New England QSO Party, May 6-7, 2023, How to Operate and Submit

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New England QSO Party logoKen Caruso, WO1N, writes on the Billerica (MA) ARC mailing list:

Hi all,

A few questions have trickled in. I sometimes forget I am one of those “Contesters” (aaacckk!) and I take a lot for granted because I’ve been doing it so long.

While many a contester was born on Field Day, in fact FD is quite a challenge because of the environment, unfamiliarity with radios and logging software, marginal antenna, noise etc. The [New England QSO Party] is a great opportunity to learn to be a proficient contester using your own equipment/home station that you are comfortable with.

You probably don’t want to be using your general purpose logging program for the event. A contest logger will help make contacts go much smoother. I can highly recommend N1MM+ (hint, this is what we have been using for Field Day logging). It is free and probably the most feature rich contest logging solution available. There are others like WriteLog ($), N3JFP (free), I am not as familiar with those.

A detail description of setting up N1MM+ is beyond the scope of this message. If you are new to it and have questions about its setup, drop me a note or give me a call and I can help walk you through it.

Anyone can call CQ and you can answer anyone calling CQ NEQP. Note there are at least two other QSO parties going on at the same time this weekend. Don’t sweat it, just log what they give you.

A typical SSB Exchange when you are calling CQ might go like:

  • You: CQ NEQP WO1N
  • Participant: WI1ZRD
  • You: WI1ZRD 59 MIDMA
  • Participant: 59 MIDMA
  • You: QSL, WO1N NEQP

If the participant is not in New England they will give their state, or possibly county+state (like we do). Just log what they give you.

If they are DX they might say their country but you would log as “DX”.

Club Competition / Submittal:

So, you have entered the contest using your own call and category. To support the Club Competition:

At the end of the event, the contest sponsors need a “Cabrillo” formatted file for your entry. Cabrillo is a standard format that all the contest sponsors have agreed upon.

Use your own call sign and after the event make sure the Cabrillo file that is generated calls out the Billerica Amateur Radio Society on the “Club” line. The header will look like this:

START-OF-LOG: 3.0
LOCATION: EMA
CALLSIGN: WO1N
CLUB: Billerica Amateur Radio Society
CONTEST: NEWE-QSO-PARTY
CATEGORY-OPERATOR: SINGLE-OP
CATEGORY-ASSISTED: ASSISTED
CATEGORY-BAND: ALL
CATEGORY-MODE: CW
CATEGORY-POWER: LOW
CATEGORY-STATION: FIXED
CATEGORY-TRANSMITTER: ONE
CLAIMED-SCORE: 24274
OPERATORS: WO1N

etc….

The sponsors will take care of the rest, they will just group all entries with the same Club call out, total them up and that determines the Club’s standing. Your individual score will also be shown on the results page under the category you entered (Single Op etc.).

If you are using a purpose built Contest logger as I recommended, when you input your Station Configuration info there is the opportunity to define you Club name. Otherwise, you can edit the header after the fact and add the line shown above.

N1MM+, will generate the Cabrillo file for you (File à Generate Cabrillo) and store it on your disk as callsign.log (e.g. wo1n.log).

Use the sponsors log submittal page (https://neqp.contesting.com/neqpsubmitlog.php ) and follow the instructions. Upload your callsign.log You should be all set, you’ve entered the contest and supported the Club Competition effort at the same time.

Finally, to keep your logbook up-to-date, you would import an ADIF of the event log. N1MM+ will generate for you. (File à Export à Generate ADIF).

What happens if we win?

We all go to Disney!

Wait no, that’s a different competition….

The Club would receive a nice plaque. In this case the Yankee Clipper Contest Club sponsors the plaque. By tradition, the winning Club President gets to keep the plaque, displayed proudly on their contest Wall of Fame, forever.

73,

Ken – WO1N

Test of High-Altitude Balloon Repeater, Natick MA, May 7, 2023

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New England Sci-Tech logoFrom ema.arrl.org:

    Seth Kendall, KC1PZY, writes on the New England Sci-Tech mailing list:

We plan to hoist up our payloads as high as we can over [New England Sci-Tech] this Sunday (May 7th) at 1pm.  The payload will be running the full repeater setup and live video transmission for flight.

We’d like to invite anyone who might have line of sight with NEST to try calling in once we start the event to test the functioning and propagation.  Keep in mind, the repeater uses low power HTs with homemade Slim Jim antennas, so do not expect the level of performance achieved by the real NEST repeater.  It is also expected to get significantly better signal up in free space during the flight than it will on the ground.

We are putting out a call to see if anyone has a long, sturdy gopher pole or extendable mast that could be temporarily mounted on the roof and hold 5 lbs. up vertically without bending.

To participate, here is what you need to do:

  1. Set up your UHF/VHF radio to these frequencies:
    1. Uplink (your transmit): 446.05 MHz
    2. Downlink (your receive): 146.55 MHz
  2. Use the best dual band antenna you’ve got, or two single band antennas with duplexer.  Antenna height will help a lot.
  3. Write down your distance from NEST and include it in the exchange.
  4. We’ll try to have someone calling CQ as W1STR during the test and writing down contacts and distances.
  5. If you’d like to come join us at NEST during the event to help with setup and operation, come join us around noon.  We’ll either be in the makerspace or on the roof.  We can order some food as well.

We are also looking for a volunteer to try receiving the video signal from some place with direct line of sight that is further than right down the street.  Ideally 1-5 miles away (not expecting the kind of propagation we’ll get up in free space).

  1. If you’d like to volunteer, let me know. 
  2. You’ll need a laptop with Windows.
  3. You’ll need to come into NEST either on Saturday or Sunday so I can give you the receive antenna we are testing, the receiver hardware, and help you set up your computer to input and view the video feed.
  4. You’ll need to find a place with direct line of sight (that’s the hard part).

“Artemis 2 astronauts flying to the moon could phone home with ham radio”

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An illustration of the Orion spacecraft in orbit around the moon. (Image credit: Lockheed Martin) From Space.com:

“It’s been 40 years since the first astronaut called an amateur radio operator on Earth. Now the moon is in the community’s sights.

“Most of the astronauts aboard the Artemis 2 mission, which will send a quartet of people around the moon in late 2024, are certified ham radio (amateur radio) operators. There’s high hopes in the community that the astronauts may call home from deep space, the president of Radio Amateurs of Canada told Space.com.” [Full story]

ARRL Member Survey, Dues Increase Considered

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ARRL logoDear ARRL Affiliated Club,

This Monday, May 1, ARRL will launch a survey for members, encouraging their participation as we consider a dues increase.

The survey will include some short questions about raising dues and modifying the way some membership benefits are bundled. The survey will also include an opportunity for members to share their feedback.

The participation of every member is important. Please encourage all the ARRL members in your radio club to complete the survey in May.

The survey will open on May 1 at www.arrl.org/take-dues-survey. This is a member-only page. Members need to be logged into the ARRL website to take the survey. Members who are not logged in may select the Login button on the top of the web page, and they will be prompted to enter their ARRL website username and password. If they have not logged in since April 2022, they should use these Login Instructions.

Thank you in advance for urging all ARRL members to complete the survey.

73

Mike Walters, W8ZY

ARRL Field Services Manager

RFI Training at NEAR-Fest, April 29, 2023

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From Maine ARRL Facebook page:

Rob Leiden K1UI, the New England Division ARRL Assistant Director for Spectrum Protection and RFI, leads Radio Frequency Interference Team Training at Near-Fest in Deerfield. [ARRL Maine Section Manager Phil Duggan] N1EP picked up Maine’s RFI equipment and Toolkit, including IC-705 and some handy RFI-sniffing antennas. The New England Division is leading the nation in helping hams who may be experiencing annoying RFI.
 
Maine training and policy, planning will follow in the coming weeks.

 K1UI RFI Training at NEAR-Fest April 28-29, 2023

“Ham radio operators air a grievance: Leave our hobby alone”

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Phil Duggan, N1EP, in ham shackFrom The Maine Monitor, April 29, 2023:

“Controversial soaring edifices along the Downeast coast seem to be all the rage, most notably the proposed Flagpole of Freedom Park in Columbia Falls, which garnered national attention and prompted a temporary building moratorium.

“But neighboring Jonesboro shouldn’t be overshadowed. Although much less imposing than the proposed 1,461-foot flagpole, a ham radio antenna array, with the highest antenna stretching 200 feet, was constructed last year atop Jonesboro’s picturesque blueberry barrens off Route 1.”

[Full story]

“International Marconi Day: National Parks Director Makes QSO”

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IMC Day photo of National Parks Service Director SamsFrom The ARRL Letter, April 27, 2023:

International Marconi Day celebrates the accomplishments of radio pioneer Guglielmo Marconi on the Saturday closest to his birthday each year. Stations around the world activate a special operating event to celebrate.

National Parks Service Director Charles ” Chuck” Sams, III (left) operates as KM1CC from the South Wellfleet Historic Site at Cape Cod National Seashore. Marconi Cape Cod Radio Club Trustee Barbara Dougan, N1NS, (right). (Marconi Cape Cod Radio Club KM1CC, photo)

On January 18, 1903, the first public two-way wireless communication occurred between the United States and Europe. A message from President Theodore Roosevelt was sent to King Edward VII from the South Wellfleet site. The site is preserved within the Cape Cod National Seashore in Massachusetts. [full story]