Southern California Contest Club
ARRL Field Day: June 22-23 IARU HF World Championship: July 13-14 NAQP RTTY: July 20-21
ARRL Field Day: June 22-23 IARU HF World Championship: July 13-14 NAQP RTTY: July 20-21
Officers
President: Dick Norton, N6AA n6aa[at]arrl[dot]net
Secretary, Treasurer, Membership: Bruce Horn, WA7BNM bhorn[at]hornucopia[dot]com
Webmaster: Dennis Younker, NE6I ne6i[at]cox[dot]net
Secretary, Treasurer, Membership: Bruce Horn, WA7BNM bhorn[at]hornucopia[dot]com
Webmaster: Dennis Younker, NE6I ne6i[at]cox[dot]net
Members E-Mail Reflector
Information on how to subscribe to the reflector is available at http://lists.contesting.com/mailman/listinfo/sccc/
To post a message to the reflector, send an e-mail to: sccc@contesting.com
An archive of reflector messages is available at: Reflector Archive
Reflector Administrator: Doug Brandon, N6RT n6rt[at]arrl[dot]net
To post a message to the reflector, send an e-mail to: sccc@contesting.com
An archive of reflector messages is available at: Reflector Archive
Reflector Administrator: Doug Brandon, N6RT n6rt[at]arrl[dot]net
Membership Badges
Purchase Membership Badge: The Sign Man See sample here.
Monthly News (SCCCORE)
June 2019
Our own Bruce, WA7BNM has been inducted into the CQ Magazine Contest Hall of Fame! Bruce works very quietly behind the scenes but has made huge contributions to the amateur radio contest world over the years! Witness 3830scores.org and the WA7BNM Contest Calendar to name just two of many. Thanks, Bruce, for all that you do! ARRL's article on the subject can be found here.
Several issues ago, I mentioned that there were many amateur radio podcasts out there for our listening pleasure. ARRL has a new one out now, launched a couple of months ago, called "So Now What?" This podcast is geared toward newcomers to our hobby. It's may not be something that most SCCCers would be interested in listening to but if you know someone new to our hobby, interested in it or returning to amateur radio, you might pass this one along to them. The podcast can be listened to online or on a smartphone or tablet. More information on So What Now can be found on the ARRL web site. I find podcasts great to listen to on my drive to and from the office, or while relaxing in the backyard. Wherever you listen, podcasts are a lot of fun and often educational.
On May 5, DX-WORLD.net and a other sites shared the very sad news that we lost Monk Apollo, SV2ASP/1. While not a contester per se, I believe I have seen evidence of him participating casually in some contests. More importantly, he was the most active ham on Mt. Athos (Monk Iakovos, SV2RSG has been reported to occasionally be active, and in fact participated in the 2016 WPX CW contest. A search on QRZ.com shows only these two as licensed there.). There have been a few attempts to get DXpeditions approved there but all have failed. The governing body there is very protective of the monastery and grounds and has not allowed outsiders to operate from there. Monk Apollo provided many with a DXCC counter. It's now likely that Mt. Athos will quickly rise from its position of #20 most wanted on Clublog to a place in the top 5. You can read a little about Monk Apollo on his QRZ.com page. Also, SV1DPI wrote about his friend, Monk Apollo, here. Also, the ARRL posted this article.
more
ARRL has published the final results of the Sweepstakes CW contest held last November. Southwestern Division winners include SCCCers:
Ken, K6LA, Single Op, High Power and George, W6AYC, Single Op, Low Power.
Final results of SS Phone show K6AM winning the Multi Single High Power category! SCCC placed 3rd in teh Medium Club category with 2.55 million points.
CQ has published the final results of the 2018 CQWW DX CW contest. They report that while the excitement is always high, the number of entities worked in 2018 was down to its lowest level in the past ten years, 194 versus a high of 263. That said, Dan, N6MJ piloted ZF1A to 4th place World Single OP HP All Band! There is a great writeup by Dan in the mag about the annual competition in this contest between him and good friend Chris, KL9A. Chris (at TI7W) took this year's battle, and now has won 2 of 3 over Dan. In the article, Dan says they are investigating potential stations for next year's contest. I suggest the two of you swap 2018's stations for 2019. What say? Ken, K6LA piloted VY2TT to 8th in that category! Axel, KI6RRN placed 3rd USA Single Op LP All Band. SCCC 8th in the USA Club category, about 1.5 million points behind NCCC. We had 72 entrants versus their 95. Be sure to get on in November and submit your score for SCCC!
NCJ published the final results of the January NAQP SSB. N5ZO, KI6RRN, W6TK and W6AFA all placed in the top ten in W6. SCCC#1 placed 12th in the team category.
Final results of the 7th Call Area QSO Party (7QP) are out. This one is somewhat popular with SCCCers even though we are a bit close to work W7's on the higher bands. That said, Alex, W6AFA took first place in the Single Op HP Phone division for non-7's. John, N6MU took first place in the Single Op LP CW catergory for those outside of W7. Tim, N6GP placed 3rd in the same category. You'll find some other SCCCers sprinkled in the final results here.
As you may recall, I sent a donation in the name of SCCC to Team Exuberance for the youngsters planned trip to K3LR to operate in the WPX SSB contest. The kids (including our own Levi, K6JO) did very, very well. The team sent us a thank you card for our donation. Click the image on the right for a larger view.
DAYTON HAMVENTION 2019!
The big announcement at Hamvention this year was from the guys at Elecraft! This should be interesting! The highly respected Elecraft K3 and K3S have been the choice of many top contesters and DXers for many years. Now, coming on the scene is the newly announced K4 and K4D! the P3 panadapter is no longer required! Elecraft describes the new user graphic user interface as super easy to use. The K4 has a new HDMI output with a few different video outputs available, and more to follow. They plan to have a 2m/440 option in the near future. The K4D is a step up and includes a diversity receiver, opening still more options on HF. But wait, there will be a K4HD too! This one will be especially good for contesters. All upgradable from the base K4. Check it out here! There are also many other videos on the K4 on the web. It sounds like a very well thought out, very modern rig!
Watch an interview with Elecraft here.
Whew! My head is spinning! Can't wait to see some reviews! Elecraft is expecting to ship the first orders around the end of this year... K4 $3,999, ATU $399, K4D $500 extra (factory MSRP). More photos can be found here.
Also announced at Dayton was the introduction of the RF-KIT RF2K-S legal limit solid state amplifier available from DX Engineering. The amplifier also does 1 KW out on 6 meters. Watch the video here.
And a new HF clock with satellite tracking and solar index plus grayline. You can check this one out here.
Of interest to low power contesters perhaps was the announcement of the Mission RGO One, an all new homebrew HF transcievier. See it here.
SDRplay announced its new RSPduo dual-tuner 14-bit SDR receiver. Check it out!
Flex Radio announced its new multiFLEX software (2 operators, 1 radio). Learn more here and here.
ARRL has announced that LOTW is now accepting contacts for the new FT4 contest mode. In order to submit FT4 QSLs, you will need to run TQSL manually and let it install the new config.xml file. The ARRL announcement can be found here. And in case you missed it, there is also a new version of TQSL (v2.4.7).
Bruce, WA7BNM announced a new addition to his 3830scores.com web site. The new feature is an Activity Tracker. It allows one to select a given club and see submitted claimed scores over a number of time periods (up to one year). SCCC scores are tied to the Club Roster. Other clubs are tied to the operator's submission to the site. I am finding this to be a really nice addition! Click the "Activity Trackers" button on the top menu.
Strange but true...
Do animals grieve their own? Perhaps so--at least some animals. When an elephant dies, other elephants in the herd will cover the body with leaves and branches, and often will stay with it for days.
73 for now,
--Dennis NE6I
less
Several issues ago, I mentioned that there were many amateur radio podcasts out there for our listening pleasure. ARRL has a new one out now, launched a couple of months ago, called "So Now What?" This podcast is geared toward newcomers to our hobby. It's may not be something that most SCCCers would be interested in listening to but if you know someone new to our hobby, interested in it or returning to amateur radio, you might pass this one along to them. The podcast can be listened to online or on a smartphone or tablet. More information on So What Now can be found on the ARRL web site. I find podcasts great to listen to on my drive to and from the office, or while relaxing in the backyard. Wherever you listen, podcasts are a lot of fun and often educational.
On May 5, DX-WORLD.net and a other sites shared the very sad news that we lost Monk Apollo, SV2ASP/1. While not a contester per se, I believe I have seen evidence of him participating casually in some contests. More importantly, he was the most active ham on Mt. Athos (Monk Iakovos, SV2RSG has been reported to occasionally be active, and in fact participated in the 2016 WPX CW contest. A search on QRZ.com shows only these two as licensed there.). There have been a few attempts to get DXpeditions approved there but all have failed. The governing body there is very protective of the monastery and grounds and has not allowed outsiders to operate from there. Monk Apollo provided many with a DXCC counter. It's now likely that Mt. Athos will quickly rise from its position of #20 most wanted on Clublog to a place in the top 5. You can read a little about Monk Apollo on his QRZ.com page. Also, SV1DPI wrote about his friend, Monk Apollo, here. Also, the ARRL posted this article.
more
ARRL has published the final results of the Sweepstakes CW contest held last November. Southwestern Division winners include SCCCers:
Ken, K6LA, Single Op, High Power and George, W6AYC, Single Op, Low Power.
Final results of SS Phone show K6AM winning the Multi Single High Power category! SCCC placed 3rd in teh Medium Club category with 2.55 million points.
CQ has published the final results of the 2018 CQWW DX CW contest. They report that while the excitement is always high, the number of entities worked in 2018 was down to its lowest level in the past ten years, 194 versus a high of 263. That said, Dan, N6MJ piloted ZF1A to 4th place World Single OP HP All Band! There is a great writeup by Dan in the mag about the annual competition in this contest between him and good friend Chris, KL9A. Chris (at TI7W) took this year's battle, and now has won 2 of 3 over Dan. In the article, Dan says they are investigating potential stations for next year's contest. I suggest the two of you swap 2018's stations for 2019. What say? Ken, K6LA piloted VY2TT to 8th in that category! Axel, KI6RRN placed 3rd USA Single Op LP All Band. SCCC 8th in the USA Club category, about 1.5 million points behind NCCC. We had 72 entrants versus their 95. Be sure to get on in November and submit your score for SCCC!
NCJ published the final results of the January NAQP SSB. N5ZO, KI6RRN, W6TK and W6AFA all placed in the top ten in W6. SCCC#1 placed 12th in the team category.
Final results of the 7th Call Area QSO Party (7QP) are out. This one is somewhat popular with SCCCers even though we are a bit close to work W7's on the higher bands. That said, Alex, W6AFA took first place in the Single Op HP Phone division for non-7's. John, N6MU took first place in the Single Op LP CW catergory for those outside of W7. Tim, N6GP placed 3rd in the same category. You'll find some other SCCCers sprinkled in the final results here.
As you may recall, I sent a donation in the name of SCCC to Team Exuberance for the youngsters planned trip to K3LR to operate in the WPX SSB contest. The kids (including our own Levi, K6JO) did very, very well. The team sent us a thank you card for our donation. Click the image on the right for a larger view.
The big announcement at Hamvention this year was from the guys at Elecraft! This should be interesting! The highly respected Elecraft K3 and K3S have been the choice of many top contesters and DXers for many years. Now, coming on the scene is the newly announced K4 and K4D! the P3 panadapter is no longer required! Elecraft describes the new user graphic user interface as super easy to use. The K4 has a new HDMI output with a few different video outputs available, and more to follow. They plan to have a 2m/440 option in the near future. The K4D is a step up and includes a diversity receiver, opening still more options on HF. But wait, there will be a K4HD too! This one will be especially good for contesters. All upgradable from the base K4. Check it out here! There are also many other videos on the K4 on the web. It sounds like a very well thought out, very modern rig!
Watch an interview with Elecraft here.
Whew! My head is spinning! Can't wait to see some reviews! Elecraft is expecting to ship the first orders around the end of this year... K4 $3,999, ATU $399, K4D $500 extra (factory MSRP). More photos can be found here.
Also announced at Dayton was the introduction of the RF-KIT RF2K-S legal limit solid state amplifier available from DX Engineering. The amplifier also does 1 KW out on 6 meters. Watch the video here.
And a new HF clock with satellite tracking and solar index plus grayline. You can check this one out here.
Of interest to low power contesters perhaps was the announcement of the Mission RGO One, an all new homebrew HF transcievier. See it here.
SDRplay announced its new RSPduo dual-tuner 14-bit SDR receiver. Check it out!
Flex Radio announced its new multiFLEX software (2 operators, 1 radio). Learn more here and here.
ARRL has announced that LOTW is now accepting contacts for the new FT4 contest mode. In order to submit FT4 QSLs, you will need to run TQSL manually and let it install the new config.xml file. The ARRL announcement can be found here. And in case you missed it, there is also a new version of TQSL (v2.4.7).
Bruce, WA7BNM announced a new addition to his 3830scores.com web site. The new feature is an Activity Tracker. It allows one to select a given club and see submitted claimed scores over a number of time periods (up to one year). SCCC scores are tied to the Club Roster. Other clubs are tied to the operator's submission to the site. I am finding this to be a really nice addition! Click the "Activity Trackers" button on the top menu.
Strange but true...
Do animals grieve their own? Perhaps so--at least some animals. When an elephant dies, other elephants in the herd will cover the body with leaves and branches, and often will stay with it for days.
73 for now,
--Dennis NE6I
less
SCCC Monthly Poll
June 2019
Click here for the this month's SCCC monthly poll. Our May, 2019 poll was "Have you ever operated mobile or portable in a contest (not a DXpedition)? 35% said both, 35% said no, 20% said portable and 10% said mobile. Our April, 2019 poll was "For manual CW sending, what do you use?" 65% of our respondents said a keyer. 35% said contest software. 12% said a straight key
and 5% said a bug. 8% said other. Our March, 2019 poll was "What logging software do you use in contests?" 75% of our respondents said N1MM+. 10% said Writelog and another 10% said N3FJP. 5% each said
TRLog/TR4W, Win-test or other. Our February, 2019 poll was "Do you use high, low or QRP power in contests?" 56% of our respondents said high power. 21% said low power and 13% said QRP. Our January, 2019 poll was "What brand of radio to you use primarily in contests?" 25% of our respondents said Yaesu. 18.75% said Kenwood. 12.5% said Icom. 6.25% said Flex, & 43.75% said Other. We should have included Elecraft! Our December, 2018 poll was "Have you ever hosted a guest operator at your station?" 11% of our respondents said yes. 89% said no. Our November, 2018 poll was "Have you ever operated multi-op in a contest (home or away)?" 80% of our respondents said yes. 20% said no. Our October, 2018 poll was "What is your favorite contest mode?" 76% of our respondents favored CW. 12% favored SSB and 6% favored RTTY. 6% had no favorite mode. Our September, 2018 poll was "What is your favorite contest?" CQP took the top spot. CQWW DX, WPX, NA Sprint and Sweepstakes all tied for second.
For Sale or Wanted
Contact webmaster if you have something to list.
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WANTED
Looking for a good 6 meter amplifier. Prefer 1000 watts output or more continuous but will consider as low as 600 watts. Solid state or tube okay. Send details, pictures and asking price to NE6I via QRZ email address. Posted 9 June 2019 
West Mountain Radio RIGblaster Advantage
Purchased a couple of years ago but never used. West Mountain list price is $209.95. $100 + $10 shipping Seller: Jim, K6ZH jnprice [at] pacbell [dot] net Posted 3 March 2019 
Complete Kenwood TS-50 radio station. Radio and tuner have some scratches on the covers and the radio tuning knob has a small crack. The TS-50 front display panel lights are not working. Other than the panel lights I do not know of anything else wrong with the setup. It is being sold AS-IS. You can plug it into the wall or hook up to a battery. All interconnecting cables are included. Just open the case -- hook it up to your antenna--power it up and you are good to go! Included in the ZERO Centurion Elite water repellent case is-- Kenwood TS-50 with Kenwood Microphone and CAT interface (TTL converter NOT included) with mounting bracket. Kenwood AT-50 antenna tuner with connecting cable to TS-50 with mounting bracket. Tokyo Hy-Power 200A 200 watt antenna tuner. I used this for tuning antennas that the AT-50 is not designed for. Yaesu Switching Power Supply FP-757GX. I just used the entire setup for a contest and it worked great on everything from USB to FT8. I used the setup with a 30' end fed wire antenna that is not included. The weight of the loaded ZERO case is 43#. Case outer dimensions are 26" x 9" x 18". $595.00 Seller: Alan, AA6DW alan.corlin [at] gmail[dot]com Posted 9 Oct 2018 
I have a two year-old SteppIR DB36 with 80 M dipole option for sale. The stepper motors, controller, etc all work perfectly, and the boom and trombones/straight fiberglass poles are in good shape. You will likely need to replace some of the small parts (some bolts and Nylock nuts), but can have a working DB-36 for less than half of what it cost new. I'm selling the antenna because the trees near the antenna became so large that tilting it over was becoming impossible, and I purchased a DB-18E to replace it. I have some extra fiberglass poles that I will include, and I guarantee that the antenna will work (motors, etc.). Due to the weight and size, I'm thinking it's going to have to be a pickup in the San Diego area. I might be willing to remove the heat shrink couplings and try to box it if the buyer covers the shipping charges (FedEx ground). Asking $3500 for everything. Seller: Eric, NC6K egruff [at] cox[dot]net Posted 9 Oct 2018, renewed 3 Mar 2019 
Alpha91B (1st photo shows full output on 40m, 2nd photo the amp in its shack locatoin, 3rd photo shows full output on 10m). Uses two tetrodes to develop full legal output at 240 VAC. Very clean and reliable. Power tap is selectable for 120 VAC if desired. Electrical 9.5 out of 10. Physical 8.5 out of 10. Meter know blips on shaft but meter can be selected with a little lateral pressure . No scratches dents or dings. Has 10m enabled. Non-smoking second owner since ~2005. Quiet blower and fan. Extremely quiet T/R relays for QSK. Original manual, box and packing. Transformer has been removed and would be shipped separately from amplifier (or pickup in San Diego!). Front panel layout similar to OM-2500HF. Demo video showing full output on 20m into a dummy load. Asking $2,200. Will entertain offers. Seller: Rick, N6CY n6cy [at] arrl[dot]net Posted 8 Oct 2018 (updated 23 Oct 2018) |
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State QSO Parties
2019
Contest University and Visalia Contest Academy Presentations - N6TV
June 2019
Bob, N6TV from the Northern California Contest Club has made available his 2019 Contest University and Visalia Contest Academy PowerPoint Presentations. These are some really good reads. Thanks, Bob!
Video: Beginners Guide to Contesting
June 2019
Video: WRTC 2018 - The Movie
March 2019
All Asian CW Claimed Scores
June 2019
N5ZO SOABHP 173,558 WA6URY SOABHP 16,055
W6AX (K6AW) SOABHP 66,230 K0XP SOSB40LP 6,327
WN6K SOABHP 43,680 W6ZL SOSB20LP 16
ARRL VHF June Claimed Scores
June 2019
W6IT SOLP 25,155 W6ZL SO3BLP 572
N6GP/R SOHP 10,496 AI6O SO3BLP 368
N6QQ SOHP 8,892 N6PM SOLP 270
AI6V/R LtdRLP 2,088 AI6DO SO3BLP 168
NC6K SO3BHP 1,242 NE6I SO3BLP 160
K6MUG SOABLP 1,054 N6IC SO 90
W6ZAR SO3BHP 924
NI6E (NI6E + non-members AF6RT, KK6KPW) MOHP 25,641
CQ WPX CW Claimed Scores
May 2019
VY2TT (K6LA) SOABHP 14,344,461 KU6CW (N6CW) SO(A)ABHP 162,306
NO6T (KI6RRN) SOABHP 7,100,322 K6RO SO(A)ABHP 150,165
KH7M (N6TJ) SOABHP 5,568,786 AI6V SOABLP-TBW 149,175
AK6W (K6AW) SO(A)ABHP 1,505,190 W6AYC SOSB20HP 146,278
K6NR SOABHP 1,169,679 W6ZL SOSB20LP-TBW 138,510
NT6Q (N5ZO) SO(A)ABHP 1,143,000 NK6A SOABHP 103,936
W6TK SOABHP 1,005,330 N6IC SOABHP 87,890
WA6KHK SO(A)ABHP 804,168 HP8/NC6Q SOABLP 52,608
WN6K SOABLP 555,849 AI6O SO(A)ABLP-TBW 47,859
W6YA SOABHP 523,128 W6JBR SOABHP 45,541
KG7NV (K6ZH) SO(A)ABLP-TB 482,652 K0XP SOSB40LP 25,315
WA6URY SOABHP 375,023 NI6W SO/ABHP 15,028
N6AA SOABHP 207,168 N6GP SOSB20LP 11,242
KM6Z SOABLP-TBW 206,421 WA7BNM SOSB20LP 6,138
W6QU (@W8QZA) SOABQRP 190,983
AF6O (N6MI, AF6O) M/S HP 2,619,046
7th Area QSO Party Claimed Scores
May 2019
N6MU SOCWLP 95,370 N6HE SOMHP 17,632
AI6O SOCWLP 21,060 WA6URY SOMHP 3,444
KK6M SOACWHP 18,315
CQ WPX SSB Claimed Scores
March 2019
NO6T (KI6RRN) SOABHP 5,320,854 W6JBR SOABHP 60,030
W6TK SOABHP 1,436,160 K6FG SOABHP 45,108
WN6K SOABLP 293,620 WA7BNM SOSB20LP 20,290
WA6KHK SOABAHP 99,864 WA6URY SOABHP 9,728
W6QU (W8QZA) SOABQRP 94,772 AI6O SOABLP 4,263
K6RO SOABAHP 80,580
AK6W @W6RFU (K6AW, KA6KEN, W6AAF) MSHP 960,157
