[LCC] Contest Clubs Update - January VHF Contest Logs, ARRL DX Contest is coming, NA Sprint team invite and more

[w5wz at w5wz.com]

-------- Original Message --------
Subject: Contest Clubs Update - January VHF Contest Logs, ARRL DX 
Contest is coming, NA Sprint team invite and more
Date: 2019-01-23 12:06
 From: "Jahnke, Bart, W9JJ" <w9jj at arrl.org>
To: Contest <contest at arrl.org>

Re: Contest Clubs Update - January VHF Contest Logs, ARRL DX Contest is
coming, NA Sprint team invite and more

To:  ARRL Contest Clubs

Follows are a few updates for contest clubs:

  ·         THE 2019 JANUARY VHF CONTEST JUST ENDED:  With the January
VHF Contest weekend now just behind us, the 10-day log submission
deadline is 2359 UTC January 31st.  You can upload your Cabrillo log to
https://contest-log-submission.arrl.org/ [1]  (or we still accept paper
logs -- and for the past several years we have been graced with the
voluntary efforts of K9JK who transcribes and keyboards these VHF
Contest paper logs and submits them in Cabrillo format for us {see
http://www.arrl.org/january-vhf for paper logs submission – be sure to
thank “JK” for these efforts when you see him at the various events
or work him on the air!}).  Email me with any questions regarding logs
submission.  If you have not yet sent in your log, please do so!  Once
you submit your electronic log, your call sign and basic detail will be
listed at http://contests.arrl.org/logsreceived.php (after the logs
deadline has passed, claimed scores and entry category will also be
shown) Despite the bad weather in many parts of the country this past
weekend, a log with even a few QSOs helps us measure the activity of the
event.

  ·         THE FEBRUARY AND MARCH ARRL DX CONTEST WEEKENDS LOOM:  The
February 2019 ARRL DX CW Contest weekend (see rules at
http://www.arrl.org/arrl-dx) is just a few weeks away - February 16-17,
2019; and the March 2019 ARRL DX Phone weekend is two weeks later -
March 2-3, 2019.  Are you ready?  If you are part of a Club Competition
effort, be sure your Club Membership Eligibility List is up to date (eg,
are your new members added, members that moved away deleted, and members
with call sign changes updated?)

  ·         TO MANAGE YOUR MEMBERSHIP ELIGIBILITY LIST:  go to
http://contest-clubs.arrl.org/ (remember to upload a full Membership
Eligibility List each time you do an update, and that each line in your
list contain the   CALLSIGN,GRID   for each member {that’s their
6-digit-grid locators}).  Your list MUST BE updated BEFORE the event you
will participate in (even if you do your update just moments/minutes
before the event starts). And if you do have a MEMBERSHIP ELIGIBILITY
LIST on file (see HTTP://CONTEST-CLUBS.ARRL.ORG/VIEWLISTS.PHP [2] for a
list of clubs that are eligible because they uploaded their eligibility
list), for your club to be in the competition, logs from at least 3
eligible members must be submitted for a given event.

  ·         NATIONAL CONTEST JOURNAL (NCJ) - CW SPRINT - REGISTER YOUR
TEAMS:  While NA Sprint (http://ncjweb.com/north-american-sprint)
regulars know about teams, those just getting into contesting may not
yet appreciate the fun of team membership.  This is also a great way for
contest clubs to recruit, train, and retain members.  Registering teams
is easy - go to http://ncjweb.com/cwsprintteamreg/ and fill out the
form.  Teams can be registered and re-arranged right up until contest
time. (The registration form will be available starting Saturday
evening, 7 days before the contest.)  That's it - no additional work is
required on the part of your members and it’s all automatic from
there.  Once on a team, a participant is more likely to stick with it
and put in a good effort.  It's wonderful training for other CW
contests, too - like the upcoming ARRL DX CW.  You only have to have
five members for a complete team and partial teams are fine.  It helps
for your team wrangler to collect calls and post the teams to your
club's web, email, or social media.  This encourages more to sign up and
fill out more teams - like an auction, "I've got three members, three
members, who's a fourth, I've got four members, and five, there's a
team!  Who's up for another team, give me a call sign..."  Sprint teams
are fun and help new members feel like part of the group, too.  Hope to
see lots of teams registered for the first Saturday night in February!
As always, you are invited to provide any thoughts/suggestions/follow up
to NCJ Editor Scott Wright, K0MD at drscott.wright at gmail.com

Until next time…

73, and see you in the contests!

Bart Jahnke, W9JJ

Contest Branch Manager

ARRL - The national association for Amateur Radio™

225 Main St

Newington CT 06111

860-594-0232

w9jj at arrl.org

-----Original Message-----

 From: Scott Wright [mailto:drscott.wright at gmail.com]

Sent: Monday, December 17, 2018 4:29 PM

To: Jahnke, Bart, W9JJ

Subject: Request to send to contest clubs via your reflector

Bart

The NCJ is asking major North American contest clubs to consider
expanding the learning and training tools available to help new and
mid-skill level contesters learn and raise their skills to the next
level.

In 2007, the NCCC published a video series on So2r which I personally
found very helpful. They are going to re-post it to their website so all
of us can learn from the series.  Contest University also posts its
lectures to the web and the power point slides - both extremely helpful
to new and mid-skill level contesters.

We would like contest clubs to discuss with their members the need to
develop additional video based and power point-based training tools on
the following topics:

1. How to do the Sprint contest - CW and/or RTTY 2. How to set up and be
a Mobile rover in state QSP.

3. Optimization of SO2R techniques in SSB/CW/RTTY contesting 4. How to
do SO2V contesting 5. Advice on planning for a 48 hour contest - what
are the techniques the winners use?

6. Setting up n1mm+ or Win-test with a rig - a basic how to video or
power point set.

The video recordings might record both sides of a QSO, and in the
example of the Sprint contest, slow it down enough to show beginners how
to “Sprint” when you are done with the QSO, what to do if you lose a
“jump ball” and other techniques.  It might involve recording, then
narrating what to do and listen for in the right and left audio
channels.

These are only ideas for what we believe is currently lacking for up and
coming contesters. There are probably plenty more issues that our major
contest clubs can identify and create training films to help all of us.

You Tube is full of videos describing rigs and other things like
building a ham shack table.  Perhaps we can post some helpful videos on
contesting to You Tube also?

If there is enough interest in this, we can have an inter-club
competition and I will award an “Editor’s Cup” to the club that
makes the best or most innovative video in 2019.  It can be awarded
perhaps at the 2020 Dayton contest dinner (if the organizers agree) .

Thanks for considering!

Scott Wright, K0MD

NCJ Editor

www.ncjweb.com [3]

Twitter: @EditorNCJ



Links:
------
[1] https://contest-log-submission.arrl.org/
[2] http://contest-clubs.arrl.org/viewlists.php
[3] http://www.ncjweb.com