[LCC] 50th Anniversary running of the ARRL 160m contest this weekend

[w5wz at w5wz.com]

Worthy of note is that this year will be the 50th running of the ARRL 
160M Contest.
Yes, it is the 50th year of this contest and the first one was in 1970!

The contest starts at 2200Z on Friday (4:00 PM local) before sunset. The
contest ends at 1600Z on Sunday morning. Just in time to relax and watch 
a
day of NFL football. The daylight hours are usually a good time to work
other locals but is usually a slow time. Saturday mid-day is a good time 
to
get a few hours of sleep. The dark hours are when you make the most 
QSOs.

So please get on and work some people, especially your friends and 
fellow
club members. Here are some tips for operating times to maximize your 
fun.

Be on the air for both sunset and sunrise. This is a time of enhanced DX
conditions and you might work something really good. The SS and SR times
for my station this weekend are 2328Z and 1313Z.

Be on the air for European sunrise (0600Z to 0800Z). This is when their
signals will jump out of the noise and they will be very readable for a
while.

Watch for Japanese stations after their sunset. There is a chance of
working JA stations starting about 0800Z until your local sunrise. The
absolute best time for you to work Japan will be just before your 
sunrise,
Remember that the JA stations can only operate from 1810 kHz to 1825 kHz
and another (less used) sub-band of 1907.5 kHz to 1912.5 kHz.

Caribbean stations will be workable from your sunset until around 1000Z 
in
the morning. This depends on where they are in the Caribbean. The band 
goes
to sleep soon after sunrise in the islands.

Good luck and have fun. Remember to submit your effort to the ARRL 
results
afterwards and indicate the Louisiana Contest Club as your club
entry. This contest has a local club category and we want to do well in 
the
club standings.