Off the Random Wire (Week 2)

KA3DRR worked on the random wire antenna throughout the weekend. I made recommended modifications such as lengthening the counterpoise by 10 percent and improving height by an additional three feet. The random wire hangs from a 12-foot wooden mast jutting out from the second floor terrace like a pencil on steroids. I tuned the wire on 17-meters and heard a mobile KH6 calling CQ late Friday afternoon. Alright, dude! My trusty Bencher Paddles made in Chicago fired a KA3DRR radio frequency (RF) salvo toward the mobile.

Would the random wire perform? What about propagation? The KA3DRR signal departed California without delay for an unscheduled arrival somewhere on the Hawaiian Island chain. Morse code music filled my ears and the KH6 copied my 25-watt transmission. Propagation numbers solidly suggested less than ideal conditions (i.e. SFI: 85; A: 26; K: 2). On the other hand, the determined low-powered signal bounced across the Pacific probably surprising the KH6 operator as well. If I smiled perhaps he smiled too. We exchanged traditional information such as RST, QTH, and name through QSB conditions.

The remainder of the weekend involved the art of listening especially for the BS7H expedition to Scarborough Reef. The Florida QSO party rose just above the noise floor on 20-meters. I heard a few and worked none such is propagation. A pile-up on 30-meters on Saturday evening grabbed my attention. Was it BS7H? The spotting cluster raged with cluster bites while I spun the FT100 dial hunting for the BS7H signal. I'm watching the 'A' in propagation.

A round of random wire modifications is complete. KA3DRR will run the antenna later this week and measure its performance. And, I made my first contact on 17-meters Friday evening scoring KH6 for the log, right on. Likewise, the joy of amateur radio keeps giving in immeasurable ways. My best to all those operators who filled bandwidth at the bottom of the solar cycle!

73 from the shack.

Reference:
WM7D's Solar Resource Page, (2007). Retrieved on April 29, 2007 from http://www.wm7d.net/hamradio/solar/index.shtml.

Scarborough Reef, (2007). The April 2007 Expedition to Scarborough Reef Retrieved on April 29, 2007 from http://www.scarboroughreef.com/.

NCCC Thursday Night Madness 7 of 7

Read email and proceed to modify KA3DRR's random wire prior to the NCCC Slow Sprint 15-minute 'stretch with the best' at 0200 Z followed by the 0230 Z official running. My radiosport skills need further refinement and stretching before any run is common practice for athletes. My code speed dropped to 20 word-per-minute (WPM) as sprinters from across North America warmed up on 20- and 40-meters, respectively. I pounded out code on my trusty paddles for 15-minutes of stretch time before the WPM pump up.

In addition, my antenna system is fundamental to the success of my low-power, low-profile challenge and following another athlete's suggestion nearly resulted in breaking the current personal record of 5-Qs. Literally, KA3DRR powered a lightbulb prior to the antenna beta and the modification paid Qs and multipliers on 20-meters.

The official clock read 0230 Z and propagation numbers favored 20-meters despite the high A-index. KA3DRR called CQ just above 14.042 and this time the field of sprinters used more bandwidth in contrast to previous sprints. The first station in the log at 0232 Z from Texas. Four minutes elapsed between Qs and it felt like an eternity. I searched and pounced scoring -Q number two at 0236 Z (W4NZ, Ted), then -Q three at 0237 Z (N9FC, John), and -Q four at 0238 Z (K5NZ, Mike).

Decision time? Remain on the 20-meter field or QSY to 40-meters. I punched the mode switch on the FT100 and tuned the random wire. My production fell from three -Qs per minute (QPM) too zero QPM on 40- and 80-meters, respectively. That is the drive behind athletics, not settling, and always pursue excellence. In this case, based on previous experience, 40- and 80-meters consistently produced both -Qs and multipliers.

My strategy going into the eighth week of Thursday Night Madness suggests remaining on the -Q producing field like 20-meters and shelving timed band changes (i.e. ten minutes per band). My personal 5-QSO record remains and I'm doggedly pursuing six Qs or better.

73 from the shack.

Inside the NCCC Sprint Grid (Week 6)

Our G4 class star illuminated stadium Earth for the sixth, record-smashing run of the NCCC Sprint.

Phenomenal effort as radiosport athletes across North America performed at record levels. Notably, N4AF obi-wan-kenobi'd the grid surpassing W9RE's just established 1,984 point record from the previous week. The force is strong with AF. After the neutrinos settled N4OGW (2255) claimed second followed by W9RE (1792). The East swept the Grid Series Leader roster for the second consecutive week.

AF operated and scored a cosmic 2,400 leaving other sprints to ponder. What is this week's strategy? Any sprinters in stadium Earth taking on the AF record?

Meanwhile, a heated race nearly fried the grid by a micron margin of 56-points as W9RE (1792) and N9CK (1736) in the East of the Mississippi Division raced dit for dah. An even tighter race emerged as new sprinters KY4F (70), KC4HW (63), and W4HZD (48) battled on the ionospheric turf for best-first-showing in this division. Seven points stood between KY4F and HW, awesome effort.

Continuing, K5OT welded a new record score (1782 points) in the West of the Mississippi Division, this effort, in his first-showing on the NCCC Grid. KZ5D (1426), W0BH (1419), and N5DX (1400) scorched the circuit as an ESPN announcer in the Big Show shouted, "Play of the day, baby." N9NB improved his sprint record by 16-points in week six operating at N3BB, most excellent. The question? Whose the jedi going after OT in week seven? Stay tuned.

N6RO scored his sixth consecutive win in the NCCC CA/NV division. RO is 6 and 0. A kinetic race shaped up between W0YK (1025) and K6VVA (780) de-magnetizing VVA's clutch on second place. YK answered a firm 'yes' to the photon powered sprint shoe question and is the closest contender who can challenge RO. This is an answer only Yoda knows.

The standings:

Record Sprint Scores
1. N4AF, East, 2400 (2007)
2. N4OGW, East, 2255 (2007)
3. W9RE, East, 1984 (2007)

Grid Leaders Week 6
1. N4AF, East, 2400
2. N4OGW, East, 2255
3. W9RE, East, 1792

East of the Mississippi Division
1. N4AF, 2400, 5 of 6
2. N4OGW, 2255, 5 of 6
3. W9RE, 1792, 4 of 6, week -5 grid series leader

West of the Mississippi Division
1. K5OT, 1782, 1 of 6
2. KZ5D, 1426, 2 of 6
3. W0BH, 1419, 6 of 6

NCCC CA/NV Division
1. N6RO, 1760, 6 of 6, week -2 and -4 grid series leader
2. W0YK, 1025, 5 of 6
3. K6VVA, 780, 6 of 6

The lights dimmed and stadium earth returned to normal after a blazing night of NCCC Thursday Night Madness. Superb effort on the part of many radiosport athletes marked the sixth running of the 2007 NCCC Sprint Series as momentous.

There is more and click http://www.ncccsprint.com/next_ns.htm regarding further developments for the finest 30-minutes in radiosport. All code speeds welcomed!

73 from the shack.

Reference:
Northern California Contest Club (n.d.) NS Results Retrieved on April 25, 2007 from http://www.ncccsprint.com/results.htm.

NCCC Sprint Grid Stats 2006 & 2007

Katz suggested once a contest starts some things are controllable such as operating time, band, transmitter, antenna direction conversely other elements of the contest are not mainly, propagation (2002). The radiosport athlete uses intuition, skill, and station (e.g. transmitter and antenna) while simultaneously competing against other athletes and nature. Whereas, the activity of radiosport athletics improves one's operating skill, expands one's knowledge base in reference to amateur radio, and defines the character of each respective contest.

According to Katz, an effective radiosport strategy includes planning band changes and/or pointing antennas in the right direction to maximize multipliers and increase one's contact rate (2002). On the other hand, for low-power radiosport athletes, one needs to determine the amount of time spent CQing and how much time to spend in search and pounce (SP) mode. Marc, W6ZZZ suggested choosing one's best band albeit 20, 40, or 80 and SP while making contacts (NS Operating, n.d.). Furthermore, after successfully completing one's first SP QSO follow-up with a CQ then call again for a total of three CQs before switching to SP mode.

Ken, N6RO stated, "...Multiplier strategy is now the name of this game." (NS Operating, para 6). Katz defined a multiplier as a special kind of contact and as a first contact in a contest such as CQ World Wide one can earn 1, 2, or 3 points (2002). An entry-level radiosport athlete running low-power (e.g. 100-watts or less) and low-profile antennas (e.g. dipoles, random wire, verticals, etc.) might focus on multiplier hunting using the SP technique followed by calling CQ. As a personal note this technique proved quite useful during the 2007 running of the ARRL DX International and the majority of contacts throughout the NCCC Sprint series thus far fall into the SP category.

Katz proposed the process of maximizing one's contest score involves the following 1). Making decisions about when to change bands and frequencies, 2). antenna direction and, 3). When to take rest breaks (2002). The character of the NCCC NS Sprint eliminates proposal three leaving one and two as valid considerations. He further suggested an optimal strategy consisting of 1). Maximize the number of contacts and multipliers on respective bands based on experience and, 2). planning and knowledge of propagation (Katz).

One might keep in mind as an entry-level radiosport athlete the suggestions made by Katz (2002) such as when to change bands and frequencies, the character of one's station (e.g. transmitter and antenna), understanding propagation and its influence, and one's level of experience. According to NS Operating (n.d.). the preferred beginner strategy is to determine one's best band and proceed to SP for x amount of time then call CQ. One must discover a comfortable balance between SP and calling CQ.

The purpose of analyzing the NCCC Sprint Grid is to provide a benchmark for radiosport athletes at any level. An entry-level athlete may establish personal scoring goals from the provided averages. Another might compare and contrast results from last week's performance.

Katz stated, "Consciously and subconsciously, each operator creates a personal strategy to optimize his contest performance within the confines of his financial, geographical, physical and technical resource limitations." (2002, p 2)

Analysis of the NCCC Sprint Grid for 2006 and 2007 through week five based on averaging suggested for 2006, a total of 315 submitted logs totalling 237,594 points; average log submission rate (n = 26); points per week equaled 754, as a whole.

(Note: sum of all scores did not include best of 9 score)

East of the Mississippi Division (2006)
Total points = 100,194
Average divisional points/week = 8,350
Average points/week/sprinter = 363 points
Sprinter total: 23

West of the Mississippi Division (2006)
Total points = 77,762
Average divisional points/week = 6,480
Average points/week/sprinter = 282
Sprinter total: 23

NCCC CA/NV Division (2006)
Total points = 48,896
Average divisional points/week = 4,075
Average points/week/sprinter = 291
Sprinter total: 14

(note: divisional averaging based on best of 9 and points rounded up)

In comparison, 126 logs submitted in 2007 as of week 5 totaled 84,826 points with an overall log submission rate (n = 25) and, an average of 673 points per sprinter, as a whole.

Divisionally, the break down is as follows -

East of the Mississippi Division (2007) as of week 5
Total points = 39,573
Average divisional points/week = 7,915
Average points/week/sprinter = 466
Sprinter total: 17

West of the Mississippi Division (2007) as of week 5
Total points = 21,467
Average divisional points/week = 4,293
Average points/week/sprinter = 253
Sprinter total: 17

NCCC CA/NV (2007) as of week 5
Total points = 19,708
Average divisional points/week = 3,942
Average points/week/sprinter = 493
Sprinter total: 8

(note: divisional averaging does not include best of 9)

Solar measurements for weeks 5 and 6 as follows -
Week 5 SFI (68); A (9); K (1)
Week 6 SFI (68); A (6); K (1)

Reference:
Katz, S (2002). A Novel Perspective of Amateur Radio Contesting, pp. 1-16. (p 2)

Northern California Contest Club (n.d.). Operating NS Retrieved on April 24, 2007 from http://www.ncccsprint.com/operating.htm. (para 6)

Northern California Contest Club (n.d.). NS Results 2007 Retrieved on April 23, 2007 from http://www.ncccsprint.com/results.htm.

Northern California Contest Club (n.d.). NS Results 2006 Retrieved on April 23, 2007 from http://www.ncccsprint.com/2006_results.htm.

Propagation (n.d.) Retrieved on April 23, 2007 from http://dx.qsl.net/propagation/index.html.

Off the Random Wire

The bottom of the sunspot cycle reminded me of Waiting for the Sun performed by The Doors -

At first flash of Eden

We race down to the sea

Standing there on freedom's shore

Waiting for the sun

Waiting for the sun

Waiting for the sun

Can you feel it

Now that spring has come

Now that it's time to live in the scattered sun

The purpose of Off the Random Wire is a look into KA3DRR's Low-power, Low-profile amateur radio adventures accompanied by Radio Dawg throughout the course of a weekend. Off the Random Wire is a weekend feature article addressing my goal of completing DX Century Club (DXCC), Worked-All States (WAS) and Worked-All Zones (WAZ) before the peak of the next solar cycle. I did not accomplish this triathalon of awards as a young man and desire to do so now.

The following suite of freeware enhances KA3DRR's Low-profile, Low-power operation -

1. DX Lab Suite - a powerful cluster of freeware programs to include logging, propagation and award analysis, call searching, world map, etc.

2. AE6Y's CQPWIN105 contest freeware - my favorite for its comprehensive inclusion of major contests and ease of use.

On the other hand, I set-up my 450-ohm balanced line and grabbed a steaming cup of coffee for a Saturday listen, listen, listen session. Propagation numbers did not reflect the 'best of the best' at the bottom of the solar cycle. I scanned 80, 40, 30, 20, 17, and 15-meters searching for DX and/or casual QSO. This weekend two radiosport events competed for QSOs; the Michigan QSO Party and the Ontario QSO Party. I listened to the likes of K8K and K8XXX above the noise floor on 20-meters. In contrast, an /XE2 called CQ on 30-meters and I responded to his call however not enough propagation punch to conclusively log this operator. He called off the QSO due to KA3DRR's weak signal from the RF Pit. One criteria for logging a QSO is 100% copy of the callsign in addition to a signal report. Conversely, propagation on the high-bands (20, 17, and 15-meters) favored the mid-west of North America throughout Saturday afternoon. Although, earlier in the mornng, a JA-station nearly copied my callsign for a short report exchange on 40-meters. Just not enough punch. Later in the afternoon, I heard a KF6 calling CQ on 40-meters, his signal searching for an operator behind an antenna and I responded. We spoke in amateur radio language at an estimated 15 words-per-minute (WPM) and enjoyed a traditional continuous wave (CW) chat. The KF6 station ran 90-watts into a horizontal loop whose RST was 579 according to the filter between my ears. We exchanged weather reports and requested QSLs. The picture features our faithful companion Radio Dawg who sits through contesting and DXing adventures. 73 from the low-power, low-profile shack...

Reference:

Oldies Lyrics (2007). Waiting for the Sun Retrieved on April 22, 2007 from http://www.oldielyrics.com/lyrics/the_doors/waiting_for_the_sun.html.