Radiosport Fun for Beginners Presenters: Mike Ritz, W7VO Steve Gette, W7XQ
Outline • Definition of Radiosport, types of Radiosport • Overview of Radio Contesting • Types of contests, operating modes, equipment required • Assisted verses Non-Assisted categories • Contest scoring and logging • Contest operating techniques for the beginner • Brief discussion of solar propagation charts • Digital contesting • Resources 2
Definition of Radiosport • Used to describe any of several “real time” competitive amateur radio activities – Radio Contesting (Phone/CW/RTTY/Digital) – Amateur Radio Direction Finding (ARDF)/T-hunting – High Speed Telegraphy (HST) contests- (Primarily EU based) • Generally not thought of as: – Amassing most number of countries (Honor roll, DXCC), counties, gridsquares, etc. – Most of the above thought of as personal goals • That said, contesting goals can be: – Try to do better than last year – Try to win a friendly rivalry with a similarly-equipped friend – Try to improve CW and/or phone operating skills – Try to contact some new states or countries – WIN ! 3
Radio Contesting • What is a radio contest? – An amateur radio station, which may be operated by an individual or a team, seeks to contact as many other amateur radio stations as possible in a given period of time and exchange information. – Goes back to the trans- atlantic tests of early 1920’s. • The ARRL 1928 International Relay Party was the first organized radio contest • In 1938 the name was changed to the ARRL DX Contest – The Super Bowl of Radio Contesting, the World Radio Team Championship(WRTC) • Started in Seattle in 1990, will be in New England in 2014 • Have to qualify to be asked to enter – Rules for each competition define the amateur radio bands, the mode of communication that may be used, and the kind of information that must be exchanged – The contacts made during the contest contribute to a score by which stations are ranked. Contest sponsors publish the results in magazines and on web sites. 4
Radio Contesting • Why radio contest? – Increases your operating skills (Immersion!) • Listening, transmitting, CW, RTTY and Digital modes • Operator skills make you better in Emergency traffic handling – Very quick path to WAS, DXCC, WAZ awards – Multi-op contests good reason to throw a party – Comparatively cheap adrenaline rush for some – Get out of weekend chores! 5
What do I need for equipment? • What do you have? • Minimum - Just your basic ham radio station – Transceiver or Transmitter/Receiver/ Antenna(s) – Personal Computer (highly recommended) – Internet connection (required for assisted category) – Voice or CW memory keyer (MFJ/Unified Microsystems, or built into rig) (recommended) – Headphones/Footswitch (recommended) • Maximum- The sky is the limit! 6
Types of Contests • By Mode – CW, Phone, RTTY/Digital, Mixed • By Geography – ARRL DX, State QSO Parties, ARRL EME Contest • By Power Level, QRP Only – “QRP in the Field” Contest • By Frequency – ARRL VHF/UHF Contest, ARRL and CQWW 160M Contest, Stew Perry • Club Competitions – Hellschreiber, 10-10, CW Ops – “Everybody works Everybody” – CQ WPX, IARU HF 7
WA7BNM Website 8
Types of Operating • Single Operator, Single Band (SOSB) Simplest • Single Operator, All Bands (SOAB) • Single Operator, 2 Radios (SO2R) • Multi Operator, Single Transmitter (MS) • Multi Operator, Two Transmitters (M2) • Multi Operator, Multi Transmitter (MM) Most Complex • Some of these have subsets: – Assisted, or non-assisted – Low Power, High Power, or QRP • Bottom Line- Something for EVERYBODY ! 9
Assisted or Non-Assisted? • Not applicable for every contest • Non-Assisted – Bans the use of any technology or outside method that provides call sign and frequency information regarding any other station to the operator. It includes, but is not limited to, use of DX cluster, packet, local or remote callsign and frequency decoding technology (e.g., CW Skimmer), Internet chat rooms or web sites, operating arrangements involving other individuals. • Assisted – The above is allowed 10
Typical Contest Scoring • Most common scoring is: (# of contacts) X (# of mults) X (# of bands) • What is a multiplier? – Could be a DXCC entity, CQ Zone, US State, County, Grid Square, Callsign prefix, etc. – Multipliers are your friend! Work as many mults as you can early on, then work on numbers • Scoring Example: 500 contacts X 90 mults x 5 bands = 225,000 points • Varies by contest, sometimes there are added multipliers or additional points per QSO if CW/Digital mode used verses SSB • The best metric is how you do against yourself! 11
CQ Zone Map 12
Contest Logging • One method is to use paper logs- – Not recommended! • Have to use paper dupe sheets • Have to manually calculate score • Have to mail in paper logs • Much better chance of errors • Errors can cost points! 13
Contest Logging • Recommended- Use a logging program – N1MM (very widely used, and FREE !) – WriteLog – TRLog – There are others • Frequency, bands, scoring and dupe checking is AUTOMATIC ! • Generates a Cabrillo file for e-mailing results, and ADIF (Amateur Data Interchange Format) for LoTW use
N1MM Sample Screen 15
Contest Operating Techniques • “ Search and Pounce ” – You go to them, moving around the band – Best for beginners – Also used to find multipliers, and new stations to work – Can still make a LOT of contacts if you are quick – On USB, start low and work up from bottom of band – On LSB, start high and work down from top of band – Don’t waste a lot of time on one station. Work them later if you need to after things quiet down • “ Running ” – Staying on one frequency, and they come to you – Generally best for larger stations, and rare multipliers – Fastest way to work a lot of stations quickly – Calling short CQs, then listening, working the pileups – Better have good ears! 16
Using Propagation to your advantage • Follow the propagation reports (sunspots, solar flares) • Know which bands will be open to where and when (grayline map): – Pre-sunrise- 40M or 80M best – Sunrise- 20M openings to EU – Late AM- 15M and 10M open – Afternoon- 20M open to SA, Africa – Late afternoon- 20M opens to East Asia – Evening- 40M – Late evening- 80M – Even later- 160M 17
Watching the solar numbers • SFI (Solar Flux Index) – < 70: propagation potentially bad. – 80-90: propagation potentially are somewhat low – 90-100: propagation tend to be average – 100-150: propagation will tend to be good – >150: propagation will tend to be ideal • SN (Sunspot number) – The higher the better for 10-15 meters. <50 is bad, >100 is good, 150 is great. • A Index (relative geomagnetic activity) – Between 1 and 5: Best conditions on 10-20 meter bands – Between 6 and 9: Average conditions on 10-20 meter bands – From 10 and above: Very Bad conditions on 10-20 meter band 18
Watching the solar numbers • K index (Geomagnetic activity compared to a quiet day) – From 0 to 1: Best conditions for 10-20 meter bands. – From 2 to 3: Good conditions for 10-20 meter bands. – From 4 to 5: Average conditions for 10-20 meter bands. – From 5 to 9: Very bad conditions for 10-20 meter bands. • Geomagnetic field – Calculated value. Indicates how quiet or active the earth's magnetic field is based on the K-Index value. Reports as Inactive, Very Quiet, Quiet, Unsettled, Active, Minor Storm, Major Storm, Severe Storm, or Extreme Storm. Higher indications can cause HF blackouts and auroral events • Sig Noise Level – Indicates how much noise (in S-units) is being generated by interaction between the solar wind and the geomagnetic activity. A more active and disturbed solar wind, the greater the noise 19
Being a good contest operator • Follow your license class for operating frequencies • Listen before running; “Is this frequency in use?” • Watch out for “special frequencies” – 14.230 MHz SSTV – 14.070-080 MHz Digital modes – Be wary of normal net frequencies (14.300 MHz, etc.) • Everybody is ALWAYS “59”, or “599” for RTTY/digital or CW • Be succinct, but polite- Give report, then move on • Know the band edges: – High end of 20M is NOT 14.350 MHz! – Low end of 40M general band is NOT 7.175 MHz! – Frequency allocations NOT the same everywhere in the world • Know the rules for your contest • Always send in your logs • Strive to be a “World - Class” operator 20 Alan Plant, N5UM , Tim Duffy, K3LR
Digital Contesting • So how do you contest digitally? – Unlike CW using a keyer, digital uses a PC and a keyboard/mouse. – Most digital mode software uses macros for communicating. Each macro is setup by you and usually follows a minimum protocol for ham interchange. (ex. CQ CQ CQ de W7XQ) For contesting, usually just one macro for CQ, one macro for the exchange, and one macro for Thank You (TU is acknowledgment) is all that is needed. – Very quick to use, only three mouse clicks and a swipe to save the call sign. – A fast operator can do a CQ through the log entry in about 15 seconds 21
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