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■ Contest University 2008 at Dayton 

Adds Graduate Courses 

■ Simplifying the Four Square 

■ Tips for Tuning a Full Size 

160 Meter Vertical 

■ Dayton Photo Gallery 

■ July 2008 NAQP 

RTTY Results 

Top Photo: In this issue, Rick 

Tavan, N6XI, follows up on his 

earlier review of the Elecraft 

K3, this time with some new 

options installed. Photo: 

G4AON. 

Photo at Right: (L-R) N5NVP, 

NA5Q, K5ER, W5WZ, KI5XP 

and K5GLS announce the 

formation of the Louisiana 

Contest Club. Details in this 

issue. Photo: W5KGT. 

NCJ: The National Contest Journal 

American Radio Relay League 

225 Main Street • Newington, CT 06111-1494 

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The National Contest Journal 

Volume 36 Number 6 � November/December 2008 

National Contest Journal (ISSN 0899-0131) is published bimonthly in 

January, March, May, July, September and November by the American 

Radio Relay League, 225 Main Street, Newington, CT 06111-1494, 

USA. Periodicals postage paid at Hartford, CT and at additional 

mailing offi ces. 

POSTMASTER: Send address changes to: National Contest Journal, 

225 Main St, Newington, CT 06111-1494, USA. 

Publisher 

American Radio Relay League 

225 Main Street, Newington, CT 06111 

tel: 860-594-0200 

fax: 860-594-0259 (24-hour direct line) 

Electronic Mail: hq@arrl.org 

World Wide Web: www.arrl.org/ 

Editor 

Al Dewey, K0AD 

ncjeditor@ncjweb.com 

Managing Editor 

Rick Lindquist, WW3DE 

ww3de@arrl.org 

NCJ WWW Page 

Bruce Horn, WA7BNM, Webmaster 

www.ncjweb.com 

ARRL Offi cers 

President: Joel M. Harrison, W5ZN 

Executive Vice President: 

David Sumner, K1ZZ 

Contributing Editors 

Gary Sutcliffe, W9XT—Contest Tips, Tricks & Techniques 

Ralph Bellas, K9ZO—Contesting on a Budget 

Jon Jones, NØJK—VHF-UHF Contesting! 

Carl Luetzelschwab, K9LA—Propagation 

Don Hill, AA5AU—RTTY Contesting 

Scott Robbins, W4PA —NCJ and Station Profi les 

Bill Feidt, NG3K—DX Contest Activity Announcements 

Bruce Horn, WA7BNM—Contest Calendar 

Pete Smith, N4ZR—Software for Contesters 

Don Daso, K4ZA—Workshop Chronicles 

Kirk Pickering, K4RO—Contesting 101 

ARRL CAC Representative 

Ned Stearns, AA7A 

7038 E Aster Dr, Scottsdale, AZ 85254 

aa7a@arrl.net 

North American QSO Party, CW 

Bruce Horn, WA7BNM 

4225 Farmdale Ave, Studio City, CA 91604 

ssbnaqp@ncjweb.com 

North American QSO Party, Phone 


4225 Farmdale Ave, Studio City, CA 91604 

ssbnaqp@ncjweb.com 

North American QSO Party, RTTY 

Shelby Summerville, K4WW 

6500 Lantana Ct, Louisville, KY 40229-1544 

rttynaqp@ncjweb.com 

North American Sprint, CW 

Boring Amateur Radio Club 

15125 Bartell Rd, Boring, OR 97009 

cwsprint@ncjweb.com 

North American Sprint, Phone 

Jim Stevens, K4MA 

6609 Vardon Ct, Fuquay-Varina, NC 27526 

ssbsprint@ncjweb.com 

North American Sprint, RTTY 

Ed Muns, WØYK 

PO Box 1877, Los Gatos, CA 95031-1877 

rttysprint@ncjweb.com 

Advertising Information Contact: 

Janet Rocco, tel 860-594-0203; 

fax 860-594-0303; jrocco@arrl.org 

NCJ subscription orders, changes of address, and reports of missing 

or damaged copies should be addressed to ARRL, 225 Main St, 

Newington, CT 06111 and be marked NCJ Circulation. ARRL 

members are asked to include their membership control number or 

their QST mailing label. 

Letters, articles, club newsletters and other editorial material should 

be submitted to NCJ, 14800 38th Pl N, Plymouth, MN 55446. 

The NA Sprint and NA QSO Parties are not sponsored by ARRL. 

Yearly Subscription rates: In the US $20 

US by First Class Mail $28 

International and Canada by airmail $32 

All original material not attributed to another source is copyright 

© 2008 by The American Radio Relay League, Inc. Materials may 

be excerpted from the NCJ without prior permission provided 

that the original contributor is credited, and the NCJ is identifi ed 

as the source. 

In order to insure prompt delivery, we ask that you periodically 

check the address information on your mailing label. If you fi nd any 

inaccuracies, please contact the Circulation Department immediately. 

Thank you for your assistance. 

Table of Contents 

3 Editorial Al Dewey, KØAD 

FEATURES 

4 Contest University 2008 at Dayton Adds Graduate Courses Al Dewey, KØAD 

6 NCJ Review: The Elecraft K3 Revisited Rick Tavan, N6XI 

9 The Birth of the Louisiana Contest Club Scott Dickson, W5WZ 

11 Solving the Long Rotator Cable Problem for Larger Rotators Terry Zivney, N4TZ/9 

12 Distributing Receiving Antennas –– Part 2 Eric L. Scace, K3NA 

17 Simplifying the Four-Square Tony Preedy, G3LNP 

21 Tips for Tuning a Full-Size 160 Meter Verical Jay Terleski, WXØB 

26 Dayton Photo Gallery Thomas Roscoe, K8CX 

COLUMNS 

29 NCJ Profi le Scott Robbins, W4PA 

31 Workshop Chronicles Don Daso, K4ZA 

32 Contest Tips, Tricks and Techniques Gary Sutcliffe, W9XT 

34 VHF-UHF Contesting! Jon K. Jones, NØJK 

35 Contesting 101 Kirk Pickering, K4RO 

37 Contesting on a Budget Ralph Bellas, K9ZO 

38 DX Contest Activity Announcements Bill Feidt, NG3K 

39 RTTY Contesting Ed Muns, WØYK 

40 Contest Calendar Bruce Horn, WA7BNM 

CONTESTS 

41 Results: 2008 West Coast Regional Radio Team Championship 

John Barcroft, K6AM 

43 Results: July 2008 North American QSO Party RTTY 


ADVERTISING INDEX 

Alfa Radio Ltd.: 30 

Array Solutions: Cover II 

ARRL: 42, 47 

Atomic Time: 34 

Better RF Company, The: 3 

Bencher: 10 

Clark Electronics: 36 

ComTek Systems: 8 

DX Engineering: 11 

Elecraft: 48 

Green Heron Engineering LLC: 36 

Icom America: COVER IV 

Idiom Press: 46 

International Radio INRAD: 16 

KØXG Systems: 20 

microHAM America: 5, 16 

Radioware & Radio Bookstore: 33 

RF Parts: 45, 47 

SuperBertha: 33 

Ten-Tec: 1 

Teri Software : 47 

Texas Towers: COVER III 

Top Ten Devices: 48 

Unifi ed Microsystems: 47 

W2IHY Technologies: 30 

Writelog for Windows: 38

Editorial 

Our “Better Halves” 

This summer, I had the pleasure of 

attending the WØDXCC convention in 

Rochester, Minnesota. It was a fun day 

with both a DX track and a contesting 

track. I had a chance to chat with K9LA, 

K7BV, KX9X, N6BV and many others. 

The day was capped off by an evening 

banquet attended by more than 150. At 

the banquet, I was humbled and honored 

to receive the WØ Contester of the Year 

award. I harbor no belief that this means 

I’m the most accomplished contester in 

WØ-Land. Perhaps, however, it was more a 

recognition of how much I love contesting 

and enjoy promoting it any way I can. 

When I returned to the table after receiving 

the award, my wife Marianne looked 

at the plaque and said, “Congratulations 

but, you know, I think there should be 

an award for contesters’ spouses.” As I 

thought about it, I realized that Marianne 

was right on the money. Speaking for 

myself, I wouldn’t be able to be anywhere 

near as active in radiosport if it were not 

for my wife. 

In the fall and winter, she gives up a 

fairly sizeable number of weekends to 

allow me to participate in contests. For 

those contests where I have not abandoned 

her to do a multi somewhere, she 

asks me what times I want my meals and 

what I want for snacks during the contest. 

When I used to run the amplifi er a lot, it 

meant that the TV and telephones were 

all but unusable during the weekend. More 

recently better technology and fi lters have 

helped to resolve this problem. When I put 

up my tower and beam last year and was 

scouring the Internet for used towers and 

antennas, she said to me “Look, why don’t 

you just spend some money, buy new and 

do it right?” 

Perhaps an example that best typifi es 

this support is one that those in the Minnesota 

Wireless Association still kid me 

about. One of the statements on my plaque 

says, “Silver Fist and Silver Zipper.” Here’s 

the back story. 

When Marianne and I married in 1991 

and I started operating the ARRL November 

Sweepstakes from our new home, she 

noticed that I wore the same sweat suit every 

time I operated CW SS. It’s extremely 

comfortable, and I sort of consider it my 

“lucky SS sweat suit.” 

After one Sweepstakes a number of 

years ago, I mentioned to Marianne that 

I might have to retire my favorite contesting 

sweat suit because the zipper was 

broken. Nothing more was said, but the 

following November, as I came out of my 

pre-SS shower, lying on the bed was my 

favorite contesting sweat suit — cleaned, 

pressed and with a brand new silver zipper 

installed! 

I know I’m not alone in appreciating the 

contribution that our better halves make to 

our hobby. We discussed this a while back 

on our local refl ector, and there were some 

other interesting testimonies to true love. 

Several wives of MWAers volunteer to 

drive their husbands around the entire 

state of Minnesota all day on a cold Saturday 

in February to allow them to play 

rover in the Minnesota QSO Party. WØAIH 

tells how his wife Mary accompanies him 

on tower projects and spends the day operating 

the electric winch sending Paul up 

and down the tower. She refers to herself 

as his “winch wench,” and Paul could not 

do what he does without her help. I know 

that there are many others out there who 

are able to enjoy contesting even more 

because of the support we receive from 

our spouses. 

Some spouses have gone on to become 

hams themselves, but even if they haven’t, 

I hope we will all continue to realize how 

important they are to the success and 

enjoyment of our radiosport passion. 

If you have similar stories of support, I 

would be interested in hearing them. 

New Louisiana Contest Club 

In the past I have mentioned my belief 

that contest clubs are crucial to the continued 

growth and enjoyment of contesting. 

Earlier this year K4RO addressed the 

benefi ts of contest clubs in his “Contesting 

101” column. It was great to hear how a 

group of contesters in Louisiana last spring 

decided it was time to form a contest club. 

I contacted Scott, W5WZ, with my congratulations 

and asked if he might write an 

article on the process they went through to 

form the Louisiana Contest Club. His story 

appears elsewhere in this issue. For me, 

Alan Dewey, KØAD 

kØad@arrl.net 

it was fun and informative to hear about 

the process they went through to birth the 

LCC. I hope their story will be an incentive 

to other “pockets of contesters” out there 

who have been thinking about forming a 

contest club. 

Mini WRTCs 

WRTC 2010 is less than two years off. 

As the event approaches and the teams 

are selected, contesters will continue to 

debate the fairness of the selection process. 

Nonetheless, the teams selected 

by and large will represent an extremely 

accomplished level of achievement in contesting. 

But what about the rest of us? 

One solution might be to compete in a 

“mini WRTC.” Although it may not compare 

realistically with the level of planning and 

logistics that characterize a real WRTC 

operation, it still can be a fun event for local 

contest groups to fi eld some two-person 

teams during the IARU World HF Championship 

event in July. One such mini WRTC 

took place on the West Coast this summer 

and is described elsewhere in this issue. 

Maybe this is something your local contest 

club may want to try next summer. 

Getting It Right 

Readers pointed out an inadvertent 

omission in the September/October issue 

of NCJ. In Table 1 of “A Simple 2-Element 

Vertical Array for 160 Meters,” by John 

Barcroft, K6AM, the front-to-back ratio 

for the fi rst quarter-wave entry should be 

40 dB. 

In addition, a schematic diagram in the 

same article contained some incorrect 

data. In Figure 3, the impedances at the 

input of the reversing relay should be Z = 

31 + j94 and 171 + j37. John thanks CN2R 

for catching the error. 

NCJ November/December 2008 3

Contest University 2008 at 

Dayton Adds Graduate Courses 

Building on its fi rst-year success, Contest 

University (CTU), www.contestuniversity.com, 

returned to Dayton this year 

with a curriculum that included courses 

for new and returning students. I had the 

pleasure of attending CTU this year for the 

fi rst time and, like many, I was impressed 

with the organization and professionalism 

with which it was executed. With more than 

200 attendees, the fi rst-year courses and 

graduate courses were located in adjacent 

rooms at the Crowne Plaza Hotel in 

Dayton on the Thursday prior to Dayton 

Hamvention®. See Figure 1 for the class 

rundown. 

Through careful scheduling, it was 

possible to organize the program so that 

some courses could be presented to both 

fi rst timers and grad students with the 

room divider removed, while other classes 

were taught separately to fi rst-year and to 

graduate enrollees. 

The day began with a great talk by 

Randy, K5ZD, to the entire group on 

contesting ethics. This was an extremely 

strong start to the day. Feedback from CTU 

attendees affi rmed that this was one of 

the most important and well-received of 

the day’s presentations. I think Randy really 

drove the point home when he asked 

simply, “What do you do when no one is 

looking?” 

First and second-year students then 

broke into separate groups for classes 

addressing station design, antennas and 

propagation, QSO party and mobile contesting 

and RTTY contesting. After lunch 

Doug, K1DG, gave a brief talk to the entire 

group on an extreme shack makeover, 

followed by the eyeball sprint. The eyeball 

sprint was a great way to get students out 

of their chairs and moving before any postlunch 

sleepiness set in. 

Following separate sessions on station 

design, advanced RTTY contesting, 

basic and advanced VHF contesting, and 

DXpeditions, the fi rst year and graduate 

students joined up again for the fi nal class 

of the day. This was a very interesting and 

useful presentation on contest radio performance 

by Rob Sherwood, NCØB. 

All CTU attendees received a very welldone 

printed and spiral-bound notebook of 

the day’s presentations. This was not only 

a great aid for taking notes but a handy 

reference after CTU was over. I’ve already 

referred to it a number of times. CTU also 

posted revised slides to all attendees 

after the event concluded, to make sure 

students had the latest information about 

the topics covered. 

4 November/December 2008 NCJ 

Figure 1 — The class agenda for Contest University 2008 at Dayton. 

As a first-year attendee of Contest 

University, I felt the instructors put a tremendous 

amount of time into preparation. 

All the presentations were fi rst-rate. Like 

many things in our hobby, this was a labor 

of love as they gave back to the contesting 

community. I encourage all to give a 

big “thank you!” to K3LR, K5ZD, K1DG, 

W3LPL, NØAX, K8MR, WØYK, W3ZZ 

and NCØB the next time you talk to them. 

Better yet, come to CTU 2009, and do it 

in person! 

Finally, it is important to recognize some 

of the sponsors that helped make Contest 

University 2008 such a success. These 

included Icom America, DX Engineering, 

SuperBertha, CQ Magazine, Comtek Systems 

and QTH.COM — KA9FOX. 

Comments from Attendees 

Using a list from K3LR, I sent a request 

to most CTU 2008 graduate students 

soliciting comments on their experiences. 

Here’s a representative sampling. 

♦ The programs in year one and two 

were both fun and informative. There was 

something for contesters at every level 

and interest. It doesn’t get any better than 

to have the opportunity to listen and talk 

with expert presenters who really know the 

sport. During session breaks you get to 

meet a large room full of other contesters. 

How great is that? It’s a blast and an allaround 

super program. — Ralph, K1ZZI 

♦ I enjoyed the grad level as much 

as I did the introductory level. I’m a little 

pistol, but I can apply a lot of what was 

presented even on a modest scale. — 

Randy, K9OR 

♦ It was good to get a lot of contesters 

Al Dewey, KØAD 

together in one room [to interact], as you 

hardly meet some of them face to face. 

The sprint idea tried to help with that, but 

I am not sure it succeeded as it brought 

out the naturally competitive nature of the 

contester. I think the talks were good, and 

of course, there wasn’t enough time for 

everything. Organization was great; Tim 

kept things rolling. — Ed, K1EP 

♦ I attended the graduate school this 

year. The most useful part was the discussion 

on contest station design [and] 

how to be effi cient in that aspect. [CTU] 

was more effi ciently run this year than in 

the fi rst year. I think in future years more 

and longer classes on one topic such as 

contest station design would be useful. 

Giving less than an hour for a topic is nice 

for an intro, but then you really need the 

intensive class to carry through. — Steve, 

K7AWB 

♦ This second year I got to talk with 

others who had put into practice some 

of the items gained in the fi rst session. I 

too had changed some things around in 

my station and started trying new things 

I picked up the fi rst time around. With the 

sunspot cycle on the way up, just talking 

with and hearing the best in the business 

talk about their experiences was worth the 

day spent. — Jerry, K1SO 

♦ My comments must start [by commending] 

Tim’s precise planning and 

attention to detail. Everything is done to 

make this an exceptional learning experience. 

I have been an amateur for nearly 

50 years and always learn tons of stuff. 

Ward, NØAX, is entertaining and informative 

at the same time. Ed, WØYK, is an 

encyclopedia of RTTY knowledge. Most all

the presenters are entertaining — this is a 

hobby and should be fun — and informative. 

— Howard, K2HK 

♦ A couple of common themes really hit 

home. SO2R is a valuable skill and setup. 

Time and motion with proper station setup 

are key to QSO rate. After Dayton, I tore 

my station apart and rebuilt it from the 

ground up. Great tips to use right away. 

— Craig, K9CT 

2009 Plans from K3LR 

CTU Chairman Tim Duffy, K3LR, has offered 

some thoughts of his own regarding 

CTU 2008 and what is planned for 2009. 

He expects CTU 2009 registration to open 

in December. “Based upon two outstanding 

years of Contest University at Dayton, 

plans are under way to make CTU 2009 

the best ever,” he promises. “The schedule 

will be updated over the next several 

months as CTU 2009 professors come 

on board and the CTU Board of Directors 

meets to approve the curriculum.” 

Tim says CTU has received a lot of 

feedback from students over the past 

two years. “The CTU support team really 

focuses on those comments to determine 

what contesters want to learn and how 

CTU can help them to enjoy contesting 

more,” he said. “As a result, CTU 2009 is 

planning to include several ‘deep dives’ 

into specifi c contest-operating techniques. 

We are working on some ‘lab’ environments 

along with demonstrations to help 

convey the information.” 

He also noted that CTU 2009 plans call 

for building upon K5ZD’s acclaimed CTU 

2008 presentation on contesting ethics. 

“Expect to see CTU 2009 take on ethics 

discussions in small working groups, 

which will spur conversation and learning 

among the attendees,” he explained, 

adding that discussions would emphasize 

contest rules. 

Other CTU presentations will address 

optimum contest station design with an 

increased focus on ergonomics. The 

program will include discussion regarding 

what technical specifi cations really mean 

to contesters who want a “good” radio. 

“CTU 2009 is looking such topics such 

as CW Skimmer and software-defi ned 

radio (SDR) applications and may include 

presentations on these timely topics,” Tim 

says. 

He further notes that the CTU 2009 

team is looking into ways to incorporate 

papers that will discuss Field Day technical/interference 

topics that could benefi t 

home contest stations. Keep an eye on 

the offi cial Contest University Web site, 

www.contestuniversity.com, for information 

updates. In the meantime, if you have 

ideas for CTU 2009, pass them along to 

CTU Chairman Tim Duffy, K3LR, k3lr@ 

k3lr.com. 

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NCJ Review: The Elecraft K3 

Revisited 

A year ago, NCJ presented a contester’s 

perspective on a pre-production version of 

the new Elecraft K3 (“NCJ Reviews: The 

Elecraft K3 — First Impressions,” Sep/Oct 

2007 NCJ). The review radio was great, but 

it lacked some important features in terms of 

both hardware and fi rmware. This article updates 

those fi rst impressions, commenting 

on production version differences, added 

components and features, the assembly 

and support experience and published lab 

tests. It also editorializes a bit on software 

defi ned and modular radio experiences that 

might be of importance to contesters. 

Production Release 

Subsequent to the fi eld test review, Elecraft 

released many additional items, fi rst 

to the testers and then, after ironing out 

the wrinkles, to general availability. When 

the first K3 production run shipped in 

October 2007, the radio included a 100W 

power amplifi er, hardware noise blanker 

and a higher-precision TCXO. Rigs were 

available either factory-assembled or as a 

no-solder semi-kit. Later, Elecraft released 

a full-function sub-receiver, additional fi lters 

and many fi rmware upgrades. The last 

included FM, ESSB, auto notch, selectivity 

presets, diversity receive and continuous 

improvement of nearly everything. Delivery 

delays have declined to about three 

months, and Elecraft continues to work on 

production processes in order to reduce 

the backlog. 

Elecraft zealots report deliveries on the 

company refl ector (elecraft@mailman. 

qth.net) and track them via an independent 

Wiki, www.zerobeat.net/mediawiki/ 

index.php. The Wiki includes product 

descriptions and resource material. By 

unoffi cial count, Elecraft had shipped more 

than 1800 K3s through September 2008. 

Hardware Additions and Corrections 

Very few updates were needed to bring 

fi eld test units up to production standards. I 

made most of the modifi cations in the fi eld, 

and today I can barely distinguish between 

my fi eld test unit (serial no 12, June 2007) 

and the full-production radio I built in April 

2008 (serial no 744). 

The most significant feature absent 

from my fi eld test radio was the 100 W 

power amplifi er. The K3’s PA is considerably 

lighter than the one in the K2, and 

it’s very easy to install. The heat sink is 

entirely inside the K3 case, cooled by two 

large, rear-mounted fans. These variablespeed 

fans are temperature controlled and 


quieter than those in my laptop. I literally 

never hear them. 

The K3 PA has very level power output, 

thanks to a strong ALC algorithm that 

evolved nicely during fi eld testing. Power 

foldback in response to high reflected 

power is gradual and effective. Below an 

SWR of 2.5:1, I can get 100 to 120 W output 

on 160 through 6 meters. An informal 

check at 3.5:1 showed 50 W out. If you 

reduce the target power below 13 W, the 

100 W PA shuts down altogether, and you 

have a very effi cient QRP rig. 

Sub-Receiver 

The most important addition in the 

wake of the K3’s initial release is the 

KRX3 sub-receiver. Initially, Elecraft was 

not satisfi ed with signal isolation between 

the main rig and the prototype KRX3. 

The manufacturer delayed shipment for 

several months while it designed a full 

wraparound steel enclosure, tested it and 

got it into production. The delay was well 

worth it. The sub-receiver is, as advertised, 

every bit as good as the main receiver. In 

fact, its additional shielding may make it 

slightly more immune to external noise 

and unwanted signals than the alreadyoutstanding 

primary receiver. 

The sub-receiver has its own DSP, synthe- 

Rick Tavan, N6XI 

Elecraft with permission 

Figure 1 — The KRX3 sub-receiver open; the KPA3 power amplifi er is at top center. 

sizer, noise blanker and sockets for up to fi ve 

crystal roofi ng fi lters. Although some owners 

have equipped the KRX3 with a full fi lter 

complement, matching the main receiver, I 

haven’t found that necessary. So far, I am 

just using the included 2.7 kHz fi ve-pole fi lter. 

Since ultimate selectivity is DSP-derived, 

this is acceptable except in the presence of 

very strong, nearby signals. 

The 2.7 kHz fi lter is essentially indistinguishable 

from the 2.8 kHz eight-pole fi lter 

in my main receiver except when attempting 

diversity reception. Because of different 

delays through those fi lters, there is a funny 

phase shift that’s quite audible in the headphones 

when the two receivers are tuned 

to the exact same frequency. This latency 

disappears when listening to different frequencies, 

as in a DX pileup, my primary use 

for the sub-receiver. Phase shift is not an 

issue when the two receivers are equipped 

with matching fi lters. I intend to reconfi gure 

my fi lters so that the two receivers have 

some in common — probably 2.7 and 1.0 

kHz. Although it’s not diffi cult to add and 

exchange fi lters, the KRX3 does introduce 

additional disassembly to this process. 

The K3 is no longer a svelte eight 

pounder. The heavily shielded KRX3 has 

pushed a fully-loaded K3 up to almost ten 

pounds. Some people like that, since the

adio no longer budges when you’re stabbing 

buttons. I haven’t had that problem 

since Elecraft went to softer rear rubber 

feet, but it certainly feels “beefi er” now. 

Instability or Continuous 

Improvement? 

Contesters are always looking for an 

edge. In the past, we’ve looked most often 

for antennas, accessories, operating tricks 

and station-integration techniques while 

our transceivers and amplifi ers remained 

relatively static. Perhaps we would add the 

occasional, non-sanctioned “magic modifi - 

cation.” Few of us can justify the expense 

of a new rig each time a manufacturer 

makes an incremental improvement, so 

most of us have tended to wait 5 or 10 

years for an entirely new generation radio 

that could entice us to write the big check. 

The K3 changes this paradigm. 

As described in my “fi rst impressions” 

article, the K3 is highly modular. You can 

buy what you need today and add options 

to fi t evolving needs and budget later. The 

firmware driving this software-defined 

radio changes frequently, adding new 

features and performance enhancements 

— all for free! 

A few critics have declared their intention 

to “wait until it is stable” before 

investing in a K3. They will have a long 

wait. Elecraft shows no sign of abandoning 

its continuous engineering program. 

Updating is safe and easy, and that’s one 

of the radio’s most endearing features to 

progressive contesters. Fortunately, the 

manufacturer rarely “breaks” anything 

along the way. The notion that a radio must 

be static in order to be stable is simply 

obsolete, in my opinion. 

Assembly and Support 

As part of the process in developing the 

K3 assembly manual, Elecraft assembled 

the fi eld test radios itself. My second K3 — 

a production unit — was a kit, and I was 

delighted with the assembly experience. 

As is typical with Elecraft kits and manuals, 

there were many “ah-hah!” moments. 

It took about 10 to 12 hours to assemble 

the kit, including the PA, taking my time and 

recording notes for this article. The only 

diffi cult part was attaching the front-panel 

assembly to the chassis the fi rst time. Lacking 

good leverage points to push on, I found 

it tricky to align several long headers and 

get the stiff, new connectors to mate. With 

reasonable care and patience, though, it 

came together without incident. After two 

subsequent disassemblies, the connectors 

have loosened up enough so that it’s now 

easy to reassemble. 

The field test sub-receiver went together 

in a few hours. The sub includes 

its own DSP board, which goes inside the 

front-panel module. This requires partial 

disassembly of that unit. The sub-receiver 

also includes its own synthesizer module, 

Figure 2 — The KRX3 installed. 

Figure 3 — The KPA3 installed. 

G4AON with permission 

hardware noise blanker, optional generalcoverage 

band-pass fi lter board and a few 

other small boards. (I declined a second 

general-coverage board; one is fi ne for 

casual SWLing.) 

There was one step that required caution 

— nesting the fully assembled KRX3 

module into the radio among a half-dozen 

miniature coax interconnects. It only took 

a few careful minutes, though, and as the 

cables acquired a “set,” subsequent insertions 

became easier. 

As I anticipated in my earlier article, Elecraft 

support for the K3 has been superb. 

Supplicants using the company-sponsored 

refl ector frequently enthuse about sameday 

and even weekend responses. Many 

issues get resolved even faster with help 

from non-employee correspondents. Expectations 

are so high that it’s occasionally 

amusing to see people grumble when an 

Elecraft with permission 

Elecraft staffer actually takes a day off! 

Integration 

The K3 is proving to be every bit as 

fl exible as forecast in earlier reviews. For 

example, there are at least three ways to 

extract band data for antenna, fi lter and 

accessory switching: 

♦ Top Ten Devices, Unifi ed Microsystems 

and Elecraft KRC2 decoders accept 

BCD data from the ACC connector. 

♦ The KRC2 interfaces with Elecraft’s 

proprietary AuxBus. 

♦ KRC2, microHAM and other station 

controllers support serial port frequency 

communication, and a menu option confi 

gures the K3 to send frequency data 

periodically without prompting from logging 

software. 

The K3 has proven easy, safe and clean 

to set up for FSK, AFSK, PSK, FM, transverter 

use, multiple headsets, sound cards, 

IF output, receive antenna input/output, 

diversity reception with fl exible antenna options, 

and more. You can confi gure the K3 to 

use serial port RTS and DTR lines as FSK, 

CW keying or PTT inputs. You can build a 

cable to let the K3 bandswitch amps like 

the Yaesu Quadra. Transformer coupling 

and various other devices protect I/O lines 

against overload, hum and RFI. My only 

integration nitpick is that the many sockets 

are densely packed on the rear apron; you 

may have to unplug some connectors in 

order to reach others. Take the time to do 

this rather than tugging on the cables! 

Software and accessory vendors are 

jumping on the K3 bandwagon. SoftRock 

offers a custom SDR buffer amp for the 

K3, and N8LP sells a full panadapter kit. 

Top Ten, microHAM, US Interface and 


others offer custom cables to connect 

their decoders, keyers and controllers. 

MicroHAM’s multi-device Router software 

provides explicit support for the K3. 

The logging programs WinTest, N1MM 

Logger, DX4WIN, Winlog 32, Logger32, 

DXLab, WriteLog and MacLogger DX all 

recognize the K3, as do the rig-control 

programs Ham Radio Deluxe, N4PY, 

N3FJP, TRX-Manager and DXLab. Rose 

Kopp, N7HKW, makes custom rig covers 

and carrying cases. Nifty Accessories 

publishes a laminated, spiral-bound, 

quick-reference guide. 

Lab Tests and Reviews 

Press reviews of the K3 have been quite 

favorable: 

♦ Performance guru Rob Sherwood, 

NCØB, published his measurements of the 

K3 in February 2008, and it topped the 75+ 

rigs on his “Receiver Test Data” chart (see 

www.sherweng.com/table.html). Rob 

measured a minimum noise fl oor of –138 

dBm, two-tone third-order IMD dynamic 

range of 95 to 101 dB at 2 kHz spacing 

and blocking dynamic range of 140 dB at 

100 kHz spacing. Rob is well known for his 

groundbreaking critiques of radios and the 

measurement techniques used to assess 

them. At Dayton in 2007 he focused on 

the poor transient response of most thencurrent 

DSP radios. Elecraft improved the 

K3 AGC to a level that Rob describes as 

“perfect” against his lab test that aggravates 

a receiver with nanosecond-range pulses. 1 

In 2008 he came down on intermodulation 

and harmonic distortion in RF power and 

audio amplifi ers. It will be interesting to see 

which vendors respond most quickly and 

effectively to his concerns. 

The ARRL review appeared in April 

2008 QST and is available to League 

members at www.arrl.org. It corroborates 

the Sherwood tests within a dB or 

so and notes 132 to 139 dB blocking gain 

compression, 98 dB fi rst IF rejection and 

109 dB image rejection on 20 meters. The 

review said, “Overall receiver performance 

is right up there with the best radios the 

Lab has ever measured, and this is the 

fi rst receiver we’ve tested with better than 

100 dB IMD dynamic range at the closer 

signal spacings.” 

In its review, the RSGB’s RadCom called 

the K3 “an impressive radio” and “one of the 

leading radios for close-in dynamic range 

and with excellent features.” The RadCom 

review judged the K3 “an ideal radio for use 

at home, Field Day or DXpeditions.” 

Dave Johnson, G4AON, has published 

an extensive online review with detailed 

product description, his own informal test 

results, photos and scope plots (www. 

astromag.co.uk/k3/). 

Operating Results and Feedback 

The K3 is almost becoming a cult radio. 

Perhaps the most visible endorsement was 


the record-setting February 2008 VP6DX 

Ducie Island DXpedition, which used K3s 

exclusively to make 183,686 contacts. The 

VP6DX team reported, “The outstanding 

receiver and transmitter characteristics allow 

us to run two positions simultaneously 

on any band — even the very narrow 30 

meter band — with absolutely no interference. 

Good design makes the complex 

appear simple: the ins and outs of this 

sophisticated radio were quickly mastered 

by the operator team, none of whom had 

seen a K3 before the expedition.” 

At Field Day 2008, the K6NV 2A group 

(MLDXCC + Team Truckee) ran three K3s 

in a fi re lookout with no inter-station interference. 

Most participants were new to the 

K3 and had received little or no briefi ng. 

They enjoyed the rig from the start, but I 

did fi nd myself inserting hints from time to 

time to demonstrate features the others 

had not yet discovered. 

WØYK and AE6Y took three K3s to 

Aruba, where they joined W6LD and 

KX7M in a 4333-QSO multi-two operation 

in the 2008 CQ World Wide WPX CW as 

P4ØL. Although they had two radios and 

two operators at each position, they often 

had the second op listening on the main 

K3 sub-receiver for in-band mults. WØYK 

remarked that conditions were poor. 

“Most of the time signals were right at 

the noise level, and the superiority of the 

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K3 receiver really made a difference in 

letting us make at least some contacts,” 

he said afterward. “Two of our four operators 

had never used a K3. Not long into 

the contest, most of us avoided using the 

PROII because the K3 was so much more 

pleasant to listen with.” 

WØYK went on to say, “The exceptional 

dual receive in the K3 provides outstanding 

ability to simultaneously run and 

search and pounce the same band.” He 

judged the enhanced radio “a joy to use 

with negligible learning curve.” 

The P4ØL gang used some external 

audio switching to achieve a high level of 

operator coordination and station fl exibility. 

Operators said they also look forward 

to planned ability to use the main and 

sub-receivers on different bands. They 

complained that some front-panel controls 

are still locked out while transmitting. This 

situation has been improving since fi eld 

testing, however. 

N5RZ, K5OT and K5TR teamed up for 

the 2008 ARRL June VHF QSO Party 

using a K3 as the 6 meter radio. They 

made 1392 QSOs on 6 meters, noting 

that the K3 performed well. They forecast 

increased 6 meter contest activity, thanks 

to the emerging trend of top-level contest 

rigs to include 6 meter capability. 

What’s Left? 

The “to-do” list at Elecraft remains long, 

even though the K3 is now almost feature 

complete with respect to its original specifi 

cation. It seems so easy to add features 

through fi rmware that requests for refi nement 

never cease, and Elecraft listens very 

well. Some planned additions include: 

♦ digital modes other than FSK, AFSK 

and PSK 31 2 

♦ a band-display panadapter 3 

♦ variable-bandwidth roofi ng fi lters 

♦ a digital voice recorder 

Conclusions 

The K3 continues to delight and amaze 

its users. The promised feature set is 

nearly complete, but regular updates offer 

continuous improvement that contesters 

demand. The radio is a self-contained, 

software-defined radio that does not 

require an external computer. It’s a “mustconsider” 

radio for contest and DXpedition 

rig selection. For many of us, the decision 

is a no brainer. Another manufacturer may 

leapfrog Elecraft some day, but in 2008 

the K3 looks like the hands-down winner 

in cost vs performance, size, weight, fl exibility 

and absolute performance. 

Notes 

1 Personal conversation, June 24, 2008 

2 Actually, users can inject almost any digital 

modulation in audio form. Internal support 

for PSK63, higher-speed RTTY, PACTOR 

and others is not there yet. 

3 Several third-party panadapters are available. 

These range from components to specialized 

accessories.

The Birth of the Louisiana 

Contest Club 

It seemed a “contesting vacuum” existed 

here in Northeast Louisiana, where very 

few hams regularly participated in contesting. 

Mark, K5ER, and I were the most 

active HF contesters in the area. We had 

learned from one another what two rookies 

could learn but had only reached a pretty 

low plateau in terms of our contesting skills 

and knowledge. Sometime in the late fall of 

2006, we learned that Tim, K3LR, had organized 

the fi rst Contest University (CTU) 

in conjunction with Dayton Hamvention®. 

With enthusiasm and no mercy, Mark 

twisted my arm into planning a road trip 

to CTU and Dayton in 2007. 

Thus began our quest to put Northeast 

Louisiana on the contest map. We wanted 

contesters everywhere to recognize that 

Louisiana had some competitive operators 

and stations. Among Louisiana’s hams are 

many acknowledged and skilled Amateur 

Radio contesters; some of them have even 

won national and world contesting awards. 

W5WMU, AA5AU and KC5R certainly 

have been recognized across the US for 

their multi-op, RTTY and QRP contesting 

accomplishments. 

After Dayton 2007, Mark commented 

that simply attending CTU and spending 

time in the Contest Super Suite were worth 

the trip. With no contest mentors near 

home, we found it hard to believe that we 

could sit there and discuss station design 

and contest tips with the likes of K1TTT, 

K8CC and K5ZD or catch W3LPL in the 

hall discussing antenna-stacking theory. It 

was almost overwhelming. We went home, 

put what we had learned into action and 

saw our scores increase. 

For 2008, we looked forward to returning 

to Dayton to visit with the friends we had 

made and to learn more. Visiting the Contest 

Super Suite and seeing most major clubs 

represented, we realized one of our problems: 

DX, public service and other groups 

regularly met around our state, but there were 

no gatherings of experienced contesters. We 

later met with several other Louisiana hams, 

including KI5XP, NA5Q and KC5R, and they 

expressed the same sentiments. 

During the conversation that followed, 

we all pretty much looked at each other 

and said, “If nobody else, then how about 

us?” A very rough outline of the state was 

penciled onto a napkin (Mark’s favorite 

writing tablet), and active contesters were 

pinpointed. As the evening progressed 

(and pizza consumed), we transitioned 

from “Should we?” and “How can we?” 

and “Is it worth it?” to an attitude of “We 

probably should” and “Yes, we can!” and 

Figure 1 — The LCC 175-mile membership circle 

Figure 2 — The LCC logo. Our mascot is 

“Chomps Boo-TAY,” and our motto is 

“Laissez les contest roulez!” (Let the 

contest roll!) NA5Q handled the logo 

design and artwork. 

fi nally, “You bet we did it!” Lots of smiles 

and handshakes followed, and what was 

just an idea in May now is a reality. 

There was a lot of fi nger pointing in 

Dayton as to who were the biggest “suckers” 

— that is, who would be the initial 

offi cers of the new club. As it turned out 

the elected offi cers are K5ER, president; 

Scott Dickson, W5WZ 

KI5XP, vice president; W5WZ, secretary/ 

treasurer; W5WMU, director, and NA5Q, 

director and webmaster. The LCC would 

never have gotten off the starting blocks 

without this enthusiastic group that exchanged 

countless e-mails as the constitution, 

by-laws and other organizational 

matters were ironed out. 

K5ER really spearheaded the drafting 

of the constitution. He started with some 

Yankee 1 documents, and then whittled 

away to meet our needs. The fi rst draft 

circulated just three days after returning 

from Dayton. W5WZ worked on locating 

the club’s geographical center by geocoding 

and mapping all ham radio call signs 

in Louisiana, Texas, Arkansas and Mississippi 

found in Super Check Partial to 

fi nd active contesters. NA5Q and KI5XP 

offered valuable suggestions, some of the 

best coming via e-mail well after midnight. 

To NA5Q goes the credit for the artwork 

and design of our mascot, which my wife, 

KW5MOM, named “Chomps Boo-TAY.” 

The Louisiana Contest Club was formally 

organized at the Leesville, Louisiana hamfest 

on August 9, 2008. Charter members 

signing the club constitution and by-laws 

were Charlie Morrison, KI5XP; Roland 

Guidry, NA5Q; Pat Sonnier, W5WMU; Mark 

Ketchell, K5ER, and I. Also on hand were 

1 Yankee Clipper Contest Club, www.yccc.org 


Figure 3 — ARRL Louisiana Section Offi cials and Louisiana Contest 

Club Offi cials announce a new ARRL-affi liated club in Louisiana. 

(L-R) Louisiana Section Affi liated Club Coordinator Jim Bookter, 

N5NVP, LCC Director Roland Guidry, NA5Q, LCC President Mark 

Ketchell, K5ER, Secretary/Treasury Scott Dickson, W5WZ, Vice 

President Charlie Morrison, KI5XP, and Louisiana Section Manager 

Gary Stratton, K5GLS. 

ARRL Louisiana Section Manager Gary 

Stratton, K5GLS, and Louisiana Affi liated 

Club Coordinator Jim Bookter, N5NVP. 

Just one week after organization, the 

LCC fi elded two fi ve-person teams for the 

North American QSO Party SSB event. We 

feel that was a great success. 

Louisiana Contest Club will provide a 

vehicle for members to further develop 

their contesting skills and strategies 

while allowing them to share their collective 

knowledge and experiences through 

mentoring. The LCC is a special-purpose 

Amateur Radio club devoted to the pursuit 

of operating and technical excellence. Our 

goals are simple: 

� To promote the fun, satisfaction and 

competitive thrill of radio contesting 

� To assist members in developing their 

operating and technical skills 

�To foster increased friendly competition 

and sportsmanship 

� To become a competitive force in Amateur 

Radio contesting club competition 

� The LCC has chosen to mark the center 

of its membership circle near Marksville, 

Louisiana, at coordinates 31.226894° 

north latitude and 91.944580° west 

longitude. Consequently, the entire 

populated area of Louisiana along with 

much of southwestern and west-central 

Mississippi and southeastern Texas fall 

within the 175-mile radius imposed by 

many contest rules (see www.louisianacontestclub.org/maps.htm). 

� Anyone interested in Amateur Radio 

contesting is eligible to apply for membership. 

Dues are $20 a year. Visit our 

Web site, www.louisianacontestclub. 

org, or contact us via e-mail, info@ 

louisianacontestclub.org. 

As our mascot Chomps Boo-TAY says, 

“Laissez les contest roulez!” (Let the 

contest roll!) 


W5KGT 

W5KGT 

Figure 4 — LCC founders (foreground, clockwise from left) Charlie, 

KI5XP, Mark, K5ER, Roland, NA5Q, and Scott, W5WZ, at the signing 

of legal documents on August 9, 2008. Not pictured: Pat Sonnier, 

W5WMU.

Solving the Long Rotator Cable 

Problem for Larger Rotators 

Editor’s note: An earlier version of this 

article appeared in April 2008 edition of 

"The Black Hole," the newsletter of the 

Society of Midwest Contesters. It’s being 

published here with the author’s permission 

— Al Dewey, KØAD 

Hams have struggled for years with 

fi nding cost-effective methods to address 

the necessity of long rotator cable runs. A 

variety of methods have been proposed 

for the ubiquitous Ham-M family. For short 

runs of up to 100 feet or so, the traditional 

method has been to use a specifically 

designed cable having two AWG 18 wires 

for the brake solenoid/motor common and 

six AWG 22 wires for direction sensing, 

limit switches/motor windings and starting 

capacitor. For longer runs, more expensive 

cables with AWG 16/20 or even AWG 10/14 

wire are available at a substantial increase 

in cost. 

Other hams have substituted multiple 

runs of Romex house wiring cable, which 

generally starts at AWG 14. Some also 

suggest adding a “booster” transformer. 

This transformer is wired in series with the 

leads from the control box to the brake solenoid/motor 

common. The key is to make 

sure the voltage adds to (boosts) rather 

than subtracts from (bucks) the normal 24 

V ac output of the control box. 

Hams who have used larger rotators, 

such as prop pitch motors, seem to have 

relied upon one of two methods to deal 

with long cable runs. The fi rst uses large 

wire. At my station I have a run of approximately 

500 feet from the shack to the top 

of the tower. When I used an M 2 Orion, 

the AWG 12 Romex was barely adequate. 

When I upgraded to a prop pitch, I couldn’t 

get any rotation at all. Doubling up with 

another run of AWG 12 — for an equivalent 

cross-section of AWG 9 — still left the 

antenna motionless. With the increase in 

the cost of copper, further investment in 

wire seemed unwise. 

A second approach to dealing with long 

runs of cable has been to install a remotely 

controlled power supply at the tower base. 

At the 2007 Dayton Hamvention®, Green 

Heron offered such a unit. Whether commercially 

manufactured or homebrewed, 

this generally requires a run of cable to 

carry 120 or 240 V ac to the tower. In addition 

to the safety and code considerations 

involved with such high voltages external 

to the shack, there is a complication with 

many of the newer-style control units. 

Both M 2 and Green Heron use pulsed 

power to produce a ramped startup 

and slowdown of the antenna to reduce 

Figure 1 – Wiring diagram for using 

large rotators with long cable runs. 

stresses on the tower and rotator. This 

means the pulsed-control circuitry needs 

to be housed at the base of the tower. This 

is a duplication of cost, however, since the 

circuitry already exists at the control end 

and generally cannot be separated from 

the display electronics of these units. 

I verifi ed that my prop pitch worked by 

temporarily connecting the control box at 

the base of the tower. Stationing my XYL 

outside to run the box during a contest, however, 

seemed undesirable, since I choose to 

Terry Zivney, N4TZ/9 

n4tz@arrl.net 

enter the single-operator category. 

Being short of funds and wanting to 

keep my spouse happy, I opted for a third 

approach (Figure 1). This is nothing more 

than a version of the bucking voltage used 

years ago with the Ham-M. Because the 

prop pitch and newer Orions use dc motors, 

I inserted an inexpensive spare 12 V 

dc power supply in series with the negative 

(common) lead at the control box. The 

positive lead of the external power supply 

is connected to the negative lead at the 

control box. The wire from the rotator that 

went to the negative lead at the control 

box now goes to the negative lead of the 

external power supply. 

I’m using a cheap Samplex switching 

supply purchased some years ago from 

RadioShack for a packet radio no longer 

in use. You can buy one for less than $100, 

far cheaper than a long run of Romex or 

an external Green Heron controller. All 

features of the control box remain unchanged, 

including the pulsed dc for the 

speed control. It really is that simple. 

As a side note, my TIC rings nicely turn 

my 10/15 duobanders through 450 feet of 

AWG 18 wire (doubled to be equivalent 

of AWG 15) and one dc motor. The same 

ring with a full-size 5 element 20 and 2 

element Cushcraft 40 needed the Romex 

treatment (doubled AWG 14 to be equivalent 

to AWG 11) to enable rotation with the 

standard TIC box. 

Today, I would use the smaller wire 

and boost the voltage with an external dc 

power supply. TIC uses only two power 

wires, and switches the polarity inside 

the control box, so a small modifi cation 

would be required inside the control box 

to insert the boosting voltage at the correct 

location. 

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Distributing Receiving 

Antennas — Part 2 

In late 2007 the VP6DX Ducie Island 

DXpedition project team began working 

out the designs of low-band receiving 

antennas. Some expedition requirements 

replicate those of contest stations, especially 

SO2R, multi-op and Field Day stations. 

The solutions tested on Ducie may 

help contesters improve their low-band 

receive abilities. The fi rst installment of 

this two-part article appeared in the Sep/ 

Oct 2008 issue of NCJ. It described the 

detailed system requirements for the 

low-band receiving antennas at Ducie as 

well as the approach we chose to meet 

these requirements. This installment describes 

the band-pass fi lter, switching and 

preamplifi er implementation we used to 

optimize the design as well as the results 

we achieved and some ideas for potential 

improvements. 

Band-Pass Filter Splitter 

The homebrew band-pass fi lter splitter 

box accepted as an input the signal from 

one direction of a Beverage. The circuit 

extracted to separate outputs — one for 

160 and two for 80/75. These fi lter splitters 

were installed at the central switching 

hub. Figures 6a and 6b, available in an 

expanded version of this article at www. 

ncjweb.com/bonus.php, show the circuit. 

It consists of two W3LPL band-pass 

fi lters — one for 160 and one for 80/75, 

in parallel. The 80/75 meter output fed a 

Mini-Circuits splitter to clone two copies, 

one for the CW operator and one for the 

SSB operator. 

The W3LPL fi lters can be paralleled 

because of their relatively high stop-band 

impedance. 1 The W3LPL design also tolerates 

a fairly wide range of input and output 

impedances. That’s important because 

temporary antennas may not adhere 

closely to the nominal design impedance 

and because receiver impedances can 

vary substantially from nominal values. 

The component values used for these 

fi lters are for a nominal 50 Ω impedance. 

We didn’t have time to scale and test the 

fi lters for a Z o of 75 Ω. Figure 6c shows 

the measured response of the assembled 

fi lter splitter in a 75 Ω environment. Despite 

the Z o deviation, the package shows very 

good rejection and tolerable in-band loss. 

The 160 meter output exhibited 2.1 to 2.7 

dB in-band loss between 1800 and 1900 

kHz and 47 to 56 dB rejection between 

3500 and 3850 kHz. The 80/75 meter 

output exhibited 4.8 to 12 dB in-band loss 

between 3500 and 3850 kHz, and 76 to 99 


dB rejection from 1800 to 1900 kHz. 

Note that the 80/75 meter outputs suffer 

an additional 3 dB loss because of the passive 

splitter used to clone signals on that 

band for the two operating positions. Not 

every contest station requires this cloned 

output, and the board layout allows the 

builder to omit that splitter and its accompanying 

F connector. For contest stations 

with two operators listening on each band, 

the board layout permits the 160 meter 

fi lter output also to be cloned with a passive 

splitter. The rejection values assume 

particular importance in protecting the 

downstream electronics from out-of-band 

transmitted signals picked up by these 

antennas. More on this topic later. 

Construction Notes 

Eric laid out this circuit on a doublesided 

board. To improve isolation between 

the two bands, he placed the 160 meter 

fi lter on one end of the board, and the 

80/75 meter fi lter on the opposite end. 

Figure 2 shows the assembled board. A 

gas tube surge arrestor with a low fi ring 

voltage provides some input protection 

against lightning. 

Because a filter splitter could live 

outdoors, construction employed temperature-compensated 

capacitors in an 

attempt to maintain performance over a 

wide temperature range. A unit was stored 

in the refrigerator’s freezer compartment 

for a few hours to allow the components to 

stabilize around –10 C. Measurements at 

this temperature showed no material difference 

in performance compared to room 

temperature. This range of temperatures 

would not be expected at Ducie Island but 

could occur at a contest station or other 

expedition sites. 

Trimmer capacitors don’t possess the 

temperature stability of fi xed capacitors. 

The W3LPL fi lter design relies on tweaking 

the toroid windings in order to tune each 

stage of the fi lter for a fl at passband over 

the desired frequency range. Eric used a 

network analyzer to view the passband’s 

characteristics while making adjustments 

to the spacing between turns on the toroids 

(other methods can also be used). 

After attaining a satisfactory passband, 

coil dope locked the turns in position. 

Remotely Controlled Switch 

For expediency, the VP6DX Ducie Island 

expedition used six (two per operator) 

off-the-shelf Ameritron RCS-10 remote 

control coax switches. The RCS-10 is 

Eric L. Scace, K3NA 

k3na@arrl.net 

George Cutsgeorge, W2VJN 

a large transmit power-level unit using 

SO-239 connectors. The design team 

anticipated a 700 meter control cable run 

between the remote switching hub and the 

selector boxes at each operating position. 

Shielded, stranded-wire Ethernet cable 

connected the selector box to the remote 

switch. This cable is available relatively inexpensively 

in bulk (eg, 1500 meter reels). 

Reels are about as heavy as one strong 

person could safely manage while unloading 

in the surf. To speed assembly at the 

island, we pre-installed and tested RJ45 

connectors on the cable, operator selector 

boxes and remote switch boxes. 

A signifi cant voltage drop occurs over 

this length of control cable. We exploited 

an advantage of the RCS-10 system by 

confi guring its control box to accept 24 

V dc. Measurements and calculations 

prior to departure showed that over this 

distance the control box and Ethernet 

cable — with two paralleled conductors 

per control signal line — would deliver 

suffi cient power to run the relays in the 

remote switch box. Behavior at the island 

confi rmed the calculated design. We used 

adjustable replacement laptop power supplies 

as a 24 V dc source with a battery 

backup for use during generator outages. 

To save assembly time, supplies and 

equipment were pre-wired with PowerPole 

connectors. (Blue and black connector 

colors and prominent labels warned operators 

that these lines carried 24, not 13, 

volts.) West Mountain Radio’s RIGrunner 

dc distribution boxes joined a power supply 

with subtending equipment such as 

these remote coax switch control boxes. 

(With care, the RIGrunner’s PowerPole red 

connector housings can be replaced with 

another color, such as the blue we used 

to fl ag 24 V dc lines.) 

Not all remotely controlled antenna 

switch designs work properly for this 

application. The remote switch must not 

short unused antenna ports to ground, 

as these signals might be used by the 

second receiver. 2 

While the RCS-10 units offered an 

off-the-shelf solution that could meet our 

needs, quality control and signal isolation 

were relatively weak aspects of this 

particular equipment. As delivered, the 

hardware exhibited many poor solder 

joints. One switch box had to be completely 

disassembled and re-soldered to 

work properly. Fortunately we were able to 

perform this major undertaking at home, 

as the manufacturer rivets the SO-239

connecters to the chassis. Replacement 

rivets were not on hand, and reassembly 

after repair took a lot of fi dgeting in close 

quarters with short screws, nuts and lock 

washers. 

The RCS-10, like many remotely controlled 

switches, uses a rotary switch with 

a mechanical stop to select the desired 

antenna. This stop prevents the operator 

from easily comparing signals between 

the two antennas at either end of the 

switch range, however. Sometimes the 

mechanical stop can be removed or the 

switch replaced with a model without a 

stop. If that’s not possible, arrange the 

choices so the two affected antennas are 

the least likely to be compared. At Ducie 

Island we sequenced the switch selections 

in this order (clockwise): 195°, 225°, 

270°, 305°, 15°, 45°, 90° and 125°. The 

195° direction, used only near sunrise 

for long path, was never compared to the 

125° direction, as that direction was in full 

daylight at the time. 

Preamplifi er 

The output of each remotely controlled 

switch fed a co-located, low-noise preamplfi 

er. The preamps compensated for 

losses in the system. The highest frequencies 

— 3750 to 3850 kHz — exhibited the 

greatest losses: 

� 1.7 dB for 100 meters of RG-6 cable 

between the antenna feed point and 

the fi lter splitter input. Only the 90°/270° 

Beverage had this long run to the central 

switching hub. 

� 6 to 12 dB in the W3LPL band-pass fi lter 

plus Mini-Circuits splitter. 

� 12 dB for a 700 meter run of RG-6 from 

the remote switching hub to the operating 

position. 

Other parts of the system, including the 

coax shield current choke and the antenna 

switch, exhibited negligible losses. Overall 

losses added up to 20 to 26 dB between 

the antenna feed point and receiver on 

75 meters. Beverage signal output on the 

80/75 meter antenna at the feed point is 

greater than that on the 160 meter Beverage, 

which helps offset a bit of this loss. To 

overcome most of these losses we used 

the DX Engineering RPA-1 preamp, which 

provides about 16 dB gain, 3.5 dB noise 

fi gure and +43 dB third-order intercept. 

Voltage fed down the RG-6 from the radio 

tents provided power to the preamp. This 

preamp draws 140 mA at a nominal 13 V 

dc, yielding a nominal internal resistance 

of 93 Ω. Belden fl ooded RG-6 coax offers 

about 5 Ω per 100 meters of dc loop 

resistance (center conductor plus shield). 

With the 700 meter runs planned for Ducie 

Island, 35 Ω of cable resistance would 

drop the voltage delivered to the preamp 

by about 3.5 V, below its operating range 

of +10 to +18 V dc. To compensate, the 

higher supply voltage of 24 V dc used for 

the remotely controlled switch also fed 

the preamps. 

Preamp Protection 

As mentioned earlier, one must protect 

the preamp input from strong signals 

picked up while transmitting. At Ducie 

Island up to seven full-power transmitters 

could be on the air simultaneously. Three 

systems worked together to provide this 

protection: the band-pass fi lter splitter, 

power interruption and in-band rejection. 

The band-pass fi lter splitters knocked 

down signals outside the operator’s own 

band. For a preamp used on the output of 

a 160 meter remotely controlled switch, 

for example, the 160 meter portion of the 

band-pass fi lter splitter reduced signal 

levels for transmitters on any other band by 

about 50 dB, low enough not to bother the 

preamp. After the fi lter splitter, the preamp 

remained exposed only to the operator’s 

own 160 meter in-band transmit signal. 

When the operator transmits, he is not 

listening; therefore, the preamp can be 

turned off during transmission. A homebrew 

“power interrupter” sat next to the 

radio. It injected the preamp supply voltage 

(24 V dc in this implementation) into the 

two RG-6 coax runs (one for each receiver) 

to the remote switching hub. Figure 7, 

available available in the expanded article 

at www.ncjweb.com/bonus.php, shows 

the circuit. A 13 V dc control line, when 

grounded, triggers two relays to remove 

the preamp supply voltage from the coax, 

disabling the remote preamps for both 

receivers. On Ducie Island the microHam 

microKeyer II’s LNA PTT port manipulated 

this control line. We confi gured the microKeyer 

II to turn off the preamp about 20 

ms before triggering the transmitter’s PTT. 

This guarantees that the preamp would 

be off well before transmission starts (the 

use of VOX was forbidden at VP6DX; the 

microKeyer would not connect the microphone 

to the transmitter until the operator 

stepped on the footswitch). 

The vast majority of amateur transceivers 

provide mediocre isolation between 

their antenna port(s), including their receiver 

input ports. Isolation is typically in 

the range of 40 to 45 dB. When transmitting 

100 W via the transmit antenna port, 

the radio also leaks a signal at about 10 

mW (10 dBm or S9 + 77 dB) from the 

receive antenna port. That signal leakage 

includes harmonics, IMD products and 

their phase noise sidebands, typically 50 

dB below the leaked carrier (–40 dBm or 

S9 + 27 dB). 

The power interrupter box uses smallsignal 

relays not only to interrupt the voltage 

supplied to the preamps but to short 

the receive antenna ports to earth ground. 

This additional function substantially reduces 

signal leakage. For the 160 meter 

operator, the band-pass fi lter and preamp 

power interrupter together protect the 

remote preamps from all the other on-site 

transmitters. The 80 meter CW preamps 

remain exposed to one transmitter, however. 

That’s the 75 meter SSB transmitter, 

with signals falling within the passband 

of the band-pass fi lters preceding the 80 

meter CW preamps. In similar fashion, the 

75 meter SSB preamps remain exposed to 

the 80 meter CW transmitter’s signal. 

George, W2VJN, solved the remaining 

problem of in-band rejection with notching 

fi lters. These fi lters place a sharp notch 

(greater than 40 dB) on the unwanted 

transmitter’s frequency while introducing 

little additional loss (less than 1 dB) to the 

desired receive frequencies. George discusses 

the design and implementation: 

In December 2007, K3NA asked if I 

knew of a way to operate on 75 and 80 

meters with separate stations for the 

upcoming Ducie Island operation. Eric 

was concerned about the close proximity 

of the Beverage antennas to all of the 

transmitting antennas. I had been working 

on some new stub ideas, and I knew they 

could provide 15 to 20 dB of attenuation 

between the CW and the SSB ends of the 

band. This seemed somewhat marginal. 

In addition there would be 5 to 8 dB of 

on-frequency attenuation, which seemed 

excessive as the signal levels coming from 

the Beverage antennas would already be 

quite low. A quick preliminary design of 

a simple band-stop fi lter with the Elsie 3 

program showed a possible solution. 

A three-element Butterworth design 

could provide 40 dB attenuation at the 

null frequency and would not attenuate 

the desired listening frequency by more 

that a dB or so. The inductor requirements 

were modest, as a Q of 75 or more at the 

operating frequency would be adequate. 

Two of the inductors were in the 50 to 60 

µH range, while one was in the less than 

500 nH range. A few commercially available 

inductors having values in the desired 

µH range were obtained, and a selection 

was made based on Q measurements. 

The design then was tweaked to use the 

selected inductors. The nH chokes that 

we tested had miserably low Qs and were 

deemed unsuitable. A few turns around a 

type 2 powdered iron toroid core showed 

more promise, and that’s what we used in 

the fi nal design. 

To optimize the null depth, each element 

(tuned circuit) must be adjustable. 

Shunt elements L 1 and C 1 require only a 

small variation in capacitance for tuning, 

and trimmer capacitors can do the job. 

The trimmers were padded with a series 

capacitor and a shunt capacitor to reduce 

the sensitivity of tuning as the null is very 

sharp. 

Construction was done on readily 

available prototype PC boards, as there 

was not enough time to do custom work. 


Figure 1 — W2VJN in-band notching 

fi lter schematic diagram. 

Simple point-to-point wiring is adequate. 

Four units were built to meet the requirements, 

two for 80 meters and two for 75 

meters. 

Figures 1 and 3 detail construction 

and performance details, and 

Table 2 provides a list of components. 

These units needed to be rugged enough 

to withstand the long journey via air, sea 

and ground to the operating positions on 

Ducie Island. Small aluminum boxes were 

used. The boards were mounted on four 

threaded standoffs. Type F connectors 

were used according to the 75 Ω system 

requirements. 

A three-element fi lter is simple enough 

so that formal methods are not required, 

and alignment can be done by alternately 

adjusting each tuned circuit. Watching the 

loss at the desired pass frequency and the 

null depth on a network analyzer while 

adjusting allows a good compromise to be 

found. Figure3 shows the sweep response 

of one of the units. 

As Built on Ducie Island 

As mentioned earlier, we did not build 

out the entire system at the island. With 

just a single receiver in the Elecraft K3 radios, 

we required only half of the switching 

matrix. We built the second parallel leg for 

the 45°/225° Beverage. While this antenna 

performed superbly, we did not feel very 

strongly that we needed the second leg 

on the other Beverages. We also worried 

that adding the second leg — for example 

to the 15°/195° Beverage — might introduce 

a gap in coverage between the two 

Beverage arrays, especially on 80/75 with 

its narrower beamwidths. That gap would 

run right through the middle of both the 

US and Europe. 

Results 

Overall this system performed superbly. 

There’s no question that it improved signalto-noise 

ratio. The Beverage systems 

delivered superior s/n ratios compared 

to the transmitting antennas for these 

bands. Dietmar, DL3DXX, summed up the 

situation one evening around midnight, 

after he had fi nished a lengthy 160 meter 

operating session with Europe on a band 

fi lled with static: “No Beverages? Then no 


Figure 2 — Notching fi lter assembled unit. 

Figure 3 — Typical notching fi lter measured response. 

QSOs,” he said. 

An operator could tell when sunrise occurred 

in the Caribbean by comparing the 

45° and 15° Beverages. The static level on 

the 45° Beverage dropped signifi cantly as 

sunrise moved across the Caribbean and 

D-layer absorption attenuated QRN from 

the thunderstorms in that region. The 15° 

Beverage still heard plenty of static from 

sources within its main beam. 

This was the fi rst DXpedition where we 

felt we could hear anyone calling us on 

Top Band. In fact, at times we could hear 

stations calling us much better than they 

could hear us. 

In terms of reducing QRM and dividing 

pileups, the Beverages’ patterns appeared 

to behave exactly as expected. The ARRL 

International DX Contest (CW) occurred 

early in the DXpedition, and station location 

is part of the contest exchange. If a W6 

called but was weaker on the 15° Beverage 

(which covered California) and louder on 

the 45° Beverage, we could be certain he 

would be in the Eastern US, not on the 

West Coast. The transition area where 

stations exhibited equal strength on these 

two particular Beverages was distinct and 

narrow — from Texas through Arkansas 

to Indiana and Michigan. These distinct 

patterns meant that the operator could 

focus on East Coast US stations during

their sunrise enhancement using the 45° 

Beverage that displayed relatively weak 

response to closer, louder West Coast stations. 

In similar fashion the 15° Beverage 

favored Scandinavia, Eastern Europe and 

western Siberia over Western Europe — a 

big advantage for us right after Ducie Island 

sunset. We had a two to three hour window 

to work these remote parts of the world on 

unfavorable polar paths before their local 

sunrise. On the next DXpedition, I’m defi - 

nitely looking forward to trying directional 

diversity reception with a similar Beverage 

array feeding the K3’s dual receivers! 

The system also supported three operating 

positions without problems. During 

the second half of the DXpedition demand 

for 75 meter SSB from North American 

and even Europe dropped off. On some 

nights we removed the notch fi lters and ran 

just one station on 80/75 meter CW/SSB. 

The freed-up operating position became 

the second station on 30 meters. 

Further, we avoided damage from on-air 

transmitters. Not only were the preamps 

adequately protected, the operators could 

not detect the presence of any other on-air 

transmitter. 

The 80/75 meter QSO total represents a 

new record for a DXpedition, and the 160 

meter total stands second in the record 

books behind 5A7A’s 7653 QSOs, which 

included many Europeans worked on a 

short hop from Libya (see Table 1). 

The 440 meter long east-west Beverage, 

also with a narrower beamwidth, appeared 

to be too long; the main beam seemed too 

narrow. Stations from the extreme southern 

Caribbean or northern South America 

(P4, YV) often had poor signal-to-noise 

ratios compared to others further north 

(good copy on the 45° Beverage) or south 

(closer to the center east-west Beverage’s 

main beam). Callers from Australia and 

Southeast Asia left similar impressions to 

the west. Milt, N5IA, and Robin, WA6CDR, 

later rerouted the eastern half of that Beverage 

to form a very shallow bent V shape 

in order to widen the beam. Unfortunately, 

few stations called us from these areas, 

making it diffi cult to form an opinion about 

any improvement. 

The system enabled us to cover all 

directions. Europe, North America and 

Asia made up 98 percent of our 160 

meter contacts and 94 percent of 80/75 

meter totals. With the exception of some 

long-path contacts with Eastern Europe, 

two or three single-wire Beverages could 

handle many of these contacts. One might 

question whether the results justifi ed the 

additional hardware for and incremental 

work to install two-wire Beverages and 

the fourth east-west Beverage. While small 

in percentage terms, we were happy to 

work the DXers represented in those 1300 

QSOs. The long path QSOs on the 195° 

and 225° Beverages with Ukraine and 

Table 1 –– Low-Band QSO Totals for VP6DX after 16 Days On the Air 

Band All DX SSB Eu NA As 

160 6615 5053 1562 13% 71% 14% 

80/75 18213 9650 8563 35% 47% 12% 

Table 2 –– Notching Filter Parts List 

Notch 

Frequency 

3502 kHz 3784 kHz 

C1 C2 L1 L2 36.7 pF 

5280 pF 

55 µH 

0.39 µH 

31.6 pF 

5360 pF 

55 µH 

0.33 µH 

Note: C 1 and C 2 are made up of several 

capacitors in parallel, including a 

trimmer cap. 

European Russia stations on Top Band, 

across more than 22,000 km and into their 

afternoon daylight, represent an unforgettable 

DXing experience. 

Based on DXpedition experience in 

Burma (Myanmar), the team also brought 

materials to construct a low dipole for listening 

to high-angle signals on 160. This receive 

antenna was never built, however, since 

none of the Top Band operators found any 

opening where they might be able to better 

copy signals using a high-angle antenna. 

The ability of each low-band operator to 

choose his listening direction without concern 

for the impact on another operator was 

much appreciated by the low-band team. 

The Beverage distribution system delivered 

better-than-expected signal levels 

to the receivers. When comparing signals 

received on the transmit antenna to the 

same signals on the appropriate Beverage, 

the absolute signal strengths were about 

the same. Static levels, however, dropped 

dramatically on the Beverage. The transceiver’s 

internal preamp was unnecessary. 

Signal suckout did not occur. Operators 

never detected a change in receive signal 

level when one of the other operators selected 

the same receiving antenna. 

Potential Improvements 

Every implementation can inspire ideas 

for improvements. Readers contemplating 

the use of some of these techniques in their 

own stations might consider the following 

possibilities and, we hope, will share their 

results with the rest of the contesting/DXing 

community. If someone wants to help 

us with some of these ideas, we will be 

very grateful for the assistance! 

General 

Weatherproofi ng any kind of box-mounted 

coax connector takes time and care, 

and both can be in short supply during a 

DXpedition, during Field Day or during the 

rush to prepare a station for a contest. An 

alternate approach would place box(es) 

inside a NEMA IP67 enclosure using cable 

glands to seal out the weather. 

For fi eld connections, consider using 

watertight RJ45 connectors with an IP67 

environmental rating. Although more 

costly, these connections speed assembly 

time. 

RG-6 coax paired with a CAT-5 cable 

and molded into a single assembly suitable 

for outdoor use is available. This cable 

appears to be more costly than individual 

runs of RG-6 and CAT-5. However, in a 

situation where assembly time is limited, 

the time saving may justify the incremental 

expense. Flooded cable is preferable in the 

outdoor environment. 

Beverage Array 

If planning to use parallel Beverages 

with their narrower beamwidths, consider 

using more Beverage systems — for example, 

fi ve or six two-wire systems for ten 

to twelve directions. This choice affects the 

choice of selector switch. If space permits, 

parallel Beverages are preferable to long 

Beverages. 

Coax Shield Current Chokes 

To avoid cabling errors in the fi eld, label 

the coax connector to go to the antenna 

and the connector for the coax run to the 

receiver. 

Band-Pass Filter Splitter 

For those wishing to share a receiving 

antenna on three bands, Frank, W3LPL, 

reports success in paralleling three of his 

band-pass fi lters — for example, 160, 80 

and 40 — without too much in-band loss. 

We plan to investigate a modifi ed design 

for 75 Ω characteristic impedance. 

Remotely Controlled Switch 

One can easily design a smaller, 

better-performing switch unit using sealed 

small-signal relays. Constructing this unit 

with F connectors would eliminate the 

large number of F-to-UHF adapters used 

at Ducie Island. Daisy chaining a pair of 

relays and careful board layout can boost 

isolation among the various antennas. A 

single box could contain both switches for 

the two receivers on a band, dramatically 

reducing the number of coax jumpers. 

We plan to investigate sending selection 

signals down the coax, along with dc 

power. This would eliminate the expense 

and construction time associated with 


the control line. If selection signals were 

transmitted down the coax, the same box 

could include the dc power injection/interruption 

tasks as well as shorting to earth 

ground the receiver antenna ports when 

transmitting. One should be able to create 

such a box of a smaller volume than two 

RCS-10 control boxes. 

LED indicators identifying the selected 

switch position can speed acceptance 

testing and troubleshooting in the fi eld. 

Use bright LEDs to enhance visibility on 

sunny days. Additionally, include a pair of 

test points for quick fi eld checks of voltage 

delivered to the box. 

An operator selection box with a circle 

of illuminated push-buttons would permit 

quick comparison of short and long-path (or 

any other two non-adjacent choices). Two 

such circles of buttons would allow control 


of antennas for both receivers; this should 

include a “slave” button to allow both receivers 

to use the same antenna selection. 

Preamplifi er 

An LED power-on indicator can speed 

acceptance testing and troubleshooting 

in the fi eld. Use a bright LED to enhance 

visibility on sunny days. Include a pair of 

test points for quick fi eld checks of voltage 

delivered to the box. 

Notch fi lter 

Chassis-mount F connectors often loosen 

up when tightening a cable. Opening the 

box to tighten the connector nut and lock 

washer takes time and breaks any weatherproof 

seals. Board-mounted F connectors 

don’t suffer from this shortcoming. 

The sharp notch, with fi xed transmit 

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frequencies around 3802 and 3784 kHz, 

worked well for our DXpedition. In a typical 

contest station the notch needs to be 

adjusted to track the transmitter around the 

band, and George’s fi lter design certainly 

permits such adjustments. We haven’t 

tried doing this in real time, however. 

Notes 

1 In contrast, other band-pass fi lter designs such 

as those by W3NQN have very low stop-band 

impedances. When paralleled, the low stopband 

impedance of one band’s fi lter short 

circuits the desired frequencies for the input 

of the other band — and vice versa. 

2 Shorting one output of the band-pass fi lter 

splitter might also increase somewhat 

the attenuation of the other output(s), 

an undesirable result in this application. 

This observation is speculative, as the 

condition was not tested when measuring 

the performance of the fi lter splitter. 

3 Elsie is a fi lter design program available at 

www.elsie.com. 

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Simplifying the Four-Square 

The four-element square antenna 

array of quarter-wave vertical elements 

with quadrature current drive — or “foursquare” 

— has become very popular 

among low-band DXers. For many of us, 

however, its site area requirements have 

been a negative factor in its adoption. 

More compact versions generally require 

more complex drive circuitry, such as 

that in Figure 2a, and this can also be a 

disincentive. 

Have you been put off building a 

four-square array by the multiple towers, 

elaborate ground system, complex feed 

circuits and fi nicky adjustment procedure? 

Here’s an alternative that works as well 

as the real thing but only needs one 

tower, a single radial ground system, no 

phasing lines and no L networks, and it 

tunes easily. 

Construction 

Photo 1 (right) shows one of the four 

elements that are deployed every 90° 

around a single quarterwave-tall support. 

Element shape and size is chosen to 

simultaneously minimize horizontally 

polarized radiation, provide suitable 

spacing between points of maximum 

current and present a 50 Ω feed point 

impedance 1 . Ideally the support should 

be insulated to reduce the possibility of 

pattern distortion by current induced by 

the radiators, but there are ways to make 

grounded towers transparent at the array’s 

working frequency 1, 2 . I use three 6-meter 

steel scaffold poles to support my 80 

meter array. The elements are made of 

inexpensive steel-core satellite coaxial 

cable because this has minimum stretch 

and provides a large effective diameter 

to minimize loss with light weight. At 

the mast base the wires terminate on a 

piece of insulating-sheet material and 

connect — inner and outer conductors 

together — via feed-through insulators at 

the control box. 

A ground system of buried radials, as 

many and as long as you can fi t onto the 

site, radiates from the array’s center. The 

element wires are pulled away with 2 mm 

Nylon twine to posts, trees or buildings. 

You can change the shape of the elements 

if necessary to reduce the pulling radius, 

but it will degrade the radiation pattern. 

That takes care of the construction details. 

Now, the theory. 

How it Works 

The elements are effectively 0.4 λ 

when the dielectric loading by the cable 

sheath is considered. The points of 

Tony Preedy, G3LNP 

The base of the antenna, showing the method of terminating the wire elements on 

the guyed scaffold tower. Current transformers are fi tted for tuning. 

Figure 1 — Construction of the elements for the parasitic four-square array. 


Figure 2A — Drive 

circuit for a typical 

close-spaced foursquare 

array with 

extended elements. 

2B — Simplifi ed 

drive circuit for 2a, 

as developed by the 

author. 

maximum current on each element are 

0.25 λ from the top, which makes their 

effective spacing about 0.15 λ. If we drive 

this array as a conventional close-spaced 

four-square it requires relative currents 

of 1.3 A at 0°, two of 1 A at -120° and 1 

A at -240° for the rear, center and front 

elements, respectively. Because all these 

currents return to a common ground 

point, the Earth connection loss is only 

that due to their vector sum of 0.8 A at 

-230°. Consequently the ground system 

is less important from a loss standpoint 

than for a conventional four-square with 

individual ground returns. Conventional 

all-driven-element operation requires a 

feed system like that in Figure 2. Here L 1 / 

C 1 handle input matching for the feeder. L 2 / 

C 2 and L 3 /C 3 are dual-purpose networks 

that determine phase delay and voltage 

ratio. 

The 90° coaxial phasing lines are used 

to convert the voltages at their input ends 

into corresponding currents in the elements. 

In this case, because the elements 

are longer than 0.25 λ, we also need to 

match them with series capacitors C 4 to C 7 

of equal value in order to keep the VSWR 

low on the phasing lines. 

We do not have to do it this way! 

Simplifying the Feed System 

If we don’t drive the front and rear 

elements, we have a parasitic array. By 

adjusting the matching capacitors in this 

confi guration, we can control the current 

amplitude and phase. In fact we can 

find values that will give the optimum 

amplitudes that we could have calculated 

for all-driven-element operation. Because 

this array is relatively close spaced the 

Figure 3 — Direction control and tuning 

circuit for the G3LNP four-square. 

18 November/December 2008 NCJ

optimum phase angles for the currents 

in the elements tend to correspond with 

the optimum amplitudes. This can be 

confi rmed by computer modeling, which 

shows no difference in the radiation 

pattern for either the all driven-element 

confi guration or the parasitic confi guration. 

The drive circuit now simplifi es to that 

in Figure 2B. All we have to add are the 

direction-switching relays. 

Direction Switching 

Unless operating very low power 

(QRP), voltages at the ends of the wires 

are high and beyond the capability of 

conventional relays to handle. Vacuum 

relays with changeover contacts might 

simplify the circuit, but I found their self 

capacitance led to unwanted coupling 

between elements. This resulted in poor 

directivity. High-voltage dry-reed relays 

designed for electro-medical applications 

are the only type I have found to be suitable. 

These represent the primary expense in 

constructing this antenna. High-value 

resistors are added to discharge static 

electricity from the elements and from 

the tower if it is insulated. Figure 3 shows 

the switching and drive circuit, which 

is built in an ABS weatherproof box as 

Figure 4 — Construction detail for the circuit in Figure 3. 

in Figure 4. Construction objectives 

are to keep the wiring length as nearly 

constant as possible for each direction 

and to minimize stray capacitive coupling 

between elements. 

Setting to Work 

To tune the array you must be able to 

measure the current amplitude in any pair 

of adjacent elements at their feed point. I 

use 20 turn current transformers, a dualtrace 

’scope and a fraction of a watt of 

RF input. Low-impedance devices such 

as automotive lamps or RF ammeters 

should also work. Confi rm that all relays 

are working correctly. Set the director 

Table 1 — Component List 

C 1 : Variable 150 pF 2.5 kV (for 1.5 kW), fi tted with a 3 ⁄8 inch shaft insulating bushing 

or otherwise insulated (Double capacitor values for 160 meters, and halve them for 

40 meters.) 

C 2 , C 3 : Variable 80 pF 2.5 kV (double capacitor values for 160 meters, and halve them 

for 40 meters) 

R 1 —R 5 : each comprised of three 220 kΩ 2W in series 

K 1 —K 12 : Reed relay, 10 kV, 3 A with 12 V coil (Meder Electronics H12-1A69 for surface 

mounting or HM12-1A69-150 for direct PC mounting or Cynergy3 type DBT71210S 

for PCB mounting) 

Wire for elements: Steel core 6 mm coaxial cable, RG-59 or similar 

S 1 : 4-position, single pole, 1 A 

D 1 —D 4 : 1N4002 

Element insulators: Ribbed plastic type. Eight required, attached using cable ties 

Lower insulator: Fabricated from 6 mm glass laminate or Plexiglass to suit tower 

Feed-through insulators (4) for ABS control box: Glass or porcelain type with 

waterproof bushing and a minimum 30 mm leakage path 


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capacitor to minimum and the refl ector 

and input capacitors to maximum. Apply 

low power and reduce the rear element 

(reflector) tuning capacitance for 1.3 

times the current or brightness as the 

driven element wire. Reverse the array 

and increase the front element (director) 

capacitance for the same current as in the 

driven element wire. If using lamps, you 

will need to experiment with a variable dc 

supply in order to know what 30 percent 

additional current looks like. 

Repeat these adjustments because 

they interact. Then adjust the input 

capacitor for minimum VSWR. You may 

be able to improve on these settings by 

a front-to-back test with the assistance 

Figure 5 — Measured front-to-back directivity for the G3LNP array. 

Figure 6 — An EZNEC plot of the 

vertical radiation pattern at 30° 

elevation with the antenna adjusted as 

a parasitic array on 3.79 MHz. 

of a local station, but it is unlikely that 

you will get any more gain. Figure 5 

shows measured F/B results for my 

80 meter array after such adjustments. 

Figure 6 shows a computer-generated 

vertical radiation pattern at 30° elevation 

for the 80 meter array, while Figure 7 

shows the horizontal pattern. 

Notes 

1 Preedy,G3LNP. “Single-Support Directional 

Wires.” RadCom, Aug/Sep 1997. 

2 Devoldere, ON4UN. Low-Band DXing (4th ed), 

p 11-35, ARRL. 

Figure 7 — An EZNEC plot of the 

horizontal radiation pattern at 3.79 MHz.

Tips for Tuning a Full-Size 

160 Meter Vertical 

I’m often asked how to match a quarter-wave 

vertical for 160 meters to a 

50 Ω transmission line, what to do about 

lightning protection and even how to take 

RF measurements with powerful AM 

broadcast signals in the vicinity. This article 

will describe how to make a basic — but 

elegant — matching device for a quarterwave 

vertical which does additional duty 

as a static bleed device and a surge arrestor 

with a lightning loop. I’ll also explain 

how it’s possible to take the antenna measurements 

needed to make the matching 

device and to tune the antenna correctly 

while in the presence of strong RF from 

nearby AM broadcast stations. 

Antenna Matching on 160 Meters 

I’ve seen antenna matching solutions 

that range from just attaching the coax to 

the antenna and living with the result to 

adding a series capacitor to allow tuning 

the antenna over the band or even using 

an L network to match the antenna’s approximately 

30 Ω to the feed line’s 50 Ω. 

Let’s look at a very simple solution that 

I’ve found useful. 

My own quarter-wave 160 meter vertical 

is sort of an inverted L. It rises up from 

ground level to 50 feet as a free-standing 

aluminum tube. At that point I’ve attached 

a #12 wire that slopes upward at a 45° 

angle to my 150 foot tower. The system 

has 64 buried radials. Fortunately we have 

Figure 1 — Connecting the probe to the coax. 

excellent ground here. Due to the sloping 

wire the antenna’s feed-point impedance 

is lower than the theoretical 36 Ω. 

What we will attempt to do is tune this 

antenna for a 50 + j0 Ω resonance at 1.830 

MHz using an LC network. For a capacitor 

we will just shorten the antenna length 

a small amount to create the necessary 

“phantom capacitance.” I don’t like to use 

series capacitors, since they’re prone to 

fail at high currents and in lightning events. 

Then a single inductor across the feed 

point is all we need to match the antenna 

to the transmission line. This technique is 

a great way to handle this sort of matching 

situation. 

Issues with Nearby AM Broadcast 

Station RF 

There are many AM broadcasters in 

my area, and one station even operates 

on 1700 kHz! These stations place 10 V 

peak-to-peak RF onto my antenna during 

the day and even more at night. Figure 1 

shows how to attach a ’scope probe to the 

coax stub going to the Heliax feed line. 

Figure 2 shows the scope reading at the 

unterminated end of 150 feet of half-inch 

50 Ω Heliax. Trying to take an accurate 

measurement using any of the impedance 

meters available to hams is impossible. 

They overload, and some will even blow 

their diode bridges, requiring a trip to 

the factory. The AIM 4170B analyzer we 

Jay Terleski, WXØB 

Figure 2 — 10V peak-to-peak RF 

market at Array Solutions, www.arraysolutions.com, 

will not blow up, but simply 

hooking it to the feed line won’t let you 

take any measurements in the presence 

of strong RF either. It does, however, have 

a neat feature that can be used to take this 

measurement accurately, and we will use 

it to help us tune this antenna. 

The 10 V peak-to-peak RF represents 

0.25 W of power into 50 Ω. The AIM 4170B, 

on the other hand, puts out microwatts of 

RF to enable measurements. So, how can 

this device override the power that’s showing 

up in the antenna system? 

When we attach the AIM 4170B to this 

antenna and coax and do a scan from 1.5 

to 2.5 MHz, we see the plot in Figure 3. 

The bold line above the X axis is VSWR. 

The lighter line highlighted with squares is 

resistance (R), while the lighter line highlighted 

with dots is reactance (X). 

Due to the RF overload, the plot is full 

of noise and totally useless; we need to 

alter our measurement technique if we 

are to get accurate information to allow 

us to adjust this antenna. What we need 

is a good broadcast-band high-pass fi lter. 

W3NQN makes a superb fi lter for this 

purpose, and I connected it to the RF connector 

of the AIM 4170B analyzer. Before 

using it, however, it’s necessary to null out 

its transfer function so the measurements 

we take are not affected by it. 

High-order fi lters like these have phase 

shifts and other linear parameters due to 

their design. We must normalize them. 

To do this the AIM 4170B has a “custom 

calibration” feature. This is the "neat feature" 

I mentioned. The software leads you 

through a “super” calibration using the 

short, open and load technique through 

the fi lter over a limited frequency range 

of interest. To create a very accurate 

calibration table requires lots of sample 

points. I used 500 points of measurement. 

The software will create a very detailed 


Figure 3 — A plot of the antenna from 1.5 to 2.5 MHz: AM broadcast station RF makes measurements impossible. 

Figure 4 — A very clean plot. X = 0, R = 31.4, VSWR = 1.59. The little glitch is the second harmonic of KRLD. 


Figure 5 — The sidebands show about 

125 mV of RF still getting through the 

fi lter. 

calibration table that essentially moves 

the measurement point from the analyzer’s 

RF connector to the input connector of the 

broadcast band high-pass fi lter. 

Once the custom calibration is run, it can 

be saved in a fi le for future use. Now that 

we have the analyzer and fi lter fully calibrated, 

we can retest the antenna and coax 

system. Figure 4 shows the plot obtained 

while scanning through the fi lter. Note that 

I added 8× averaging (see the “AVG=8” in 

the upper right-hand corner of the trace) to 

the measurement to get rid of any residual 

noise. This way we can eliminate the effect 

on the measurement of the AM broadcast 

station’s ever-changing sideband power. 

As a further check, I looked at the antenna 

through the fi lter with the ’scope. 

Figure 5 shows approximately 125 mV 

peak-to-peak RF is getting through the 

fi lter. That’s still pretty high, but the AIM 

4170B can handle it. 

Adjusting the Antenna to Create the 

Phantom Capacitor 

To create a “phantom capacitor” as 

part of a matching network, we need to 

adjust the antenna’s resonant frequency 

to make it short or capacitive. Instead of 

resonating the antenna at 1830 kHz, we’ll 

move its resonant point up in frequency. 

Since I don’t care about operating above 

1875 kHz, I use 1900 kHz as my target 

frequency so the antenna exhibits a capacitive 

reactance at 1830 kHz. Using an 

L-network program like the Network program 

we offer, it’s easy to create a match 

for this antenna. 

First we need to fi nd the impedance at 

our desired frequency. Figure 6 shows a 

plot with a vertical line marker at 1830 

kHz. The corresponding resistance is 41.6 

Ω and the corresponding impedance is 

–41.5 Ω (capacitive reactance) at the end 

of the transmission line. 

To obtain the exact reactance at the antenna 

we could take the AIM to the antenna 

and measure the input terminals, or we can 

just use the “Refer to Antenna” function in 

the software, describe the 150 feet of 50 

Ω Heliax, the cable loss (a lookup table) 

and its velocity factor (also a lookup table). 

Plugging these numbers into the software 

prompts and rescanning will now give the 

measurement as if we were at the feed 

point all from the comfort of my air conditioned 

shack! The R and X values turn out 

to be almost exactly the same as at the 

transmitter end of my cable. At 160 meters 

this is probable, but you cannot assume 

they will be the same at higher frequencies; 

they could be drastically different. 

The L-network software calculates that 

we need a shunt coil of about 5.8 µH to 

match this impedance to 50 Ω. Using a 

three-inch piece of PVC pipe as a coil 

form, I wound 12 turns on it per the network 

Figure 7 — The inductor attached 

to the insulated vertical element is 

grounded at its far end (not seen). 

Figure 6 — With the marker at 1830 kHz, R = 41.6 and X = –41.5 (capacitive reactance). The measurement is referred to the 

antenna by the AIM 4170B software. 


Figure 8 — At 1832 kHz, R = 50.7, X = –1 and VSWR = 1.03. 

Figure 9 — A wideband sweep of the antenna from 1 to 2.2 MHz. Note all the noise below 1.7 MHz caused by the substantial 

attenuation in the fi lter at these frequencies. Everything above 1.7 MHz is valid. 


Figure 10 — The VSWR = 1.03 at 1832 kHz. 

software’s coil-design program. Initially you 

might want to make the inductor larger 

and tap down for the best match. Figure 

7 shows the inductor at the base of the 

antenna, while Figure 12 is a schematic 

diagram of the coax feed system. 

Re-running the plot (Figure 8) shows 

that we now have matched the antenna. 

The inductor acts just like a hairpin match 

on a Yagi, and the loss in the coil is only 

about 5 W at 2000 W input. But the coil 

serves another function: It also works as 

a static bleed choke that will defi nitely 

help to save your equipment in the event 

of a direct or nearby lightning hit. This is 

a pretty elegant solution for a matching 

device, a static-bleed choke and a surge 

arrestor in a single component! 

You can make the design even more 

lightning proof by adding a loop — or one 

turn of copper pipe — to the center conductor 

of the Heliax to create a lightning 

loop and perhaps even a spark gap from 

the vertical element to ground. A suitable 

spark gap can be fashioned from bolts 

and rounded acorn nuts opposing each 

other. The gap is adjusted so that a 700 V 

RF signal will not arc. This may be a good 

topic for a future article. 

Measurement Accuracy? 

Figure 9 shows a wideband sweep from 1 

to 2.2 MHz. Note that the fi lter’s attenuation 

is so large that it perturbs the measurements 

below 160 meters. This is fi ne, since 

we don’t care about the AM band anymore; 

the fi lter’s attenuation of the broadcast 

band RF allows the AIM 4170B to take 

the measurement on 160. The question 

remains: How accurate is the measurement 

considering the nearby RF turmoil? 

I used a NIST-calibrated PowerMaster 

watt/VSWR meter and my ICOM IC-781 

transceiver to verify the readings of the 

AIM 4170B. The AIM plot, Figure 8, shows 

the VSWR is 1.027 at 1832 kHz. Tuning the 

IC-781 to 1832 kHz and putting out some 

RF, we see in Figure 10 that the calibrated 

VSWR meter shows 1.03. That’s pretty 

darn close to unity and well within the margin 

of error of these measurements. Keep 

in mind that some of the other components 

in line — amplifi er, coax cables, wattmeter 

coupler, etc — could affect the reading. 

Now let’s check the bandwidth of the antenna 

with the VSWR meter and compare 

it with the plot seen in Figure 11. I moved 

the VFO to both 1804 kHz and 1859 kHz 

and checked the VSWR with the rig and a 

wattmeter. The VSWR meter shows almost 

the exact same VSWR readings, and the 

bandwidth is exactly the same. As a matter 

of fact, these measurements are identical 

at higher VSWR. 

I’d like to express my appreciation and 

gratitude to Grant Bingeman, KM5KG, and 

Bob Clunn, W5BIG, for their assistance in 

developing this article. 

Figure 12 — Schematic diagram of the 

coax feed system. 

Figure 11 — Using the antenna bandwidth tool and setting the VSWR ruler at 1.5. The bandwidth is 55 kHz, 

with the lower end at 1804 kHz and the upper end at 1859 kHz. 

NCJ November/December 2008 25




NCJ Profi le: Bob Naumann, W5OV 

Tis the season for CQ World Wide and 

ARRL November Sweepstakes, while 

the qualifying for World Radiosport Team 

Championship 2010 in Russia concludes 

this spring. Past WRTC operators always 

have interesting stories to tell about their 

passion for ham radio, contesting and the 

social aspects of the hobby. I fi rst met this 

month’s profile subject and WRTC-96 

participant Bob Naumann, W5OV, in the 

fall of 1986. I was 17 at the time and more 

than a little intimidated by being invited to 

operate at a big multi-multi (K2GL/N2AA) 

for the CQ WW SSB Contest. Bob may 

not remember, but because I was a little 

nervous about the whole thing on Friday 

afternoon I said — with N2AA standing 

right there — something like, “Gee, thanks 

for inviting me up here to watch all this.” 

Bob chuckled, as if to say, “What? You’re 

here to operate,” while Gene 

shook his head and said, 

“Hope you didn’t plan on 

sleeping.” All it took was a 

kind word, and I felt right 

at home. 

Have you ever at least 

once in your life thought, “If 

I had a job doing something 

involving Amateur Radio, 

that would be for me.” Bob, 

who now resides in Sachse, 

Texas, is an employee of 

accessory manufacturer 

Array Solutions as well as 

a veteran contester. He 

started off contesting in New 

Jersey, was present for the 

salad years of the K2GL/ 

N2AA operations and then 

found himself living in Texas 

and concentrating on going 

to the Caribbean. Here’s his 

story in his own words. 

I started in Amateur Radio in 1972 

when I was a freshman in high school. 

My parents had given me a CB radio as 

a graduation present from eighth grade. 

One of the friends I made via CB — Sal, 

now KM6JD — had a Radio Shack short 

wave receiver. He was listening around on 

the receiver one day while I was visiting, 

and we heard some guys talking. They 

were having two-way conversations, but 

it wasn’t CB. I asked him what that was, 

and he said, “Oh, they’re hams.” I knew 

that was for me. We both learned the code 

shortly thereafter, and we were licensed 

in early 1973 — he as WN2LFC and I as 

WN2OVE. 

I met my fi rst real contester via a telephone 

call. It was on a Saturday morning. 

My mother told me some guy was on the 

Bob Naumann, W5OV 

phone, and he was really angry about my 

radio. Oh, boy. Whose TV was I messing 

up? Boy was I wrong! He was upset about 

my DX60’s key clicks messing up his European 

SSB run on 15. He was WB2VYA, 

and I stopped transmitting immediately. I 

was scared. Of course, he is now KR2Q, 

and Doug has been an Elmer to me in 

addition to being a very good friend for 

35 years. 

My fi rst contest operation was Field Day 

in 1973, when I operated as WN2OVE/1 

while on a family camping trip. I made 66 

QSOs. While I was there, I bumped into 

some slow-speed CW guys in the New 

England Slow Net. This led me into traffi c 

handling, where I met most of the big-time 

traffi c and contest guys in W2 Land, such 

as (then-) WB2RKK, WB2RJJ, WB2FLF, 

WA2SRQ and WA2UOO among others. 

Then there were the ARRL CD parties. 

I loved those contests. I operated Sweepstakes 

and DX contests too, but I was 

never really too serious about contesting 

until 1979 when WB2VYA asked me to 

come with him to K2GL’s to see the N2AA 

station there. I was overwhelmed. Over the 

years I met many people at K2GL’s who 

have been most infl uential on my development 

as a contester and as a person. Of 

course, these included KR2Q and K2GL 

as well as operators like N2AA, K2SS, 

K2TT, K5NA, K5DU, K2UR, K2TW, K2XR, 

K1KI, K3EST, W3ZZ, KU2M, KR2W, 

NA2AA, and others. The list includes a 

couple of guest appearances by people 

like K3LR and W4PA. 

Sadly, one of my favorite members of 

the K2GL gang left us not too long ago. 

He was Dave Rosen, K2GM. Dave also 

Scott Robbins, W4PA 

provided an opportunity for me to operate 

at 4U1UN, which I will never forget. 

He had an enthusiasm for life that was 

unique. It’s a shame that he’s gone. Away 

from the K2GL scene, my relationship with 

the other contesters in the Northeast grew 

too. Some of those traffi c handlers, such 

as N2NT, W2RQ, W2GD and others, were 

serious contesters too. 

I also met a lot of good friends when I 

joined the Yankee Clipper Contest Club. I 

met K1AR and K1DG then, along with one 

of my closest friends, W2YV. Dave and I 

have not spoken in a long time, but he was 

one of my best pals for many years. Some 

of the people I got to know during those 

years have left us too — W2PV, AJ1I, 

K2OY, K1EB and — very sadly and most 

recently — Stu, KC1F. 

Following the K2GL and YCCC days, 

I operated with the N2RM 

team in Southern New Jersey. 

N2RM, N2NC, WM2H, 

N2AA, K2TW, N4HY, K3UA, 

WT3Q, KA2AEV, K2BM, 

N2EA, N2NL, NA2AA, N7BG, 

WC4E, K8GL, K3EST, NQ4I 

and KR2Q were all part of 

that era. We had a lot of fun 

(I mean a lot!) and we won a 

lot of contests. N2NC and I 

became close friends during 

that time, and we still room 

together in Dayton every 

year. Around the same time, 

I played golf with K3TUP and 

his friends — such as W9XR, 

W3GH, VE3EJ, N3BJ, K3UA, 

N2NT, WM2H, N5KO et al — 

at a few “TUP Opens” in Erie, 

Pennsylvania. 

Dayton Hamvention also 

has had a huge impact on 

me, mostly because of those whom I have 

met there and continue to see year after 

year. My good friend Jim White, K4OJ, was 

a fi xture for me in Dayton since the fi rst 

time I went there. Of course, Jim’s passing 

was tough on me, and I did not go to 

Dayton for two years as a result. I have met 

so many great people in Dayton over the 

years I cannot possibly list them all. 

In 1995, I went on my fi rst real DX contest 

operation to Antigua with the V26B 

multi-multi team. What an exciting time 

that was! During that CQ WW Contest, 

K3MM and I did something that may have 

been unique but certainly was a lot of fun. 

I had a 348 hour on 15 SSB, while Tyler 

had a 329 hour on 20 at the same time 

while we were sitting next to each other. 

It was awesome! 

The following year, Tyler and I were 


teammates at the 1996 WRTC in San 

Francisco. We came in ninth place, but 

we beat a lot of really good guys so we 

felt vindicated. I have been back to Antigua 

numerous times since operating as 

V26B with W3CF, WT3Q, KA2AEV, AB2E, 

WXØB, W2UDT, N2TK, K3MQH, NM5M, 

N3BNA, N2SR, W3FV, K3MM, N3OC and 

NA2AA among others. In 1999, K3MM, 

K3RA and I did the ARRL CW contest as 

a multi-two as V26O (my Antiguan call 

sign), and we, at 7.8 M, were beaten by 

HC8N, with 8.7 M. Not a bad operation 

to lose to. 

On another occasion, Brian, N3OC, 

and I operated a WPX CW contest from 

Antigua as V25A. That was a great deal 

of fun, and I got to know Brian very well 

then too. If you’re doing any kind of contest 

operation, N3OC would be a great person 

to have on your team. 

The last time I operated from Antigua 

was in 2004 as V26DX from the Royal 

Antiguan Hotel. KM9M, WXØB, DF2BO 

(owner of Optibeam) and I operated the 

ARRL SSB contest multi-two, low power 

from the hotel, and we made nearly 7000 

QSOs. That was really a fun trip because 

the XYLs were along (see www.contesting.com/articles/525). 

When I moved to Texas in 1996, I continued 

to fl y back East to operate from 

N2RM a couple of times and more recently 

to K3LR. Most of my contest operating in 

Texas has been from AA5NT, where we did 

multi-two most of the time, enjoying Marian, 

N5TVL’s hospitality and having a lot 

of fun. I have also operated at K5MR and 

WXØB as well as some limited operation 

from my own QTH. 

A few years ago, I became less and less 

enamored with my corporate IT career, 

and WXØB needed some help at Array 

Solutions. With a lot of arm-twisting on my 

part, Jay relented and took me on to help 

him on a part-time basis with a couple of 

larger commercial deals. Of course, hams 

were involved in those deals. KR9U, K1XX 

(whom I have known since my YCCC days) 

and K3VN were among those I crossed 

paths with on those early assignments. 

A few months later — and coincidental 

with my savings running pretty low — Jay 

and his wife Sharon, N5CK, offered me a 

full-time position as operations manager 

for Array Solutions. I’ve been doing that 

job for more than two years now, and it is 

a lot of fun. I think that working with ham 

radio is a big perk all by itself, but getting 

to talk to people I know from contesting 

for these many, many years is a big plus 

too. When I pick up the phone it could be 

K1ZM, ON4UN, K6LA, GW3YDX, W2GD, 

N3RD, K5RX, ES5TV, PY5EG or OH2BH 

among many others. Through my work 

with Array Solutions I had the opportunity 

to go to Friedrichshafen, Germany, for the 

2008 Ham Radio show. While there, I at- 


tended the Bavarian Contest Club’s 25th 

anniversary buffet dinner. What a great 

experience. I met many new friends there 

like P43JB, DL2CC, DL6LAU, DL6RAI 

and DL4LAM. 

It doesn’t get much better than that. I 

am most grateful to Jay and Sharon for the 

opportunity they have given me. 

Thanks, Bob! It really doesn’t get much 

better. The common interest we all have in 

contesting is as much a source of pleasure 

to those of us who participate in it as the 

operating itself. Until next issue, see you 

on the bands. 73 de W4PA. 

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RADIO AMATEURS SERVING RADIO AMATEURS

Workshop Chronicles 

As Plato and others who followed have 

suggested, necessity is the mother of invention. 

This perspective powered some 

recent work in Texas involving the NR5M 

rebuild. Here are the details. 

Star guying (sometimes called “star 

bracket” guying) is sometimes overlooked 

as a solution to stacking large antennas, 

but when KR7X ran the numbers for us 

on the benefi ts derived from using them, 

W2GD and I decided to locate star guys 

under every KØXG orbital-ring rotator 

and OWA-stacked Yagi at George’s station. 

The strengthening capabilities were 

wonderful, but when confronted with twice 

the number of guys, we obviously had to 

do something. 

A few minutes of inspecting commercial 

installations using star guying showed that 

they merely “stacked” the EHS guys top to 

bottom. Some EQ plates I looked at held 

as many as 12 guys! Of course, with standard 

Rohn hardware (all of George’s highband 

towers are standard Rohn — 25G, 

45G or 55G), this was not an option. 

The seemingly obvious solution would 

be to add more holes to the Rohn EQ 

plates. This was not a workable idea, 

however, since we didn’t want to weaken 

the system. The simple adapter seen in 

Figure 1 was a better answer — two fl at 

steel plates welded at 90° with appropriate 

mounting holes for attaching them to the 

existing EQ plates, plus the requisite turnbuckles. 

After welding, these pieces were 

hot-dipped galvanized. Figure 2 shows 

these adapters in use. We’re in the process 

of building some larger ones for use on the 

big PiRod tower, which will hold 80 meter 

stacks and utilize star guys. 

We recently decided to build and install 

an 80 meter four-square system at 

George’s contest station — specifi cally, 

a pair of phased four-squares. While noo- 

KZ5TG 

Figure 1 — The star guy adapter used in 

the NR5M rebuild. 

Figure 2 — Star guy adapters in use. 

dling around various ideas and confi gurations 

and making a visit to K3LR’s to 

see what Tim was using, we decided to 

utilize HBX-56 towers. How to insulate 

them remained the question of the day, 

however. W2GD suggested we look at the 

BX tilt-over base option. As soon as I saw 

that, I knew using the homebrew round 

rod insulators I’d built for another client a 

few years ago would work fi ne with them. 

Figure 3 shows a fi nished insulator. 

Basically, three parts, all of equal size, 

comprise each insulator; these replace 

the steel tube normally used. Each consists 

of 1.5 inches of solid fi berglass rod 

glued inside 2-inch fi berglass tubing and 

encased in UV-rated PVC for protection 

and to allow a more precise fi t to the BX 

channel. All fi berglass was purchased from 

Max-Gain Systems in Atlanta. I followed 

the suggestion of Max-Gain owner Allen 

Bond and used construction adhesive to 

glue all components together. 

Each of the three insulators 

required drilling 

five holes. Because of 

the separate angles for 

each tower leg’s channel, 

we had to use a 

rotating head for precision. 

This meant employing 

the services of 

a machine shop. A local 

ham did that for me, 

and I hand carried the 

insulators to Texas in 

a separate suitcase. In 

today’s economically 

strapped airline world, 

this was costly, but it was 

cheaper than shipping 

them! This attention to 

KZ5TG 

Don Daso, K4ZA 

NR5M 

Figure 3 – Rod insulators were used to 

insulate the tower. 

detail paid off, as we installed every one 

of the required 24 insulators easily and 

smoothly. Figure 4 shows a fi nished tower 

base before ground radial installation. 

Walking around any station in which one 

has had a hand in building usually brings 

back memories or feelings of satisfaction. 

In Texas, I’m fond of joking that I’ve 

learned size matters. That said I’m equally 

proud of the simple and small, yet elegant, 

solutions we’ve created to problems like 

these. I’m sure we’ll encounter others, and 

necessity once again will inspire us. 

Figure 4 — Finished tower base before the installation 

of ground radials. 

NR5M 


Contest Tips, Tricks and Techniques Gary Sutcliffe, W9XT 

Strengths and Weaknesses 

In sports competition you always want 

to apply your strengths against your opponent’s 

weaknesses. While radio contests 

are not direct head-to-head confrontations, 

it still makes sense to make the best use 

of your strengths and to minimize the effects 

of your weaknesses. This installment 

of CTT&T looks at what some contesters 

consider to be their strengths and weaknesses 

and how they adjust their operating 

techniques accordingly. 

Geography and Location 

Unlike most sporting events where 

the players are on the same fi eld, radio 

contesting has a very uneven playing 

fi eld. Different regions experience different 

propagation. Within a given region, 

geography can have a big effect on station 

performance. Everyone wants to be on top 

of the big hill in the middle of a salt marsh, 

but few of us are that fortunate. 

From North America, New England and 

Maritime Canada enjoy an advantage 

toward Europe with its multiplier-rich population 

centers. K1IR considers his Massachusetts 

QTH as one of his strengths, 

especially on the low bands. Jim says that 

his one-acre lot is larger than many hams 

have, but compared to his competition in 

the multi-single class, it’s quite small. He 

has built his station to take maximum advantage 

of low-band propagation. 

K1IR is limited to one tower, and a 4 

element 40 meter beam dominates it. He 

has a wire 4-square for 80 meters. The 

wooded areas surrounding the property 

allow for low-band, low-noise receiving 

antennas. Jim says the combination of 

these antennas and his location help him 

to outscore larger stations in more disadvantaged 

locations. 

W7WHY considers being atop a hill as 

his biggest strength. He has good shots 

to Europe and Africa. There is a bay at the 

bottom of the hill, so Tom gets the extra 

advantage of the water refl ection. Despite 

having only 2 element monobanders, he 

could hear stations his friends in the valley 

could not hear during the last sunspot 

maximum. Tom would like to put up bigger 

antennas but says the winter winds at the 

top of the hill are bad, and he has lost a 

lot of antennas because of them. 

I also feel my biggest strength is my 

location on the side of a hill. I have great 

shots to Europe as well as to the south and 

to the west. The takeoff toward Europe is 

especially favorable, as the terrain drops 

off until it reaches a small lake. Working 

into the Northwest is a problem, however, 

because I’m looking into the rest of the 

hill. 


Continental geography is both a strength 

and a weakness for ZS6AA. Being a relatively 

rare multiplier is a big help, and a lack 

of local stations reduces QRM. Andrew’s 

location is also a disadvantage, however. 

There are not a lot of short to mediumrange 

stations to work when propagation 

is poor. 

Andrew has found that operating high 

power is not too effective, given his 

country’s 400 W limit. On the other hand, 

running low power hurts him when North 

America and Europe have their beams 

pointed at each other, and he’s off the 

side. To compensate Andrew uses SO2R 

and good S&P techniques. He prefers CW, 

which can help to offset the low-power 

disadvantage. 

PY2NY also feels geographic location 

is a plus for him, but he credits good 

antennas for 40 and 20 meters too. Vitor 

says one of his weaknesses is inadequate 

fi ltering for SO2R and having only a single 

tower. 

Antennas 

There are probably very few contesters 

who didn’t wish they could improve their 

antennas, at least on some bands. N2WN 

is no different. Although Jules says his antennas 

are good, there’s always room for 

improvement. To compensate, he tries to 

improve the effi ciency of the ones he has. 

Most of them are fed with buried Heliax. 

W9RE feels that 20 meters is his weak 

point, both in domestic and DX contests. 

Mike thinks he may have resolved part of 

his problem by taking down the top two antennas 

on his tower. He hopes to do better 

on 20 without the 40 meter beam there. 

To compensate for 20 meters, Mike had 

tended to stay on 15 meters longer. Now 

he’s going back to 20 earlier to catch the 

1700 UTC European openings. Mike says 

15 meters is a problem in domestic contests 

because he cannot rotate his lower 

beam to the west. Mike is always working 

on antennas to make improvements. 

My own towers are fairly short — 50 feet 

and 60 feet. I would like more and taller 

towers, but the cost — and especially the 

upkeep — have kept me from going that 

route. Except on 15 and 10 when conditions 

are good, I usually don’t get many 

big runs going, so I have to S&P a lot. I 

compensate by having multiple antennas 

on as many bands as possible. 

For example I have a TH7 on one tower, 

and a stack of 2×3 element tribanders on 

the other. I can feed them in any combination. 

Sometimes I have all of them 

pointed in the same direction. Other times 

the stack is pointed in one direction and 

the TH7 in another. This makes it quick to 

snag stations in different directions without 

having to turn a beam. 

Different antennas help with different 

locations or conditions. For example, the 

top A3 of the stack is better toward the 

Pacifi c than the TH7. It probably has less 

gain than the TH7, but it is a bit higher 

and defi nitely quieter. The TH7 is better 

toward Africa. 

K2SX is in an antenna-restricted location. 

He’s hidden a Butternut vertical in the 

woods and has been experimenting with 

hidden wire antennas. Dennis runs 1 kW 

compensate for the lack of antenna gain. 

Operating 

Multi-op stations often can put in operators 

the same way a coach makes 

substitutions in a game. K1IR notes that 

some of his operators are better at running, 

while others excel at S&P. He also 

matches operating stints according to 

operator interest. 

A common practice at multi-op stations 

is to have band specialists. Each operator 

is an expert at propagation, operating 

practices and activity on their particular 

band of interest. 

Jules, N2WN, used to pick classes for 

other reasons, such as improving his 80 

meter DXCC count. Now he often picks 

categories where other bands can help 

make up for what he considers his big 

weakness — not having a great 40 meter 

antenna. Jules operates low power and 

QRP categories, which match his budget 

and interests. 

N2WN tries to operate in as many 

contests as possible, and he believes 

state QSO parties offer a great training 

ground. 

Now that we are lacking sunspots, 

W7WHY prefers contests where everyone 

works everyone else as opposed to only 

working DX. Right now he is operating 

mostly domestic events. 

N4ZR feels his strengths lie in knowing 

his weaknesses and being realistic about 

his competitiveness. Pete concentrates 

on operating contests that he enjoys and 

improving upon his best efforts. He notes 

that given current sunspot activity there is 

not much chance of beating his scores in 

the 2000 to 2002 contest seasons. Pete 

says the biggest improvement would be 

to be 40 years old again, but he fi gures 

he’ll have to settle for a solar maximum to 

beat his previous bests. 

Health problems prevent WB4ROA from 

operating the full contest period. To compensate 

Harold tries to operate at times 

when he can make the most contacts. He

mostly runs stations at these times and 

rarely S&Ps. Harold says it requires a lot 

of planning to do this effectively. He spends 

a lot of time with propagation programs 

and outlines when and where he will be 

operating. Breaks and sleep periods are 

scheduled around times when propagation 

does not favor him. 

VE3WDM lives in a townhouse with 

antenna restrictions. He has a High Sierra 

Sidekick antenna that he sets up only for 

contests. Mike likes this antenna because 

it works 80 through 10 meters. On the 

other hand, he finds it difficult to stay 

motivated given the low QSO rates he’s 

able to maintain with his modest antenna. 

He’s working to improve his listening skills, 

however, and he plans to move to SO2R. 

AA4NU considers knowledge of propagation 

and current band conditions to be 

one of his strengths. Billy feels it is critical 

to getting every possible multiplier. He 

does have to watch himself, however, lest 

he get into a DXing mode. Billy feels he is 

strong on the low bands and on an even 

plain with the competition on the higher 

bands. He tends to pick contests and entry 

categories based more on his station’s 

strengths than on operator skill. 

KE1FO has modest antennas. To 

compensate, Al makes a bigger effort to 

stay in the chair longer. He also feels his 

knowledge of propagation is a big help. 

He has a good sense of when the band is 

open enough for him to be successful and 

which stations he can work quickly. 

K8GU/9 says his weakness is lack of 

gain on 20. Ethan concentrates on 40 

and 80 and enjoys contests like the ARRL 

November Sweepstakes, where you may 

only work another station once. He also 

uses SO2R and practices a lot. 

K2DRH is a VHF contester. Bob has 

a number of problems that HF operators 

don’t normally have to worry about. 

First, he runs eight VHF/UHF bands. Bob 

considers one of his station weaknesses 

to be a lack of automation. Tuning, band 

changes and antenna pointing are all done 

manually. To compensate Bob feels he 

needs to know his station layout very well 

to operate it effi ciently. 

Antenna pointing on VHF/UHF has 

to very accurate because of the narrow 

beamwidths common with gain antennas 

on those bands. Bob notes that HF 

operators who believe they have a narrow 

beamwidth with their 5 element Yagis have 

no idea of how sharp the pattern is with 

122 elements on 3456 MHz. 

Bob considers his CW skill lacking for 

HF contesting but adequate for VHF/UHF 

operation. In VHF/UHF contesting CW 

typically only comes into play for working 

very weak signals, and you have to go 

slowly for that. He notes the slow speeds 

used by CW EME operators. 

That wraps up this installment of CTT&T. 

Thanks to A4NU, K1IR, K2DRH, K2SX, 

K8GU/9, KE1FO, N2WN, N4ZR, PY2NY, 

W7WHY, W9RE, WB4ROA, VE3WDM and 

ZS6AA for passing along their thoughts 

on this topic. 

January-February 2009: Aging 

Contesters 

The average age of radio amateurs 

is increasing. How have your contesting 

activities changed over the years? Has 

experience overcome the advantage of 

youth? Do you believe you’ve already 

peaked, or do you feel you’re continuing to 

improve? Which station and technological 

advancements helped you overcome the 

effects of aging? 

Share your ideas on these subjects as 

well as any suggestions for future topics. 

Contact me via e-mail, w9xt@qth, or via 

snail mail to 3310 Bonnie Ln, Slinger, WI 

53086. The comment deadline for the 

January-February issue is November 12. 

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VHF-UHF Contesting! 

All-Time 6 meter VHF Contest QSO 

Records 

While not yet offi cial, W5PR is claiming 

more than 1700 QSOs in 278 grids in the 

ARRL June 2008 VHF QSO Party. Prior to 

this, Bob, K2DRH, had posted the all-time 

highest 6 meter contest total in any domestic 

VHF event. He did this in the 2006 CQ 

World Wide VHF Contest with a 6 meter 

line score of 1421 QSOs and 288 Grids. 

Bob’s total score that year was 700,701 

including an additional 260 QSOs and 73 

grids on 2 meters. Both 2006 and 2008 

were outstanding years for E S . 

To Drop or Not to Drop 6 Meters from 

the June VHF QSO Party 

According to a thread on the VHF Contest 

Refl ector, some contest ops believe 

the June VHF Party would be improved if 

it did not include 6 meters. Now, before 

you throw down this issue of NCJ in anger, 

there is a reason why some feel this way. 

In a June VHF QSO Party like this year’s 

with massive E s openings on 6 meters, 

most contestants — and particularly casual 

entrants — stay on 6. Often 2 meters 

and down are neglected. Operators who 

prefer UHF or microwave fi nd fewer stations 

to work. Thus — the reasoning goes 

— if the contest did not include 50 MHz, 

then contestants would have to operate 

on the higher bands where, presumably, 

there would be more activity. 

Personally I have some issues with this. 

Six meters is a VHF band and has every 

“right” to be included in a VHF-oriented 

operating event. If 6 meters were to be 

excluded from the permissible band lineup, 

June VHF contest participation — and log 

submissions — would plummet. Activity 

in areas away from the Northeast US 

and California would decrease. There is 

relatively little activity on the UHF or microwaves 

from the Rocky Mountain States 

or the Great Plains in comparison to what 

occurs on 50 MHz. While stations in those 

areas did work 2 meter E s , this was the 

rare exception. 

The June VHF QSO Party is the only 

ARRL VHF operating event with a reasonable 

probability of E s on 50 MHz. The 

September and January VHF contests are 

de facto 2 meter, UHF and microwave contests. 

E s on 6 meters sometimes occurs in 

September and January, but it’s rare. The 

multi-op stations operate all bands — 6 

meters through the microwaves. They even 

do so during big 6 meter E-skip openings. 

The current scoring system favors UHF 

and microwave contacts, however. To do 

well, top contestants must operate on as 

many bands as possible. Some years, 


such as 2008, have seen good tropo and 

aurora conditions that favored the higher 

bands. So, I recommend leaving 6 meters 

in the June VHF QSO Party. 

DXpedition Lessons for VHF 

Contesters 

Several dedicated 6-meter-only DXpeditions 

took place in late June and early July. 

These included TO5E from St Barthelemy, 

CYØX from Sable Island and 5JØM from 

San Andres. TO5E made nearly 1800 

QSOs on 6 meters, while CYØX logged 

nearly 4000 contacts, possibly setting an 

all-time record for DXpedition QSOs on 

6 meters. 

These stations have some characteristics 

in common that VHF contesters may 

fi nd applicable. In addition to having good 

locations, they ran high power into large 

Yagi antennas. When operating, team 

members would call CQ consistently on a 

particular frequency, often using CW. The 

Jon K. Jones, NØJK 

operators stayed in the chair and kept at it, 

whether or not they had apparent propagation. 

By doing so they caught nearly every 

possible opening. They heard well, and 

modest little pistol stations were able to 

work them. CYØX heard my indoor dipole 

from EM28 on 6 meters July 8 (thanks, 

guys!). They do not give up. 

CYØX’s stay on Sable Island was extended 

due to fog that kept the charter 

plane from picking the team up. They continued 

to operate on 6 with 100 W into a 5 

element Yagi. By doing this, CYØX caught 

several big coast-to-coast E s openings 

across the US and gave many ops a new 

country on 6. 

The lessons? Build as good a station as 

you are able with the biggest and highest 

antenna you can put up. During the contest, 

call CQ often and stay in the chair. 

Listen carefully for weaker signals and 

don’t give up. Persistence is key!

Contesting 101 

Welcome back to Contesting 101. Fall 

has arrived, and I’m working on making 

antenna repairs and other station improvements. 

I hope your plans are proceeding 

on schedule. 

Competition: Winning, Losing and 

Playing the Game 

Many operators who enter the game of 

contesting do so in a very casual fashion. 

Our fi rst few forays into contesting might 

only involve a few hours of operation 

sandwiched between chores, work and 

family obligations. Little attention is paid 

to overall score; the operation is simply 

for the sheer fun of making contacts. Such 

casual contest operation is the meat and 

potatoes of contesting, however. Without 

all of the casual operators on the air, contesters 

would run out of people to work in 

a hurry. The simple joy of, “Can you hear 

me now? Yes I can!” lures us in, and the 

outside world with all of its responsibilities 

disappears while we’re on the air. 

After participating in a few contests, 

some operators may discover the joy of 

competition. It usually starts off subtly. You 

might fi nd that you placed higher than the 

operator across town with a better station. 

Maybe you received a certifi cate for fi rst 

place in your ARRL Section or Division 

or in your state. Perhaps a concentrated 

effort in a state QSO party resulted in a 

plaque or other handsome award. After 

a few such achievements, that little light 

bulb illuminates to suggest, “Hey, I’m not 

too bad at this, and it’s fun to boot!” Some 

contesters might discover a fi ercely competitive 

streak within themselves that they 

didn’t even know existed. Competition is 

a peculiar phenomenon. What else could 

drive a person to sit in front of a radio for 

hours on end, sometimes to the point of 

utter exhaustion? 

Contesting is ultimately a competitive 

game; therefore it brings out all of the 

uniquely human behaviors associated with 

competition. Some of these behaviors are 

exemplary. Some are, well, not so exemplary. 

The recent Olympics documented 

examples of true championship behavior 

and a few bozos as well. Ultimately 

operators must decide for themselves 

what matters most. Winning a contest 

requires a lot of effort, and winners are 

to be respected for their dedication and 

skill. Winning a major contest is not the 

only way to gain the respect of your fellow 

operators, however. 

The mountain of contesting achievement 

is high indeed. As with some other skilloriented 

human endeavors, there’s no top 

to the mountain, only views from different 

heights. When you see the same operators 

placing in the Top 10 in the same contests 

year after year, that achievement typically 

represents decades of contesting effort, 

and dozens — if not hundreds — of forgettable 

losses throughout their contesting 

careers, leading up to that point. 

Is Contesting Fair? 

Is Amateur Radio contesting fair? In the 

end it depends on how you look at it. From 

one perspective, it seems that only the 

largest stations in the best locations with 

the greatest operators have a chance of 

winning. While it may appear that little pistols 

have no chance, that attitude makes 

little sense if you think about it. The big 

stations and top operators usually took a 

long time and a lot of work to get there, and 

it should be very diffi cult to compete with 

them. While it’s true that the bar seems to 

rise higher and higher every year, history 

has shown that operator skill remains the 

most important factor in the equation. Big 

stations could not win a single contest 

without great operators at the helm. 

The bad news here is that there really 

is no level playing fi eld. The good news is 

that those willing to maximize their advantages 

and skills can choose to compete at 

whatever level they want. 

One of the bigger challenges facing the 

new competitor is understanding the playing 

fi eld. Many new ops get discouraged 

before they’ve had a chance to appreciate 

how the folks at the top typically climbed 

and scratched their way up through many 

years of effort. I believe it was N5KO who 

said (and I’m paraphrasing), “New contesters 

can’t understand or appreciate what 

the masters are doing or why.” 

New contesters don’t know about the 

countless forgettable losing efforts that 

preceded the big wins. The new operator 

doesn’t understand the amount of time 

and practice involved perfecting SO2R 

techniques or copying CW accurately 

at 40 to 50 WPM. I personally became 

very disillusioned with contesting several 

years ago, primarily owing to my failure to 

understand the playing fi eld. It took me a 

while to realize that I immensely enjoyed 

the operating and competing, regardless 

of the outcome. 

I have learned to choose my battles 

carefully and now have a better understanding 

of what’s possible from my station. 

As a result, I’m a lot less frustrated 

and less disappointed. I’ve even found a 

contest or two that I can win from home. 

I’ve traveled for contest DXpeditions and 

tasted the thrill of world-class competing 

as a team. Now I’m hooked for life on 

Kirk Pickering, K4RO 

contesting, but it took some real effort and 

deeper understanding of the playing fi eld 

to get over the hump of feeling like cannon 

fodder for the big guns. 

Location, Location Location! 

It’s helpful to understand the impact 

that geographical location can have on 

a given contest operation. From the US 

for example, the East Coast enjoys better 

propagation to Europe and thus has a 

considerable advantage in DX contests 

over the rest of the country. The high bands 

open earlier and longer to Europe, and the 

low-band paths are shorter, mostly over 

salt water. On ARRL November Sweepstakes 

weekends, the place to be is often 

somewhere between Louisiana and New 

Mexico — not the greatest locations for 

DX contesting. 

My point is that different regions experience 

different propagation, and not all 

locations are created equal. There is a 

reason that DX contest world titles often 

are won from North Africa or by stations 

operating from “3-point” countries in the 

Caribbean or on the equator. These areas 

offer terrifi c propagation paths to the major 

contesting population centers. That’s 

why top operators go to great lengths to 

build stations and to compete from such 

areas. 

You’ve Got to Play to Win 

An interesting aspect of contest operating 

is that newcomers essentially compete 

on the same playground as the Olympiclevel 

operators. So what’s a beginning 

competitor to do? The most important 

thing a new operator can do is operate 

a lot of contests and submit a log. One 

way to earn a few wall decorations for the 

shack is to choose a contest or category 

that requires less hardware than a major 

DX contest might. Some state QSO parties 

offer great competition without the need 

for a mega-station in an exotic location. 

The big guns usually prefer to slug it out 

in the single-operator/high-power category 

of the major contests. SOHP is generally 

agreed to be the ultimate operator proving 

ground, so we should expect very serious 

competition within that category. The lowpower, 

QRP and single-band categories 

offer great competition as well, with a little 

more chance for a good operator at an 

effective station to succeed. 

Study the results of previous years’ 

contests, and see if there’s a category that 

might be within reach. Operate the contest 

fulltime or as nearly as possible, and send 

in your log. I’ve seen operators win some 

contest categories with fewer than 100 


QSOs. It always pays to send in a log, no 

matter what size the effort. 

Operating in the mobile, QRP or rover 

categories also offers a chance to compete 

and be recognized. The National Contest 

Journal North American QSO Party and 

Sprint events offer great competition that 

tends to emphasize operator prowess over 

station capability. 

An excellent place to start competing is 

right in your own area. Study the contest 

results and identify the operators who do 

well in your area. Compare your scores 

with other similarly equipped stations in 

your part of the world. If they did better 

than you, try to fi nd out why. Did they 

operate more hours? Perhaps they chose 

different times to be on the air than you 

did. Maybe their station is more effective 

on one or more bands, or they have better 

receiving antennas. 

Joining a contesting club can be very 

helpful when trying to measure your success. 

Seasoned operators from your area 

can enlighten you regarding local propagation 

patterns. Old timers can help you to 

understand the possibilities and help you 

to form reasonable expectations. The advent 

of more regional reporting has helped 

a lot toward recognizing great efforts from 

less-advantaged areas. 

Some contests also offer rookie categories 

or categories for stations with limited 

antennas, such as the CQ WPX contests’ 

“Tri-Bander and Single-Wire” category. 

Finally, don’t forget the multi-operator categories. 

Competing as part of a multi-op 

team is a great way to experience the thrill 

of competition and learn some valuable 

skills at the same time. 

Is Competing Still Fun? 

For many of us, throwing everything we 

have at something like a radio contest is 

beyond fun. It’s a full-blown escape. It’s 

blood-pumping, eye-bugging exhilaration 

and an exhausting rush that lasts from the 

starting bell to the fi nish. While there are 

surely tough times of grinding it out in any 

full-time effort, operating an entire contest 

can be a very gratifying experience. Competition 

can be very fun, indeed. 

It Really Only Matters to You 

Winning is great and is certainly the goal 

of most top competitors. Something even 

more valuable than winning, however, is 

earning the respect of other contesters. 

There are ways to gain other contesters’ 

respect besides winning contests. Of prime 

importance is how we handle ourselves on 

the air. Effi cient and accurate operating technique 

is the best way to earn the respect of 

top contesters. I personally respect the operators 

with very low error rates, regardless 

of their scores. They are the ones I would 

want handling my emergency traffi c. 

Ultimately it comes down to finding 


satisfaction in the pursuit itself, regardless 

of score. We get out of this game exactly 

what we put into it. I’ll close this installment 

with some thoughts from two operators 

who have seen the view from the top more 

than once. N6TJ writes: 

“At the end of the day, only you will rejoice 

if you met any of your goals. As my 

dear friend Ville, OH2MM, opined to me 

when we were together in Brazil at PT5A 

[several] years ago, ‘Jim, only you will remember 

your number ones. Realize that, 

have fun and only take yourself seriously.’ 

Great thoughts to absorb from one of our 

forever-best operators.” 

Share your questions or comments, 

whether you’re a newcomer or an old 

timer. Contact me via e-mail, k4ro@k4ro. 

net, or via my “call book” address. 73, 

Kirk, K4RO. 

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Contesting on a Budget 

That Very First 3 dB 

What will it take to get that next dB? Will it 

be cost effective? Will it make things better 

or worse? I weigh my wanderlust and need 

to take an occasional DXpedition, saving for 

retirement, working longer or investing more 

in a business venture. I’ve been fortunate to 

have been able to build a nice medium-gun 

station that once was competitive and have 

enjoyed contesting immensely over the 

years. Yet, I’m still thinking about how I can 

improve my station. 

At this point, the law of diminishing returns 

starts kicking in, and I have constraints. The 

towers are pretty much at their limit, and 

there’s not much room for additional wires. 

Large, long-boom antennas and stacks just 

won’t fi t. It would take an awful lot to improve 

my signal. I can add more automation and 

fl exibility in the shack, but in the end it comes 

down to my perennial problem of being loud 

to non-populated parts of the world and running 

out of signal strength. You just can’t work 

Tibet from an average QTH in the Midwest on 

80 meters using an inverted V at 70 feet. To 

signifi cantly improve the station at my existing 

location just isn’t realistic at this time. 

For 40 meters I use an inverted V at 70 

feet. It’s okay, but I never dominate and can’t 

hold a frequency when the band is crowded. 

There are a couple of low-cost options I 

could try. A low dipole at about 20 feet would 

work great as a mid-day high-angle radiator. 

I could also try some phased slopers off 

the top of the tower to get a bit of directivity. 

Either or both options would cost virtually 

nothing. I’ve got coax and wire. These 

modifi cations would pretty much complete 

my medium-gun station. 

Let’s consider the operators who dabble 

in contesting. We’ve all worked these folks. 

Perhaps he or she is from the local club 

Figure 1 — K9NN’s nearly invisible 

end-fed wire, which runs just below the 

eaves of the house. 

and stumbled upon your big signal during a 

weekend contest. You encouraged this individual 

to exchange information and to scan 

the bands and work a few more stations. 

Perhaps it was the op on 80 meters fi nishing 

up a rag chew when sprint started, and you 

discovered he or she was in an uncommon 

state, so you worked the station, quickly explained 

the contest and encouraged the op 

to pass out a few more QSOs. This person 

is not “in the contest” but is happy to hand 

out a few contacts. 

Perhaps this operator is in the contest 

club or on the club refl ector and has joined 

a team and is just looking to contact other 

club members. As I’ve started to collect 

ideas for this column I noticed that there 

are a lot of these folks. They’re typically 

using low wires or perhaps a vertical and 

a transceiver without an amplifi er. Serious 

contesters rely on these operators to build 

their scores, however. 

If you’re one of these people, let’s look 

at your station and see what improvements 

you can make to get that fi rst 3 dB of real 

improvement — and do it cheaply. 

Initially, I would guess that you operate below 

the basic entry level for a contester. This 

might mean an inverted V plus a tribander 

at 45 feet. Perhaps you’re limited to erecting 

only some wire antennas or a vertical. You 

don’t make too many contacts, and you’re 

not loud. You don’t have much luck calling 

CQ and occasionally get covered up, necessitating 

many repeats. But you hang in there, 

call a lot and give out contacts. 

In the end, it’s operators like these who 

contribute signifi cantly to a club’s score by 

consistently working 100 stations or so. 

These are the people who can really beef 

up a club’s aggregate score, and I’d guess 

that they’re always trying to improve upon 

their own previous scores. 

Let’s keep in mind the constraints an 

operator like this might face, however. This 

individual may have recently moved, have 

children in college, been off the air for a 

while or live in a neighborhood governed by 

deed covenants, conditions and restrictions 

(CC&Rs) that limit or altogether prohibit 

outdoor antennas. Identifying some low-cost 

improvements can make this operator’s 

station more effective and bring more fun 

and activity. 

An e-mail from Dale Hammer, K9NN, 

got me thinking about what cost-effective 

changes might result in some improvement. 

He writes: “I live in an antenna restricted 

neighborhood and have to be very sneaky 

with the antennas. My antennas are a 67foot 

end-fed wire [see Figure 1] under the 

eaves of the fi rst story of the house (8-foot 

height) and a Hustler 4BTV vertical [see 

Figure 2] hidden between the house (a foot 

Ralph Bellas, K9ZO 

Figure 2 — A very well-hidden Hustler 

4BTV vertical at K9NN. 

away) and a tree (a foot away with limbs 

trimmed at strategic locations) at the back 

corner of the house.” 

Dale’s got a good stealth antenna system. 

Obviously that bit of wire his neighbors see 

under the eaves is for his shortwave listening 

pleasure. This is a great initial setup 

because Dale recognizes the constraints 

of his situation and still has managed to put 

together a station that will allow him to get 

on 80 through 10 meters. For now at least, 

10 meters is largely dead, and it’s pretty hard 

to work anyone with a vertical tucked in the 

trees. One contest tip, however, is to make 

sure you work at least one of the locals to 

catch the multiplier. Above all he’ll get some 

enjoyment and relaxation! 

As Dale gets on the air more often, he’ll 

recognize the limitations of his station. He 

may not be too effective on 80, but he will 

learn to show up early before the band gets 

crowded and work the loud stations. Later 

he’ll return and try to snag the next layer of 

loud ones. At some point perhaps he’ll try 

a low inverted V under the eaves to see if it 

works as a mid-day high-angle radiator. 

I’d recommend he put up a second vertical 

to get some directivity and gain, perhaps 

using a large fl ag pole in the front yard. It’s 

time to plant that second tree as camoufl age 

for that next vertical. 

Whatever your initial setup, you have to 

aim for some antenna system improvements 

to reach that basic level where your signal is 

loud enough to work both coasts and have 

one band where you can do pretty well. 

There’s always something more you can try. 

Your efforts will reward you with satisfaction 

and contribute to your club’s score. 


DX Contest Activity Announcements 

CQ World Wide DX CW Contest (November 29-30, 2008) 

Call Sign Entity Class Operators 


Bill Feidt, NG3K 

5X1NH Uganda SO LP G3RWF 

AHØBT Mariana Is SOAB HP JE1CKA 

CT9L Madeira M/? DJ7JC, DF1AL, DK3QZ, DL1XW, DL2OBF, DL3HAH, D3LQQ, DL5XX, PAØR 

CU2A Azores SOAB OH2UA 

EY8MM Tajikistan SOSB (80) EY8MM 

FJ/WJ2O St Barthemely SOAB LP WJ2O 

FM Martinique M/? FM5LD, F5IRO 

H7/K9ZO Nicaragua ? K9ZO 

HP1RIS Panama SOSB (10) HP1RIS 

IH9M African Italy SOSB IK7JWY 

IR9Y Sicily M/S IT9ABY, IT9DQM, IT9HUV, IT9RBW 

J3/DL5AXX Grenada SOAB DL5AXX 

J49I Crete M/S IØUZF, IKØEFR, IKØYUT, IZØFWD 

J6 St Lucia SOAB K9VV 

KH6/NE1RD Hawaii SOAB LP NE1RD 

KP2B Virgin Is SOAB WP3A 

KP4EE Puerto Rico SOAB KP4EE 

LZ9W Bulgaria M/M LZ9W Contest Team 

OHØZ Aland Is SOSB (15) OH5DX 

P4ØW Aruba SOAB W2GD 

PJ2T Neth Antilles M/? WØCG, K8ND, W8WTS and others 

PJ4A Neth Antilles M/? K4BAI, KU8E, W4OC, K4RO 

PZ5TT Suriname SOAB VE3DZ 

T88CJ Palau SOAB HA7TM 

TO4X St Martin M/? K1XM, WA1S, KQ1F 

V26K Antigua SOAB LP AA3B 

VK9AA Cocos (Keeling) SOAB VK2IA 

YS4RR El Salvador SOAB LP K9GY 

Thanks to: AA3B, DK3QZ, DL5AXX, EY8MM, F5NQL, G3RWF, HA5PP, HP1RIS, 

IKØEFR, IK7JWY, IT9ABY, JE1CKA, K1XM, K4BAI, K9GY, K9VV, KP4EE, LZ2CJ, 

NE1RD, OH2UA, OH5DX, VE3DZ, VK2IA, WØCG, W2GD, WJ2O, WP3A 

See www.ng3k.com/Misc/cqc2008.html for further details 

ARRL 160 Meter Contest (December 5-6, 2008) 


J3/DL5AXX Grenada SO DL5AXX 

P4ØTA Aruba SO HP K6TA 

VY2/N3DXX Canada SO N3DXX 

Thanks to: DL5AXX, K6TA, N3DXX 

See www.ng3k.com/Misc/arrl160_2008.html for further details 

CQ World Wide 160 Meter CW Contest (January 24-25, 2009) 


HKØCW San Andres MO K5UO, WF5W 

XU7ACY Cambodia SO NO2R 

ZF1A Cayman Is MO ZF1DX, K2UFT 

Thanks to: K5UO, NO2R, W8BLA 

See www.ng3k.com/Misc/cq160c2009.html for further details 

To submit a DX contest operation, visit www.ng3k.com/contest/consub.html 

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RTTY Contesting 

Just two years ago, Don, AA5AU, began 

writing this column. While Don was 

eager to get started, he was also reluctant 

because his available time was mostly 

consumed with rebuilding his home and 

antennas after the devastation Hurricane 

Katrina wrought. Still, he took on the NCJ 

task with gusto and has been sharing 

his perspective on RTTY contesting ever 

since. This sharing is an extension of the 

tremendous contribution he’s made to 

RTTY contesting through the tutorials 

and other resources on the Web sites 

(eg, www.rttycontesting.com). As Hurricane 

Gustav approached Louisiana in 

late August, however, Don and his wife 

once again found themselves evacuated. 

Needless to say, Don needs to take 

some time away from this column as he 

assesses the situation with his property 

and gets permission to return and deal 

with whatever he fi nds. It is my pleasure 

to guest op his column for this issue. I’m 

sure you’ll join me in hoping that Don will 

be back with us soon. 

As I write this, the CQ World Wide RTTY 

Contest; it will be history by the time this 

issue of NCJ reaches subscribers in late 

October. As it is for the CW and phone 

modes, CQ WW is one of the biggies in 

RTTY contesting along with the ARRL 

RTTY Round-Up in January and the CQ 

WW WPX RTTY in February. Active participation 

in these and other RTTY operating 

events continues to grow phenomenally 

and the trend is expected to continue. Don 

described this growth in an earlier column, 

attributing part of it to CW and phone 

contesters who have added RTTY to their 

contesting enjoyment. My own personal 

experience has been exactly that. 

Beginning with the 2004 ARRL RTTY 

Round-Up, club competition was added. 

Our contest club, the Northern California 

Contest Club (NCCC), decided to pursue 

this as a goal. Problem was that few club 

members operated RTTY, let alone contested 

seriously in that mode. The club has 

a number of top-tier CW and phone contesters, 

however. In late 2003, a core group 

of RTTY ops — N6DE, AC6JT, K6UFO 

and W6ZZZ — put on a meeting program 

to explain the mode and to inspire other 

club members to get on for the Round-Up. 

Like several others, I had never operated 

RTTY and had an unfounded cynical view 

of the mode. I remarked that since the 

RTTY contest software identifi ed valid call 

signs and could easily send the exchange 

with little or no operator intervention, the 

operator could go drink beer. With a bit of 

a frown, the RTTYers informed me that 

there was more to it than that, and most 

people really enjoy it once they actually try 

it. “Okay,” I said, “for the good of NCCC, I’ll 

get on RTTY Round-Up.” 

As it turned out, I won the Pacifi c Division 

SOHP plaque that year and, as the 

club’s RTTY contingent predicted, I had a 

blast. I was hooked, despite the fact that 

CW contesting is still my favorite. Moreover, 

thanks to the additional members 

recruited (kicking and screaming, mostly!), 

the NCCC won the fi rst club competition 

gavel in the ARRL RTTY Round-Up. It 

also took a couple days for ghosts of 

those RTTY tones to dissipate within my 

head. I’ve since learned to turn the audio 

gain way down during RTTY contests so 

they no longer imprint themselves on my 

brain. 

It wasn’t immediately obvious why I liked 

RTTY so much, particularly since I had 

the initial negative bias about operators’ 

not actually decoding the signal in their 

heads. For starters, RTTY is like CW in 

that you don’t have to speak, so that was 

appealing. Next, the differences between 

RTTY and CW provided diversity that 

increased the interest and satisfaction of 

each contest session for both modes. The 

biggest advantage for me was utilizing 

RTTY contesting to improve my overall 

contesting skills. The very aspect that I 

cynically belittled — operators not decoding 

the signal — turned out to be the 

enabling factor for building other areas of 

operating skill. Instead of bemoaning that 

RTTY is not as challenging because the 

brain is not “copying” the code, I soon realized 

that this actually liberated my brain 

to focus on other things, such as effi cient 

searching, pileup management, exception 

management (fi lls, slow exchanges, etc), 

SO2R and possibly even SO3R. 

For example, before I’d operated RTTY, 

I found it very diffi cult to realize any advantage 

from SO2R during sprints. I was 

so consumed with one radio in the Sprint 

that I’d never achieved any success with 

two. With RTTY, however, I had freed up 

brain cycles to apply to the problem of 

Ed Muns, WØYK 

operating two radios in Sprint without 

decreasing my score. Once I developed 

some techniques in the RTTY sprints, I 

then had the foundation to ease them into 

my CW Sprint operating. 

I’m now a reformed RTTY contester, 

greatly enjoying the mode, coming from 

the other extreme of thinking it was 

somehow invalid. At Contest University in 

Dayton last May I asked the audience how 

many still thought RTTY contesting was 

silly and were only there because there 

was nothing else going on at that hour. 

A number of diehard anti-RTTYers raised 

their hands, so it’s clear that conversion 

will never be 100 percent. Still, I urge all 

skeptics out there to look for the silver lining 

in this odd contesting mode. You may 

surprise yourself and fi nd some appeal. It’s 

been really gratifying — though shocking 

at fi rst — when presumably non-RTTY 

contester call signs such as K5ZD, N6TR, 

N2NL, N2IC, K7JA and N6TV show up in 

my logs. 

On the other side, RTTY contesting 

has benefited greatly by experienced 

contesters engaging in this mode. Not 

only is participation rapidly increasing, but 

competitiveness and expertise is growing 

as well. Early RTTY contests were more 

like relaxed QSO parties with rag chewers 

getting together on the air for the weekend. 

Exchanges were drawn out with little pressure 

on effi ciency or speed. Today’s RTTY 

contests have evolved to the same quick 

clip found in CW contests. The NA RTTY 

Sprint just eliminated the special “legal 

dupe” rule for RTTY, wherein participants 

could work the same station multiple times 

for credit on each band if at least three 

QSOs with other stations intervened. The 

original purpose of allowing these multiple 

dupes, of course, was to provide a decent 

rate despite low participation. 

This handicap really isn’t needed anymore, 

however, as the number of RTTY 

Sprint participants is approaching SSB 

Sprint numbers. Now the NA Sprint rules 

are identical for all three modes. 

If you’re still sitting out RTTY contests, 

you could be missing out on a lot of fun 

as well as the opportunity to improve your 

overall contesting expertise and enjoyment. 

Give it a spin! 


Contest Calendar 

Here’s the list of major contests of possible interest to North American contesters to help you plan your contesting activity through 

January 2009. The Web version of this calendar, www.hornucopia.com/contestcal/, is updated frequently and lists contests for 

a 12-month period. 

Please notify me via e-mail, bhorn@hornucopia.com, of any corrections or additions to this calendar. Good luck, and have 

fun! 

November 2008 

Ukrainian DX Contest 1200 UTC, Nov 1 to 1200 UTC, 

Nov 2 

ARRL November Sweepstakes, CW 2100 UTC, Nov 1 to 0300 UTC, 

Nov 3 

High-Speed Club CW Contest 0900 UTC-1100 UTC, Nov 2 

and 1500 UTC-1700 UTC, 

Nov 2 

DARC 10-Meter Digital Contest 1100 UTC-1700 UTC, Nov 2 

NCCC Sprint 0230 UTC-0300 UTC, Nov 7 

WAE DX Contest, RTTY 0000 UTC, Nov 8 to 2359 UTC, 

Nov 9 

JIDX Phone Contest 0700 UTC, Nov 8 to 1300 UTC, 

Nov 9 

OK/OM DX Contest, CW 1200 UTC, Nov 8 to 1200 UTC, 

Nov 9 

Kentucky QSO Party 1400 UTC, Nov 8 to 0200 UTC, 

Nov 9 

CQ-WE Contest 1900 UTC, Nov 8 to 0500 UTC, 

Nov 9 

SKCC Weekend Sprintathon 0000 UTC-2400 UTC, Nov 9 

NCCC Sprint 0230 UTC-0300 UTC, Nov 14 

ARRL International EME Contest 0000 UTC, Nov 15 to 2359 

UTC, Nov 16 

JT Hamradio-50 Anniversary Contest 0000 UTC-2400 UTC, Nov 15 

All Austrian 160-Meter Contest 1600 UTC, Nov 15 to 0700 

UTC, Nov 16 

RSGB 2 nd 1.8 MHz Contest, CW 2100 UTC, Nov 15 to 0100 

UTC, Nov 16 

ARRL November Sweepstakes, SSB 2100 UTC, Nov 15 to 0300 

UTC, Nov 17 

Feld Hell Sprint 2100 UTC-2400 UTC, Nov 15 

EU PSK63 QSO Party 0000 UTC-2400 UTC, Nov 16 

Run for the Bacon QRP Contest 0200 UTC-0400 UTC, Nov 17 

NAQCC Straight Key/Bug Sprint 0130 UTC-0330 UTC, Nov 20 

YO International PSK31 Contest 1600 UTC-2200 UTC, Nov 21 

LZ DX Contest 1200 UTC, Nov 22 to 1200 

UTC, Nov 23 

SKCC Sprint 0100 UTC-0300 UTC, Nov 26 

CQ World Wide DX Contest, CW 0000 UTC, Nov 29 to 2400 

UTC, Nov 30 

December 2008 

ARCI Topband Sprint 0000 UTC-0600 UTC, Dec 4 

ARRL 160-Meter Contest 2200 UTC, Dec 5 to 1600 UTC, 

Dec 7 

TARA RTTY Melee 0000 UTC-2400 UTC, Dec 6 

TOPS Activity Contest 1600 UTC, Dec 6 to 1800 UTC, 

Dec 7 

NAQCC Straight Key/Bug Sprint 0130 UTC-0330 UTC, Dec 10 

NA High Speed Meteor Scatter Rally 0000 UTC, Dec 11 to 0200 

UTC, Dec 15 

ARRL 10-Meter Contest 0000 UTC, Dec 13 to 2400 

UTC, Dec 14 

MDXA PSK DeathMatch 0000 UTC, Dec 13 to 2400 

UTC, Dec 14 

SKCC Weekend Sprintathon 0000 UTC-2400 UTC, Dec 14 

Russian 160-Meter Contest 2100 UTC-2300 UTC, Dec 19 

OK DX RTTY Contest 0000 UTC-2400 UTC, Dec 20 



Lighthouse Christmas Lights QSO Party 0001 UTC, Dec 20 to 

2359 UTC, Jan 4 

Croatian CW Contest 1400 UTC, Dec 20 to 1400 

UTC, Dec 21 

International Naval Contest 1600 UTC, Dec 20 to 1559 

UTC, Dec 21 

Feld Hell Sprint 2100 UTC-2400 UTC, 

Dec 20 

ARCI Holiday Spirits Homebrew Sprint 2000 UTC-2400 UTC, Dec 21 

Run for the Bacon QRP Contest 0200 UTC-0400 UTC, Dec 22 

SKCC Sprint 0100 UTC-0300 UTC, Dec 24 

DARC Christmas Contest 0830 UTC-1059 UTC, Dec 26 

RAC Winter Contest 0000 UTC-2359 UTC, Dec 27 

Stew Perry Topband Challenge 1500 UTC, Dec 27 to 1500 

UTC, Dec 28 

Original QRP Contest 1500 UTC, Dec 27 to 1500 

UTC, Dec 28 

RAEM Contest 0200 UTC-0959 UTC, Dec 28 

January 2009 

SARTG New Year RTTY Contest 0800 UTC-1100 UTC, Jan 1 

AGCW Happy New Year Contest 0900 UTC-1200 UTC, Jan 1 

ARRL RTTY Round-Up 1800 UTC, Jan 3 to 2400 

UTC, Jan 4 

EUCW 160-Meter Contest 2000 UTC-2300 UTC, Jan 3 

and 0400 UTC-0700 UTC, 

Jan 4 

Hunting Lions in the Air Contest 0000 UTC, Jan 10 to 2400 

UTC, Jan 11 

MI QRP January CW Contest 1200 UTC, Jan 10 to 2359 

UTC, Jan 11 

Midwinter Contest, CW 1400 UTC-2000 UTC, Jan 10 

North American QSO Party, CW 1800 UTC, Jan 10 to 0600 

UTC, Jan 11 

SKCC Weekend Sprintathon 0000 UTC-2400 UTC, Jan 11 

NRAU-Baltic Contest, CW 0530 UTC-0730 UTC, Jan 11 

Midwinter Contest, Phone 0800 UTC-1400 UTC, Jan 11 

NRAU-Baltic Contest, SSB 0800 UTC-1000 UTC, Jan 11 

DARC 10-Meter Contest 0900 UTC-1059 UTC, Jan 11 

LZ Open Contest 0400 UTC-1200 UTC, Jan 17 

Hungarian DX Contest 1200 UTC, Jan 17 to 1159 

UTC, Jan 18 

UK DX Contest, RTTY 1200 UTC, Jan 17 to 1200 

UTC, Jan 18 

North American QSO Party, SSB 1800 UTC, Jan 17 to 0600 

UTC, Jan 18 

ARRL January VHF Sweepstakes 1900 UTC, Jan 17 to 0400 

UTC, Jan 19 

Run for the Bacon QRP Contest 0200 UTC-0400 UTC, Jan 19 

NAQCC Straight Key/Bug Sprint 0130 UTC-0330 UTC, Jan 22 

CQ 160-Meter Contest, CW 2200 UTC, Jan 23 to 2159 

UTC, Jan 25 

REF Contest, CW 0600 UTC, Jan 24 to 1800 


BARTG RTTY Sprint 1200 UTC, Jan 24 to 1200 


UBA DX Contest, SSB 1300 UTC, Jan 24 to 1300 


SKCC Sprint 0100 UTC-0300 UTC, Jan 28

Results: 2008 West Coast Regional 

Radio Team Championship 

“Start small and build.” — Bill Gates 

The first-ever West Coast Regional 

Radio Team Championship (WCRRTC) 

is now in the record books. The Southern 

California Contest Club fi elded a small but 

dedicated group of competitors. We hope 

you had a chance to work one of the three 

W6 1×1 stations during the International 

Amateur Radio Union (IARU) HF World 

Championship in July. All stations sported 

two-operator teams running mixed mode 

in the style of the World Radiosport Team 

Championship (WRTC) events (the next 

WRTC is scheduled for 2010 in Russia). 

The results of WCRRTC 2008 have 

been tabulated, and — as it happened — 

the three teams fi nished in alphabetical 

order by call sign: 

♦ W6A (N6KI + N6OX) — 288,768 

♦ W6B (WA6L + N6ERD) — 276,360 

♦ W6C (WN6K + W6NOW) — 149,804 

Dennis, N6KI, and Bob, N6OX, barely 

edged out newcomers John, WA6L, and 

Dan, N6ERD, operating from John’s horse 

ranch in the hills east of San Diego. Coming 

in third was veteran contester Paul, 

WN6K, with new papa Juan, W6NOW. 

See the box scores for details, which differ 

because the three teams did not use the 

same logging software. 

Ordinarily the race would be too close to 

call until the logs were checked. Because 

WCRRTC rules differ from IARU rules, 

however, the ARRL is unable to provide 

a log-checking report. As a result, and per 

our rules, we must go by claimed score to 

determine the winner. 

The fi rst-place team receives a plaque, 

while the second and third-place teams 

get certifi cates. Awards will be presented 

at the 2009 International DX Convention 

in Visalia, California. 

W6A 

W6A deployed an ICOM IC-7800, 

ACOM 2000A amp, 4-element MonstIR 

SteppIR antenna — modifi ed with one 

element for 40, an 80 meter inverted 

V coaxial stub dipole and a 160 meter 

longwire. 

“As the contest weekend approached it 

was looking like N6KI might have to forgo 

the competition due to other pressing matters 

that would keep me from reassembling 

the station after Field Day,” Dennis 

reported. “I worked into the wee hours Friday 

night to get everything back together 

and confi gured.” He said two other ham 

friends he’d approached about being his 

teammate also had to decline at the last 

minute due to busy work schedules. 

At the eleventh hour, Dennis explained, 

consummate world traveler and DXpeditioner 

(TX5C and others) Bob Grimmick, 

N6OX — just back from Europe where he’d 

attended the Ham Radio 2008 gathering 

in Friedrichshafen, Germany — happened 

to call. Dennis recruited him as his 

WCRRTC partner. 

“Knowing that Bob was an SSB-only op, 

I jumped on 15 CW only to fi nd a few sta- 

W6A Scoring Summary 

Band QSOs Zones HQ Stns 

160 2 1 0 

80 125 8 3 

40 356 26 8 

20 532 26 13 

15 39 6 3 

10 0 0 0 

Total 1054 67 27 

Figure 1 — Dennis, N6KI, operating 

W6A. 

Figure 2 — Bob, N6OX, the other 

operator at W6A. 

John Barcroft, K6AM 

tions left at midday, and then jumped in the 

fray on 20 CW,” Dennis recounted. “Then 

at mid-afternoon, Bob started cranking out 

Qs on 20 SSB.” 

Dennis reported that “some issues” 

arose in getting the control box of his 

MonstIR SteppIR antenna to retract all but 

the driven element so the antenna would 

qualify as a single-element antenna on 

40 meters. 

“Every time I tried to QSY back to 15 

and 20 meters, the antenna would not 

extend its related elements properly,” he 

explained. “So I fi nally gave up.” Only after 

fi guring a way to extend only the driven 

element on 40 did the pair shift to that 

band at 0520 UTC. “We gave up trying to 

get back on 20, which, though milked out, 

might have yielded a few more Qs and 

mults,” he said. 

For W6A, 20 and 40 meters turned out 

to be the money bands. “We found 80 

meters at 0800 to be relatively quiet with 

no storms in the area, and we picked up 

eight zones and three HQ stations there,” 

Dennis recalled. “If there was an opening 

on 10 meters Saturday morning we 

missed it, and we erred by not putting in 

a bit more time on 160. Forty meters was 

really hopping the last three or four hours 

of the contest, and we had great openings 

to JA.” 

Dennis said it came as a surprise that 

with only slightly more than 1000 Qs the 

team found itself in contention for fi rst 

place. “It ironically and coincidentally 

turned out that all three stations had one 

op who only worked SSB and one who 

could operate mixed mode, but I suspect 

the mixed-mode ops at each station 

worked mainly CW, leaving SSB to their 

teammates.” 

“Bob and I were very happy that we were 

able to participate,” he concluded. “Thanks 

to John for putting together this new, fun 

competition, and we hope it becomes an 

annual event during WRTC ‘off years’ for 

many years to come.” 

W6B 

“This was the fi rst full 24-hour effort for 

both me and Dan,” reported John, WA6L. 

“We both learned quite a bit from the 

experience.” 

“You reach a point in the early morning 

where that little part of your brain that decodes 

CW goes to sleep,” John continued. 

“At one point you are enjoying a modest 


un on 40. The next minute everything 

sounds like ‘Mary Had a Little Lamb’ 

played on the ocarina.” 

“Propagation was not too bad. Basically, 

20 was open the entire 24 hours to somewhere. 

At 0800 we were working the East 

Coast on long path and listening to our 

echoed signals traveling around the globe 

— which seems really cool when you are 

sleep deprived. There was a brief opening 

on 15 and an even shorter one on 10. 

“We lost our 160 meter antenna right 

before the start of the contest when someone 

let the smoke out of the antenna relay 

switch. I don’t think it cost us too much. We 

did fi ne on 40, but we really had a hard 

time on 80 with the compromise vertical 

we were running. That is something we 

need to work on for next time.” 

John reported that working Europe “was 

a stretch” that weekend. “We got some, 

but they were hard work.” Fortunately, the 

team found favorable propagation to Oceania 

and to the Far East and was able to log 

a respectable number of fi ve-pointers. 

Using a 1×1 call sign carries its own 

benefits and challenges, he said, but 

it puts all stations on an equal footing 

with respect to call sign length. “But the 

most comical moment of the contest was 

listening to Dan trying to explain a 1×1 

call to D4C, who should have been able 

to fi gure it out: ‘One, two, three. You have 

three, we have three.’ I wish I’d had a tape 

recorder.” 

“We had two stations networked with 

WriteLog, and that was pretty sweet,” he 

recounted. “You can set it up so that when 

one station is sending, it locks out the 

other. There were some limitations and 

a couple of minor problems, but it was a 

solid confi guration that I 

wouldn’t hesitate to use 

again.” 

“All in all, it was fun and 

educational,” John said in 

summary. He quipped that 

Amateur Radio contests 

should not be sponsored 

by radio manufacturers 

but by purveyors of coffee, 

caffeinated soft drinks, 

beef jerky and pretzels. 

“Wearing Depends does 

not improve your score,” 

he added. 

“We are already making 

plans and coming up with 

ideas for next year. Thanks 

to K6AM and the SCCC for 

this great idea!” 

W6C 

Paul, WN6K, and Juan, 

W6NOW, operated as 

W6C. “As there were only 

three 1×1 stations on the 

air for the WCRRTC event 


W6B Scoring Summary 

Band SSB QSOs CW QSOs Total QSOs Mults 

160 0 0 0 0 

80 7 11 18 6 

40 131 74 205 26 

20 267 365 632 55 

15 71 19 90 15 

10 7 4 11 3 

Total 484 473 956 105 

W6C Scoring Summary 

Band CW QSOs SSB QSOs Zones HQ Stns 

160 0 0 0 0 

80 124 2 9 4 

40 323 12 21 5 

20 200 115 14 6 

15 24 41 9 0 

10 0 0 0 0 

Total 667 170 53 15 

created by John, K6AM, someone had to 

come in last,” Paul philosophized afterward. 

“Band conditions were sporadic. 

Although at times we heard loud stations 

calling CQ, we just could not be heard 

by them, and they were those precious 

multipliers. 

“Juan and I only used a single radio due 

to no equipment here at WN6K to operate 

SO2R,” Paul continued. “Although the rules 

for our contest-inside-the-contest allowed 

that we could switch bands with impunity, 

we chose to stay within the 10-minute 

rule of the IARU so that we could submit 

a ‘regular’ score there.” 

According to Paul, he handled all of the 

CW operating while Juan dealt with “the 

other mode,” with the exception of 40 and 

75 meters, where they took turns. He said 

the pair had more requests to repeat their 

1×1 call sign on SSB than on CW. 

“Thanks for the QSOs. We got a minitaste 

of what the WRTC might feel like,” 

he concluded. “Bottom line: Lots of fun, 

but competing at WRTC level is in the F 2 

layer as far as our abilities and equipment 

limitations go. Do more S&P if you are not 

loud is the lesson learned, but then that’s 

why we contest — to learn more.” 

WCRRTC 2009? 

Thanks to all who helped by giving points 

to our teams. If there’s enough interest, we 

will try it again next year.

Results: July 2008 North American 

QSO Party RTTY 

Charlie, KI5XP, once again played superstation 

W5WMU to victory. Dean, KEØWO, 

used NØNI’s fi ne station for a second-place 

fi nish. AA3B, AA5AU, and N4ZZ round out 

the top fi ve. The team at W6YK (N6CCH, 

W6RK and N7MH) continued its domination 

of the M/2 category. SWACC (KI5XP, 

AA5AU, W7WW, AD6WL and WØHW) easily 

captured the team competition. 

New state records were established 

— K1FWE in New Hampshire, AA3B in 

Pennsylvania, K4FX in North Carolina, 

KL7RA in Alaska, NX7F in Nevada and 

KEØWO in Iowa. 

Congratulations to all, not just the top 

scorers. Without all of the “other” partici- 

pants, those winning scores would not be 

possible. 

Thanks to Icom America for its exclusive 

sponsorship of the NAQP RTTY 

plaque program, to Bruce, WA7BNM, for 

handling the log checking and — last but 

not least — to each participant. 

Soapbox 

The low bands did not produce as they 

have in the past. — AA5AU 

Spent some contesting time with my sixyear 

old (Megan, no call sign) at the helm. 

— AA9DY 

Fun contest, but tough conditions. 

—AD6WL 

Multi-Two Breakdowns 

Call Sign Score QSOs Mults 80 40 20 15 10 

W6YX 163,152 792 206 80/33 200/50 315/56 152/41 45/26 

N2WK 147,072 766 192 125/44 260/53 261/51 99/29 21/15 

N1MGO 85,675 575 149 88/33 192/45 215/42 78/27 2/2 

Single-Op QRP Top Five Breakdowns 

Call Sign Score QSOs Mults 80 40 20 15 10 Team 

KA6SGT 3792 79 48 20/12 33/18 20/13 6/5 0/0 SMC RTTY #1 

N2OMC 340 20 17 0/0 10/7 10/10 0/0 0/0 

Team Scores 

1. SWACC Scores 2. TCG Diddles Scores 3. PA QSO 

Contesters 

Scores 

KI5XP 124,560 N4ZZ 99,337 AA3B 103,518 

AA5AU 96,096 K4RO 86,275 WØBR 81,702 

W7WW 71,700 W4GKM 71,925 W3KB 58,499 

AD6WL 66,568 AB4GG 61,336 N3XLS 26,433 

KØHW 48,416 WB4YDL 52,542 KB3LIX 17,664 

Total 407,340 Total 371,415 Total 287,816 

Summer Boys 1 YCCC (K1FWE, W8BAR, NP3D, K3GP, W1CDX) ................................ 278,853 

NCCC 1 (WØYK, K6TD, N6CK, K6MM).......................................................................... 203,589 

NCCC 2 (NF6A, K6SRZ, N6EE, WB6JJJ, W6TQG) ....................................................... 187,600 

Aurora Busters (VA1CHP, VA7ST, VE6YR, VY2SS) ....................................................... 134,405 

FCG #1 (W4ZE, W4CU, N4RI, KR4U, WA4EEZ) ........................................................... 133,091 

SMC RTTY #1 (KE9I, K9WX, AK9F, KA6SGT) .............................................................. 117,585 

Left Coast Keyboarders (K7ZS, K7VIT, KD7MSC, W7ABC) ........................................... 116,610 

Rocky Mountain RTTY Team #2 (KTØDX, KØRFD, NØEOP) .......................................... 111,622 

Summer Boys 2 YCCC (W1BYH, K5ZD, NJ1F, KE1JF, WA1Z) ........................................ 98,978 

TCG Mark (K1GU, KE4OAR, WA4OSD, NY4N, W4BCG) ................................................ 95,108 

NCCC 3 (W6OAT, K6DGW, W6JYT/7, AE6RF, NC6P) ..................................................... 87,829 

Metro Mutzz (N9LAH, AI9L, W9ILY, N9AKR) .................................................................... 81,575 

SCCC #1 (N6PE, N6VH, K6GEP, N6QQ) ........................................................................ 58,805 

Rocky Mountain RTTY Team #1 (KØUK, WØRAA, ABØUK, K6XT) .................................. 57,780 

Just Part Time (WO4D, KC4HW) ...................................................................................... 19,742 

NCCC 4 (K9YC, W6SX, W6RKC) ..................................................................................... 13,021 

RTTY Ringers (KS5V) ......................................................................................................... 9455 

NCCC 5 (N6AJR, N7ON) .................................................................................................... 9181 

SMC RTTY #2 (N9LF, N9TF) ............................................................................................... 7699 

RTKCC (N7KE) ................................................................................................................... 7375 


First half, on the high bands was really a 

slog. — AE6RF 

Made my fi rst RTTY contest contact with 

North Dakota. — KØHW 

This was my fi rst SO2R entry and the fi rst 

from my new QTH. — K1DAN 

Managed to do 10 hours with the blessing 

of the family. — K1FWE 

Lots of activity . . . rocking contest. — K1ZZI 

Wish I had checked out 10 meters earlier in 

the contest. — K3GP 

Picked up a few states I need for my 

5BWAS RTTY. — K4FX 

Number of new calls, to me, and one new 

RTTY operator worked. — K4GMH 

Conditions were not great, but the 

operating was a lot of fun. — K4RO 

Rate was about twice what I expected. — 

K5ZD 

First-ever RTTY contest! — K6III 

Tough conditions. — K6MM 

East Coast was almost non-existent. — 

K6TD 

The team concept is fun, conditions fair, 

overall participation high. — K7ZS 

QRM was heavy throughout. Couldn’t get a 

run going. — KA6SGT 

This was my fi rst serious single-op effort for 

NAQP RTTY. — KEØWO 

Worked the heck out of 10 and 15. — 

KI5XP 

First day with decent weather on the Kenai 

in weeks. — KL7RA 

The low power sure made for a challenging 

contest this far north. — KL8DX 

Murphy dropped in early. — KØRFD 

1+ inch of rain, and I was bailing out the 

basement window. — KØTG 

I had more time on than I thought I would 

have at the beginning. — KØUK 

It would be nice if we could have some 

sunspots. — KØWA 

Great way to spend a Saturday. — KTØDX 

Always look forward to NAQP. — N1HRA 

Even with very poor propagation had 

our best ever QSO count and score. — 

N1MGO 

Mucho QSB on all bands. — N2WK 

Nothing heard in two trips to 80. — N4KG 

QRN levels made things a little slow. — 

N4LF 

This was my best effort so far with SO2R 

RTTY contesting. — N4ZZ 

First contest in a while. Lots of fun. — 

N6EE 

Had radio problems all night. — NA5Q 

A bottle of vino and a personal challenge 

from N6EE were great motivators! — 

NN6NN 

Missed 10 meters completely. — NP3D 

First-ever RTTY contest. — NV8N 


First off, I had the starting time wrong. — W4GKM 

Good to see some “old” familiar calls from other modes also on 

RTTY. — W5OV 

First contest in the last few years (except Field Day) — W6TQG 

It is the perfect contest for doing two radios. — W7WHY 

Thanks to Dave, K1TTT, for the use of his fi ne station. — W8BAR 

First time ever in July NAQP. — WA1FCN 

This was my fi rst contest in a while, and I really enjoyed it. — 

WB4YDL 

Another fun RTTY contest. — WB5AAA 

Always have a good time in the NAQP. — WF4W 

Man, what a grind . . . and a bit disappointing too. — WØYK 

To sum it up in one word — disappointing. — VA1CHP 

Went SO2R all the way for the fi rst time. — VA7ST 

Surprised to work so many AK station on RTTY in this one. — 

VE2CWT 

My fi rst NAQP RTTY. — VE3NE 

One of my objectives for this session was to introduce a couple of 

newbies to the joys of RTTY contesting. — VE7FO 

Single-Op Top 10 Breakdowns 


Multi-Two Scores 

Call Sign Score QSOs Mults QTH Operators 

W6YX 163,152 792 206 CA N6CCH, N7MH, W6RK 

N2WK 147,072 766 192 NY N2WK, WA2TMC 

N1MGO 85,675 575 149 MA KB1LRL, KT1I, N1MGO 

W2RTY 63,382 473 134 NY K2DB, W1TY, W2LB 

W4PJW 22,464 234 96 VA W4PJW 

NT5A 21,760 256 85 TX NT5A 

AA9DY 10,890 165 66 IL AA9DY 

K6III 3720 93 40 CA K6III, KG6YHH 

Check Logs: AC5TU, K3RWN, K4HAL, KI6IRA, N7BF, WA9IVH 

Call Sign Score QSOs Mults 80 40 20 15 10 Team 

KI5XP 124,560 720 173 70/28 221/47 293/52 111/32 25/14 SWACC 

KEØWO 119,328 678 176 118/39 185/45 264/49 96/33 15/10 

AA3B 103,518 639 162 71/25 189/48 272/48 77/29 30/12 PA QSO Contesters 

N4ZZ 99,337 617 161 75/29 225/49 201/42 99/31 17/10 TCG Diddles 

AA5AU 96,096 572 168 65/23 160/44 228/51 89/34 30/16 SWACC 

WØYK 93,330 610 153 42/14 152/41 261/51 125/34 30/13 NCCC 1 

K1FWE 86,548 562 154 74/27 112/41 265/50 95/28 16/8 Summer Boys 1 YCCC 

K4RO 86,275 493 175 106/36 133/43 131/42 91/36 32/18 TCG Diddles 

WØBR 81,702 534 153 89/33 225/50 161/42 49/20 10/8 PA QSO Contesters 

W8BAR (W1TO) 78,292 529 148 68/24 164/44 191/40 86/30 20/10 Summer Boys 1 YCCC 

Single-Operator Scores 

Call Sign Score QSOs Mults QTH Team 

K1FWE 86,548 562 154 NH Summer Boys 1 YCCC 

W8BAR (W1TO) 78,292 529 148 MA Summer Boys 1 YCCC 

AE1P 40,812 358 114 NH 

W1BYH 34,692 294 118 MA Summer Boys 2 YCCC 

N1HRA 31,428 291 108 RI 

K5ZD 27,776 248 112 MA Summer Boys 2 YCCC 

K1DAN 27,225 275 99 NH 

KA1C 23,782 253 94 ME 

W1CDX 22,295 245 91 NH Summer Boys 1 YCCC 

K1IB 9548 154 62 VT 

KE1JF 9044 133 68 RI Summer Boys 2 YCCC 

W1HY 8883 141 63 RI 

WB1ABQ 6018 102 59 VT 

WB8IMY 5978 98 61 CT 

WA1Z 5940 108 55 NH Summer Boys 2 YCCC 

N1SXL 5940 110 54 CT 

K1LOG 1749 53 33 ME 

W1/CT1AGF (CT1AGF) 4 2 2 MA 

NP3D (EW1AR) 56,068 428 131 NY Summer Boys 1 YCCC 

NJ1F 21,526 229 94 NY Summer Boys 2 YCCC 

KB2VMG 11,232 144 78 NJ 

AA2NA 5610 102 55 NY 

N2JSO 4264 82 52 NJ 

W2FB 2688 84 32 NJ 

K2SI 1008 36 28 NY 

AA3B 103,518 639 162 PA PA QSO Contesters 

WØBR 81,702 534 153 PA PA QSO Contesters 

W3LL 65,919 511 129 MD 

W3KB 58,499 427 137 PA PA QSO Contesters 

N3XLS 26,433 267 99 PA PA QSO Contesters 

WA3AAN 21,658 221 98 PA 

KB3LIX 17,664 192 92 PA PA QSO Contesters 

K3PH 15,136 176 86 PA 

W3DQN 13,680 171 80 MD 

N3CHX 11,925 159 75 PA 

K3OK 6090 105 58 PA 


K3WW 5723 97 59 PA 

W3DQT 4029 79 51 MD 

W3BUI 1617 49 33 MD 

N3RDV 665 35 19 PA 

*N2OMC 340 20 17 MD 

N4ZZ 99,337 617 161 TN TCG Diddles 

K4RO 86,275 493 175 TN TCG Diddles 

W4GKM 71,925 525 137 TN TCG Diddles 

K4GMH 69,940 538 130 VA 

K4WW 62,272 448 139 KY 

W4NZ 61,640 460 134 TN 

AB4GG 61,336 451 136 TN TCG Diddles 

K4FX 56,848 418 136 NC 

WB4YDL 52,542 417 126 TN TCG Diddles 

K1ZZI 52,260 390 134 GA 

K4FJ 48,888 388 126 VA 

WA1FCN 45,864 364 126 AL 

AF4OX 45,085 355 127 SC 

K4HMB 41,300 350 118 NC 

W4ZE 39,720 331 120 FL FCG #1 

W4CU 37,389 309 121 FL FCG #1 

NA4K 30,438 267 114 TN 

W4UK 29,294 302 97 SC 

K4DGW 29,044 274 106 VA 

K1GU 28,558 262 109 TN TCG Mark 

K4JPC 26,096 233 112 GA 

KE4OAR 24,500 245 100 TN TCG Mark 

WA4OSD 24,000 240 100 TN TCG Mark 

N4RI 22,962 267 86 FL FCG #1 

KR4U 20,301 201 101 FL FCG #1 

NY4N 15,470 182 85 TN TCG Mark 

KC4ART 14,784 168 88 VA 

N4IL 13,920 174 80 KY 

WA4EEZ 12,719 161 79 FL FCG #1 

KG4RWZ 10,519 157 67 AL 

WO4D 10,206 162 63 FL Just Part Time 

KC4HW 9536 149 64 AL Just Part Time


KI4ACW 8932 203 44 AL 

WC4V 7215 111 65 KY 

KG4CUY 7168 128 56 AL 

N4LF 6848 107 64 FL 

N4WO 6800 136 50 FL 

K4DJ 6000 100 60 NC 

N5FPW 5778 107 54 NC 

WO4O 5512 106 52 TN 

KB4KBS 5500 100 55 GA 

K4BX 5445 99 55 TN 

W4EEH 5170 94 55 TN 

N4TB 4644 108 43 FL 

W4BCG 2580 60 43 TN TCG Mark 

K4RT 2210 65 34 VA 

KC4YAU 1584 48 33 AL 

AI4G 704 32 22 KY 

N4MUH 570 30 19 FL 

K4DZR 476 28 17 TN 

AD4YQ 360 20 18 FL 

AA4VV 72 9 8 NC 

KI5XP (@W5WMU) 124,560 720 173 LA SWACC 

AA5AU 96,096 572 168 LA SWACC 

KK5OQ 66,234 498 133 MS 

NA5Q 44,428 383 116 LA 

AE5PW 22,500 250 90 AR 

K5WW 21,546 266 81 TX 

WR5AW 17,658 218 81 TX 

N5KWN 14,965 205 73 TX 

WB5AAA 11,760 168 70 AR 

W5KDJ 11,475 153 75 TX 

KS5V 9455 155 61 TX RTTY Ringers 

WØZW 7656 116 66 NM 

K5AM 5546 94 59 NM 

WA9AFM/5 4554 99 46 OK 

KD5JHE 4444 101 44 MS 

W5RZ 2580 60 43 AR 

ADØK 2144 67 32 TX 

K5HDU 962 37 26 TX 

K5DHY 805 35 23 TX 

WØYK 93,330 610 153 CA NCCC 1 

AD6WL 66,568 424 157 CA SWACC 

NN6NN (W6XK) 57,608 379 152 CA 

NF6A (K6XX) 48,528 337 144 CA NCCC 2 

K6HGF 44,069 347 127 CA 

K6TD 42,586 398 107 CA NCCC 1 

N6CK 41,168 332 124 CA NCCC 1 

K6SRZ 39,780 340 117 CA NCCC 2 

N6EE 37,064 328 113 CA NCCC 2 

W6OAT 34,104 294 116 CA NCCC 3 

N6PE 32,130 306 105 CA SCCC #1 

WB6JJJ 31,488 328 96 CA NCCC 2 

W6TQG 30,740 265 116 CA NCCC 2 

K6MM 26,505 285 93 CA NCCC 1 

K6DGW 19,575 225 87 CA NCCC 3 

W6FFH 18,957 267 71 CA 

N6IE 14,400 200 72 CA 

AE6RF 13,604 179 76 CA NCCC 3 

N6VH 13,120 164 80 CA SCCC #1 

K6GEP 12,580 170 74 CA SCCC #1 

K9YC 11,232 156 72 CA NCCC 4 

N6AJR 8896 139 64 CA NCCC 5 

W4UAT 8357 137 61 CA 

K6RIM 6042 114 53 CA 

KG6ZHC 4650 93 50 CA 

KH6GMP 4644 108 43 KH6 

KE6SHL 3192 76 42 CA 

NC6P 2840 71 40 CA NCCC 3 

WA6L 2262 58 39 CA 

K6BIR 1872 52 36 CA 

W6SX 1107 41 27 CA NCCC 4 

N6QQ 975 39 25 CA SCCC #1 

W6RKC 682 31 22 CA NCCC 4 

W7WW 71,700 478 150 AZ SWACC 

K7ZS 62,100 460 135 OR Left Coast Keyboarders 

K7QQ 56,156 404 139 WA 

WA1PMA 49,504 416 119 WA 

NX7F 31,110 305 102 NV 

K7VIT 23,760 270 88 OR Left Coast Keyboarders 

KL7RA 20,592 264 78 KL7 

KD7MSC 19,734 253 78 OR Left Coast Keyboarders 

W6JYT/7 17,706 227 78 NV NCCC 3 

KW7N 17,696 224 79 WA 

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W7ABC 11,016 153 72 WA Left Coast Keyboarders 

W7WHY 9027 153 59 OR 

AC7JW 8890 127 70 UT 

KG9JP 8316 132 63 AZ 

K7RL 7680 120 64 WA 

K7PWL 7524 132 57 WA 

N7KE (KB7N) 7375 125 59 WA RTKCC 

KC7KZ 7074 131 54 ID 

WA7SHP 5217 111 47 OR 

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NCJ November/December 2008 45 

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SCAF-1 

Audio 

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N7MQ 5136 107 48 OR 

K7KAR 4165 85 49 AZ 

W7EWG 3861 99 39 WA 

W7DPW 3838 101 38 WA 

W4LSC 3552 74 48 AZ 

WG7X 3456 108 32 WA 

W7GH 2574 66 39 OR 

N7UVH 2484 69 36 ID 

N1KEZ 1768 68 26 OR 

WA7BME 1539 57 27 UT 

N7ON 285 19 15 NV NCCC 5 

K3GP 35,650 310 115 OH Summer Boys 1 YCCC 

WB8JUI 28,160 256 110 OH 

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K8DD 

1595 

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K9WX 34,077 307 111 IN SMC RTTY #1 

N2BJ 25,996 268 97 IL 

NS9I 24,436 298 82 WI 

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N9AKR 9088 142 64 IL Metro Mutzz 

N9LF 5917 97 61 IN SMC RTTY #2 

W9CPI 5290 115 46 IL 

WR9Y 4794 102 47 WI 

*KA6SGT 3792 79 48 IN SMC RTTY #1 

N9TF 1782 54 33 IL SMC RTTY #2 

KEØWO (@NØNI) 119,328 678 176 IA 

KTØDX 70,596 477 148 CO Rocky Mountain RTTY 

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KEØL 45,152 332 136 MN 

KØRFD 38,266 361 106 CO Rocky Mountain RTTY 

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KØTG 23,845 251 95 MN 

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KØAD 7752 114 68 MN 

KSØM 7020 117 60 MO 

WAØRSX 6908 157 44 CO 

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K6XT 2838 66 43 CO Rocky Mountain RTTY 

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NØEOP 2760 69 40 CO Rocky Mountain RTTY 

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KØRY 1508 52 29 KS 

AAØAW 1216 38 32 MN 

VA1CHP 68,444 482 142 NS Aurora Busters 

VE3GSI 59,616 432 138 ON 

VE7CC 58,032 403 144 BC 

VE3NE 41,736 296 141 ON 

VE3DZ 37,761 307 123 ON 

VE3JI 37,440 312 120 ON 

VA7ST 34,691 307 113 BC Aurora Busters 

VE2RYY 29,355 285 103 PQ 

VE3UTT (W1AJT) 29,184 304 96 ON 

VA7KO 28,880 304 95 BC 

VA7AM 24,304 248 98 BC 

VE3KI 23,460 230 102 ON 

VE6YR 21,476 236 91 AB Aurora Busters 

VE3XD 20,020 260 77 ON 

VE3IAE 17,622 198 89 ON 

VE2CWT (VE2FU) 12,672 198 64 PQ 

VA7DM 10,720 160 67 BC 

VY2SS 9794 166 59 PEI Aurora Busters 

VA3TTU 9576 171 56 ON 

VE6AX 8970 130 69 AB 

VA2PZ 6996 132 53 PQ 

VA3XH 6962 118 59 ON 

VE3SS 5974 103 58 ON 

VE7HBS 5547 129 43 BC 

VE3RCN 4428 82 54 ON 

VE3FJ 2982 71 42 ON 

VE4YU 2736 72 38 MB 

VE3WDM 1150 46 25 ON 

VE3MCF 600 30 20 ON 

VE2FK 168 14 12 PQ 

VE3LXL 154 14 11 ON 

J39BS 21,804 237 92 J3 

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More Watts per Dollar 

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NCJ November/December 2008 47 

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Go SO2R in Minutes With 

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E LECRAFT 


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ANTENNA ROTATORS 

Hygain, CD-45II .............. $369 

Hygain, Ham-IV ............. $509 

Hygain, Ham-V ............... $849 

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Hygain, HDR-300A ...... $1269 

M2, OR-2800PX ............ $1379 

Yaesu, G-450A ................ $249 

Yaesu G-550.................... $299 

Yaesu, G-800SA .............. $329 

Yaesu, G-800DXA ........... $409 

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