Category Archives: Contesting

Wikipedia defines ham radio contesting as follows:

Contesting (also known as radiosport) is a competitive activity pursued by amateur radio operators. In a 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. 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.

Indiana QSO Party May 4th and 5th

Posted on April 25, 2019 by fjkApril 25, 2019

Indiana QSO Party
County Map

I am preparing for the Indiana QSO Party the weekend of May 4th.

The Indiana QSO Party starts at 1500 UTC Saturday and ends at 0300 UTC Sunday the first full weekend of May. (Saturday 11am to 11pm EDT or 10am to 10pm CDT.) For 2019, this is May 4-5. All stations may operate the full 12-hour period.

I won’t be able to operate during the entire contest, but plan to be on during the early part of the contest for a few hours.

Be aware that there are several other State QSO parties this same weekend. These include the Delaware, New England and 7th Call Area QSO parties. You can participate in all of them at the same time. You do not have to keep a separate log for each QSO party. N1NN and other logging can handle the logging for each QSO party simultaneously. Just enter the exchange as received. After the completion of the contests, alll you have to do is send you log to the coordinator for each for each states QSO Parties and their software can extract the appropriate QSOs. The list of Indiana County abbreviations are listed here: http://www.hdxcc.org/inqp/counties.html

I will be operating from my fixed location in Morgan County. I will probably be on 40 and 20 meters depending on the band conditions.

I am looking forward to hearing a lot of activity.

73,

Fred, KC9QQ

ARRL SSB Sweepstakes 2017

Posted on November 19, 2017 by fjkNovember 19, 2017

It has been a long time since I have spent much time operating a contest. I decided to do a part time effort in this years ARRL SSB Sweepstakes. My primary goal was to work all 83 ARRL Sections, which is called a Clean Sweep. Unfortunately I fell one short of a Clean Sweep. The section I missed was Puerto Rico. That was not surprising since Puerto Rico is still struggling to recover from Hurricane Maria. They have much more important things to deal with than ham radio. Not hearing Puerto Rico made me realize how fortunate and blessed I am.

Normally I do search and pounce contesting, but this time I spent a couple of hours running stations on 15 meters in order to improve my confidence running stations. I ran stations on 15 meters until the band started to fade late in the afternoon. When 15 started to fade I decided that was a good for a dinner break–soup, fresh baked dinner rolls and hot homemade apple pie with ice cream! My wife really takes good care of me!

After dinner I spent a little time on 40 meters doing search and pounce. The pickings were pretty slim, so I decided to throw in the towel and relax the rest of the evening.

Here is a summary of my score.

Start Date : 2017-11-18

CallSign Used : KC9QQ
Operator(s) : KC9QQ

Operator Category : SINGLE-OP
Assisted Category : ASSISTED
Band : ALL
Power : HIGH
Mode : SSB
ARRL Section : IN
Club/Team : SOCIETY OF MIDWEST CONTESTERS
Software : N1MM Logger+ 1.0.6903.0

Band QSOs Pts Sec Pt/Q
3.5 64 128 22 2.0
7 81 162 24 2.0
14 75 150 17 2.0
21 113 226 19 2.0
Total 333 666 82 2.0
Score : 54,612

73,

Fred, KC9QQ

Ham Radio Activity

Posted on September 1, 2016 by fjkSeptember 1, 2016

KC9QQ Station

If you drop by my site once in a while, I’m sure you have realized that my ham activity has been down the past several months.

Much of my time the past 9 months has been consumed by the construction of our observatory. I have still been getting on the air to work an occasional DX station. Last week I even managed to spend a few hours participating in the SSB National QSO Party to support my contest club, The Society of Midwest Contesters. It was nice to be back on the air. I have several hobbies, but I always gravitate back to Ham Radio.

I am starting to look forward to contest season. I like to operate in the CQ WW (CW and SSB) I also enjoy operating in the ARRL Sweepstakes. I suspect a Clean Sweep will not be in the cards this year since the 10 and 15 meter bands are have not been open much with the current drop in the Sunspot Cycle. Hopefully, this will improve before the CQ WW contests.

I have also corrected a few problems with my station. I had to replace one of my Ameritron Remote Antenna switches because a couple of the relays were not making good contact. With the new switch installed everything is working well again.

I have also spent a few hours trying to catch up on responding to Bureau QSL cards I have received. I tend to put those off for rainy days in the shack! I use GlobalQSL to send

DX Lab Logging Program

Bureau cards. This makes the process pretty painless, once I get everything loaded into DX Lab.

DX Lab is a fantastic logging program. It has helped me get a handle on my DXCC progress. It also really simplifies the QSLing process. It can handle paper cards, LoTW, eQSL and QSL services such as GlobalQSL.

I Hope to see everyone on during SS or CQWW this fall.

73,

Fred, KC9QQ

CQWW SSB 2015

Posted on October 27, 2015 by fjkOctober 27, 2015

Sunspots During Contest

It has been too long since my last post. Many other activities have diverted my attention away from ham radio this year. I have been able to work some DX, but have not had a much time for contesting or for that matter, time to post on this site.

This past weekend I finally was able to spend some time operating in the CQ Worldwide SSB contest. It was fun to be able to spend a few hours working stations from around the world. The bands were not as good as a couple of years ago, but 10m and 15m were both open some during the contest. The sunspot index was in the 120s during the contest. If I recall correctly, the Sunspot index was nearly 200 a couple of years ago. I’m hoping the current sunspot cycle does not fade out too soon, because the last down cycle was a real downer!

My equipment worked flawlessly during the contest. The time I spent tweaking the setup this summer must have paid off.

Here is a summary of my score:

Band	QSOs	Points	Zones	Countries
3.5	5	12	4	4
7	124	346	17	57
14	160	438	30	77
21	210	578	27	77
28	222	620	23	60
Totals	721	1994	101	275

Score : 749,744

I operated about 17 hours doing Search and Pounce.

Fred

2014 SSB Sweepstakes

Posted on November 19, 2014 by fjkNovember 19, 2014

The ARRL SSB Sweepstakes last was last weekend. This is the first contest where I called CQ rather than Search and Pounce operation. I waited until I had worked all but one Section before I started calling CQ since my primary objective had been to get a clean sweep.

I was very nervous the first time I called CQ. I was afraid I would not be able to copy the other stations well enough to hold the frequency or that I would look like a complete newcomer (I guess in a sense I was). This turned out to not be as big a problem as I had expected.

After running stations for a while I started to get into the routine and felt fairly comfortable running stations. However, my voice got a real workout since I was not using any recorded sound clips. I was surprised when I saw bright orange glow from the AL-80B after I had been running stations a for a while. I guess when I S&P I never have a high enough duty cycle to get it’s 3-500Z warmed up!

I had another surprise when I generated a 1-1/2 hour long pile up on 40 meters working stations that were actually looking for Indiana! That was exhausting. I gained a more vivid appreciation for the skills of the DXpedition operators. I’m sure some of the stations in the pileup were mumbling under their breath as I was trying to pick calls out of the mess. Thank goodness it didn’t last much longer because I needed a biological break! I was excited when I finally worked NT (Northern Territories) late Sunday afternoon and again near the end of the contest.

I was pleased with the contest, because my score was an improvement over last year, plus I managed to work a clean sweep. I used N1MM+ in the contest. It worked flawlessly during the contest, but I had a problem generating my Cabrillo log after the contest. I ended up importing an ADIF file into the Legacy N1MM and to create the Cabrillo log. Hopefully, an update will correct the issue before the next contest. I am not sure why N1MM+ listed two lines for 28 mHz?

There is a summary my modest effort below.

Fred, KC9QQ

SSSSB Summary Sheet

Operator Category : SINGLE-OP

Assisted Category : ASSISTED

Band : ALL

Power : HIGH

Mode : SSB

Default Exchange : U 71 IN

Gridsquare : EM69TN

Band QSOs Pts Sec

3.5 106 212 30

7 244 488 23

14 138 276 6

21 136 272 1

28 140 280 23

Total 764 1528 83

Score : 126,824

Indiana QSO Party (May 3rd and 4th)

Posted on April 22, 2014 by fjkApril 22, 2014

The Indiana QSO party will be held May 3rd and 4th. I have not decided whether I will operate SSB, CW or both during the contest. I am in Morgan county. While Morgan County is not the rarest Indiana county it does seem to be needed by many County Hunters.

I hope to work many of you during the IQP.

Here is some information on the Indiana QSO Party:

The purpose of the Indiana QSO Party (INQP) is to encourage contact with Indiana amateur radio stations by other Indiana hams and hams worldwide. Stations outside of Indiana work Indiana stations only. Indiana stations work everybody, including other Indiana stations. See the rules for the rest of the details.

The INQP returns May 3-4, 2014.
The rules for 2014 are unchanged except for the addition of a bonus station (Indianapolis Radio Club 100 year anniversary).

The full rules are available at: http://www.hdxcc.org/inqp/

73,

Fred, KC9QQ

A Little Snow and a Little Contesting

Posted on March 2, 2014 by fjkMarch 2, 2014

More Snow at Our Farm

We caught a bit of a break this weekend with the weather. Instead getting the 5 to 8 inches of snow the National Weather Service predicted, we only received about 2 inches. Never-the-less the ground is now white again and the temperatures are dropping toward single digits!

I used the snow as an excuse to spend a few hours working DX during the ARRL SSB DX contest. The propagation was very good on 10m and 15m with both bands staying open late into the night. The contest was a good opportunity to become more proficient operating the KX3 and KXPA100. I got a lot of practice selecting the correct DSP settings for the crowded band conditions.

The KX3’s receiver continues to amaze me in how it is able to pull week stations out from between much stronger stations. The DSP and flexible passband settings can literally pop stations out of the garble.

Here is a summary of my part time effort.

Band	QSOs	Points	Countries
20m	28	144	27
15m	114	342	45
10m	157	471	53
Total	319	957	125

Score	119,625

Surprise Award

Posted on February 24, 2014 by fjkFebruary 25, 2014

2012 Sweepstakes
1st Place Indiana
Single OP, High Power, Unlimited

I was pleasantly surprised a couple of weeks ago when I received an envelope from the ARRL which contained a certificate showing that I had won 1st Place in the Indiana Section in the “Single Operator, High Power, Unlimited” category of the 2012 SSB Sweepstakes. The certificate also has a sticker confirming that I made a clean sleep which was my primary objective during the contest. Please don’t burst my bubble by telling me I was the only entrant in this category!

Regardless, I don’t participate in contests for the awards, and it’s a good thing because this is the only contest award I have ever received. I participate in contests because I enjoy making contacts with hundreds of other Hams in a single weekend. I find it really exciting to “work all states” or a hundred or more countries in a single weekend. My goal in most contests is to score higher than the previous year. I enter some contests just to try something new; like I did earlier this month when I operated RTTY for the first time during the CQ WW WPX RTTY contest. It was a lot of fun setting up the station to work RTTY. It was even more fun when I put my RTTY setup on the air to make a few contacts during the contest.

If your getting tired of doing the same old things with your ham station all the time, consider trying contesting. Jump right in and give out a few contacts the next time you hear the band full of other hams calling “CQ Contest”. You might find you actually enjoy the action. If you want to know what contests are occurring each weekend, be sure to check out WA7BNM’s Contest Calendar at:

http://www.hornucopia.com/contestcal/weeklycont.php.

Bruce does an excellent job providing nearly everything you need to know about up-coming contests.

73,

Fred, KC9QQ

KX3 / KXPA100 Given First Workout in ARRL DX CW Contest

Posted on February 23, 2014 by fjkFebruary 23, 2014

KXPA100 with Optional Antenna Tuner

I am a little late getting this posted because I have been busy setting my station up for RTTY operation (a new mode for me) for the NAQP RTTY contest.

However, last week I received the Elecraft KXPA-100 amplifier which was backordered at the time I ordered the KX3. The KXPA100 is a compact 100 watt amplifier designed to boost the QRP signal from the KX3 up to the 100 watt level of a standard transceiver. It is primarily designed for those wanting to use the KX3 as both a portable QRP rig and a primary home transceiver.

KX3 and KXPA100
In Operation

The KXPA100 when inter-connected to the KX3 using the CAT 5 interface cable will work seamlessly with the KX3. Once the KX3 and KXPA100 are connected all of the functions of the KXPA100 are controlled from the KX3; including the amplifier on/off, band changes, antenna tuner and output power adjustment. When the KX3 power is increased above 10 watts the KXPA100 kicks in. When the power is set below 10 watts the KXPA100 is internally bypassed. The optional internal antenna tuner (located in the KXPA100) will automatically track and adjust with band changes. Like most automatic antenna tuners it contains memories that remember the settings per frequency segment and antenna selected (Ant 1 or 2). If the tuner does need to re-tune the process takes just a few seconds. The turner is wide ranged and should be able to match any reasonable antenna.

I wanted to give the new KX3 and KPA100 a try so I decided to make a few contacts during the ARRL CW DX contest last weekend. I had only planned to make 90 to 100 contacts but once I started, I was having so much fun with the KX3 that I found it hard to quit.

The KX3 is a marvelous CW rig. When combined with the KXPA100 it is a near perfect CW contest rig. I found it’s CW operation more enjoyable than my Icom 756 Pro III. The KX3’s receiver is very quiet and does an extraordinary job separating strong signals that are copious during contest operation. I didn’t experience any receiver de-sensing by strong adjacent signals as I sometimes do with the Icom 756 Pro III. I’m not putting Icom 756 Pro III down because it also does a great job in crowded band conditions, the KX3 with it’s roofing filter and latest generation DSP outperformed the 756 Pro III in my hands on testing.

Here is a summary of my results:

ARRL CW DX Contest – ALL Band, Low Power, Assisted (S&P)

Band	QSOs	Points	Countries
40m	46	138	25
20m	110	327	46
15m	94	282	43
10m	126	378	49

Total	376	1125	163

Total Score: 183,375

73,

Fred, KC9QQ

Using a Modified SignaLink™ for FSK Transmission

Posted on February 23, 2014 by fjkFebruary 23, 2014

KC9QQ
Ready for NAQP RTTY Contest

After the CQWW WPX RTTY contest I decided to modify my RTTY setup so that it could operate FSK instead of AFSK. I wanted to do this because in the CQ WPX RTTY contest I had experienced several cases where the SSB filters (the only filters available during AFSK operation) didn’t provide the desired selectivity. In a previous post (SignaLink™ USB Not Transmitting) I talked about the modifications made to my SignaLink™ for FSK operation. I decided to tryout the modification in the NAQP RTTY contest on Saturday.

I didn’t have a lot of time to operate because I needed to take several hours off to attend our monthly astronomy club meeting. However, I was able to spend enough time with the new setup to realize that being able to use the RTTY filters in the Icom 756 Pro III resulted in a substantial improvement over the SSB filters.

The RTTY filters were able to do a much better job providing error free copy of stations adjacent to other strong signals. In a few instances, I used the Icom 756 Pro III’s dual peaking filter to pull weak stations out of the noise. I was impressed. There were a couple of stations that I was only able to copy about 50% of their transmission, but after I activated the dual peaking RTTY filter I copied them error free. I limited my use of the dual peaking filter because it did make it a little more difficult to tune in stations, but it was just a click away when I would run across a weak station that needed a little boost to be pulled out of the noise.

A Lesson Learned

I want to thank the station that took the time to tell me that I was off frequency. I was about 50 contacts into the contest, but seemed to be having problems being heard on the first or second call. Several stations had sent Agn? Agn? after I made my call. After I called one very busy station at least four times he came back and told me that I was off frequency. I looked at my radio and realized that I had left the RIT on! I turned the RIT off and stations quit asking me to repeat my call and report! Murphy is alive and well. I didn’t plan on setting any records; I just wanted work a new mode, hand out a few contacts and have some fun. All three objectives were accomplished.

Here is a summary of my results:

NAQP RTTY February 2014: Low Power, All Band

Band	QSOs	Points	Sections
80m	24	24	18
40m	43	43	22
20m	15	15	12
15m	30	30	13
10m	24	24	9

Total	136

Final Score: 10,200