The best I can tell, these are the contests being sponsored this weekend
that we might reasonable expect to be able to make some contacts in from
this area of the country.
1. CQ WW RTTY Contest, 48-hour period, 00 UTC Sat to 2359 UTC Sunday.
80-10 M RTTY. HP, LP, "Rookie." No Tribander/Single Element as in the
CW and SSB RTTY contests. Exchange: RST + serial no.
http://www.cq-amateur-radio.com/RTTY%20Rules%202004122403.pdf. All
stations are permitted to use packet, but no self spotting.
2. SARL Field Day Contest. 10 UTC Sat to 10 UTC Sun. I have never
heard any stations in this contest. They will all be signing ZS#xx/P.
ZS/P stations are permitted to work anyone in the world, so we can give
them points by working them, but there is no award category except for
ZS/P stations. Exchange: RS(T) + serial no. Only 160, 80, 40, and 20
M (no 15 and 10M) and both CW and SSB.
http://www.sarl.org.za/public/contests/contestrules.asp.
3. Dutch PACC Contest. 12 UTC Sat to 12 UTC Sun. CW and SSB. 160
through 10 M. There are usually a lot of Dutch stations QRV in this
one. They have a lot of new callsigns over there now, pretty much
anything between PA and PI might be found. Exchange: RS(T) + serial
no. Dutch stations send RS(T) + province abbreviation. QSO each Dutch
station once per band (not per band and mode). Dutch provinces are:
GR, FR, DR, OV, GD, UT, NH, ZH, FL, ZL, NB and LB. Three winners
possible for each call area in the US.
http://www.veron.nl/pacc/rules2004.html.
4. OMISS QSO Party. The members of the OMISS SSB nets close down their
nets for one 24-hour period and have a contest. 15 UTC Sat to 1459 UTC
Sunday. SSB only. 80 through 10 M. Exchange: RS + s/p/c + OMISS # if
you have one. They encourage operation on or near their usual net
frequencies: 3940.5, 7263.5, 14290, 21360, 28665. Stations may be
worked once per band. Log sheets and summary sheets may be downloaded
from their website. http://www.omiss.net/qso-2004.htm. It would be
nice to hear these guys making some "real" contacts without the help of
a net control station.
5. RSGB 1.8 mhz contest, CW. 21 UTC Sat to 01 UTC Sunday. 160 M CW
only. Send RST + serial #. UK stations send RST + district code.
http://www.contesting.co.uk/hfcc/rules/r18mhz.shtml.
6. Asia-Pacific Sprint, CW. 11 to 13 UTC Sat. CW only and only on 40
and 20 M. Exchange RST + serial no. I definitely need to get on for
this one because it was my suggestion after the last one (for which I
submitted a check log only) that resulted in a rules change that allows
stations outside the AP area to run any legal power. AP stations
themselves are limited to 150 watts. There is a one khz. QSY rule. If
you solicit a QSO, you must QSY at least 1 khz after completion of that
QSO. Frequencies suggested: 7015 - 7040; 14030-14050. This could be a
good chance to work some Asia Pacific stations on 40 and 20 CW. The
bands shoudl be open at these times (6 to 8 AM EST). The rules set
forth which countries qualify as AP countries.
http://jsfc.org/apsprint/aprule.txt.
7. FISTS Club Winter Sprint. Saturday 17 to 21 UTC. CW only. 80-10.
Note the usual frequencies center around 3558, 7058, 14058, 21058, and
28058. Exchange: RST + s/p/c + first name + FISTS membership number
(or your output power if not a FISTS member). FISTS member vary from
the very good to the fairly poor CW ops. Speeds will not be
overwhelming. You can encourage some newer CW ops in contesting by
contacting them in this Sprint. They have a QSL bureau for members, so,
if you like exchanging QSLs, but would like to avoid the postage cost
involved with direct QSLing, you might want to join the FISTS club.
K4UK and his club in Virginia administer the QSL bureau and do a very
good job. You just send them SASEs and they mail you cards as they
accumulate. (Note: The 10-10 club has just initiated one to be run by
K7QXG, but it is just in the beginning stage. The MARAC (mobile county
hunters) seem to have a QSL bureau also.) I will try to participate in
this one. Anyone want to have a small stakes challenge? Entry form
should be downloaded from the website unless submitting by e-mail.
http://www.fists.org/sprints.html.
Hope everyone has a good weekend and a lot of QSOs to warm up for ARRL
DX CW the next weekend.
Try to get your claimed scores to me by early Wednesday and I'll
summarize them for the reflector.
73,
John, K4BAI.
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