Southern California Contest Club
CQ WW DX SSB: October 25-26 ARRL Sweepstakes CW: November 1-3 NA Sprint SSB: November 23
CQ WW DX SSB: October 25-26 ARRL Sweepstakes CW: November 1-3 NA Sprint SSB: November 23
A Collection of Past SCCC News Stories (Newest to Oldest)
Club Meeting
May 2015
I really agree with those who have said today's SCCC meeting was a good one. I think it was one of the best club meetings I've
ever attended and I attended a LOT of club meetings during four terms as an ARRL vice director.
Dick Norton led an excellent discussion of major issues in amateur radio and contesting. About 50 people were there, maybe more.
Among the highlights:
*Dick asked for a show of hands of those who had been licensed less than 20 years. No hands went up. (That has all sorts of implications for the future of contesting and amateur radio itself. I would guess that the majority of those in attendance have been licensed more than 50 years.)
*Dick asked how many live in places with deed restrictions limiting antennas. I believe seven hands went up.
*Also, Dick asked about the prevalence of TVI/RFI problems and problems of noise generated by neighbors' electronic devices. Interference TO neighbors seems to be a far less serious problem than it once was, but interference FROM neighbors is getting worse. Our host, N6HC, said that when one neighbor turns on a plasma TV, it basically puts him off the air.
*There was a fascinating discussion of the pros and cons of remote ham radio operation. Some cited horror stories about stations signing a call sign from a different continent than their transmitter site during a contest, with no indication of that fact. Others noted that remote operating can be a solution for those who cannot put up antennas at home.
*The prognosis for a legislative override of deed restrictions does not appear to be good. (The basic problem, IMHO, is that over the last 50 years there was been a growing consensus among developers, urban planners and lenders that amateur radio antennas are not compatible with the environment in planned communities. By now more than 60 million Americans live in communities that have CC&Rs restricting antennas. Many CC&Rs forbid not only antennas but also operating a "shortwave" radio station in the community.) Dick mentioned a new League publication citing public service by hams nationwide. The pamphlet is an outgrowth of W6XD's club talks about the way amateur radio has been marginalized in recent years while ARRL has not adequately publicized ham radio's contributions.
This isn't intended to be either a news story about the meeting or a set of minutes of the meeting. I just thought I'd share some of what I heard.
73, Wayne, N6NB close
Dick Norton led an excellent discussion of major issues in amateur radio and contesting. About 50 people were there, maybe more.
Among the highlights:
*Dick asked for a show of hands of those who had been licensed less than 20 years. No hands went up. (That has all sorts of implications for the future of contesting and amateur radio itself. I would guess that the majority of those in attendance have been licensed more than 50 years.)
*Dick asked how many live in places with deed restrictions limiting antennas. I believe seven hands went up.
*Also, Dick asked about the prevalence of TVI/RFI problems and problems of noise generated by neighbors' electronic devices. Interference TO neighbors seems to be a far less serious problem than it once was, but interference FROM neighbors is getting worse. Our host, N6HC, said that when one neighbor turns on a plasma TV, it basically puts him off the air.
*There was a fascinating discussion of the pros and cons of remote ham radio operation. Some cited horror stories about stations signing a call sign from a different continent than their transmitter site during a contest, with no indication of that fact. Others noted that remote operating can be a solution for those who cannot put up antennas at home.
*The prognosis for a legislative override of deed restrictions does not appear to be good. (The basic problem, IMHO, is that over the last 50 years there was been a growing consensus among developers, urban planners and lenders that amateur radio antennas are not compatible with the environment in planned communities. By now more than 60 million Americans live in communities that have CC&Rs restricting antennas. Many CC&Rs forbid not only antennas but also operating a "shortwave" radio station in the community.) Dick mentioned a new League publication citing public service by hams nationwide. The pamphlet is an outgrowth of W6XD's club talks about the way amateur radio has been marginalized in recent years while ARRL has not adequately publicized ham radio's contributions.
This isn't intended to be either a news story about the meeting or a set of minutes of the meeting. I just thought I'd share some of what I heard.
73, Wayne, N6NB close
CQ World Wide WPX CW Claimed Scores
May 2015
VY2TT(K6LA) SOABHP 13,991,520 W6QU(W8QZA) SOABQRP 653,221
N5ZO SOABHP 5,077,104 NE6I SOAABHP 519,256
W6TK SOAABHP 3,611,046 N6AA SOABHP 369,834
K6NR SOABHP 2,457,312 AI6O SOABHP 340,101
AH7T(N6MI) SOABHP 2,066,075 WA6URY SOABHP 322,964
WA6KHK SOAABHP 1,453,830 NK6A SOAABHP 309,075
WN6K SOABLP 1,178,165 NC6Q SOAABHP 86,020
N6MU SOABLP 660,104 W6KC SOAABHP 44,250
WQ6X (N6KI N6CY W6JBR WQ6X K4VU N0DY W6RW WB6NBU K4RB W6QEG) M2HP 9,236,016
Blast From The Past - NE6I
January 2015
While filing some QSLs this afternoon, I ran across one of my cards from the SCCC 1986 XE2SI CQWW CW operation. There were a couple of years in the mid-1980s when the club went down and operated field day style. I got a chance to go with the gang in 1983. It was a blast.
73 Dennis NE6I
CQ World Wide DX Contest CW Claimed Scores
November 2014
VY2TT(K6LA) SOABHP 11,501,145 XE2MX SOABLP 536,846
ZD8O(N5ZO) SOABHP 10,747,094 K7ACZ SOABLP 457,595
HR2J(N6AA) SOABHP 7,087,350 W6YA SOSBHP 447,435
KH7M(N6TJ) SOABHP 5,843,271 W6JK SOABHP 319,716
K6NA SOABHP 4,173,624 N6HE SOABHP 286,620
W6PH SOABAHP 4,020,624 K6DDJ SOABHP 257,881
W6TK SOABAHP 1,776,600 W6QU(W8QZA) SOABQRP 233,079
AA6PW SOABAHP 1,554,630 WA6URY SOABHP 134,693
N6RV SOABLP 1,476,200 NK6A SOSBAHP 133,104
WN6K SOABLP 819,153 N6KI@NX6T SOABAQRP 132,164
WA6KHK SOABALP 697,600 W6LEN SOABLP 78,642
W6UM SOABHP 600,541 KI6QDH SOABAHP 32,928
N6MI@AF6O (N6MI, AF6O) M1HP 1,564,028
During the CQ WW DX CW contest (November 29-30, UTC), Scott N6MI (little pistol) was guest operator at the AF6O (big gun) station in Pinon Hills, California (DM14ej).With help from Jim (AF6O), Sheila, and Scamp (the dog), N6MI piloted the station to a gross score of 1,564,028. This included 1,456 QSOs, 120 total zones, and 268 country multipliers (80 through 10 meters).
N6MI's best band was ten meters (428 QSOs, 30 zones, and 76 countries). Conditions were excellent on most bands, though N6MI recalls that conditions were "5% better" in the October CQ WW DX SSB. Both contests included long runs on 10 meters on Saturday morning (California time). Often, the biggest problem was where to point the beam because the bands were almost always open in more than one direction.
N6MI was very impressed with the twin AF6O delta loops on 40 meters. N6MI reports that some European stations just popped out of the noise on the EU-VK loop.
N6MI's highlights include: being called by a VU2; working deep Asians during the entire contest; working Europe on 40 in the early evening; proper English tea breaks;
breaking most pileups with the first or second call; the Sunday sunrise (windy with angry clouds); taking naps on a real bed (instead of the floor of the N6MI contest van);
the luxury of operating without having to drive to a remote location in the ham van; and making AF6O laugh with silly CW frivolity.N6MI had a macro for "AF6O is at the paddle" (to be played at appropriate times during the contest). N6MI acknowledges that his CW is substantially better on Saturday, when he is rested. N6MI was pleased with the meal service provided to guest operators; AF6O would not confirm that this service is available to all visitors.
CQ World Wide DX Contest SSB Claimed Scores
October 2014
VY2TT(K6LA) SOABAHP 9,441,090
W6YI SOABHP 2,485,120
N6QQ SOABHP 1,273,140
N6RV SOABLP 1,067,776
N6MI+K6VCR M1HP 1,025,387
W6QU(W8QZA) SOABQRP 343,869
W6TK SOSBAHP 335,895
N6WS SOABALP 328,280
W6JK SOABHP 319,658
WA6KHK SOABLP 262,782
WA7BNM SOSBLP 209,042
WN6K SOSBLP 149,073
NK6A SOSBHP 52,689
Breakdown of Radios and Loggers Used at WRTC
July 2014
Radios Used at WRTC Loggers Used at WRTC
K3 75 63.6% Win-Test 40 67.8%
FTDX5000 8 6.8% N1MM 15 25.4%
TS590 7 5.9% Writelog 2 3.4%
IC7600 6 5.0% SkookumLogger 1 1.7%
FT1000MP 6 5.0% DXLog 1 1.7%
IC7800 4 3.4% TOTAL 59 100%
IC756-3 4 3.4%
FT1000D 2 1.7%
FT3000 2 1.7%
ORION II 2 1.7%
IC7700 1 0.8%
TS850 1 0.8%
TOTAL 118 100%
IARU HF Championship
July 2014
K6LA SOHPMIX 1,305,472 NK6A SOHPMIX 135,172
K6NR SOHPCW 590,178 KI6QDH SOLPMIX 49,819
N6MI SOHPMIX 397,846 W6TK SOLPCW 47,679
N6QQ SOHPMIX 181,632
NX6T (N6KI, KL7SB, WB6NBU, NN6X, NA6L) MSHP 997,084
WA6URY MSHP 111,696
World Champions N6MJ and KL9A
July 2014
Another Gavel for SCCC - N6NB
June 2014
SCCC has won still another gavel in a VHF contest, our eleventh (11th) during the last four years. But it could be our last gavel for a while.The results of the January, 2014 VHF Contest are in the just-released digital edition of the July, 2014 QST.
Capture The Flag T Hunt - Anthony Cioffi N2KI
June 2014
Well hello everyone! Today was our Capture The Flag Fox Hunt sponsored by the Hudson Valley Direction Finding Association of Orange County NY. This was the first
event of its kind in this area and I am happy to report, a success.We had two teams made up of four hunters each. TEAM EAST was comprised of K2STN (Team Captain), KB2SSZ, WA2KOT and WM2C. TEAM WEST was comprised of AC2O (Team Captain), N2KI, N2DBD and KC2YYF.
The event promptly started at 10 am with a four hour time limit. The WEST team hid their transmitter in Highland State Park.
Promptly at 10am the transmitters were activated. Both teams were required to take their first bearing from where they hid their transmitter. more
From the TEAM WEST location, we all concurred on the first bearing of 133 degrees. We then set out in different directions to obtain more bearings so as to
triangulate the signal.KC2YYF heading east and N2KI headed south west. AC2O and N2DBD followed along the bearing zigzagging their way and obtaining bearings on the move. With AC2O's setup, it made this very easy to do.
All the while, we coordinated our information on a local repeater. It didn't matter if TEAM EAST heard us discussing our data because they had a different mission. A couple of more bearings from N2KI put the signal into Goose Pond Mountain State Park a little over 12 miles away. This was confirmed by AC2O and N2DBD.
Driving west along Rt 17M, just as I was passing the park I was able to tune 10 kilocycles off and still have a full scale signal. So it was surely in this area.
TEAM WEST members all arrived at the parking area just about the same time. Using a 4MHz active attenuator proved to be the tool to use for sniffing out a 5 watt
transmitter in close proximity. It is really amazing how you can just walk up to the transmitter using this method with a tape measure beam.One hour and twenty-one minutes after the start, we had found the box. Victory TEAM WEST! We dialed the phone number on the box and read the code statement affixed to signify we had found it.
TEAM EAST continued on to pursue the WESTS' transmitter to further hone their skills, they successfully found it by about 1 pm. What a great job by all the participants. We all had a great time and are looking forward to the next event!
Information and photos from this event will be put on the HVDFA website soon. That's it for this edition from the HVDFA, Orange County NY. close
Members Well Placed in 7QP Results
June 2014
WN6K Second Place SOHPMIXED
AF6O First Place SOHPCW
W6AFA First Place SOHPPH
N6MU First Place SOLPCW
WA6KHK Second Place SOLPPH
NX6T Second Place MSHP
W6TK Third Place MSLP
Upcoming June VHF Contest - N6NB (Mouseover for full story)
June 2014
The VHF contest is June 14-15. A number of SCCC members will be active, some at home, some on mountaintops and some roving. Unfortunately, it does not appear likely
that we will have as many stations on as we did last year, when SCCC won the gavel for the highest aggregate score of any medium size club in the country.Probably the largest multioperator effort will be headed up by Dave Smith, W6TE, on Frazier Mountain. His team will be using a motor home, a fifth wheel trailer and several other vehicles plus at least four generators and equipment for every band through 10 GHz. Among those planning to join W6TE on Frazier are K6MI, K6ZMW, W6YLZ, WA6WTF and WB2WIK.
N6MI and K6VCR will be on a mountain near Barstow, using Scott's converted TV news van. They will be on all bands through 1296.
NI6E and K6EPP are planning to tow their newly built tower trailer to the desert east of Chiriaco Summit in DM23. Look for them especially on six meters.
N6TEB and K6WCI may operate at N6NB's hilltop house in Orange County--or they may rove. If they are at N6NB's house, they will operate separately using two completely independent stations for all bands through 10 GHz. They were not sure what they would do at this writing.
Carole, W6TTF, will be roving with 10 bands, mainly to provide rare microwave multipliers for the W6TE group. N6NB may rove, but probably on a limited basis. Several others who have roved in recent years will be unavailable this year for a variety of reasons.
June SCCC Meeting
June 2014
At the meeting it was discovered that some members are still using flip phones! photo: N6NB
N6HC W6SQC N6MU AF6O
CQ World Wide WPX CW Claimed Scores
May 2014
VY2TT(K6LA) SOABHP 12,378,037 WA6URY SOABHP 183,201 AF6O SOABHP 2,025,058 W6QU(W8QZA) SOABQRP 134,196 W6TK SOABHP 2,019,020 ZM3T(W3SE) SOASBLP 125,160 WN6K SOABLP 924,8464 NO6T(N6NC) SOASBHP 101,982 N6MU SOABLP 304,300 WQ6X@NX6T M2HP (K4RB KB7V N0DY N6CY N6EEG N6KI NN6X WA2OOB WB6NBU WQ6X) 9,619,592 N6MI MSHP (N6MI NB6E) 2,227,722
N6MI CONTEST VAN IN MONTEREY
ARRL Centennial: Southern California Operation - SoCal Coordinator K6NA
February 2014
SCCC is the host club of record for the Southern California operation using W1AW/6 as part of the
ARRL Centennial year celebrations. The regional activity is coordinated by K6NA.The week of operation begins at 0000UTC Feb 12th and ends at 2359:59UTC on Feb 18th. Active stations who can put out a strong, clean signal, and handle pileups of domestic and DX stations, may apply to be a W1AW/6 Host station.
Hosts must be ARRL members, but Hosts may invite non-members to operate as guests. Please download and read Rules and Guidelines for Operating. Use a logging program which can produce ADIF files.
Please access www.arrl.org/centennial-qso-party to learn details. The goal is to put W1AW/6 on the air and make thousands of contacts from several sites in the Southwestern Division
more
All bands and modes may be used from distributed locations, simultaneously, but it is critical to avoid same-mode, same-band duplication in a given time slot. Hence you must coordinate with K6NA for your assignments, which can be chosen in two-hour time slots (start 0200Z- start 1600Z)as indicated in our schedule below.
Study the existing UTC schedule by day of week. Determine open time slots which you can support. Choose band and mode for each slot desired. Use the Request Form,
visible below the assignment schedule. Your Host request and data choices will be auto-sent to K6NA. The schedule will be updated often.If you prefer to make a direct email request, follow this format in the message body:
FEB 14 0400Z-0559Z 40m SSB
FEB 17 2200Z-2359Z 80m RTTY
Add as many lines as you can support. Send email to: k6na at cts dot com Your phone number is required. Every effort will be made to accommodate your requests, but if changes are needed, K6NA will contact you. Do not assume you have authorization until you see your call sign block assignments updated on this website schedule!
Multi-ops & club stations K6NX(KI6X) W6TRW(N6ED) W6RFU(AC6T) NX6T(NØDY) members must contact their individual coordinator.
NAQP CW Claimed Scores
January 2014
N6WIN(N6MJ) SO 312,232 N6MU SO 99,530 K6LA SO 243,110 N6ER SO 85,644 AF6O SO 204,048 KI6VC SO 56,854 N6AN(@W6UE) SO 195,720 N6GP SO 52,448 AC6T(@W6RFU) SO 177,240 N6NC SO 43,070 K6NR SO 176,730 W6TK SO 40,018 XE2MX SO 161,766 N5ZO SO 35,100 NX6T(N0DY) SO 135,872 WA6URY SO 15,664 WN6K SO 114,872 SCCC #1 (N6WIN(N6MJ),K6LA,AC6T,N6AN,K6NR) 1,105,032 SCCC #2 (NX6T(N0DY),WN6K,XE2MX,AF6O,KI6VC) 673,412 SCCC #3 (W6TK,N6GP,N6NC,K6NA) 135,536
CQ World Wide DX Contest CW Claimed Scores
November 2013
HR2J(N6AA) SOABHP 6,626,073 WA6URY SOABHP 327,642 K6NA SOABHP 3,571,020 W6KY SOABALP 202,261 K6NR SOABHP 1,396,440 NE6I SOABAHP 154,936 N6RV SOABLP 1,191,330 W6SJ 111,800 W6TK SOABAHP 1,121,956 WN6K SOABALP 96,596 N6WS SOABAHP 1,107,288 KQ6ES SOSBHP 86,526 AA6PW SOABAHP 1,000,494 AF6O SOSBLP 83,884 N6MU SOABLP 522,368 NK6A SOSBHP 66,785 N6PE SOABHP 501,847 N6IC 57,477 N6MI SOABHP 473,344 W6GMU SOABLP 53,988 W6QU(W8QZA) SOABQRP 374,680 WA7BNM SOSBLP 2,280 ZF1A (K6AM M4PN K5YAA) M/S HP 16,166,214 OC4CW (K6ZH N7CW OA4TT) (1/3 points to SCCC) M/S HP 11,838,694 NX6T (N6KI WQ6X N0DY K4RB NN6X N6EEG) M/2 HP 5,473,380
NX6T MULTI 2:
Very good condx from start til Sunday morning when A index shot up to 8 and 10 and 15 mtrs didn't play as well as Saturday afternoon. Had a fun time running
Multi-Two so our multi-op group were kept busy for all but 1.5 hours. This was the most QSOs we have done from our portable site and hope to keep improving on station setup and antennas in the future. 70 ft Tower Trailer w/ 2el 40, 3el SteppIR 80m & 160m Inv V Dipoles. 40 ft Tower Trailer w/ 2el 40, 3el SteppIR. 2 K3s, 2 ACOM 2000A Amps. - N6KI
N6MI CONTEST VAN:
J. Scott Bovitz, N6MI, is an enthusiastic little pistol and a proud member of the Southern California Contest Club.
Business prevented Bovitz from enjoying the recent surge in sunspots (the second peak), so he was hell-bent on participating in the 2013 CQ WW DX CW contest in late November.After studying the weather.gov pages, Bovitz drove 200 miles looking for a break in the rain and snow. Finally, the rain stopped for a few hours south of Mojave. Bovitz camped on a small rise with a good view in most directions. Bovitz was three hours late into the contest and exhausted, so he worked a few folks and went to bed. The rain started again and did not stop for 24 hours.
Bovitz woke at dawn on Saturday and found his milk was frozen...but the higher bands were hot and never dried up. watch ham van video
California QSO Party Claimed Scores
October 2013
N6WIN(N6MJ) SOHP 371,811 AF6O SOHP 248,414 K6NA(N6ED) SOHP 306,152 AA6PW SOHP 117,936 W6UE(N6AN) SOHP 299,106 NK6A SOHP 76,615 W6TK SOHP 272,546 N6HC SOHP 32,614 K6LA SOHP 268,946 N6QQ SOHP 6,720 W6SX SOHP 256,329
K6AM SOLP 222,585 KQ6ES SOLP 90,324 N6ZFO SOLP 215,122 NK6A SOLP 76,615 WN6K SOLP 164,640 N6MU SOLP 68,000 N0DY/6 SOLP 116,740 WK6I SOLP 4,050
K6QK MSHP 294,872 N6HD MSHP 217,442 NX6T MSHP 275,082 W6RFU MSHP 93,335 K6VO(@K6NR) MSHP 243,504
K6Z MMHP 597,110 K6MI MMHP 391,419
N6MI Kern County Expedition
J. Scott Bovitz, N6MI (www.n6mi.com), made a trip to Kern County for the 2013 California QSO Party. N6MI made more than 1,100 contacts from the Mojave Desert floor in his fully equipped ham van -- complete with a 56' 2" pneumatic mast and a rack mounted Elecraft K3 line. N6MI only missed one multiplier in the United States and Canada. His pain at missing Utah was partially eased by the enthusiastic CQP participation from Europe.
ARRL September VHF Contest Claimed Scores
September 2013
K6FGV/R Rover 223,020
K6AH/R Rover 183,260
N6VI/R Rover 173,145
N6HD/R Rover 165,066
W6TE MOUNL 149,710
N6NB SO/P 114,665
AF6O/R Rover 99,204
KJ6CNO/R Rover 31,270
W6TAI/R Rover 22,960
W6TAI SOLP 280
N6VH SOLP 28
ARRL September VHF Contest
September 2013
N6NB - it was a chance to try out my still-unoccupied house in Panorama Heights. I parked the tower trailer in the driveway and used the same
equipment and antennas that I used in June on Signal Peak. It seems to be a pretty good location.(Starts when fully downloaded)
W6TE - John, K6MI, and I operated the ARRL Sept. VHF contest from 8,000 ft Frazier Mt.
Thanks to the So Cal rovers and others we were able to amass over 150,000 points operating 10 bands. Unfortunately, activity was way down from prior contests.Claimed score: 149,930
Pack Rovers - A pack of six rovers travelled from DM12 (San Diego) to DM06/CM95/CM96 (Kettleman City) for a total of ten grids.
Not all rovers visited all grids. Each rover was equipped with the ten bands between 50MHz and 10GHz. Many contacts were made
with portable stations N6NB and W6TE. Special thanks to W6TAI who made a trip to Gaviota in order to work the pack from CM94
on all ten bands, over an almost all sea path.
