CQ-Contest
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AA4GA idea - ARRL Help?

Subject: AA4GA idea - ARRL Help?
From: BK1ZX70SFL@aol.com (BK1ZX70SFL@aol.com)
Date: Sat Jun 8 13:38:53 1996
AA4GA thanks for not volunteering, you Cracker!

Like Lee, I want to make sure my wish list is a full 25 "available"
choices.....and I too wanna know who was/is who. Unlike the last time we did
this stuff I doubt there will be an issue of NCJ devoted to old vs new calls.


Heah KB1GW how about a Vanity Callsign Reflector for us all to get daily
email from since we all don't get enough already, right? Send message with
subscribe in the text to: Vanitycallupdate-request@arrl.organ????

Get your CQ-Contest Mag yet? Nice T-Shirt SM2EKM! I don't know about that
photo of the tower worker in the full body harness, here in Florida he would
sweat to death in that outfit...albeit "safe". K7LXC we do a lot of work in
shorts, someone once said they were a good idea so stuff didn't get snagged
in the pantsleg fabric, an old wives tale? And check out that photo on page
11 - who is that OLD fart that UB5WE is holding up, some codeless tech no
doubt? I got your negatives, pops, right here.

Heah 'GA, did AB4RU use the US Mail, UPS or Fed Ex for his application?

Question.....will we have new calls in time for the Fall contest
season......I'd say its possible, but more likely I will get mine on Monday
November 4th, the day after CW SS!

Jim  zx     k1zx@contesting.com

>From TREY@TGV.COM (Trey Garlough)  Sat Jun  8 18:11:40 1996
From: TREY@TGV.COM (Trey Garlough) (Trey Garlough)
Subject: Frequently Asked Questions
Message-ID: <834253900.810983.TREY@tgv.com>

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                      Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ)
                            
                          CQ-Contest@TGV.COM

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Contained in this FAQ:

  1. General Information about the FAQ and CQ-Contest@TGV.COM
        o About this FAQ
        o About CQ-Contest@TGV.COM
        o Editorial Guidelines
        o Appropriate Topics for Discussion
        o Inappropriate Topics for Discussion
  2. Subscribing and Unsubscribing
        o General Information about Subscribing and Unsubscribing
        o Subscribing to the list
        o Unsubscribing from the list
        o Getting the list in Digest form
        o Temporarily stopping and restarting mail
  3. Operating Practices
  4. Mailing List Archives
  5. E-mail addresses of Contesters
        o General Information about E-mail Addresses
        o WB5VZL List
        o CQ-Contest REVIEW
        o QRZ! Ham Radio CDROM
        o The old-fashioned way!
  6. Related Mailing Lists
        o Contest Results Group -- 3830@contesting.com
        o Kids contest group -- kids@contesting.com
        o CT users group -- ct-user@ve7tcp.ampr.org
        o NA users group -- na-user@ve7tcp.ampr.org
        o SuperDuper users group -- sd-user@blacksheep.org
        o TRLOG users group -- trlog@contesting.com
  7. Internet Resources for Contesters
        o Contest Log Submissions
        o World Wide Web
  8. Finding out more about the Internet

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1) General Information about the FAQ, CQ-Contest

1.01) About this FAQ

This FAQ will be posted every so often to the CQ-Contest mailing list.

If there's something you'd like added to this FAQ, please send mail to
WN4KKN (trey@cisco.COM), and he will update it.

1.02) About CQ-Contest@TGV.COM

CQ-Contest@TGV.COM is an electronic mail reflector dedicated to hams
interested in all types of amateur radio contesting. This is a good
place for contest-related announcements, discussions and rumors. This
forum is more like the NCJ than QST; INFO-HAMS@UCSD.EDU and
rec.radio.amateur.misc are good places to look for a more rounded
discussion of the hobby.

Although there is overlap between contesters and DXers, CQ-Contest is
not a DX-oriented group. DX@ve7tcp.ampr.org is an electronic mailing
list (reflector) dedicated to the discussion of DXing. For details on
how to subscribe to this and other mailing lists, consult the section
entitled Related Mailing Lists.

CQ-Contest is NOT the place to announce your score after a contest.
3830@contesting.com is an electronic mailing list (reflector) for
reporting scores. See the Related Mailing Lists section below for
details on how to subscribe. Jimmy Floyd, WA4ZXA also collects scores
and will occasionally post a summary to CQ-Contest.

Each message you send to CQ-Contest@TGV.COM will be sent out to all
the other subscribers, kind of like a 2-meter repeater that has a
coverage radius of 12,000 miles or so. Think of sending mail to the
list as the equivalent of an ANNOUNCE/FULL message on PacketCluster.
Use regular E-mail to send a message to a specific individual.

1.03) Editorial Guidelines

The rules are very simple. Postings to CQ-CONTEST@TGV.COM should be
non-commerical and related to radio contesting. Anything outside of
those boundries should not be seen here unless specifically approved
by WN4KKN (trey@cisco.com). If Trey thinks the update has merit, he
will likely approve it.

1.04) Appropriate topics for discussion

   * Contest Announcements: Must be true contests, not "operating events"
     or "special events".

   * Contester's shack (inside) hardware/software: Must be relevant to
     CONTESTING, not just a discussion of bells and whistles that have
     little or no application to contesting.

   * Contester's outside shack (antennas/towers/coax/relays): Again, must
     be RELEVANT to contesting.

   * Contester's strategy: Before, during, after. How you planned/executed
     your activities.

   * Contester's skill: What you do that makes you good (or bad).

   * Contester's stories: Must be directly about contesting.

   * Contest ethics

   * Contest rules

   * Contest operators: who was where, who is good, who is an SK, etc.

1.05) Inappropriate topics for discussion

CQ-Contest@TGV.COM is mailing list dedidcated to contesters talking
about contesting. Termendous lattitude is given to INTERESTING topics
ranging far afield, but there are some types of messages that are
strictly inappropriate. For instance:

   * Meta-discussion about the CQ-Contest mailing list. These should be
     conducted in private with WN4KKN (trey@cisco.com)

   * The summary sheet from your latest contest effort. That should go to
     3830@contesting.com.

   * What is the QSL route for xxx?

   * What is the E-mail address for xxx?

   * Is the xxx mailing list up/down?

   * Is the xxx DXpedition on the air yet?

   * Product annoucements.

   * Solicitations for nominations for "Young Ham of the Year".

   * Advertising (unless approved in advance by WN4KKN (trey@cisco.com)

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2) Subscribing and unsubscribing

2.01) General information about subscribing and unsubscribing

Subscription management is handled automatically by a program that
answers mail sent to CQ-Contest-REQUEST@TGV.COM. This address also
answers administrative requests, like stopping mail, or showing a list
of subscribers. Subject lines are ignored.

PLEASE do NOT send these requests to the list mailing address!

2.02) Subscribing to the list

To join the group, send a message to CQ-Contest-REQUEST@TGV.COM and
write the word SUBSCRIBE in the body of the message.

2.03) Unsubscribing from the list

To leave the group, send a message to CQ-Contest-REQUEST@TGV.COM and
write the word UNSUBSCRIBE in the body of the message.

2.04) Getting the list in Digest form

Tack (je1cka@nal.go.jp) has graciously offered to redistribute
CQ-Contest messages in digest form. This means that all messages
posted to CQ-Contest on a given day will be bundled together and
resent as a single message to the subscribers of Tack's list. This is
useful for people with Internet providers that place a limit on the
number of messages you can have in your mailbox at once. This is the
case for many of the JA subscribers.

To subscribe to JE1CKA's CQ-Contest-Digest list, send a message to
Contest-Request@DUMPTY.NAL.GO.JP that says:

        SUBSCRIBE CQ-Contest-digest your_callsign

If you are subscribed to CQ-Contest, remember to send the a message to
CQ-Contest-REQUEST@TGV.COM that says:

        SET NOMAIL

Since you will be getting the messages in digest form, you won't need to
get them directly from CQ-Contest@TGV.COM, but you will need to remain
subscribed if you still want to post messages.

2.05) Temporarily stopping and restarting mail

To stop mail (for example if you're going on vacation), send a message to
CQ-Contest-REQUEST@TGV.COM that says:

        SET NOMAIL

To start mail again, send a message to CQ-Contest-REQUEST@TGV.COM that
says:

        SET MAIL

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3) Operating Practices

Electronic mail is different from packet radio, in that many
subscribers receive their E-mail through commercial services such as
CompuServe and MCImail. In essence, many people are paying for each
byte of every message sent to CQ-Contest. In order to minimize
spurious messages, please follow the operating hints detailed below:

   * Put your name, callsign and E-mail address on every message you send.
     We don't all know everyone by just a callsign, nickname or Internet
     address. Furthermore, not everyone's E-mail software lets you see all
     the headers of the message, so it's sometimes difficult to reply to an
     individual posting without knowing the sender's address.

   * Use a subject line that indicates the true subject of your message.

   * Wait a while before answering someone's question. Six other people
     have probably answered it already. Most answers should go directly to
     the person who posed the question, rather than to the list.

   * Unlike PacketCluster, many people pay $$$ when they receive messages.
     Some people pay per message, some per byte. Therefore, please take
     this into consideration when writing a response. Would you pay $0.50
     to read the message that you just wrote?

   * Eschew flamage. If someone sends a flame to the list and you can't
     bite your tongue, send your flaming reply directly back to the flaming
     individual, not back to the list. No one wants to pay $1.00 to read
     these messages (the original flame + your reply). Treat flamers the
     way you would 2-meter repeater jammers - ignore them.

   * Make sure there is something of value in each message you send to the
     list. Avoid messages that are a complete reprint of someone else's
     message, with nothing but "I agree" or "Me too" added to the bottom --
     not much value there.

   * Some people pay by the byte, so when following up to someone else's
     message, be sure to include only the essential pieces or thread of the
     note. Don't include those 20 extra header lines that your mail gateway
     tacked onto the original message.

   * If you are going to make a personal reply, make sure to remove
     CQ-Contest from the header of your outgoing mail message. Otherwise,
     everyone else on the list is going to see your personal message.

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4) Mailing List Archives

You can fetch messages from the CQ-Contest archive by sending a message to
FileServ@TGV.COM that says:

        SENDME CQ-Contest-ARCHIVE.yyyy-mm

where yyyy-mm is the year and month of the archive desired. For additional
information, you can send a message to FileServ@TGV.COM that says HELP.

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5) E-mail addresses of Contesters

5.01) General information about E-mail addresses

There are number of ways to find the E-mail address for a particular
contester. Please do NOT send a message to CQ-Contest that says "Does
anyone have the E-mail address for ______?"

5.02) WB5VZL List

George Fremin, WB5VZL (geoiii@bga.com), maintains a fairly current
list of contester E-mail addresses. Send him a note to them asking for
his list.  Or you can find the list on the WWW at
http://www.contesting.com/emails.html.

5.03) CQ-Contest REVIEW

You can get a list of CQ-Contest subscribers by sending a message to
CQ-Contest-REQUEST@TGV.COM that says REVIEW.

5.04) QRZ! Ham Radio CDROM

The QRZ! Callsign Database has the E-mail addresses for over 30,000 hams!
You can access it on the WWW at http://www.qrz.com.

5.05) The old-fashioned way!

If you've exhausted every other resource, try calling the person you seek
on the telephone and asking for their E-mail address directly. Or send a
letter to their Callbook address (and include an SASE if you desire a
quick
response).

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6) Related Mailing Lists

6.01) Contest results group -- 3830@contesting.com

This mailing list is a forum dedicated to post-contest score reports,
as is done on 3830 KHz after contests. Summaries of the scores
reported to this mailing list are posted on CQ-Contest on a regular
basis after contests.  To subscribe to this mailing list, send a
message to 3830-request@contesting.com that says SUBSCRIBE.

6.02) Kids contest group -- kids@contesting.com

This mailing list is used to post the results of the SquINT contests
which are announced on CQ-CONTEST. These contests encourage kids to
participate in a fun filled event and gain exposure to amateur radio
and contesting.  Contact n6tr@contesting.com to sign up and receive a
copy of the rules.

6.03) CT users group -- ct-user@ve7tcp.ampr.org

This mailing list is a forum dedicated to the CT Logging Program, by
K1EA.  To subscribe to this mailing list, send a message to
ct-user-request@ve7tcp.ampr.org that says SUBSCRIBE.

6.04) NA users group -- na-user@ve7tcp.ampr.org

This mailing list is a forum dedicated to the MA Logging Program, by
K8CC.  To subscribe to this mailing list, send a message to
na-user-request@ve7tcp.ampr.org that says SUBSCRIBE.

6.05) SuperDuper users group -- sd-user@blacksheep.org

This mailing list is a forum dedicated to the SuperDuper Logging
Program, by EI5DI. To subscribe to this mailing list, send a message
to MAJORDOMO@blacksheep.org that says SUBSCRIBE SD-USER.

6.06) TRLOG users group -- trlog@contesting.com

This mailing list is a forum dedicated to the TRLOG Logging Program,
by N6TR. To subscribe to this mailing list, send a message to
trlog-request@contesting.com that says SUBSCRIBE.

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7) Internet Resources for Contesters

7.01) Contest Log Submissions

Jimmy Floyd, WA4ZXA (floydjr@interpath.com) is the unofficial Internet
scorekeeper. He compiles the "score rumors" that are posted to the
3830 and CQ-Contest reflectors.

          Contest Name                   Address
 ARRL Contests                 contest@arrl.org
 CQ WPX                        n8bjq@erinet.com
 DARC Worked All Europe (WAE)  100712.2226@CompuServe.com
 NCJ Sprint (CW)               tree@contesting.com
 NCJ Sprint (SSB)              aoniswan@ecuvm.cis.ecu.edu
 North American QSO Party (CW) w9nq@ccis.com
 North American QSO Party (SSB)merchant@silcom.com

7.02) World Wide Web

 Contesting On-line               http://www.contesting.com/
 ARRL Contest Branch              http://www.arrl.org/contests/
 CQ Contest Magazine              http://www.access.digex.net/~cqmag/
 National Contest Journal (NCJ)   http://www.waterw.com/~ncj/
 KA9FOX Web Page                  http://www.4w.com/ham/ka9fox/
 LA9HW Web Page                   http://www.sn.no/analme/hammain.html
 OH2KI Web Page                   http://mpoli.fi/~leif/oh2ki.html
 WB2K Contest DXpedition Registry http://www.mordor.com/wb2k/dxmenu.html
 CT by K1EA Software              http://www.ve7tcp.ampr.org/Software/ct/
 Super Duper by EI5DI             http://www.iol.ie/~okanep/index.html
 TR by N6TR                       http://www.4w.com/ham/ka9fox/tr.html

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8) Finding out more about the Internet

Pick up a copy of the book The Internet Companion by Tracy LaQuey,
Addison-Wesley, ISBN 0-201-62224-6. If your local technical book store
doesn't carry it, you can order from Computer Literacy, 2590 North
First Street, San Jose, CA 95131. Their phone number is +1 408
435-0744.

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This FAQ was written by Trey Garlough, WN4KKN (trey@cisco.COM) and
converted to HTML by Jim Reisert, AD1C (AD1C@tiac.net). Many thanks to Jim
and to everyone else who has contributed to this FAQ.


>From gunnar.unger@mailbox.swipnet.se (Gunnar Unger)  Sat Jun  8 18:16:37 1996
From: gunnar.unger@mailbox.swipnet.se (Gunnar Unger) (Gunnar Unger)
Subject: Logg-checking
Message-ID: <199606081716.TAA20156@mailbox.swip.net>

I have been involved in some log-checking work regarding  testlogs both for
CW and SSB. Can anyone give me some advice about computer checking programs?
Even if there are not so many logs to check, I would prefer to use a
computer programme!
Regards
SM5AAY, Gunnar Unger


>From TREY@TGV.COM (Trey Garlough)  Sat Jun  8 20:09:10 1996
From: TREY@TGV.COM (Trey Garlough) (Trey Garlough)
Subject: WPX single op
Message-ID: <834260950.127287.TREY@tgv.com>

> VK5GN writes:
> WPX was always my favourite contest. It was possible to do
> quite well even from the far ends of the earth "down under"
> with the 30 hour provision ..... when I got the strategy
> correct.
> The new structure just suits those operating from the best
> place  calling CQ and operating with all the cerebral
> proficiency of the average intellectually challenged
> cockroach!
> Write in your vote for the return of a contest with real
> strategic challenge on your CW entry summary sheet.I will.

It's twue, it's twue!  I know Martin will laugh when he reads my
comments written from the W6 perspective, because I'm certian he
considers California to be propagationally blessed in comparison to
South Australia.  Nonetheless, I feel these observations scale fairly
well across the planet.

Let's look at why WPX "works" as a 30 hours contest, and doesn't work
as a 36 or 48 hour contest.

o The distance from Boston to Frankfurt is 3668 miles.  When things
are going right from W1/W2 you see about 21 hours/day of productive
CQing time into Europe.  Under the old 30-hour system, the trick as an
east coast single op was to pick the best 15 of these 21 hours to get
your 30 hours.

o The distance from San Francisco to Frankfurt is 5698 miles, via the
auroral zone.  Under current conditions, from W6 you see about 0.5
hours/day of productive CQing time into Europe.  The distance from San
Francisco to Tokyo 5124 miles.  From W6 you see about 13 hours/day of
productive CQing into Asia.  If things are going right, and you
actually get the full 26 hours of DX propagation you are "entitled"
to, then your only concern is figuring out how to pass the time during
that 27-30th hours, probably doing something like working a raft of
0-point W stations and maybe VK5GN.

o Multipliers are only counted once, rather than once per band.
Therefore western USA stations are only penalized 1X for their
inability to work Europe, rather than 6X as in "real" DX contests.

o Japan counts as more than one multiplier.  In fact, you can maybe
work 150 different JA prefixes.  This is nothing compared to the 600
or so European prefixes you might work in a weekend, yet the ratio of
Euro/JA prefixes (600/150) is much more equitable than the ratio of
Euro/JA DXCC countries, which is something like 50/1.

As you see, this is an outline for a fairly competitive activity for
those of us who have trouble contacting Europe.  Under the 30 hour
format it was possible for me to operate under the illusion that I was
competitive, since I had 26 hours during the weekend that I was able
to work meaningful stuff.  After all, I was only spotting the east
coast about a 20% advantage in on-time working DX, and that raft of
USA stations I worked during the dead hours would actually yield some
multipliers which helped negate this deficit.

But for those of us living out here, to move the bar from 30 to 36
hours is like saying "let's spot the east coast an *additional* 20% 
advantage over the west coast."  Right.  As if that makes the WPX
a more interesting contest.  NOT!

And the official reason for changing the contest from the 30-hour
format to the 36-hour format?  "To improve the contest by encouraging
more single-op DXpeditions."

Personally, I find this explanation most confounding for WPX, yet I
would find it compelling for ARRL.  Let's say a single op works 300
multipliers in ARRL CW.  Consider what would happen if ten additional
CA/Carib countries were activiated by single-ops as a result of some
rule change (such as making expeditions count for club scores): there
would be an additional 60 easy multipliers available during the
contest.  Increasing everyones multiplier total from 300 to 360 
would be a great improvement!

Now consider WPX.  Say a single op works 750 prefixes in WPX SSB.
Consider what would happen if ten additional CA/Carib countries were
activiated by single-ops as a result of some rule change (such as
increasing the on-time from 30 to 36 hours): there would be an 
additional *10* easy multipliers available during the contest, 
increasing everyones multiplier total from 750 to 760!  Am I the
only one who feels this isn't such a great improvement?

I feel that ARRL and CQWW would lose a lot of their appeal to the rank
and file if single op DXpeditions came to an abrupt halt.  But if this
happened in WPX, then I can't honestly say I'd notice the difference.
By the way, has the actual number of single op DXpeditions increased
since this initiative?  Nope.

Whereas the 36-hour format has failed in its attempt "to improve the
contest by encouraging more single-op DXpeditions," I propse we send
it to the scrap heap and revert back to the more competitive 30-hour
format.

--Trey, WN4KKN/6


>From va3wto@pathcom.com (Rui Wittwer)  Sun Jun  9 00:20:32 1996
From: va3wto@pathcom.com (Rui Wittwer) (Rui Wittwer)
Subject: Ameritron al-1200 info please,email was not correct,got no reply`s.
References: <31B8CDE6.62A2@fpathcom.com> <31B974E6.10BE@fpathcom.com> 
<31BA060A.6366@fpathcom.com> <31BA08C8.2B9C@pathcom.com> 
<31BA0A14.2375@pathcom.com>
Message-ID: <31BA0AC0.51EB@pathcom.com>

Hello dear AL-1200 USER`S,i will like to inform you about a few thing`s
    on my new al-1200,so please i will like some comments if thing`s do not
    look right.
    With 100 w i do get around 1500 w on the external meter by Diamond but
    on the amp it does not show more than 900.
    With 30 what`s I do get only 700 w out, also I do not now if this is
    grease on contact`s or dust but for the 3 time i ad some arching some
    one told me this was grease on contact`s and it will go away after a
    few
    hour`s of operation.
    Hv look`s good,around 3700 on rx and  on tx drop`s to around 3600.
    Please i will like some coment`s on these obsevation`s on my amp
    al-1200.
    73 de Rui.


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