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CW SPRINT --Der*

Subject: CW SPRINT --Der*
From: N5RZ@aol.com (N5RZ@aol.com)
Date: Tue Sep 12 16:27:44 1995
K3WW sez:

>>>I missed this sprint, no one put the strong arm to me to join a team.   

Tree alluded to it also.

Believe it or not there are lots of guys who like to contest, but because of
the way they balance life in general do not live and breathe contesting.  I
can think of at least five good CW ops who, if I had called them or offered
them to be on a team would have gladly got on for more than a token effort.
  

Let's face it - new blood will hafta be recruited by salesmenship.  Person to
person contact.  The past several sprints have generated quite a bit of
activity which helps everyone. This was done by inviting new ops to be on a
team. 

The California guys have done an excellent job of forming many teams.  A few
years ago K1KI informed the YCCC members they were on teams increasing the
activity from up that way.  Sure - not everyone got on, but they were
informed by something more than a published contest announcement.  

PS:  no more bug sending for me  -  and you naysayers don't hafta worry about
the Sprint going to the Derr...   er uh  dogs.

Form a team in February!!


73,  Gator   N5RZ   ---------;--;<<  N5RZ@aol.com



>From Charlie Morrison <charlie@packetcluster.com>  Tue Sep 12 16:57:29 1995
From: Charlie Morrison <charlie@packetcluster.com> (Charlie Morrison)
Subject: M2 20+40m Owner Info WANTED
Message-ID: <19950912155729.48f03148.in@server.packetcluster.com>


I am considering the M2 20M4 and their 40M3 antennas
for my <<<CONTEST>>> station design.
Anyone with first-hand experience with these antennas,
please contact me. If you know someone with these,
I would like to know who they are.
(I have already purchased the MANUALS for these antennas.)

Please send a message to me directly to one of the addresses
listed below. THANKS
Charlie - WZ1R
wz1r@packetcluster.com
wz1r@chowda.com


>From Ray Rocker <rocker@datasync.com>  Tue Sep 12 21:12:55 1995
From: Ray Rocker <rocker@datasync.com> (Ray Rocker)
Subject: Derekmania
Message-ID: <199509122012.PAA15325@osh1.datasync.com>


KU8E made a good point:
>           I think what it showed is that the sprint elite are not only
>           VERY good operators but, also have a tremendous propagation
>           advantage over the rest of us (especially those of us in the
>           midwest) 

Great locations and Big Aluminum. Equalization (except among them at the
top-notch contest stations) this wasn't, but it sounded like a lot of fun
and a great opportunity for skill-sharpening.

I think it's great. I've always disliked the high-power nature of the
NA Sprint, which is especially hard on the eardrums of us with "cloud warmer" 
antennas and proximity to Texas. :-) Sure am sad I missed it this time.

>                    They probably could of run 100 watts and wire antennas
>           and still kick our butts........

That gives me an idea. How about a "100 watts and dipoles" team next time? 
Would be a neat way for us who don't have the hardware to compete for the 
real prizes to shoot for an attainable goal: top spot on the team.

-- 
Ray Rocker ... WQ5L               |  "Life would be much easier if we could
Long Beach, Mississippi, USA      |   just look at the source code." - fortune
rocker@datasync.com               |  Yes, I do speak for my employer.
http://www.datasync.com/~rocker   |  Go {Saints | Golden Eagles | Seminoles}!

>From w7ni@teleport.com (Stan Griffiths)  Tue Sep 12 22:12:32 1995
From: w7ni@teleport.com (Stan Griffiths) (Stan Griffiths)
Subject: Guy Attachments and Torque Bars
Message-ID: <199509122112.OAA26109@desiree.teleport.com>

W7AGQ is putting up approximately 150 feet of Rohn 45 and is planning to
stack 10, 15 and 20 monobanders in a long mast on top.  He also plans to
sidemount a rotating 40 down the tower a ways.  Way down the tower he plans
several other sidemounts with monobanders that can be driven with the high
ones, rotated separately, and used independently.  What he wants to know is
whether or not it pays to spend the money on the guy attachments and/or
torque bars that are available for Rohn 45.  You can get guy attachments
without torque bars but if you are going to use torque bars, you must use
guy attachments.

There are a lot of alternatives here:

1.      You can forget guy attachments and torque bars completely as I have
done         on my three towers.  I just run the guys around the tower legs
taking         care to make sure the guys do not rest on any tower welds.
Towers are         all over 100 feet high, moderatley loaded, Rohn 25, Rohn
JJ (bolted 45),         and AB105, have been up since 1973 with no problems
at all.  We have         occasional winds to 75 or 80 mph.

2.      You can use guy attachments and no torque bars as some people do.
This         does not help with tower twist but some people just don't like
running a         guy wire around a tower leg.

3.      You can go all the way and use guy attachments and torque bars.  You
also         have the choices of using them at the top only, top and middle
only, or         every set of guys.

4.      There is also a big steel triangle you can install on the top as an
anti-twist device.

It is probably safer to install everything but is it cost-effective?  These
things are not cheap.  Cost is about $110 for one set of guy attachments and
torque bars for Rohn 25, about $145 for Rohn 45, and about $182 for Rohn 55.
About half of the money is in guy attachment hardware and the other half is
in torque bars.  Rohn offers very little in the way of free advice about
this and I am not sure they can be completely objective about it since they
stand to make a good profit by selling them to you.

So here is the bottom line.  Please offer some suggestions based on real
experience.  We all have gut feelings (not particularly correct or accurate)
and we can all speculate on "what could happen if . . ." but I don't think
those would be particularly useful comments.

1.      Can you cite an actual situation where there was tower damage or an
actual tower failure that might have been prevented by the use of guy
attachments or torque bars?

2.      Other than cost, is there any reason you can think of not to use
either         guy attachments or torque bars?

3.      Without have a degree in mechanical engineering, is there a way we
can           determine what is reasonable to do considering both cost and
safety?

I can't help but think that Rohn is extremely conservative about the
detrimental effects of torque on towers.  The fine print says that due to
torque, the boom length should be limited to six feet on a BX tower.
(Imagine a ham antenna with 18 square feet of surface area and a 6 foot
boom!)  I see lots of pictures with TH6's on BX tower and I do know of one
that actually came down.  But a TH6 on BX tower is a gross overload when it
comes to boom length if you pay attention to Rohn's fine print.  They give
you no hint on how big of a "boomless quad" you can put on a BX tower.  They
impose no limit on element lengths.  They simply don't give you much
information on the subject at all.  I just stay away from BX towers.

If I get some interesting responses, I will summarize and post, so you can
respond directly to me instead of to the reflector.  I hope nobody will
contest the content of this post.  (NOTE to Tree:  There! I used the "C" word!)

Stan    W7NI@teleport.com


>From k2mm@MasPar.COM (John Zapisek K2MM)  Tue Sep 12 22:30:36 1995
From: k2mm@MasPar.COM (John Zapisek K2MM) (John Zapisek K2MM)
Subject: Up Noyer Creek Without A Paddle
Message-ID: <9509122130.AA14931@greylock.local>

While the D&D boys were playing Hand-Sent CW in the Sprint, I was doing
exactly the opposite -- keyboard/computer CW only, no paddle, bug or hand
key -- from a second station at N6TR.  (Noyer Creek is the stream that runs
through Tree's back yard.)  Tree didn't have a second paddle, but I decided
to go for it anyway.  The prospect of signing N6TR and contributing that
score to the NCCC team was just irresistible :-)

Operating without a safety net was a bit scary at first, especially using
TR-Log where you can easily get stuck in modes where it's hard to know what
buttons to hit next.  But I managed OK.  I would say, though, that one of
the most valuable courses I've ever taken has to be High School Typing!

    * Just before I QSY'ed to 40m, Tree called me and tried to work me.
      But just as I was typing in his callsign, his program crashed with
      a runtime error.  Now that's poetic justice!

    * I noticed a lot of ops signing their calls at the end of the
      exchange, even though it was their turn to give up the frequency.
      (Even once or twice the op over my shoulder.  Egad!)  No biggie,
      just that they earned whatever QRM they got because of it!

    * Giving out the name ZAP with the callsign N6TR sure generated a
      lot of requests for fills, though maybe not quite as many as the
      Demented Derricks.

    * In one QSO with Dick/N6AA/KA6LAF I got TR-Log so stuck I had to
      type the whole exchange by hand.  Dick caught me sending CA by
      habit instead of OR.  Thanks for asking for the CFM, Dick!

    * On 3830 after the test, I got to fill in for Tree as net control
      when a high-priority junior-op interrupt called him downstairs.
      It felt very weird to dust off those phone-net NCS skills that I
      haven't used in 25 years!  His new 100-foot-high 80m dipole made
      net-control duty real fun!

No, I didn't run low power.  Instead I ran Very Low Antenna -- a 2-el 20m
wire quad in the Noyer Creek canyon, literally below average ground level.
I had to use an antenna that would let both Tree and me be on 20m at the
same time, and the quad gave the isolation we needed.  Unfortunately, it
played like a dummy load.  Running the amp probably reduced my disadvantage
from -25 dB to only -15 dB.  It sure was a relief when it came time to
switch to 40m!

Some thoughts about the Top-Ops Low-Power flap:

    * Some of the more critical postings seem to imply that the Top Ops
      have an obligation to be there for us as a reference standard of
      comparison.  I'm reminded of a M*A*S*H episode where Radar gets
      down on Hawkeye for stumbling in his duty as Role Model when all
      he was doing was being human.  Bzzzt.

    * Several of the D&D's have remarked that they hadn't realized how
      tough it was to run low power.  I think the increased respect the
      low-power perennials have gotten among the Top Ops from this event
      is just great!

    * Dave/WX3N complained, "all these guys didn't do all this to make a
      better score or improve themselves--they did it because it sounded
      fun and 'everyone else was doing it' . . ."  Well, isn't having
      fun what any hobby is all about?

    * The NCJ write-up for this Sprint is likely to be a real gas to
      read.  I suspect a lot of readers will be so jazzed by it that
      participation in the February Sprint will be way up.  E.g., WX3N
      trashed a fair part of the first Internet SprINT by sending vulgar
      names, but it made the write-up so interesting that the contest
      really took off.  Gee, Dave, maybe you should have driven those
      3-1/2 hours just to even out your Karma :-)

    * It'll be VERY interesting to see how the scores stand up after all
      the busted names are taken into account!

    * In any given contest, variations in propagation and in station and
      operator readiness can produce anomalous results.  It's easy for
      the Real Best Op to not be the Best Op That Night, just as in any
      other sport.  The point is to not attach too much significance to
      any one running's results, but rather to the patterns built up
      over several runnings.

    * Yes, the value of winning with high power this time is somewhat
      reduced.  But, considering how well the Top Ops did anyway, it
      feels not nearly so meaningless as, say, winning a DX contest from
      New England or the SS from the Caribbean ;-)

That's about it for now.  Hope to work you all in CQP in 3-1/2 weeks!

73.  --John/K2MM

P.S.  N6TR (op K2MM) 139-39-5421 VeryLowAnt TooMuchFun

>From morpheus@kuwait.net ()  Wed Sep 13 01:45:17 1995
From: morpheus@kuwait.net () (morpheus@kuwait.net ())
Subject: good amplifier??
Message-ID: <m0ssd9L-0003oxC@access.kuwait.net>

hi all,

 sorry about asking many quistions,as you all know I got new call for special
events and for CQ WW CONTEST it's (9K0A) I hope that I can join the next
contest with this call, but I'm thinking about new amplifier which can work
with out getting any trouble, and good for hi power I mean over 1KW, and many
hams in kuwait told me that the alpha 87A is the answer.  what about U.S.A.
and the other countries about this?? is that right is the alpha 87A is the
best amplifier I can get today?? and if not which is the best??  I was using
TL-922 it's good but not for me because I'm always in the air almost every day
working with hi power. from June 94 till now I changed the tube two time and
each time cost me about 500$ the last one was today when I was working with
(9K0A) that why I'm thinking of some thing better.

thank you

de 9K2HN




-----------------------------------------------------------------------------
9K2HN                     | E-Mail: morpheus@kuwait.net                      |
Hamad Al-Nusif            |--------------------------------------------------<
Kuwait City               |    This space is intentionaly left empty         |
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------

>From Larry Tyree <tree@cmicro.com>  Tue Sep 12 23:42:52 1995
From: Larry Tyree <tree@cmicro.com> (Larry Tyree)
Subject: CW Sprint score rumors
Message-ID: <199509122242.PAA14301@cascade.cmicro.com>


Here is the final list of score rumors for the CW sprint.  Remember, you
can submit your log via the internet to n6tr@cmicro.com in ASCII format.

K5GA            295     45      13275   
K6NA            289     ??      ??
KC5NWX (KR0Y)   269     48      12912   LP (WOW!)
K7UP            263     45      11835   
WN4KKN          241     47      11327   LP
K2ZJ            263     43      11309   
W2RQ            267     42      11214   
KT3Y            255     43      10965   
N6XI            247     44      10868   
NM5M            253     42      10626   
K0RF            230     46      10580   LP
W0CG (WD8AUB)   251     42      10542
AC6T            245     43      10535   
K6XO            248     42      10416   
AD5Q            243     42      10206
N6RO            254     40      10160   
N6VR            254     40      10160   
N4OGW           246     41      10086   
K6LL            245     41      10045   LP
KC7KMC (N6TR)   227     43      9761    LP (Corrected multiplier)
KC5PRF (K5GN)   232     42      9744    LP
N0AX            223     43      9589    LP
AC8E (K8MR)     231     41      9471    
K9ZO            230     41      9430    
KB0SRK (N2IC)   238     39      9282    LP
N8SR            237     39      9243    
NN7L            237     39      9243
K7SS            231     40      9240    
WB5SQG (K5ZD)   221     40      8840    LP
NL7GP           215     41      8815  
AH3C            231     38      8778    LP
KC5OYM (N5RZ)   208     42      8736    LP BUG
KA6LAF (N6AA)   198     44      8712    LP
VE4VV           229     38      8702    
KA9FOX          221     39      8619    
NV6O            215     40      8600    
W0UA            238     36      8568    LP
WA2SRQ          219     38      8322    LP
W5NN (KB5YVT)   198     42      8316    LP
KC5NSS (N6ZZ)   193     43      8299    LP
WD8LLD          212     39      8268
KB8N            221     37      8140    LP
KE6UCF (N6TV)   205     39      7995    LP
K3SA            210     38      7980
K8JLF           194     40      7760    LP
KF4BTH          193     39      7527    LP
NF8R            189     38      7182    
AA7BG           191     37      7067    LP
N6YK            178      0      ??      
W6MVW           174     39      6786    
WK6V            160     42      6720    
KE4GY           158     38      6004    LP
N1EE            171     35      5985
AA4GA           166     36      5976
K7GM            160     35      5600    LP
WR3O            163     34      5542    
N6TR (K2MM)     140     39      5460
K3TLX           149     36      5364
K7NPN           128     33      4224    LP      
K1IU            128      0      ??      
VE5SF           125     33      4125
WA7UVJ          121     33      3993    LP      
KE2PF           121     31      3751    LP
K6LRN           115     30      3450    LP
W5KI             75     27      2025    LP/LA (Low antennas) /LS (low skills)
KE7X             66     27      1782    
AC6NS            51     ??      ??      14 years old, starting high school
KI7WX             5      3      15
WX9E              0      0      0       VLP

>From km9p@is.net (Bill Fisher)  Wed Sep 13 00:16:52 1995
From: km9p@is.net (Bill Fisher) (Bill Fisher)
Subject: CW SPRINT - Teams - de N5RZ & N6TR
Message-ID: <199509122316.TAA04115@mail1.is.net>

>K3WW sez:
>
>>>>I missed this sprint, no one put the strong arm to me to join a team.   
>
>Tree alluded to it also.


I think that rather than everyone forming the same old SCCC, NCCC, TDXS, ED,
teams, that we should disband and fork out.  

Instead of N6TR, KR0Y, N5RZ, and myself being on a team, we should all be
doing our own teams.  I feel bad now that I didn't try to organize a team
here in W4.  I have the cluster access to all of the guys that are are
active.  If KZ2S doesn't organize a FRC team... there isn't one!  And there
wasn't.  K5ZD should be obligated to orginize the YCCC as best he can.  Same
for others like Randy, John and I who are in areas where the Sprint is not
considered much of a contest.  It'll make the contest more fun than winning
the team competition, and you might just give the Sprint bug to someone who
needs it!

This February let's spreadout some and get some more people in the contest.
I used to love when the SMC used to organize 3 teams.  It was SOOO much more
fun when you got to 80m and could work 40-50 LOUD guys in no time.

I know it's time to for a Sprint fund rally when I don't work K1AR.  Man...
You used to be able to count on the guy.  Oh ya... he's over the hill now.
Sorry.

73

Bill, KM9P


>From n2ic@drmail.dr.att.com (LondonSM)  Tue Sep 12 19:06:37 1995
From: n2ic@drmail.dr.att.com (LondonSM) (LondonSM)
Subject: N7DD on talk show
Message-ID: <9509121206.ZM12641@dr.att.com>

I know we're not suppose to repost from usenet, but this was too good to pass
up.

-----------------------------------

From: lenwink@indirect.com (Len Winkler)
Subject: Contest guru, Larry Pace, N7DD on talk show
Lines: 20

Larry Pace, N7DD, will be the guest this Sunday, 9/17/95, on the Ham Radio &

More Show. Larry has all the tricks of how to win the "big ones" and he'll
share MOST of them with us this Sunday; so tune in!
73,
Len, KB7LPW

Len Winkler, KB7LPW                           lenwink@indirect.com
P.O. Box 9219                                   kb7lpw@n7mrp.az.usa.na
Phoenix, Az. 85068-9219
Ham Radio & More Show info at:
http://www.acs.oakland.edu/barc/ham-more.html
The show airs LIVE at 6:00pm ET, 2200utc, Sundays on the Talk
America Radio Network in over 55 cities.
The show also airs on WWCR shortwave, 7.435mhz, tape delayed,
 Monday at midnight ET (0400utc), and again at 5:00am ET (0900utc), and
Saturdays at noon ET (1600utc) on 12.160.

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