday Guam time so Friday or Saturday here. I will try to give you more notice once I get settled in out there.

 73,

Rick

Looking Towards New World Record for CQ WPX RTTY

There has been recent discussions about a crew from CTRI heading to Puerto Rico in February 2013 to make a run for the World Record in the WPX RTTY contest. This should be near the peak of the sunspot cycle and will be a great opportunity run up a BIG score at Carlos’ station.

I just did a little research to identify exactly what the records are at the present time. This posting is to put that information in plain view. You should particularly note that the North American record and the United States record are held by pretty familiar callsigns….

Category                                 Record Holder               Year                        Score                    WPX

WORLD – Multi-2                    EA8AH                                  2007                       17,001,420           895
North America – M2             NP3U                                      2008                       14,053,680            894
United States – M2                NG1G (W1AN)                      2011                        7,862,238              873

A crew from CTRI also went south to NP3U in Februray 2009 for this contest. However, the gods weren’t with us on this trip. Equipment problems and antenna problems caused us to be Multi-Single for about 25% of the contest time. The score from that effort for NP3U (9.895,184) was still enough to win First Place Honors, Multi-2, in both the World and North America.

Low Bands Are Alive and Well

With the upswing in 10 meter propagation conditions, I feared that this might not be good for low band DXing.  Fortunately I was wrong. On Top Band for example, it is beginning to look pretty good.  I worked my first JA this season this morning (JA7NI) on 1813 – his favorite frequency – at 6:15 AM local.  His signal came up to 579 by 6:25 and faded out around 6:35.  I also heard Will, K6ND, get him. The 4s have been working JAs for the last couple of weeks.

JA signals last about a half hour longer to somewhat after 7:00 AM on 80 meters with Takar, JA7BXS, the easiest to work.  K6ND really gets around, as I heard Will work JA7BXS this morning.   If you are up a bit earlier around 5:55 AM, listen for the outstanding signal of XU7ACY who is workable on 3513 KHz.

Just hearing JAs on 80 or 160 can be rather exciting, so get up early and turn on your radios.  GL!

— John, W1XX

Wed. 11/16/2011

If you are familiar with the interactive meeting notice skip down to “Topics“.

This is an interactive meeting notice.

What, you may ask, is an interactive meeting notice?

As the phrase suggests, it is a meeting notice what requires interaction by the readers. For example: we need to have topics for presentation at the meeting; we need presenters; we need volunteers to provide lunch; we need to know who is coming to the meeting so the quantity of lunch portions may be determined, and so on.

This post will be updated as interactions (comments) are appended.

Topics

1. Election of Officers. Someone is likely to nominate you, so reflect before the meeting on whether you have the time and interest to serve.
2. Contest Report
3. Future of the Yahoo reflector
4. NP3U in either the 2012 or 2013 CQWW WPX RTTY contest
5. We need to discuss the whole subject of recruitment, who is a ‘member’, who should be a member, how we support the group’s activities, etc. By ‘member’ is meant a Member of CTRI CG (as defined in the bylaws), not a ‘subscriber’ to the Yahoo Group, or a visitor to the new web site.
6. Holiday Dinner
7. Special Event 1×1 callsigns

Lunch provider:

Lunch fixins by: K3IU. Coffee and soft drinks by W1AN

Members who will attend:

W1PN, K3IU, W1AN, K1DM(in spirit), NG1G

Venue: Crandall House, 1100 to about 1400

The 2011 ARRL November Sweepstakes, CW version, is history. This is one of my favorite contests and this year, after many intervening years, I need to get out the broom.  According to the N1MM logger report, my “On Time” was 16:46 (1006 mins). It seemed longer than that to me, but I knew that I’d never make it for the full 24 hours allowed.

I know at least 2 other members were participating because I worked one of them , W1WBB, and heard W1AN as he masterfully busted the early pile up on the VE4 late on Sunday afternoon. I tried for a while to get him, but finally went up to watch the football game. At half time I came back down here and found the pile up not quite so huge. After a couple of attempts, I finally worked the VE4DR at 2240Z on 20 meters. The thing that is so great about that is that MB was my final section for the Clean Sweep! I worked VY1EI  earlier as he wandered around the 10 meter spectrum after trying to sort out the bedlam he was causing. I came across him shortly after he has QSYed to a new frequency and worked him first call. Those were the only 2 sections that I was missing since about 0800 local on Sunday morning.

I operated SOAB HP Unlimited.  Here are my results…

Band        QSOs        Sect

3.5          99           6
7           196          24
14          150           8
21          137          31
28           98          11

Total       680         80

Score  :    108,800

Please post your ARRL CW Sweepstakes scores here under “Comments.”  Be sure to indicate your category including power (HP, LP, QRP).  TNX and hope you had fun.  73!  — John, W1XX

Hi Gang! The CTRI Yahoo Groups site we enjoyed for many years has seen little use since the start up of our new website with its much greater functionality and appearance. (Thank you Ed!)

The future of the Yahoo site is in your hands! Soon we will decide its fate and your comments are requested. But for now, we are in need of a new owner for the yahoo site since the loss of our friend Ernie, N1SW a couple of year ago. I’ve posted a poll on the yahoo site for members to make their selection among a few moderators who volunteered for the position. The new owner will be able to make the necessary change decided by our discussion and  a vote to be proposed at the next meeting on November 12. Please login to yahoo and make your choice! The final tally selection will be forwarded to the executive at yahoo who can implement the change.

Thanks!

John, W1AN

To keep all the CQWW DX Phone Contest scores in one place, please post your score and comments here under “Comments.”  OK?  Hope you all had fun.  73!

— John, W1XX

Operation ARRL 10-Meter Contest: December 10 – 11, 2011

Attention all CTRI members: “Operation NEQP” last May was very successful in getting the club membership to pull together to meet the 1 million point objective. It has spawned talk of another targeted contest for a super club effort. In response, your club Contest Manager is calling on the membership to focus on the ARRL 10-Meter Contest, December 10 – 11 (starts 0000 UTC Saturday and ends 2359 UTC Sunday).
Why the 10-meter Contest? Lotsa reasons! With the upswing in the sunspot cycle, 10 meters is becoming a very good DX band. It’s open most days to Europe and JA early in the evenings and stateside all day. QSOs are plentiful and easy to make. Ten meters is well known for its ability to support QSOs with low power to a wet noodle. It’s a great band for neophytes to get their feet wet in contesting.
What’s CTRI’s history in this contest? CTRI had 7 entries last year: W1WBB, K3IU, NG1G, KS1J, W1XX, KA1GEU, and W1AN with a club aggregate score of 218,720 points; in 2009 – 7 entries with 129K points; and 2008 – 5 entries with 141K points. Not really great scores in non-optimum conditions. Conditions should be much better this year.
What’s the goal? It’s tempting to again make the goal 1 million points as in NEQP. But with the recent resurgence of 10 meter propagation, that may be very easily met. Our goal should be to get as many club members QRV for the maximum club score possible.
“I don’t operate CW….or….I don’t have a big station….or….I don’t have a 10-meter antenna….or….I don’t have a station….or….I haven’t operated in a contest before.” The 10 Meter Contest is ideal in responding positively to all those excuses. In a nutshell, you can operate categories for phone, CW, or both…low power, high power or QRP. You can work the world with a very modest station. If you are station-less, no doubt CTRI will run one or more multis that will welcome you. It’s the perfect contest to begin or continue to hone your contesting skills. No antenna? Simple, make a quickee 10 meter dipole with 16 ½ feet of wire.
Contest essentials.
[1] Exchange = RS(T) and state. VEs = RS(T) and province. XEs = RS(T) and state. DX = RS(T) and serial # starting with 001.
[2] Operate no more than 36 hours. No spotting assistance for single ops.
[3] CW operation only below 28.3 MHz.
[4] You can work the same station once each on CW and phone.
[5] See the rules for QSO points, multipliers and final score.
Where do I get complete rules? http://www.arrl.org/contests. This will be discussed at
the November 12 meeting with rules’ handouts. This early announcement is intended to help you get fully prepared in advance.
Will you commit to operate? As the club’s Contest Manager, I respectfully request that you let me know that you are committed to this venture with your CTRI brethren. You can do so at the November meeting or e-mail me at: w1xx [at] cox [dot] net. Good luck and have fun! 73!

— John Lindholm, W1XX
CTRI Contest Manager

Seems I didn’t read the “Comments” section of the W1DX report for the RTTY contest and thus missed the following FB scores:  K3IU, KS1J, KI1G.  Sorry, fellas, we’ll update the spread sheet the next time around.  73!

— John, W1XX

PS:  Small update on the 160 vertical:  Simply tightening up the T wires by pulling the support ropes down only two feet on each side, dropped the resonant frequency by 20 KHz to 1853…closer to the target of about 1825.  I find it surprising that making the T wires  just a tad more horizontal (less droop) made such a significant change.  I may tighten them up just bit more to see what happens.  Bottom line:  it’s a beautiful thing!

No, Ed, that’s three winches not wenches that were used to raise the W1XX 160 Meter Vertical from the dead…SUCCESSFULLY!!  TNX to a great club turnout for the meeting and to assist with the antenna raising in South County.  It was a total group effort with the heavy lifters (NG1G and W1CTN), winch crankers, spotters, rope untanglers, screamers, etc….a fine job indeed.  Top Band conditions were not particularly good this mornming at SR, but the first contact was with T32C who was not hearing anyone very well. But we got through.  SWR is less than 2:1 from below 1800 to 1975 (!)…with the peak resonant frequency of 1:1 at 1880 — a little higher than I would like but will work just fine.  I may do a little adjustment at the base or tighen up the top loading wires a bit to drop the resonant frequency down just a tad.  It seems a good time was had by all.  TNX to CTRI for its usual great effort — which is much appreciated.   Can you post some pix, Ed?  73!!

— John, W1XX

Guys, Carlos, WP4U is on 10M right now, 28.566 coming in 59++. He’s running a pile but I got to talk to him for a few minutes. I’m sure he’d appreciate other club members giving him a call if you can.

73,

Pat, NG1G