$ 4 NCJ: The National Contest Journal American Radio Relay League 225 Main Street • Newington, CT 06111-1494 NATIONAL CONTEST JOURNAL July/August 2005 Volume 33 Number 4 Visit our Web Site: www.ncjweb.com ■ Antenna Interactions—Part 7 ■ Verticals by the Sea ■ 2005 Dayton Contest Forum and Dinner ■ February 2005 CW and phone Sprint Results ■ February 2005 NAQP RTTY Results ■ January 2005 NAQP CW Results The 10/15-meter stack at K1ZM’s contest superstation —VY2ZM — on Prince Edward Island. (Inset photo: Jeff, K1ZM/VY2ZM.) Read about the trials and tribulations of establishing a new home and a new contest station to go along with it!
Transcript
$4
NCJ: The National Contest JournalAmerican Radio Relay League225 Main Street • Newington, CT 06111-1494
NATIONALCONTESTJOURNAL
July/August 2005
Volume 33 Number 4
Visit ourWeb Site:
www.ncjweb.com
Antenna Interactions—Part 7
Verticals by the Sea
2005 Dayton Contest Forumand Dinner
February 2005 CWand phone Sprint Results
February 2005 NAQPRTTY Results
January 2005 NAQPCW Results
The 10/15-meter stack at K1ZM’s contest superstation —VY2ZM—on Prince EdwardIsland. (Inset photo: Jeff, K1ZM/VY2ZM.) Read about the trials and tribulations ofestablishing a new home and a new contest station to go along with it!
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ARRL CAC RepresentativeNed Stearns, AA7A7038 E Aster Dr, Scottsdale, AZ [email protected]
North American QSO Party, CWBob Selbrede, K6ZZ6200 Natoma Ave, Mojave, CA [email protected]
North American QSO Party, PhoneBruce Horn, WA7BNM4225 Farmdale Ave, Studio City, CA [email protected]
North American QSO Party, RTTYShelby Summerville, K4WW6500 Lantana Ct, Louisville, KY [email protected]
North American Sprint, CWBoring Amateur Radio Club15125 Bartell Rd, Boring, OR [email protected]
North American Sprint, PhoneJim Stevens, K4MA6609 Vardon Ct, Fuquay-Varina, NC [email protected]
North American Sprint, RTTYDoug McDuff, W4OX10380 SW 112th St, Miami, FL [email protected]
Advertising Information Contact:Janet Rocco, tel 860-594-0203;fax 860-594-0303; [email protected] subscription orders, changes of address, and reports ofmissing or damaged copies should be addressed to ARRL,225 Main St, Newington, CT 06111 and be marked NCJCirculation. ARRL members are asked to include theirmembership control number or their QST mailing label.
Letters, articles, club newsletters and other editorial mate-rial should be submitted to NCJ, 1227 Pion Rd, Fort Wayne,IN 46845.
The NA Sprint and NA QSO Parties are not sponsored by ARRL.
In order to insure prompt delivery, we ask that you periodi-cally check the address information on your mailing label. Ifyou find any inaccuracies, please contact the CirculationDepartment immediately. Thank you for your assistance.
National Contest Journal (ISSN 0899-0131) is published bi-monthly in January, March, May, July, September and Novem-ber by the American Radio Relay League, 225 Main Street,Newington, CT 06111-1494, USA. Periodicals postage paid atHartford, CT and at additional mailing offices.POSTMASTER: Send address changes to: National ContestJournal, 225 Main St, Newington, CT 06111-1494, USA.
Where Is NCJ Headed?It’s no secret that the Internet is af-
fecting printed magazines (like NCJ). Forexample, the lead-time of NCJ has, forall intents and purposes, taken it out ofthe picture for discussions of contest-ing issues of the day. This is now aptlyhandled on the various contest reflec-tors (whether it is a worldwide reflectorlike cq-contest or a more “local” reflec-tor sponsored by a contest club). Thissame lead-time also makes it prettymuch impossible to address time-criticalcontest news, which NØAX’s ContestRate Sheet does exceptionally well withits every-other-week e-mail format.
Because of these issues, I have beentrying to head NCJ toward more techni-cal features that are relevant to contest-ers—the kind of material that fits bestinto a printed media. It’s kind of like turn-ing the main thrust of NCJ into “the jour-nal for operating and technical informa-tion for contesters.” So expect more tech-nical articles in NCJ (which, I think you’llagree, is in fact already happening). Thisdoesn’t mean we’re getting rid of every-thing else—we’ll continue publishing theNCJ-sponsored contest results and ourregular columns, and we sure won’t for-get the newcomers entering our aspectof the hobby.
Last October, with Al KØAD’s help, Isent out snail-mail letters to 32 contestclubs discussing this vision. I encour-aged the contest clubs to promote NCJ,as it is the only North American maga-zine for contesters and thus it is impor-tant to continue NCJ’s growth. As of theMay/June 2005 issue, the number ofNCJ subscriptions is up about 5% froma year ago, and I hope this was the re-sult of the letters and several other ini-tiatives to increase subscriptions (thanksto K3NA and G4BUO for these other ini-tiatives). I hope to see this trend con-tinue. There’s a lot of opportunity outthere for NCJ—we (I use “we” as we’reall in this together) just have to figure outhow to tap into those who do not sub-scribe.
Baltic Contest ResultsIn my editorial in the July/August 2004
NCJ, I mentioned receiving a little book-let from the Lithuanian Radio Sport Fed-eration that listed the results of the 2003Baltic Contest. My purpose in mention-ing this was to plant a seed with contestsponsors who wanted to add a morepersonal touch to their results (andmaybe even attract more participants asa result).
I recently received this year’s book-let—the results of the 2004 Baltic Con-test. If any club or contest sponsor wouldlike to see this, drop me an e-mail andI’ll send it to you. I’m sure we could alsoarrange for it to make the rounds if oth-ers are interested in taking a look at it.
WRTC2006WRTC2006 is only one year away.
(Wow—it’s already been three yearssince Finland!). This issue has a shortarticle by Martti, OH2BH, telling aboutContest Club Finland’s effort to selecttheir national team for the competition.
NAQP CW and SSB CertificatesThanks to Bruce, WA7BNM, certifi-
cates to the deserving for these twocontests are now available on-line forprinting beginning with the January 2005events (the CW results are first, and arepublished in this issue, and the SSB re-
sults will follow). If you deserved a cer-tificate per the NAQP rules, you’ll receivean e-mail saying how to retrieve yourcertificate. This will also be automatic forthe 2003 and 2004 events (i.e., you’llreceive an e-mail). Certificates for ear-lier contests (2002 and prior) are avail-able on request from the specific con-test manager.
As a side note, I’d like to say “thanks”to Shelby, K4WW, for keeping up withall the NAQP plaques (CW, SSB andRTTY) and the NAQP RTTY certificatesfor the past 5 or 6 years.
NCJ IndexTerry, N4TZ/9, brought the NCJ index
up-to-date through the November/De-cember 2004 issue. The index is nowavailable in pdf format on the NCJ Website (www.ncjweb.com) under the in-dex link at the top of the home page.
JulAug.pmd 6/10/2005, 3:50 PM3
4 July/August 2005 NCJ
I interviewed Jeff, K1ZM/VY2ZM, for theMarch/April 2003 issue of the NCJ. Jeffhad just established an excellent conteststation on Prince Edward Island. Sincethen, the station has improved consider-ably and many world-class scores havebeen made from there. Here’s anotherlook at the station—Ari, OH5DX.
We last visited VY2ZM in 2002 shortlyafter K1ZM, Jeff Briggs, built a home onPrince Edward Island in Atlantic Canadaand began initial operations. At that time,Jeff had constructed a 160-meter 4-element phased vertical array with thehelp of Peter Hutter, WW2Y and RobFlory, K2WI, who did the modelling workunderpinning the actual design of thearray. Flushed with some initial successon Topband, Jeff then set about workingon the other HF bands and we thoughtwe might check in at this time to seewhat he has been doing.
During his second summer on theisland (2002), Jeff’s principal objectivewas to add an 80-meter system and, inthis case, a classic 4-square array waserected right at the water. This antennais Rohn tower on insulated bases withG-10 fiberglass rod inserted in the towerlegs to insulate the radiators fromground. The system employs phillystranguys (two sets!) and 5000 feet of on-ground copper radials under eachradiator. The antenna acquires Europewithout obstruction and fires directlyover salt water within 300 feet of thenortheast leading tower.
A secondary objective as summerensued was the erection of a 130 footRohn 45 tower for the HF bands and,initially, no plans were contemplated thatsummer for populating that tower withantennas. But, due to good weather,there was time at the end of the summerto hurriedly add an X7 tribander at 140feet on this tower, coupled with anXM240 40-meter 2-element Yagi belowit at 130 feet.
Needing a secondary antenna forSO2R on 20, 15 and 10 meters, Jeff puta very basic Cushcraft tribander drivenelement atop a 100-foot Rohn 25 towerand f ixed it broadside nor theast/southwest for multiplier chasing on thesecond radio on 20/15/10 while the X7was engaged on the higher bands onthe run radio.
This fairly modest station managed atop-10 world finish in CQWW SSB in2002 and a very close second in Canadato VE3EJ, who edged Jeff by a small
Taking Another Look at VY2ZM onPrince Edward Island, Atlantic Canada
Ari Korhonen, OH5DX
margin in that contest once UBNs werefactored in, etc. In ARRL DX 2003, thissame system managed a third-placefinish for W/VE in ARRL DX CW and Jeffmanaged his first all-band win twoweeks later in ARRL DX Phone—with a15% margin over Bob Shohet, KQ2M.
Inside the shack, two Yaesu FT-1000Dtransceivers were employed driving twomanually tuned amps (an AL1500 and
an old Amp Supply model). Antennaswitching was all manual initially usingDaiwa two-fer and Daiwa four-ferswitches to route the available antennasto both radios.
During his third summer, Jeff, with alotof help from Andy Blank, N2NT, erecteda slew of monoband Yagis—all of whichemploy remote switching through the coaxfeedline using Ameritron remote coaxswitching devices. At summer’s end, thelineup consisted of these antennas:
160 meters—4-elment phased array/inverted Vee at 100 feet broadside NE/SW
80 meters—Classic 4-square array40 meters—Twin XM240s at 130/80
feet20 meters—Twin 5-element Cushcraft
Big Thunder Yagis at 140/100 feet15 meters—Triple 5-element Cush-
craft Big Thunder Yagis at 100/75/50 feet10 meters—Twin 5-element Cushcraft
Big Thunder Yagis at 110/85 feet
There are multiple Beverages at 880and 1080 feet for backup receive workon the low bands, as Jeff swears helistens 99% of the t ime on histransmitting antennas.
The Rx SixpackAs the summer ended in 2002 and
The 10 and 15-meter stack at VY2ZM.
Jeff, K1ZM/VY2ZM.
JulAug.pmd 6/10/2005, 3:50 PM4
NCJ July/August 2005 5
again in 2003, Jeff arranged for 8 acresof his land to be cleared about 3000 feetfrom his main antenna field. On this land,a specialized receive antenna for 160meters was installed with the real designwork again being the braintrust ofWW2Y and K2WI, without whose helpthe antenna never would have come intobeing. This antenna is similar in conceptto a W8JI design as far as the radiatorsare concerned, but it differs from TomRauch’s brainchild in one major respect.The antenna is really a miniature versionof Jeff ’s transmitting array for 160meters with two additional elementsadded at the rear. The on-groundfootprint is 336 × 266 feet, meaning it isa 5/8 wavelength spaced by a 1/4
wavelength spaced array—6 activeelements total.
The three pairs of radiators are fedwith binomial feed, meaning the leadpair is fed at -90 degree phasing, thecenter pair is fed at 0 degree phasingand the rear pair is fed at +90 degreephasing. While the gain of the RxSixpack, as it is called, is only a bit morethan Jeff’s 160 meter transmitting array,it produces far more front to back—about 30 dB more in fact! In other words,the transmitting array was designed byWW2Y to maintain a presence off itsback into the states during 160-meterEuropean runs (in order to attract W1-W4 callers at the same time). The RxSixpack was designed to be a deathrayinto Europe with virtually nothing comingin off the back from the USA. This wouldallow, in theory, the very weakestEuropean signals to be heard absentother North American QRM.
Does it work? Well, yes—most of thetime! In normal temperatures down toabout 20°F , W1AW on 1817.5kHz isvir tually unreadable when beamingtoward Europe on the Sixpack array. Thismeans a front-to-back of at least 40 dB.But when the temperatures drop to -
Krassy, K1LZ/VY2LZ, guest operting at VY2ZM. Steve, VK6VZ/VY2LF, guest operating at VY2ZM.
VY2ZM is on the north shore of the eastern tip of Prince Edward Island. Nextstop is Newfoundland 100 miles to the northeast—all over water.
35°C (about -30°F), the F/B deterioratesa bit to about 30 dB, which Jeff sayspuzzled him for a long time. Finally withthe help of Eric Von Valtie, K8LV, one ofthe old K8LX crew, it was determinedthat the permeability of the toroidal coresused in the hybrid coupler was changingsomewhat due to the extreme cold. Thisdrift within the cores appears to becausing the phasing cancellation withinthe hybrid to change from its normaloptimal values, thus lower ing theperceived front to back under extremecold! At some point this will have to beaddressed to correct this issue but, forthe moment, there are other thingshigher on the food-chain.
In 2003, Jeff had no choice but to put
the entire 3500 feet of RG6 feedline forthe Sixpack inside conduit as he learnedthat PEI red squirrels are ferocious andvoracious little buggers. They ate hisentire coax jacket on an initial feedlinerun out to the Sixpack site and, worseyet, they did the same on nearly all ofJeff ’s phasing lines on the 160-metertransmitting array. Talk about seeing agrown man cry! Jeff says he spent twoweeks in October 2003 in the rainrunning a new feedline inside conduit allthe way out to the Sixpack site. Then hespent a week dur ing August 2004replacing all four 160-meter feedlineswith new RG213 and putting thosesystems in conduit as well. Phew! Thereis no rest for the weary!
JulAug.pmd 6/10/2005, 3:50 PM5
6 July/August 2005 NCJ
More Contests, More RepairsDuring the 2003/2004 contest season,
Jeff did well in CQWW SSB, againmaking the top-10 world single-op all-band and set a new Canadian record inthe process. Andy Blank, N2NT, guest-operated for CQWW CW, making a hugescore with over 6000 QSOs and crackingthe top-ten world. But, after all the log-checking was over, in a photo-finish withVE2IM (operating from Zone 2), Andyhad to settle for second-place Canada.Andy swears to this day that he thinkshe left something on the table in thatcontest, but one has to respect the fineeffort Yuri made with a far lesser stationfrom Sept-Iles in Northern Quebec.
Moving along now to the summer of2004, this was the summer of repairs atVY2ZM. February 2004 was not kind,causing the outer ends of both 20-meter5-element Yagi booms to snap duringextreme cold and wind. One antennabroke on a Monday and the other one didthe same in almost the same exact spoton the following Friday. This caused Jeffto climb the 20/40-meter tower at -30°Cduring the 160-meter CQ SSB test to cutaway the second director elements on
both antennas—and throw them off thetower into the ground. One director landedflat and was okay; the other one landedat 90 degrees vertical in a huge snowbankand, like, the Titanic, teetered there for asecond or two and then bent over andsank like the Titanic into the snow.
Thus, about half of the summer of2004 was spent taking down most ofwhat was on the 20/40-meter tower,adding inserts into the booms to beefthem up, and then tramming all of thisstuff back up. Jeff recalls the antennagoing from .065 wall to about .200 wallwhen retrofi t t ing of the 20-meterantennas was completed. So far, theseantennas are surviving the 2004/2005winter, but on PEI, nothing can becer tain given the harsh winds thatl i teral ly scream inland from thenorthwest off the Gulf of St Lawrence.
After the repairs were done, there wastime remaining in 2004 to l i terallymanufacture three addit ional BigThunder Yagis, one each for 20, 15 and10 meters using two X7 tribanders. Jeffsays hours of studying the parts lists forthe X7 and the XM520/XM515/XM510led him to believe there was just enough
mater ial to duplicate his exist ingantennas from scratch. This effort wasmade necessary because the BigThunder line, introduced by Cushcraft inJanuary 1999, had been summarilydropped less than 3 months later in amanagement rethinking of marketingpriorities. Too bad, as these were someof the very finest and most rugged YagisCushcraft had ever made following adesign by Danny, T93M and Art, K1ART.
Looking into 2004/2005 then, therewere now triple stacks on 20, quadstacks on 15 and triple stacks on 10.Some new Beverages were also addedto assist on the reception front duringsnowstorms and precipitation static.
A Work in ProgressFor CQWW SSB, VY2LZ (Krassy
Petkov) and Jeff did a multi-single,managing about 14.7M, which was rightat the record score for Canada made byVE3EJ. UBNs will no doubt cause thescore to drop, but the antennas seemedto work well. For CQWW CW, Andy,N2NT, came back vowing to avenge hisloss in 2003, but 10 meters did him in.Jeff says he was impressed that evenwithout 10 meters, Andy managed tocome within 8 total multipliers of his2003 WW CW score.
Along the way, there have been someinside-the-shack changes, mainlyinplemented at the urging and under theguidance of Andy, N2NT. While theDaiwa switches are still there (Andy hasbeen trying to sell them on eBay for 2years now and Jeff won’t let him), mostswitching is totally automated usingN3RD controllers, ICE bandpass filtersand a WXØB Sixpack. The amps are nowauto-tuned (the old manually tuned onesare still available as backups) and mostthings are computer controlled. Rotatorsare the big Orion 2800 models, the onlythings that even stand a chance ofsurviving a PEI winter. So far, they areholding their own.
Jeff says he has been quietly solicitingguest-ops to give the station a whirl, ashe says he did not build it for himself aloneto enjoy. Most folks have politelydemeurred, usually offering two lines ofrationale—the snow in winter and/or a fearthat if ever they operated from a place likePEI (especially on the lowbands), theywould never want to turn on their radiosagain when they got back home! Thosesound like plausible enough reasons andit is true that it is often necessary to walkin to VY2ZM in some very deep snow onsnowshoes or via a snowmobile when thedrifting snow depths allow it.
Jeff says he is still in a developmentalmode with this new station of his, so staytuned. He says there are still a fewprojects he dreams about at night, andif Mother Nature allows it, he will get tothem at some point.
JulAug.pmd 6/10/2005, 3:50 PM6
NCJ July/August 2005 7
The 13th Annual Dayton Contest Dinner By Tim Duffy, K3LRwww.k3lr.com
New CQ Contest Hall of Fameinductees Jeff, K1ZM (left) and Rusty,W6OAT (right).
What an amazing run! Thirteen yearsand going strong! The North Coast Con-testers hosted contesters from all overthe world in Dayton, Ohio this past May21, 2005. The Contest Super Suite andthe Dayton Contest Dinner are the bestways to spend a radio weekend talkingabout our favorite hobby: radio contest-ing. This year almost 370 contesters (anew record!) enjoyed a prime rib dinnertogether at the Crowne Plaza Hotel indowntown Dayton. Every year this din-ner gets bigger and better. Thanks toPaul, W0AIH, for giving an outstandinginvocation to open the event this year.
The 13th annual event featured the re-turn of long time dinner Master of Cer-emonies, John, K1AR. John had been onDayton sabbatical for 2 years and it wasgreat to have him return.
The Dayton Contest dinner is home tothe yearly induction of fellow contestersinto the CQ Contest Hall of Fame. Sincethe award was created, 43 contesters havebeen inducted. We were honored to haveRusty, W6OAT, and Jeff, K1ZM, join theCQ Contest Hall of Fame this year (#44and #45). The CQ Contest Hall of Fame isthe top honor a contester can ever receive.To be recognized by your peers as stand-ing apart from the rest as a top ambassa-dor to our sport is the epitome of RadioContesting. The award does not comeabout by winning contests; it happens be-cause the CQ Contest Hall of Fame mem-bers have contributed to our hobby in manyvaried ways, specifically by giving back toour sport of amateur radio contesting. Thefirst member into the hall was Buz Reeves,K2GL (SK).
Our dinner speaker this year was WardSilver, NØAX. We were thrilled to haveWard accept our offer to speak. Ward hasgiven so much of his time back to ourhobby in the forum of mentoring and writ-ing. Ward gave everyone a real treat bytaking us deep into the future of radio con-testing and providing many specific timeline events for what will happen during thecontest operations of the future. It was avery fun filled talk with lots of breaks whenthe audience laughing was 60 dB over S9!
One of the hilarious dinner momentsoccurred at the half waypoint when anerrant pizza delivery girl opened the ball-room door looking for KQ2M. She had alarge pepperoni pizza and was deter-mined to deliver it! K1AR handled themishap in stride, stating that the pizzaneeds to be delivered to Newtown, CTnot Dayton, Ohio.
Hall of Fame (HOF) InducteesBob Cox, K3EST, who is the director
of the CQ WorldWide Contest, chairmanof the CQ Contest Hall of Fame and amember of the hall himself, gave out twoHOF awards during the dinner this year.
Rusty, W6OAT, is a world-class con-tester, co-creator of the North AmericanCW Sprint Contest and active memberof the WRTC steering committee. Rusty’sefforts during the 1996 San FranciscoWRTC event were substantial. He con-tinues to support the WRTC efforts withhis involvement in WRTC 2006. He hasbeen a tremendous asset with his longtime leadership in his local contest radioclub, the Northern California ContestClub. Bob, K3EST, and Tim, K3LR, spokeon behalf of Rusty.
Jeff, K1ZM, has been active in con-tests for over 40 years. He has built tre-mendous stations and allowed many con-test operators to use them. He has givenback to our sport by giving countlesshours of helpful advice and writing a bookon 160-meter operations. Jeff hasstepped up many times as an officer withthe Yankee Clipper Contest Club, wherehe has been one of the major spark plugssince the club was formed. Jeff hassteered substantial fund raising effortsin North America for both WRTC 2002and WRTC 2006. Jeff also coordinateda drawing during the dinner where anAcom amplifier and a trip to WRTC 2006were given away. Bob, K3EST, and Jim,K1IR, spoke on behalf of Jeff.
Prizes and PizzaThe prize list was extensive this year.
Almost 50 prizes were given to contestoperators in attendance. These prizescame from companies who consider con-testers to be a substantial part of theirbusiness. I’d like to thank the following
companies who donated super prizes:Force12 antennas, American Radio Re-lay League, WriteLog, CQ Magazine,Comtek Systems, W4MPY QSL Man,The DX Magazine, Radio Bookstore,Radio Ware, Top Ten Devices, DX Engi-neering, National Contest Journal, DailyDX, Weekly DX, The Rotor Doctor, TonyRogozinski, W4OI, WinTest and 9V1YC.If you won a prize, please write a thankyou letter or e-mail to these companies.Their continued support is vital.
Special thanks to Jay Terleski and hiscompanies from Array Solutions for step-ping up and sponsoring The 2005 Con-test Super Suite. OptiBeam, AY technolo-gies, AN Wireless, Prosistel andBushcomm all contributed funds. NorthCoast Contesters, Frankford Radio Cluband The Mad River Radio Club hostedthe suite.
Dave, K8CC, and Tim, K3LR, spon-sored the Super Suite pizza party at mid-night on Thursday night honoring RushDrake, W7RM. During the party, contestoperators enjoyed 25 delicious pizzas.
The Yankee Clipper Contest Clubhosted the pizza party in the Super Suiteat midnight on Friday night, where 35pizzas went down fast.
The Potomac Valley Radio Club spon-sored the midnight Saturday night pizzaparty, where 30 pizzas were consumedin 15 minutes! Wow!
The new venue for the Antenna forumand the Contest forum at the CrownePlaza on Saturday afternoon was a ma-jor hit. K1DG and K3LR are not certainwhich location will be used next year(Hara or the hotel). The 5 hours of forumtalks this year were well attended. Manyof the talks can be downloaded atwww.k3lr.com . Sincere thanks toComtek Systems for helping with theexpenses of the AV equipment.
Thanks to Jim Miller, K4SQR, for help-ing to coordinate the dinner. Also thanksto Tom Roscoe, K8CX, for taking the din-ner pictures.
Make Plans for 2006Preparations are already underway for
the 14th Annual Dayton Contest Dinner.We expect ticket sales to start in Febru-ary 2006.
Make your plans now to attend Dayton2006 and enjoy the company of some ofyour best radio friends. Watch for an-nouncements in this magazine, its Web site(www.ncjweb.com), the ARRL ContestRate Sheet, www.contesting.com as wellas the [email protected] re-flector. Suggestions are always welcome.Send them to [email protected].
JulAug.pmd 6/10/2005, 3:50 PM7
8 July/August 2005 NCJ
Reprinted with permission from thePVRC Newsletter
For a week or so, Ted, W4NZ and Icorresponded about the use of theunshifted tilde (~) key to switch audio forSO2R operation, a feature that N1MMLogger has implemented by toggling pin5 of the parallel port. I think the idea origi-nated with NA; TR may have it now also.
Ted had discovered that by movingJumper 2 of the DXD to the “NA” positionyou could change the headphone audiofrom being always on the active radio to“stereo” (one radio in each ear), just bypressing that key. I wanted to go one bet-ter and mimic the “PTT” operation of theDXD. This puts both ears on the INactiveradio for aggressive S&P, but still be ableto put both ears on the Active (or Run)radio from the keyboard, to help pick upweak answers to my CQs while HC8N isblasting on the S&P radio at S9 +40.
You can do this manually by switching
Modifying the Top Ten DXDoubler for EnhancedOperation with N1MM Logger By Pete Smith, N4ZR
Figure 1—Pin 5 drives the base of the transistor through a 1-kΩΩΩΩΩ resistor.
the DXD audio mode switch from PTT toAuto, but I’d rather keep my hands on thekeyboard. After corresponding withGeorge, W2VJN, and Dave, N3RD, of TopTen, and entirely thanks to them, I haveit working. I also owe a vote of thanks toTerry, N4TZ/9, whose article in the Sep-tember/October 2004 NCJ (“A SimpleModification to the Top Ten DXDoubler,”page 33) describes modifying the DXDto do the same trick, but with a footswitch, which got us all thinking.
First, put the DXD jumper in its CT/Writelog/TR/MM position. This has the
effect of isolating pin 5 of the LPT port.Then, put a 2N2222 open collector switchbetween pin 5 and the Auto terminal ofS3 on the DXD (that’s the audio modeswitch). Specifically, pin 5 drives the baseof the transistor through a 1-kΩ resistorconnected to the high side of R22, justlike the basic CW keying interface (seeFigure 1). The emitter is grounded to theground side of R22, and the collector iswired to the switch side of R29. I mountedthe transistor next to R22 with double-sided tape. It’s ugly, but effective. That’sall there is to it.
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JulAug.pmd 6/10/2005, 3:50 PM8
NCJ July/August 2005 9
Verticals by the SeaAl Christman, K3LCGrove City College100 Campus Drive
Grove City, PA 16127-2104
This article analyzes the gain of verti-cal monopole antennas with two gull-wing elevated radials, when they areinstalled near the seacoast. The heightof the radials is varied, along with theset-back distance between the antennaand the shoreline. Many of the amateurbands from 160 to 10 meters are re-viewed.
BackgroundContesters and DXers are well aware
of the advantages that are inherent inthe use of vertical antennas when theyare placed near large bodies of salt wa-ter. Many years ago, Tom Erdmann,W7DND, had a rotatable 4-element40-meter phased vertical array that waslocated at the edge of Puget Sound inBremerton, Washington.1 Well-knowncontester Rush Drake, W7RM (SK),used verticals mounted on a beach atthe base of a cliff to work the world fromhis former QTH in Washington state.2More recently, “Team Vertical,” com-posed of K2KW, N6BT and others, con-ducted several successful contest expe-ditions from the Caribbean using verti-cals.3, 4 Their decision to employ bentor gull-wing elevated radials was basedupon this author’s earlier published workin an IEEE journal.5
A series of tests are described byK2KW, in which a vertical transmit an-tenna was erected on the beach and areceive antenna installed across the(saltwater) bay: “The team set the verti-cal on the land-water boundary (above)and moved the vertical away from thewater in 3-foot steps. The land-waterboundary was the reference point(0.0)...but when the antenna reachedapproximately 1/4 wavelength from thewater, the signal level increased + 3 dBover the reference point! The zone of thisenhancement was fairly small. As theantenna reached 1/2 wavelength from thewater, the antenna was now -2 dB fromthe reference point! At the 3/4-wavelengthpoint, the signal was now +2 dB. Ob-stacles prohibited us from going fartherthan 3/4 wavelength from the land-waterboundary. But it was clear that the land-water boundary had a significant impacton the low-angle energy (in the pseudo-Brewster angle).”4
Kenny continues: “Unfortunately itappears that the gain enhancement isonly in the immediate direction of thewater. In directions other than the clos-
est point of water, there is more land,thus impacting the pseudo-Brewsterangle in those directions. While having3 dB of gain is desirable, it is my convic-tion that the vertical should be placedas close to, or over, saltwater to ensureoptimum performance in as many direc-tions as possible.”4
Computer SimulationAfter considering the remarks above,
it was decided to model several verticalmonopole antennas, installed either ator near a land/sea boundary. Figure 1shows a pictorial view of one antennaconfiguration, which is typical of thosethat were examined. The length of thevertical element and the two radials wasfixed at exactly 0.25 wavelength at theoperating frequency, while the base ofthe antenna was placed just one footabove the ground. The two gull-wing ra-dials are oriented parallel to the shore-line, and they initially extend upward ata 45-degree angle from the bottom ofthe antenna, until reaching their finalheight H. This elevation height variesfrom 2.5 to 10 feet, depending upon theband of interest. The set-back distance
from the water to the antenna is D, whichranges from 0 to 0.25 wavelengths insteps of 0.05 wavelength.
The antenna models were run usingthe new EZNEC Pro software, version4.0,6 with a double precision NEC-4 cal-culating engine. For simplicity, it wasassumed that all antennas were con-structed entirely from #12 AWG copperwire. No attempt was made to prune ei-ther the vertical element or the radialsto achieve resonance. The wire segmentlengths for the vertical element and theradials were selected in accordance withthe most conservative NEC guidelines.The seawater has an electrical conduc-tivity of 5 Siemens per meter and a di-electric constant of 81. However, be-cause the soil on most beaches is ei-ther sandy or rocky, its conductivity wasset at 0.0015 Siemens/meter, with a di-electric constant of 4.
Results on 40 MetersA frequency of 7.15 MHz was selected
for the analysis on 40 meters, whichcorresponds to a length of about 34.39feet for both the vertical element and thetwo gull-wing radials. Elevation heights
Figure 1—Drawing of an elevated vertical monopole antenna (base height = 1foot) with two gull-wing radials. The length of both the vertical element and theradials is 0.25 wavelength (34.39 feet at 7.15 MHz). H represents the height ofthe horizontal portions of the radials, and D is the set-back distance from theshoreline.1Notes appear on page 12.
JulAug.pmd 6/10/2005, 3:50 PM9
10 July/August 2005 NCJ
of 2.5 and 5.0 feet were chosen for thehorizontal portions of the radials.
Table 1 displays the resulting perfor-mance data for the gain and take-offangle, when looking either toward thefront of the radiation pattern (seaward)or back toward land. Also shown are thefront-to-back ratio (FBR) in the elevationplane, and the half power beamwidth(HPBW) in the azimuthal plane. We cansee that increasing the height of the ra-dials (H) always produced a smallamount of extra gain and a slight im-provement in the FBR, for any set-backdistance (D). However, the changeswere minor, with the gain remainingaround 4 or 5 dBi and the FBR close to7 dB. When the height of the radials (H)is held constant, the gain can be peaked(to a small degree) by varying the set-back distance. For either value of H,
maximum gain and maximum FBR bothoccurred when the antenna was placed0.1 wavelength from the edge of thewater. When the height of the radials isfixed, the gain of the back lobe remainsconstant for any set-back distance, sincethe antenna always sees land in thatdirection.
The elevation and azimuthal planeradiation patterns for a set-back dis-tance (D) of 0 wavelength and a radialheight (H) of 2.5 feet are displayed inFigures 2 and 3, while those for D = 0.1wavelength and H = 2.5 feet appear inFigures 4 and 5. For each plot, the seais toward the right, and the land toward
the left, as evidenced by the enhancedgain and lower take-off angles in the di-rection of the saltwater. Notice that theelevation plane pattern is very smoothwhen the antenna is mounted at theland-sea junction, but somewhat jaggedand irregular when the set back distanceincreases. A similar effect is visible inthe azimuthal plane patterns, along witha general decrease in the half powerbeamwidth when the antenna is movedaway from the interface.
Why are some of the seawater por-tions of the pattern plots so odd look-ing? Roy Lewallen, W7EL, cautions usregarding the use of a second medium
Table 1Antenna performance on 40 meters (f = 7.15 MHz) as a function of radialheight and set-back distance. The base of the antenna is fixed at a heightof one foot, and the radials are oriented parallel to the shoreline.Radial Set-back Gain (dBi) and Take-off AzimuthalHeight Distance Angle (deg) FBR BeamwidthH (ft) D (WL) front back (dB) (degrees)
Table 2Antenna performance on 80 meters (f = 3.75 MHz) as a function of radialheight and set-back distance. The base of the antenna is fixed at a heightof one foot, and the radials are oriented parallel to the shoreline.Radial Set-back Gain (dBi) and Take-off AzimuthalHeight Distance Angle (deg) FBR BeamwidthH (ft) D (WL) front back (dB) (degrees)
Figure 2—Elevation plane radiationpattern for the 40-meter vertical,where the set-back distance D = 0 andthe height of the horizontal portion ofthe gull-wing radials is H = 2.5 feet.The sea is toward the right in thedrawing. Gain = 4.16 dBi at 9 degreestake-off angle; front-to-back ratio =6.81 dB.
Figure 3—Azimuthal plane radiationpattern for the 40-meter vertical,where the set-back distance D= 0 andthe height of the horizontal portion ofthe gull-wing radials is H = 2.5 feet.The sea is toward the right in thedrawing. The half power beamwidth inthe azimuthal plane is 179.6 degrees.
JulAug.pmd 6/10/2005, 3:50 PM10
NCJ July/August 2005 11
Table 3Antenna performance on 160 meters (f = 1.835 MHz) as a function of radialheight and set-back distance. The base of the antenna is fixed at a height ofone foot, and the radials are oriented parallel to the shoreline.Radial Set-back Gain (dBi) and Take-off AzimuthalHeight Distance Angle (deg) FBR BeamwidthH (ft) D (WL) front back (dB) (degrees)
(which in our case is seawater ratherthan a second type of soil) with EZNEC:“The effect of the second medium istaken into account only in a very simpli-fied way. The vertical pattern is gener-ated by tracing rays direct from the an-tenna and reflected from the ground.When a second medium is used, theground reflection ray is determined bywhichever medium it strikes the top of.The ray does not penetrate either me-dium, and diffraction or similar effectsaren’t considered.”7 All of the radiationpatterns shown here were computedusing one-degree increments in eleva-tion angle, but the results were similarwhen the calculation interval was de-creased to just 0.1 degree. Thus, it is
likely that the information shown here isnot as accurate as we would hope, al-though the general trends should becorrect.
Results for 80 MetersOn 80 meters a frequency of 3.75
MHz was utilized, so the length of thevertical element (and the radials) isabout 65.57 feet. Elevation heights of 5,7.5, and 10 feet were chosen for thehorizontal portions of the radials.
The results of the analysis are givenin Table 2. As was true on 40 meters,raising the height of the radials (H)yielded a small amount of extra gain and(with two exceptions) a modest increasein the FBR, for any set back distance(D). Once again, the changes weresmall, with the gain staying betweenabout 4 and 5 dBi, and the FBR close to7 dB. When H is held constant, the gain(as before) can be peaked to a smallextent by optimizing the set-back dis-tance. For all three values of H, bothmaximum gain and maximum FBR oc-curred when the antenna was placed 0.1wavelength from the edge of the water.And, if the height of the radials is fixed,the gain of the back lobe remains con-stant for any set-back distance.
The elevation and azimuthal planeradiation patterns are not shown for thisband, but they closely resemble thosepresented for 40 meters.
Results on 160 MetersA frequency of 1.835 MHz was se-
lected for the computer simulation on top
Figure 5— Figure 5. Azimuthal-planeradiation pattern for the 40m vertical,at a take-off angle of 8 degrees. Theset-back distance D = 0.1 wavelength,and the height of the horizontalportion of the gull-wing radials is H =2.5 feet. The sea is toward the right inthe drawing. The half-powerbeamwidth in the azimuthal plane is157.0 degrees.
Figure 4—Elevation plane radiationpattern for the 40-meter vertical,where the set-back distance D = 0.1wavelength and the height of thehorizontal portion of the gull-wingradials is H = 2.5 feet. The sea istoward the right in the drawing. Gain =4.60 dBi at 8 degrees take-off angle;front-to-back ratio = 7.25 dB.
band, requiring a length of about 134feet for the quarter wave vertical ele-ment and the radials. As on 80 meters,elevation heights of 5, 7.5, and 10 feetwere utilized for the horizontal portionsof the radials.
Table 3 lists the performance data forTop Band. We can see that increasingthe height of the radials (H) usually gen-erated a small amount of extra gain anda slight improvement in the FBR, al-though there were some exceptionswhen H = 10 feet. However, the varia-tions are minor, with the gain remainingclose to 4 dBi and the FBR between5 and 6 dB. When the height of the radi-als (H) is held constant, the gain can bepeaked a bit by varying the set-back dis-tance. If H = 5 or 10 feet, maximum gainand maximum FBR both occurred whenthe antenna was placed 0.05 wave-length from the edge of the water, whileD = 0.1 wavelength worked best at H =7.5 feet. When the height of the radialsis fixed, the gain of the back lobe re-mains constant for any set-back dis-tance, since the soil characteristics areunchanged in that direction.
The elevation and azimuthal planeradiation patterns are omitted, but theyare very similar to those given previouslyfor 40-meter operation.
Results for the High BandsAfter discussions with Carl, K9LA, it
was decided to expand the coverage ofthis article to include the 20 and 10-meterbands as well. (Results for 17, 15 and 12meters can easily be interpolated from the
JulAug.pmd 6/10/2005, 3:50 PM11
12 July/August 2005 NCJ
20 and 10-meter results—Ed).A frequency of 14.175 MHz was se-
lected for the analysis on 20 meters,which corresponds to a length of about17.35 feet for both the vertical elementand the two-gull-wing radials. Elevationheights of 2.5 and 5.0 feet were chosenfor the horizontal portions of the radials.
Table 4 displays the resulting perfor-mance data for this band. We can seethat increasing the height of the radials(H) always produced a small amount ofextra gain and a slight improvement inthe FBR, for any set-back distance (D).However, the changes were minor, withthe gain remaining around 5 dBi or so,and the FBR close to 7 dB. When theheight of the radials (H) is kept fixed,the gain can be peaked (by a smallamount) by varying the set back dis-tance. For H = 2.5 feet, maximum gainand maximum FBR both occurred whenthe antenna was placed 0.15 wavelengthfrom the edge of the water, while D =0.1 wavelength worked best for H = 5feet. Notice that, when H = 5 feet, boththe gain and FBR oscillate up and downas D is made larger. If the height of theradials is held constant, the gain of theback lobe remains constant for any set-back distance, since the antenna alwayssees land in that direction.
The elevation and azimuthal planeradiation patterns are not shown for thisband, but they closely resemble thosepresented for 40 meters.
On 10 meters a frequency of 28.3MHz was utilized, so the length of thevertical element (and the radials) isabout 8.69 feet. Elevation heights of 2.5and 4 feet were chosen for the horizon-tal portions of the radials.
The results of the analysis on 10meters are given in Table 5. As was trueon 20 meters, raising the height of theradials (H) yielded a small amount ofextra gain and (with some exceptions)a modest increase in the FBR, for anyset back distance (D). Once again, thechanges were small, with the gain stay-ing between 5 and 6 dBi, and the FBRaround 6 or 7 dB. When H is held con-stant, the gain (as before) can be peakedslightly by optimizing the set-back dis-tance. When H = 2.5 feet, both maximumgain and maximum FBR occurred whenthe antenna was placed 0.15 wavelengthfrom the shoreline, although D = 0.2wavelength is optimal when H = 4 feet.Much as was seen on 20 meters, if H =2.5 feet then both the gain and FBR os-cillate up and down as D is made larger.On this band, the gain of the back loberemained essentially the same for bothheights, and at all set-back distances.
The elevation and azimuthal planeradiation patterns are omitted here, butthey closely resemble those given pre-viously for 40 meters.
Table 4Antenna performance on 20 meters (f = 14.175 MHz) as a function of radialheight and set-back distance. The base of the antenna is fixed at a heightof one foot, and the radials are oriented parallel to the shoreline.Radial Set-back Gain (dBi) and Take-off AzimuthalHeight Distance Angle (deg) FBR BeamwidthH (ft) D (WL) front back (dB) (degrees)
Table 5Antenna performance on 10 meters (f = 28.3 MHz) as a function of radialheight and set-back distance. The base of the antenna is fixed at a heightof one foot, and the radials are oriented parallel to the shoreline.Radial Set-back Gain (dBi) and Take-off AzimuthalHeight Distance Angle (deg) FBR BeamwidthH (ft) D (WL) front back (dB) (degrees)
two gull-wing radials makes an effectiveDX antenna when installed at or near alarge body of salt water. Compared toland, the high conductivity of this liquidmedium yields enhanced signal strengthat low take-off angles, with a resultingforward lobe that is broad in both theelevation and azimuthal planes. Theheight of the horizontal portions of theradials need not be great (typically onthe order of a few feet), and the set-backdistance from shoreline to antenna canrange from zero to 0.25 wavelength, withlittle change in performance. This is goodnews for those who operate in locationswith significant tidal action.
Notes1Jerrold Swank, W8HXR, “The S-Meter
Bender: W7DND’s magic antenna,” 73magazine, June 1978.
2Information on the W7RM and W7DNDantennas was obtained from privatecommunications with Chip Margelli, K7JA,Ward Silver, NØAX, and Paul Kiesel, K7CW.
3Kenny Silverman, K2KW, and Tom Schiller,N6BT, “Verticals for Contest Expeditions:Learnings from the 6Y4A CQ WW CWContest,” CQ Contest, March 1998. Thisarticle can also be found on the Web atwww.k2kw.com/verticals/learning.html.
4Kenny Silverman, K2KW, data posted on theWeb at www.k2kw.com/verticals/tests.html.
5Al Christman and R. Paul Zeineddin, withRoger Radcliff and Jim Breakall, “UsingElevated Radials in Conjunction withDeteriorated Buried-Radial GroundSystems,” IEEE Transactions onBroadcasting, Volume 39, Number 2, June1993.
6Several versions of the EZNEC antennamodeling software are available from RoyLewallen, W7EL, PO Box 6658, Beaverton,OR 97007.
7Roy Lewallen, W7EL, EZNEC Pro V.4.0User’s Manual, page 68.
JulAug.pmd 6/10/2005, 3:50 PM12
NCJ July/August 2005 13
The Finnish Way To WRTC2006 Martti Laine, OH2BH
It’s Marko, OH4JFN, shaping up hisstrategy for the fast lane ahead of apre-qualifying run for WRTC2006. Inthe back, Veijo, OH6KN, is trying tocapture the holy moment.
Young contesters were highly visible at the CCF 10thanniversary gathering. Patrick, OH6GDX, Lee, GØMTN (twoon left), with Thomas, OZ1AA, and Timo, OH1NOA (two onright), all of World Young Contester Club (WYCC) fame.Standing in the middle is an experienced OT–Oms,PY5EG–looking forward to WRTC2006.
A 35-year difference in age would not bother Toni, OH2UA,or Olli, OHØXX, in running against each other in a big wayin the WRTC2006 pre-qualifying run. Do you want to putyour money on young enthusiasm or old wisdom? Toni,age 25, and Olli, age 59, are ready to race—big time!
On the recent Contest Club Finland(CCF) 10th Anniversary Cruise, it wasannounced that Finnish contesters canapply for the Finnish team captain posi-tion during Spring 2005 and get involvedwith a variety of pre-qualifying activities.The target was set for the Finnish cap-tain to lead a Finnish team to take WRTChonors for the first time outside of theUnited States. Not a modest target buta reasonable one, coming from a previ-ous WRTC hosting country.
The first qualifying run was set to takeplace during IARU Radiosport in Julywith all captain candidates participating,using a 100 W WRTC-like station. In-deed, there are still dozens of those upon the WRTC2002 battlefield. This willbe followed by the Scandinavian Activ-ity Contest (SAC) in September withfull-board stations highlighting multipliersearch and pounce and correct logging.Running best with the 100-W station,being effective in multipliers and correctlogging, will set the stage for final se-lection at the end of 2005. Their pastperformance added to an overall abilityto represent the Republic of Finland willcount. The selected captain will be giventotal freedom to select his partner, theestablished specifications of which theselected captain will know best.
But what seems an interesting ap-proach is the fact that the racing sta-tions will appear in front of the Finnishpublic on 80-meter CW and 75-meter
SSB for a quick 30-minute show duringthe IARU contest. Not only for an on-the-air presentation, but an immediate SMS(Short Message Service) vote for oper-ating style and efficiency, and involvingthe entire Finnish population to competein capturing a roster of six (6) qualifyingcandidates in the shortest possible time.Obviously the “drivers” will gather on 80-meters for a public press conference on3666 kHz, following the true racing spirit.
As indicated, there are six (6) compet-ing captain candidates representing threedifferent contest generations: Olli
Rissanen, OHØXX; Juha Tuovinen,OH1JT; Timo Klimoff, OH1NOA; Toni Lin-den, OH2UA; Marko Holmavuo, OH4JFNand Jussi-Pekka Sampola, OH6RX.These six competing captains are joinedby one dark horse, giving the competitorsvaluable reference points.
The station locations and call signswill be issued randomly prior to the ac-tual race in true WRTC spirit. The sta-tions can be identified by their specialW suffix (OH2W, OH4W, OH5W, OH6W,OH7W, OH8W and OH9W) so that youcan find them during the IARU competi-tion. Those working these 7 stations inthe IARU Radiosport will be presentedwith a WRTC2002 video donated byJames Brooks, 9V1YC. More than 100PAL/NTSC videos are reserved. Justkeep watching the news about thesequalifying WRTC stations from Finland.
A Contest Club Finland (CCF) specialtask force, headed by Veijo Kontas,OH6KN and Risto Lund, OH3UU, will pro-vide the WRTC2002 scoreboard conceptand basic technology to be used as thebasis for the WRTC2006 Web scoreboardproject led by Eric de Castro, PY2EMC.
The drawings for station locationswere done May, 26 2005 at the famousBlack Horse restaurant in Helsinki, Fin-land. The proceedings were handled bysecretary of the Finnish WRTC Commit-tee Risto Lund, OH3UU with ladyForuna.
JulAug.pmd 6/10/2005, 3:50 PM13
14 July/August 2005 NCJ
Figure 1—Gain pattern of the multiplier Yagi when it stands 4λλλλλ directly in frontof the stack. The stack’s Yagis point to 0° azimuth; the multiplier Yagi points to180°. Parasitic re-radiation by the stack modulates the Yagi’s pattern with arippled pattern of constructive and destructive interference, and adds asubstantial rear lobe.
Part 1 of our series introduced meta-tools that give more comprehensivemaps and statistics about antenna ra-diation patterns.1
Part 2 applied those meta-tools totwisted stacked Yagis where the anten-nas point in different directions, identi-fying some problem situations that con-testers may encounter.2
Part 3 examined self-interactions ofunused antennas within a stack, apply-ing a new meta-tool to compare com-plete sky-hemisphere patterns. This partgave examples of siting problems in thedesign of a contesting station antennafarm, but did not fully explore siting is-sues.3
Part 4 introduced current tapering toclean up stack patterns.4
Part 5 identified impairments by iden-tical antennas in the near field locatedon the same tower, or turned 90° on aseparate tower.5
Part 6 described impairments by iden-tical antennas in the near field on sepa-rate towers, when both antenna systemspoint in the same direction.6
In this part we look at identical anten-nas in the near field pointing in oppo-site directions.
Opposite Azimuths, SeparateTowers
We continue to examine scenariosinvolving a short stack of 6-element 20mOWA Yagis, mounted at heights of ½ and1λ. A third, identical Yagi stands ¾ λabove ground on a separate tower; wewill refer to this as the “multiplier Yagi.”
Part 5 of this series examined the sce-nario when the multiplier Yagi pointedto an azimuth at right angles to thestack’s azimuth. Part 6 examined thecase when both the stack and the multi-plier Yagi point to the same azimuth.Today we look at the situation where themultiplier Yagi points in the opposite di-rection.
Having examined these three sce-narios, we can make some recommen-dations about locating and using twotowers with rotating Yagi systems on thesame band.
Multiplier Yagi fedWe start by examining impairments to
the pattern of the multiplier Yagi causedby the unused stack. The feedpoints ofthe stack’s Yagis are short-circuited.
By itself, this multiplier Yagi’s peakgain of 14.6dBi occurs at 17° elevation.The main beam’s –3dB points stand±28° to the left and right, and at 8 and
Antenna Interactions—Part 7Antennas Pointing in Opposite Directions
28° elevation. These –3dB points formthe target zone for this analysis.
To identify the minor lobes, a range of±51° in azimuth and 3 to 36° in elevation(representing the –11dB points on themain beam) was excluded from the non-target zone statistics. This exclusion pre-vented the sides of the main beam fromobscuring information about the behav-ior of the pattern outside the main beam.
Table 1 summarizes pattern param-eters and impairments as a function ofrelative location between these two an-tenna systems. The first row gives per-formance parameters for an isolatedmultiplier Yagi (i.e., no stack present) forcomparison. The columns in this tablerepresent, from left to right:
• Location of the multiplier antennarelative to the stack; e.g., 1 at 0° meansthe multiplier antenna stands one wave-length in front of the stack. The stackYagis always point to 0° azimuth. Themultiplier Yagi always points to 180°.
• Peak gain of the multiplier antenna,its azimuth and elevation, and the im-pairment to peak gain (change in peakgain caused by the presence of the un-used stack).
• Median gain over the target zone,and the impairment to median gain.
• Minimum gain within the target zone,and the impairment to that minimumgain. Since no antenna fills a target zoneuniformly, we want to know if impair-ments exist to the least well-served partof the target.
• Largest spot increase in gain, andlargest spot decrease in gain, within thetarget zone. “Spot gain” refers to the gainin a specific direction (azimuth and el-evation). A significant change in the gain
in any one direction would be an unde-sirable interaction, even if the overallpattern averaged out to the same levelof gain.
• Median gain outside of the mainbeam, and impairment to that mediangain. A well-designed antenna has littlesensitivity outside of its main beam; anyincrease in median gain indicates im-paired performance. An entry of “floor”here means the median gain is less thanthe floor threshold of –15dBi.
• Worst (highest gain) minor lobe out-side the main beam, its location, and theimpairment (increase in gain of the worstminor lobe).
• Largest spot increase in gain, andlargest spot decrease in gain, outsidethe main beam.
• Portion of the sky hemisphere withgain of <–15dBi (quiet regions of re-duced QRM and QRN), and impairmentto that portion.
• Feedpoint impedance.
Multiplier Yagi Impairment OverviewIn the previous parts of this series, we
examined three different, increasinglystrict, thresholds for tolerable impair-ments between a stack and a multiplierantenna:
• No impairment within the target zoneexceeding 1dB, but accept any degreeof impairment outside the main beam.
• No impairment to the median gainoutside the mean beam exceeding 1dB,and no variation in spot gain by morethan 6dB (an S unit).
• No variation in spot gain at any pointin the pattern exceeding 1dB.
As in other configurations, study ofTable 1 reveals that all impairments vary
JulAug.pmd 6/10/2005, 3:50 PM14
NCJ July/August 2005 15
Table 1Performance parameters for the multiplier Yagi and impairments caused by a nearby 2-Yagi stack. The multiplierYagi points toward 0° azimuth. The stack points 180°.
target #
1non-target
dis
tdir
peak g
ain
media
n g
ain
min
imum
gain
largest
media
n g
ain
worst m
inor lobe
largest
°dBi
locatio
ndelta
dBi
delta
dBi
delt
adecr
incr
dBi
delt
adBi
locatio
ndelta
decr
incr
change
no s
tack
14.60
az 1
80° e
l 17°
12.66
8.84
-9.78
3.49
az 1
80° e
l 54°
25.0%
30.0 -
j10.4
0.0
0°
10.26
az 1
80° e
l 21°
-4.34
8.53
-4.13
2.79
-6.05
-6.55
-1.47
-5.18
4.60
9.25
az 0
° e
l 13°
5.76
-7.14
21.27
10.3%
-14.7%
63.4 +
j42.3
0.5
0°
12.33
az 1
79° e
l 13°
-2.27
8.21
-4.45
2.46
-6.38
-8.04
-1.06
-7.57
2.21
12.33
az 0
° e
l 13°
8.84
-13.39
19.81
17.4%
-7.6%
234 -
j157
1.0
0°
13.05
az 1
79° e
l 13°
-1.55
8.14
-4.52
1.58
-7.26
-7.91
-0.11
-4.46
5.32
11.72
az 0
° e
l 12°
8.23
-10.91
19.60
11.7%
-13.3%
119 -
j107
2.0
0°
11.90
az 1
79° e
l 13°
-2.70
8.21
-4.45
3.86
-4.98
-5.57
-1.38
-5.24
4.54
7.79
az 0
° e
l 12°
4.30
-8.96
17.42
19.8%
-5.2%
36.2 -
j10.0
4.0
0°
13.18
az 1
79° e
l 13°
-1.42
11.43
-1.23
7.14
-1.70
-2.97
1.37
-7.51
2.27
5.75
az 3
42° e
l 17°
2.26
-8.54
11.51
19.3%
-5.7%
27.4 -
j 6
.2
8.0
0°
13.95
az 1
95° e
l 19°
-0.65
12.83
0.17
8.72
-0.12
-0.92
0.78
-9.85
-0.07
3.73
az 1
80° e
l 51°
0.24
-10.49
7.10
23.6%
-1.4%
29.3 -
j10.5
16.0
0°
14.72
az 1
81° e
l 18°
0.12
12.70
0.04
8.79
-0.05
-0.24
0.23
-9.73
0.05
3.58
az 1
81° e
l 55°
0.09
-3.74
2.83
24.6%
-0.4%
29.9 -
j10.5
28.0
0°
14.60
az 1
79° e
l 16°
0.00
12.68
0.02
8.78
-0.06
-0.09
0.08
-9.72
0.06
3.50
az 1
80° e
l 55°
0.01
-1.16
1.07
24.7%
-0.3%
30.0 -
j10.4
32.0
0°
14.55
az 1
79° e
l 16°
-0.05
12.67
0.01
8.83
-0.01
-0.06
0.07
-9.74
0.04
3.49
az 1
80° e
l 53°
0.00
-0.89
0.84
24.8%
-0.2%
30.0 -
j10.4
0.5
30°
11.73
az 1
59° e
l 15°
-2.87
7.90
-4.76
-2.13
-10.97
-13.30
0.36
-6.55
3.23
9.86
az 3
0° e
l 15°
6.37
-14.67
16.76
17.8%
-7.2%
55.5 +
j55.6
1.0
30°
13.43
az 2
07° e
l 17°
-1.17
9.97
-2.69
5.64
-3.20
-6.01
1.96
-7.10
2.68
9.60
az 2
3° e
l 16°
6.11
-6.80
15.57
14.0%
-11.0%
37.6 +
j 3
.8
2.0
30°
15.78
az 1
94° e
l 17°
1.18
11.68
-0.98
6.17
-2.67
-3.08
2.24
-8.65
1.13
6.20
az 7
° e
l 17°
2.71
-9.48
11.67
21.9%
-3.1%
30.0 -
j 6
.9
4.0
30°
15.73
az 1
83° e
l 16°
1.13
12.32
-0.34
7.78
-1.06
-1.55
1.30
-9.47
0.31
4.49
az 1
78° e
l 52°
1.00
-10.63
8.13
24.1%
-0.9%
29.5 -
j 9
.7
8.0
30°
14.85
az 1
86° e
l 17°
0.25
12.58
-0.08
8.91
0.07
-0.50
0.47
-9.72
0.06
3.85
az 1
80° e
l 54°
0.36
-7.20
3.94
24.5%
-0.5%
29.9 -
j10.4
16.0
30°
14.71
az 1
81° e
l 17°
0.11
12.68
0.02
8.72
-0.12
-0.14
0.14
-9.72
0.06
3.59
az 1
80° e
l 54°
0.10
-1.55
1.32
24.7%
-0.3%
30.0 -
j10.4
24.0
30°
14.65
az 1
78° e
l 17°
0.05
12.67
0.01
8.62
-0.22
-0.06
0.06
-9.75
0.03
3.53
az 1
80° e
l 54°
0.04
-0.69
0.64
24.7%
-0.3%
30.0 -
j10.4
0.5
60°
12.50
az 2
06° e
l 17°
-2.10
9.94
-2.72
5.77
-3.07
-5.94
0.86
-6.93
2.85
8.68
az 5
° e
l 15°
5.19
-9.00
14.99
11.5%
-13.5%
19.8 -
j 9
.2
1.0
60°
15.03
az 1
92° e
l 17°
0.43
12.43
-0.23
7.56
-1.28
-1.74
1.42
-10.21
-0.43
4.14
az 1
28° e
l 17°
0.65
-10.53
7.38
25.3%
0.3%
29.2 -
j11.0
2.0
60°
14.99
az 1
75° e
l 17°
0.39
12.70
0.04
8.29
-0.55
-0.58
0.57
-9.76
0.02
3.53
az 1
28° e
l 17°
0.04
-2.82
2.32
24.4%
-0.6%
30.0 -
j10.5
4.0
60°
14.74
az 1
77° e
l 17°
0.14
12.67
0.01
8.86
0.02
-0.20
0.19
-9.73
0.05
3.67
az 1
81° e
l 54°
0.18
-0.74
0.79
25.0%
0.0%
30.0 -
j10.4
8.0
60°
14.63
az 1
78° e
l 17°
0.03
12.68
0.02
8.81
-0.03
-0.06
0.06
-9.77
0.01
3.51
az 1
83° e
l 54°
0.02
-0.26
0.24
24.9%
-0.1%
30.0 -
j10.4
16.0
60°
14.60
az 1
82° e
l 17°
0.00
12.66
0.00
8.85
0.01
-0.02
0.02
-9.76
0.02
3.49
az 1
78° e
l 54°
0.00
-0.06
0.07
25.0%
0.0%
30.0 -
j10.4
0.5
90°
12.79
az 1
96° e
l 17°
-1.81
11.86
-0.80
8.98
0.14
-2.23
0.69
-8.78
1.00
6.00
az 2
31° e
l 17°
2.51
-6.56
10.75
24.4%
-0.6%
36.2 -
j 9
.7
1.0
90°
14.77
az 1
76° e
l 17°
0.17
12.66
0.00
8.54
-0.30
-0.40
0.35
-9.77
0.01
3.73
az 2
31° e
l 17°
0.24
-4.32
2.92
24.1%
-0.9%
30.0 -
j10.4
1.5
90°
14.62
az 1
82° e
l 17°
0.02
12.65
-0.01
8.75
-0.09
-0.12
0.12
-9.76
0.02
3.47
az 1
78° e
l 54°
-0.02
-1.52
1.53
24.5%
-0.5%
30.0 -
j10.4
2.0
90°
14.60
az 1
78° e
l 17°
0.00
12.67
0.01
8.76
-0.08
-0.08
0.08
-9.74
0.04
3.56
az 1
80° e
l 54°
0.07
-0.85
0.79
24.8%
-0.2%
30.0 -
j10.4
2.5
90°
14.62
az 1
81° e
l 17°
0.02
12.66
0.00
8.85
0.01
-0.04
0.05
-9.73
0.05
3.46
az 1
81° e
l 54°
-0.03
-0.52
0.52
24.7%
-0.3%
30.0 -
j10.4
0.5
120°
12.50
az 1
54° e
l 17°
-2.10
9.94
-2.72
5.77
-3.07
-5.94
0.86
-6.93
2.85
8.68
az 3
55° e
l 15°
5.19
-9.00
14.99
11.5%
-13.5%
19.8 -
j 9
.2
1.0
120°
15.03
az 1
68° e
l 17°
0.43
12.43
-0.23
7.56
-1.28
-1.73
1.42
-10.21
-0.43
4.14
az 2
31° e
l 17°
0.65
-10.53
7.38
25.3%
0.3%
29.2 -
j11.0
2.0
120°
14.99
az 1
84° e
l 17°
0.39
12.70
0.04
8.29
-0.55
-0.58
0.57
-9.76
0.02
3.53
az 2
31° e
l 17°
0.04
-2.82
2.32
24.4%
-0.6%
30.0 -
j10.5
4.0
120°
14.74
az 1
82° e
l 17°
0.14
12.67
0.01
8.86
0.02
-0.19
0.19
-8.73
1.05
3.67
az 1
78° e
l 54°
0.18
-0.72
0.79
25.0%
0.0%
30.0 -
j10.4
8.0
120°
14.63
az 1
82° e
l 17°
0.03
12.67
0.01
8.81
-0.03
-0.06
0.05
-9.77
0.01
3.51
az 1
78° e
l 54°
0.02
-0.24
0.24
24.9%
-0.1%
30.0 -
j10.4
16.0
120°
14.60
az 1
82° e
l 17°
0.00
12.66
0.00
8.82
-0.02
-0.02
0.02
-9.76
0.02
3.49
az 1
81° e
l 54°
0.00
-0.07
0.07
25.0%
0.0%
30.0 -
j10.4
0.5
150°
14.52
az 1
84° e
l 17°
-0.08
12.62
-0.04
8.11
-0.73
-0.75
0.56
-11.68
-1.90
4.43
az 2
31° e
l 17°
0.94
-10.63
7.88
31.5%
6.5%
31.9 -
j10.4
1.0
150°
14.51
az 1
83° e
l 17°
-0.09
12.59
-0.07
8.62
-0.22
-0.42
0.33
-10.53
-0.75
4.22
az 1
28° e
l 17°
0.73
-5.92
5.35
23.4%
-1.6%
30.0 -
j10.6
2.0
150°
15.78
az 1
65° e
l 17°
1.18
11.68
-0.98
6.17
-2.67
-3.08
2.24
-8.64
1.14
6.20
az 3
52° e
l 17°
2.71
-9.48
11.67
21.9%
-3.1%
30.0 -
j 6
.9
4.0
150°
15.73
az 1
76° e
l 16°
1.13
12.32
-0.34
7.78
-1.06
-1.55
1.30
-9.47
0.31
4.49
az 1
83° e
l 52°
1.00
-10.63
8.13
24.1%
-0.9%
29.5 -
j 9
.7
8.0
150°
14.85
az 1
73° e
l 17°
0.25
12.58
-0.08
8.91
0.07
-0.50
0.47
-9.72
0.06
3.85
az 1
80° e
l 54°
0.36
-7.19
3.94
24.5%
-0.5%
29.9 -
j10.4
16.0
150°
14.71
az 1
78° e
l 17°
0.11
12.68
0.02
8.73
-0.11
-0.14
0.14
-9.73
0.05
3.59
az 1
80° e
l 54°
0.10
-1.55
1.32
24.7%
-0.3%
30.0 -
j10.4
24.0
150°
14.65
az 1
81° e
l 17°
0.05
12.67
0.01
8.82
-0.02
-0.07
0.07
-9.75
0.03
3.53
az 1
80° e
l 54°
0.04
-0.69
0.64
24.7%
-0.3%
30.0 -
j10.4
0.5
180°
14.77
az 1
81° e
l 17°
0.17
12.80
0.14
8.94
0.10
0.07
0.21
-12.21
-2.43
3.18
az 1
80° e
l 55°
-0.31
-10.43
5.52
30.5%
5.5%
31.0 -
j11.1
1.0
180°
14.82
az 1
81° e
l 17°
0.22
12.78
0.12
8.63
-0.21
-0.21
0.27
-10.07
-0.29
3.82
az 1
80° e
l 54°
0.33
-7.05
5.47
24.0%
-1.0%
29.9 -
j10.7
2.0
180°
14.63
az 1
81° e
l 17°
0.03
12.56
-0.10
8.62
-0.22
-0.28
0.16
-10.23
-0.45
4.12
az 2
31° e
l 17°
0.63
-4.98
4.89
23.5%
-1.5%
30.1 -
j10.5
4.0
180°
14.48
az 1
81° e
l 17°
-0.12
12.64
-0.02
8.88
0.04
-0.14
0.22
-9.69
0.09
3.67
az 1
80° e
l 55°
0.18
-2.57
2.34
23.8%
-1.2%
30.0 -
j10.4
8.0
180°
14.59
az 1
81° e
l 17°
-0.01
12.68
0.02
8.84
0.00
-0.06
0.06
-9.74
0.04
3.47
az 1
80° e
l 55°
-0.02
-0.85
0.97
24.7%
-0.3%
30.0 -
j10.4
Yagi lo
c
feedpoin
t
impedance
%sky <
-15 d
Bi
JulAug.pmd 6/10/2005, 3:50 PM15
16 July/August 2005 NCJ
Figure 3—Gain pattern of themultiplier Yagi when it stands 1λλλλλ infront of, and 30° left or right of, thestack. The stack sucks the point ofpeak gain to shift 27° in azimuth offthe intended direction (south) to 207°.The stack adds a large rear lobe, alsoshifted in azimuth by an equalamount.
in a coordinated fashion, rising and fall-ing together. While impairments to themain beam rapidly dwindle in signifi-cance as spacing between the antennasystems increases, the antenna patternoutside the main beam can remain im-paired at greater distances.
The extreme example occurs whenthe multiplier Yagi stands in front of, andtherefore points towards, the stack. Thestack, illuminated by radiation from themultiplier Yagi, re-radiates parasitically,producing a classic interference pattern.In this alignment one must separatethese systems by about 6λ before im-pairments to the main beam fall below1dB, our first design threshold.
Figure 1 shows the pattern impair-ments in this alignment at a separationof 4λ. Note the substantial rear lobe(+5.8dBi) caused by re-radiation off thestack. To meet our second design crite-rion requires about 12λ separation. Themost stringent design goal requires 31λ separation, the largest identified todate in this series.
In contrast, when the multiplier Yagistands off to the side of the stack, at rightangles to the stack’s azimuth, just over2λ separation achieves our most strin-gent third design criterion.
Figure 2 maps contours of this spotvariation in the pattern as the site of themultiplier Yagi moves around the centerof the stack. Three zones allow signifi-cantly closer spacing with no patternimpairment: off to the left or right of thestack, and behind the stack.
Beam Shifts In AzimuthThe stack, when standing ½ to 1 λ
away from the multiplier Yagi and 30-60°to the left or right of it, sucks the multi-plier Yagi’s main beam away from its in-tended direction. This shift is toward thestack, and can exceed 25° in azimuth.The multiplier Yagi’s signal in the in-tended direction (along the axis of theboom) drops about –4dB. See Figure 3.
Improvement To The Multiplier YagiTable 1 shows something else unique
to antennas pointing in opposite direc-tions. When the multiplier Yagi stands ½λbehind the stack, the multiplier Yagi’spattern improves! Main beam gain in-creases by a fraction of a dB, which isnot operationally significant. The rearlobes decline by over –10dB.
Further iterations indicate the patternimprovements hold over a range of lo-cations for these OWA antennas. Thetiny boost to the multiplier Yagi’s mainbeam peaks when the reflector lies inthe same vertical plane as the reflec-tors for the stack.
The best rear lobe reductions occurwhen the multiplier Yagi’s reflector lies inthe same vertical plane as the stack’sdriven elements; however, this location
Figure 2—Maximum absolutevariations in spot gain in any directionfor the multiplier Yagi due to thepresence of the stack. The stackstands at the origin of the coordinatesystem. Dots indicate calculatedlocations for the multiplier Yagirelative to the stack. The stack pointsup (0° azimuth); the multiplier antennapoints down (180° azimuth).
seems a bit too sensitive as any furtherdisplacement of the multiplier Yagi under-neath the stack triggers a rapid growth inthe rear lobe and reduced forward gain.Placing the multiplier Yagi’s reflector mid-way between the vertical planes contain-ing the stack’s reflectors and driven ele-ments represents a good compromise,
with rear lobes reduced by over –12dB.The entire sky outside of the main beambecomes more than –3 dB quieter.
While intriguing, such an improve-ment is difficult to exploit. If these Yagiscantilever fore and aft from a singletower, guy wires probably would restrictthe system from rotation. For stations
JulAug.pmd 6/10/2005, 3:50 PM16
NCJ July/August 2005 17
Table 2Performance parameters for the stack and impairments caused by a near-by multiplier Yagi. The stack’s antennas point toward0° azimuth. The multiplier Yagi points 180°. See text for explanation of column entries.
target #
1non-target
dis
tdir
peak g
ain
media
n g
ain
min
imum
gain
largest
media
n g
ain
worst m
inor lobe
largest
°dBi
locatio
ndelta
dBi
delta
dBi
delta
decr
incr
dBi
delta
dBi
locatio
ndelta
decr
incr
delta
top
bottom
no m
ult
15.7
6az 0
° e
l 15°
13.8
710.0
9floor
-4.8
8az 0
° e
l 48°
47.2
%26.7
-j
7.8
27.7
-j
8.1
0.0
0°
12.9
4az 0
° e
l 14°
-2.8
211.0
4-2.8
36.2
5-3.8
4-4.2
0-2.0
0-5.7
29.2
86.6
0az 1
81° e
l 65°
11.4
8-8.9
621.6
08.3
%-38.9
%50.9
+j38.9
52.9
+j42.6
0.5
0°
13.2
3az 0
° e
l 13°
-2.5
310.2
9-3.5
83.0
4-7.0
5-7.1
5-1.6
5-7.2
07.8
011.1
2az 1
79° e
l 13°
16.0
0-8.9
925.8
912.3
%-34.9
%226 -
j137
232 -
j125
1.0
0°
13.0
0az 0
° e
l 12°
-2.7
68.1
8-5.6
9-1.7
6-11.8
5-13.2
0-1.5
0-4.7
210.2
811.6
8az 1
79° e
l 13°
16.5
6-5.8
026.4
112.2
%-35.0
%108 -
j96.4
99.5
-j91.0
2.0
0°
13.9
2az 0
° e
l 12°
-1.8
410.0
3-3.8
46.3
0-3.7
9-5.5
7-0.7
1-6.2
18.7
97.7
5az 1
80° e
l 14°
12.6
3-5.8
622.5
216.2
%-31.0
%29.8
+j16.1
38.8
+j
7.9
4.0
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Yagi lo
c
feedpoin
t im
pedance
% s
ky <
-15dBi
JulAug.pmd 6/10/2005, 3:50 PM17
18 July/August 2005 NCJ
Figure 6—Same systems as Figure 5, with phase and current levels adjustedfor cleanest patterns.
in northeast USA, a tower containing astack fixed on Europe could add thisrear-facing Yagi for domestic contestingor as a QRM-chaser.
Stack fedHaving examined impairments when
feeding the multiplier Yagi, now reversethe roles and feed the stack. The multi-plier Yagi’s feedpoint is short-circuited.
In isolation the stack’s peak gain of+15.76dBi occurs at 15° elevation. Themain beam’s –3dB points stand ±26° tothe left and right, and at 7 and 25° el-evation. These –3dB points form the tar-get zone for this analysis.
To identify the minor lobes, a range of±59° in azimuth and 1 to 38° in elevation(representing the –20dB points on themain beam) was excluded from the non-target zone statistics. This exclusion pre-vented the sides of the main beam fromobscuring information about the behaviorof the pattern outside the main beam.
Table 2 itemizes pattern impairments tothe stack. The stack’s pattern displaysslightly less sensitivity to the presence ofthe multiplier Yagi in this orientation thanvice versa. We find again that, when theantenna systems point towards each other,the most stringent impairment demandrequires tremendous separation (over32 λ). Little disruption to drivepoint imped-ance exists except for the closer spacingswith the multiplier Yagi in front of the stack.An examination of the table also reveals apoorly sited, unused multiplier antenna candeviate the stack’s main lobe as much as24° off the intended azimuth.
Figure 4 maps out the worst impairmentto the pattern of the stack as a function ofthe location of the multiplier antenna. Theantennas show little interaction whenplaced off to the left or right. Another sweetspot exists where close spacing exhibitslittle pattern disruption: at around 1 λ and150° behind and to the right (or, similarly,at 210° behind and to the left), the multi-plier antenna barely disturbs the stack.These areas of minimum interaction aresimilar to those of Figure 2, allowing useof either antenna system.
Practical ApplicationsLet’s now illustrate how the techniques
illustrated in Parts 5–7 can be appliedto typical station design problems, fol-lowing these steps:
• Determine relative orientation(s) ofthe two antenna systems.
• Determine available separationspace.
• Consult the tables and maps for themost similar orientation to identify likelyregions of minimum interaction within theavailable separation space. Be sure toexamine the interactions when each ofthe two antenna systems transmits.
• Run models to verify the expectedlevel of interaction for the specific an-
Figure 4—Maximum absolutevariations in spot gain in anydirection for the stack due to thepresence of the multiplier Yagi. Thestack stands at the origin of thecoordinate system. Dots indicatecalculated locations for the multiplierYagi relative to the stack. The stackpoints up (0° azimuth); the multiplierantenna points down (180° azimuth).
Figure 5—Austin, Texas station with 2-Yagi fixed stack on Europe and a fixedYagi on South America. The feed system delivers specific current ratios toequalize the beams into both continents.
JulAug.pmd 6/10/2005, 3:50 PM18
NCJ July/August 2005 19
Table 3Summary of impairments for a rotating Yagi located within 3 behind and tothe side of a fixed 2-Yagi stack pointing to 36° azimuth. See text for detaileddescription of the table entries. Italicized entries represent interpolationsbetween calculated figures. Spot checks indicate that, generally, theimpairments to the rotating Yagi’s pattern caused by the fixed stack areless when the rotating Yagi’s beam is perpendicular to that of the stack.
Figure 7—Pattern when driving the fixed 2-Yagi stack on Europe and the rotatingsingle Yagi pointed at 351° azimuth. The beams of these two antenna systemsoverlap, creating destructive interference at key locations in the target zone.
tennas, orientations, and spacing, iter-ating around the proposed location tocheck for sensitivity in position.
The last step is very important! Thenear field geometry can vary consider-ably from antenna to antenna; a 3-ele-ment Yagi, for example, likely will exhibita different level of interactions than the6-element owa designs used in this se-ries. Real world orientations may be dif-ferent from the general cases examined
here. The charts and tables in these ar-ticles can point you in the general direc-tion of candidate locations for reducedinteraction—but you need to run somemodels with your specific locations andantennas to verify the candidate loca-tions could provide reasonable results.
Fixed Stack And Fixed Single YagiProblem: A station in Austin, Texas in-
cludes a 20meter stack (6-element OWA
Yagis at ½ and 1 λ height) fixed on Eu-rope and a single 20 meter Yagi (6-ele-ment OWA at ¾ λ height) fixed on SouthAmerica/Caribbean to minimize interac-tions. The site requires the two antennasystems to be within 200 feet (60 meters,or about 3 λ). Where should these antennasystems stand to minimize impairments?
An equidistant-azimuthal chart cen-tered on Austin shows Europe to span15–57° azimuth (centered on 36°).South America and the Caribbean cover110–166° azimuth (centered on 138°).The two main beam bearings are 102°apart, so the antenna systems will pointnearly at right angles. We should there-fore use the data for antennas pointedat right angles.
Part 5 Figure 1 and the underlyingmodel results show little effect on thesingle Yagi’s pattern when it stands 3 λaway and 90° off to the side of the stack,and facing away from it. Calculations ofthe stack’s pattern (not published in thepaper edition of NCJ) also show a mini-mum in level of interaction at these lo-cations. Let’s adopt the convention ofmeasuring distances relative to thestack. Since the stack points 36° towardEurope, our tentative location for theSouth American Yagi stands 200 feetaway in the direction 126°, at 162 feetEast, 118 feet South; this antenna pointsto 138° azimuth.
Model runs with this specific geom-etry confirm the lack of interaction be-tween these systems. When feeding theSouth America/Caribbean Yagi, no partof the pattern deviates by more than ¼dB due to the presence of the stack.When feeding the Europe stack, no partof the pattern deviates more than 0.9dB.The models confirm the suitability of thecandidate sites.
Driving Both Systems TogetherWith little interaction between the sys-
tems individually, can we drive both to-gether? Yes, with some minor interferencebetween the patterns. One must divide thepower carefully, however. Simply splittingcurrents equally between the two systemsresults in unequal beams; the SouthAmerica beam peaks at 2½ dB more thanthe European beam. Applying equal cur-rents to each of the three Yagis reversesthe imbalance, with Europe peaking3.3dB louder. The ratio 1.5:1:1 (SouthAmerica to Europe-top to Europe-bottom)provides beams with equal peak gain. SeeFigure 5 for the resultant pattern.
We can reduce the interference be-tween the two beams and reduce minorlobes by altering the phase relationshipbetween the drive currents for the SouthAmerica Yagi and the Europe stack.Feeding the South America system+135° in phase with a current ratio of1.6:1:1 delivers a slightly cleaner pat-tern, with two clearly separated main
JulAug.pmd 6/10/2005, 3:50 PM19
20 July/August 2005 NCJ
beams as shown in Figure 6, but prob-ably is not worth the extra effort to in-clude the phase shifter.
Fixed Stack And Rotating YagiProblem: The same station in Austin,
Texas uses a rotating Yagi to work alldirections except for Europe; the fixedstack covers Europe. The two antennasystems must stand within 200 feet (3λ).Where should the rotating Yagi stand tominimize impairments?
We begin by assuming the operatornever needs to point the rotating Yagitoward Europe, as the stack has supe-rior performance in that direction. Let’sexamine the charts and tables of Parts5 and 7 for hints as to good locationswhen the rotating Yagi points to the sideor in the opposite direction as the stack.
Table 3 extracts data calculated inParts 5 and 7 for all available positions(within 3 λ) of the rotating Yagi from offthe side of the stack’s boresight aroundto behind the stack. Beginning from theleft, the first column is the distance be-tween the antenna systems.
The second column is the relative di-rection from the stack’s boresight to therotating Yagi; i.e., 90° means the Yagistands to the right of the stack (southand east) and 180° means the Yagistands directly behind the stack (southand west).
The next three columns show the larg-est absolute change in any single spotof the pattern of the stack when the Yagipoints to the four azimuths listed at thetop of the column. These four azimuthsrepresent directions at right angles, op-posite, and parallel to the stack’s mainbeam. A similar set of columns showsthe largest absolute spot change to theYagi’s pattern due to the stack.
The rightmost column simply high-lights the worst value across the row. Forthe four azimuths tested, the least im-pairments occur when the rotating Yagiis off to the side of the stack’s mainbeam—even for separations down toless than 2 λ.
The listed azimuths, however, do notcover the entire range over which theoperator needs the rotating Yagi. Let’sdo one more spot check by placing therotating Yagi 3λ to the south and east ofthe European stack, and check impair-ments when the rotating Yagi points just45° off the European stack’s boresight,at 81° and 351° (the later somewhatoverlooking the stack). A few model runslater, the stack emerges relatively un-scathed, with no spot in its pattern devi-ating more than 1.8dB. The rotatingYagi’s pattern also holds up, degradingno more than 1.5dB at any single spot.All of these pattern degradations areoutside the main beams of these anten-nas, affecting only minor lobes and haveno operational significance. Even at 2λ
spacing with 351° azimuth, the worstimpairment is a +4.6dB spot increase ona minor sidelobe.
Driving Both Systems TogetherEarlier I showed a fixed stack and a
separate fixed Yagi could be driven to-gether to yield two beams of equal powerto two targets, as long as due attentionwas paid to the driving currents.
Can one drive the fixed stack togetherwith a rotating Yagi? Figure 7 shows thepattern when the rotating Yagi of ourexample Austin station points to 351°,and equal currents drive the two sys-tems. The result is horrible: an enormous–20 dB hole right in the middle of theEuropean beam!
Unfortunately, once the main beams oftwo antenna systems in different locationsbegin to overlap, a zone of destructiveinterference (cancellation) occurs be-tween them. Adjusting the phase betweenthe systems shifts the location of, but doesnot remove, this cancellation.
For typical Yagi systems employed bycontesters, one may successfully drivetwo systems on different towers only ifthe main beams point in directions sepa-rated by at least 90°.
ConclusionsBy applying the tools developed over
this series, we have shown that one cansuccessfully place a rotating Yagi sur-prisingly close to another fixed system,with insignificant interaction between theantennas when each is driven indepen-dently—as long as one chooses the cor-rect locations!
As shown here as well as in earlierpar ts to this series, an unfor tunatechoice of locations can cause very seri-ous impairments, including large holesin the main beam, a main beam point-ing in the wrong direction, and largeminor lobes that increase receivedQRM/QRN.
For the situation of a fixed stack and arotatable Yagi on a second tower, we ana-
lyzed a short 2-Yagi stack at ½ and 1λheight, and a single rotating Yagi at ¾ λ,all using the 6-element OWA design:
Minimal interaction occurs when therotating Yagi stands at right angles to thestack’s main beam.
Interactions were minimal (<2dB) forseparations of at least 2 λ, regardlessof the direction of the rotating Yagi. In-teractions essentially disappeared at 3separation.
When the rotating Yagi points at least 90°off from the stack, one may feed both an-tenna systems simultaneously without de-structive interference between the beams.
To equalize the gain in both beams,choose a proper ratio of drive currents.For the example analyzed, the best ra-tio was about 1.5 or 1.6 (single Yagi) to1 (top of stack) to 1 (bottom of stack).
Next time we will look at interactionsbetween 40 and 15meter Yagi systems.
Notes1Scace, Eric K3NA; “Antenna Interactions—
Part 1: Stop Squinting! Get the BigPicture”, National Contest Journal, 2003Jul/Aug; ARRL, Newington CT USA.
2Scace, Eric K3NA; “Antenna Interactions—Part 2: Twisting Stacks”, National ContestJournal, 2003 Sep/Oct; ARRL,Newington CT USA.
3Scace, Eric K3NA; “Antenna Interactions—Part 3: When Good Aluminum GoesBad”, National Contest Journal, 2003Nov/Dec; ARRL, Newington CT USA.
4Scace, Eric K3NA; “Antenna Interactions—Part 4: Cleaning Up Stacked Yagis withCurrent Tapers”, National ContestJournal, 2004 Jan/Feb; ARRL, NewingtonCT USA.
5Scace, Eric K3NA; “Antenna Interactions—Part 5: How Close is Too Close?”National Contest Journal, 2004 Mar/Apr;ARRL, Newington CT USA.
6Scace, Eric K3NA; “Antenna Interactions—Part 6: Antennas Pointing in the SameDirection”, National Contest Journal, 2004Jul/Aug; ARRL, Newington CT USA.
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NCJ July/August 2005 21
The Dayton Contest Forum was heldin a new location this year. The eventwas held for many years in a makeshiftspace partitioned by curtains at HaraArena. It then moved to the nearby highschool for a few years, was assigned toa much-too-small room in 2004, and hadbeen scheduled for the same room in2005. After the complaints I received in2004 from the 300 or so people who triedto fit in the room with 120 chairs, I knewwe had to do something different. Somediscussions to find an alternate locationwith the Hamvention Committee andK3LR (moderator of the Antenna Tech-nology Forum, who was in a similar situ-ation) resulted in these two forums mov-ing to the Crowne Plaza hotel in thesame room as the Contest Dinner onSaturday afternoon of the Hamvention.
Results of a survey of attendeesshowed an overwhelming majority pre-ferring the Crowne Plaza to any of theold locations.
An Excellent ProgramWith the venue issue resolved, we had
The 2005 Dayton Contest Forum Doug Grant, K1DG
an excellent program. The first speakerwas Mike Sims, K4GMH, an active RTTYcontester, with some tips on how to getstarted in RTTY contesting. In the pastfew years, it has become very easy toget on RTTY, with an abundance of PCprograms that use the sound card as ananalog front end for software-based de-modulation. About a third of the peoplein the room had some experience inRTTY contesting, and the remainingtwo-thirds were observed taking copiousnotes. With top single-ops routinely mak-ing over 1000 QSOs in a RTTY contest,this mode is getting interesting.
Second speaker was Saty “Bob”Nakamura, JE1JKL/JH6J/9M6NA, de-scr ibing his quest for the OceaniaCQWW CW record, including both failedand successful attempts from variousexotic locales in the Pacific. One of hisgoals now is to beat the current recordheld by Mike Gibson, KH6ND, who hap-pened to be in the audience. One of thegreat moments in the forum was thephoto opportunity with these two out-standing competitors shaking hands.Later in the evening, Saty was involvedin a four-way tie for first place in theKCDXC annual CW Pileup contest (withN9RV, N2NT, and N2NC).
Next up was Dayton regular RogerWestern, G3SXW, with the story of the“Voo-Dudes,” the CQWW CW multi-multiteam that has put many an African mul-tiplier in our logs over the past 10+ years.Roger, who has chronicled the group’sexploits in a book recently published byIdiom Press, entertained and informedus all with recommendations on licens-ing, lodging, customs, equipment andantennas for would-be contestDXpeditioners. And he showed us a signin a hotel in one country advising that“…the bar is not open because it isclosed.” Things are different in Africa.
Do you really need sunspots to oper-ate a contest? How about a rig or an-tenna? Not necessarily. Uli Ann, DL2HBX/KK8I, took a break from his US work as-signment to describe the many new CWcontest simulation programs available. Uli,a member of both the High-Speed CWclub and the Very High Speed CW club,has some of the highest scores on theseprograms, though he notes that some ofthe Eastern European operators haveeven higher scores—up to 100+ WPMcopying call signs. His talk included bothscreen shots and audio clips from manyof the latest programs.
The final presentation was by BillColeman, N4ES, who for many yearswondered if it would someday be possibleto record a whole band during a contestand play it back later. His “Eureka!” mo-ment came a few years ago, resulting inthe development of a box he calls theTime Machine. This box, which connectsto an antenna and a low-cost stereo VCR,allows you to record an 80 kHz widechunk of spectrum (the 40-meter CWsubband, for example), so you can laterplay back the whole band into a receiverand hear what you missed—and whatyour competition didn’t. If the contestsponsors put this technology in place, itwould allow log-checkers to verify sus-pected infractions, such as transmittingtwo signals simultaneously, copying er-rors, illegal band-changes and variousother practices. Demonstrations at theforum included playback of signals on the40-meter band during the September2002 Sprint and a comparison on 20meter SSB between NX5M and N2IC2005 WPX (neither station could hear theother, but both were 59+ as recorded inNH and less than 1 kHz apart).
The presentations are all available onthe Web at www.kkn.net/dayton2005(thanks to George, K5TR).
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22 July/August 2005 NCJ
Thinking of getting an amplifier forRTTY contesting? Personally, I wouldn’tcontest without one, but that’s just me—Idon’t have the patience to work low powerduring a contest. When I call someone, Iwant them to come back now! If you feelthe same way, a good amplifier may bejust what you need.
Things To ConsiderThere is good news and bad news
about amplifiers for RTTY. The good newsis they are probably the least critical whenit comes to design, tune up and drive level.You do not need a linear amplifier becauseRTTY is a constant-amplitude mode, justlike FM. In fact, RTTY is a type of FM in asense, and any amplifier that works on FMwill work on RTTY. Even a Class-C ampli-fier from the old days will work fine forRTTY, and would actually be a bit moreefficient than a “linear” amp. Nowadays,though, nearly all HF amplifiers on themarket are designed to be linear becausethey are meant to be used for SSB. Don’tfret over it, though. The difference is onlya few percentage points and all it meansis that your shack will be a little warmerfor the same power output.
The bad news is that a RTTY amplifieris greatly stressed because of the highduty cycle during a contest, especiallyduring a string of unanswered CQs. Whatis duty cycle? It is simply the ratio of ONtime to OFF time. If you put a brick on thekey and let it run (into a dummy load ofcourse), that’s 100% duty cycle. CW, forexample, is at full power during a dit ordah and at zero power in between. If youaverage out the dits, dahs and spaces, itwill probably be around 50% duty cycle,depending on the operator’s fist, of course.RTTY, however, is continuously at 100%while transmitting and only goes to zeroon receive. Short of brick-on-the-key, Iwould guess that RTTY or FM contestinghas the highest duty cycle of any Ama-teur Radio mode. Ignoring this fact whileshopping for a RTTY amplifier can easilylead to a smoke-filled shack!
Buying A RTTY AmplifierCheck the specification sheet from the
manufacturer. Watch for phrases like “notime limit”, “continuous power”, “100%duty cycle” or “brick-on-the-key.” If noneof those are present, steer clear, or at leastmake a phone call to the manufacturer’stech support to get a firm, iron clad com-mitment. If they say something like “Well,it should be ok for RTTY,” run, don’t walk,
RTTY CONTESTING Bill Turner, W6WRT
The Care and Feeding of RTTY Amplifiers
to the next manufacturer. When an ampli-fier really is rated at 100% duty cycle, themanufacturer will undoubtedly advertiseit. A 100% duty cycle amplifier costs moreto make, carries a higher price tag and isintended for customers who demand thatlevel of performance. If the rating is miss-ing, there’s a reason why. Keep looking.You can also do some evaluating on yourown by following the suggestions in thenext paragraph.
Homebrewing Your Own AmplifierTake a look inside an amplifier rated at
100% duty cycle and note the size of thecomponents compared to other amps ofthe same power rating, but at a lower dutycycle. Pay close attention to four areas inparticular:
1. Tubes. To put out 1500 W (the legallimit in the USA) while running at 60%efficiency (typical), the tube or tubes musthave a total dc plate input of 2500 W. Thetube(s) will be dissipating the difference,or 1000 W of pure heat. That means theplate dissipation rating must be 1000watts or more. More is better. A pair of 3-500Zs will be running right on the edge,and frankly, I wouldn’t recommend them.Much better would be a pair of 3CX800s,4CX800s or a single 3CX1500A/8877. Alot of homebrewers go overboard withtheir tubes, using ones with dissipationratings in the multiple kilowatts. Theirtubes last a long time, I might add.
2. Power transformer. Surprisingly, thelimiting factor in many commercial ampli-fiers isn’t the tubes, but rather the powertransformer. A 2500-W, 100% duty cyclepower transformer is a serious piece of
iron and should be chosen carefully. Manysmaller power transformers will deliver2500 W for a while, but heat builds updeep inside and eventually will reach thedanger point. Those transformers are finefor 1500 W of SSB, but not RTTY. Yourbest guide is the manufacturer’s rating.Be cautious and conservative, just as youwould when purchasing a complete amp.
3. Bandswitch. The bandswitch shouldhave very heavy contacts. The amount ofcirculating current in a 1500-W tank cir-cuit can reach astonishing levels, espe-cially if the loading is a little light and thedrive a little high. Again, the manu-facturer’s rating should be your guide. Agood bandswitch could easily cost two tothree hundred dollars or more dependingon the number of contacts and the num-ber of decks. Do not scrimp here.
4. Wire. The wire used for the plate tankcoils should be only one thing: big. No-
Figure 1—Using a meat thermometer to monitor amplifier temperature.
Figure 2—Schematic for thetemperature transducer. In thisdiagram, a voltmeter is shown betweenthe LM34 Vout terminal and ground.
JulAug.pmd 6/10/2005, 3:50 PM22
NCJ July/August 2005 23
body was ever sorry for using wire with atoo-large diameter, but the opposite hasbeen true many times. Diameter is espe-cially important at the higher frequenciesdue to skin effect. The 10 and 15-metercoils should be at least ¼-inch diametercopper tubing; 3/8 inch would be even bet-ter. Lay out the amplifier so that coolingair flows over the tank circuit. I onceowned a legal-limit amplifier that did notcool the tank circuit, and during one con-test the 80-meter coil got so hot it brokefree from it’s solder connections andended up looking like spaghetti. The re-sulting arc lit up the room, too.
Temperature ManagementThat’s a fancy way of saying “Be aware
of how hot it’s running.” For some reason,no Amateur Radio amplifier maker that Iknow puts a temperature gauge in hisamps. Personally, I like to be able to ob-serve the temperature of the air beingexhausted from the tubes. A quick glancecan be quite reassuring, confirming thatall is well down in the boiler room.
Here are two suggestions for tempera-ture monitoring, one very low-tech andone a little bit higher, but not much. Ei-ther one will ease your mind greatly dur-ing a run of CQs into a dead band, andeither one costs very little compared tothe damage it could forestall.
1. Simple and cheap. Your local gro-cery store will no doubt have meat ther-mometers. The kind with a probe severalinches long should be perfect. They arenormally calibrated for temperatures upto about 190 degrees F, just right for anamplifier. My amplifier maxs out at around200 degrees F under heavy contest con-ditions. Unfortunately, they are round andwill roll around, so I drilled a piece of woodto make a tight fit for the probe and it sitson the amp, right where the probe canextend into the air flow without blockingit. See Figure 1. Just paint it to match theamplifier and it’s ready to go. No batter-ies required!
While that method worked fine, Iwanted something a little more conve-nient, and that led to this:
2. Temperature transducer. NationalSemiconductor makes a marvelous littledevice that looks like a transistor but isactually a temperature transducer. Whatis neat about it is the output. It puts out avoltage that is equal to 0.01 V/degree F.In other words, if it is sitting in a 150-de-gree environment, it puts out 1.50 volts(150 x 0.01). No calibration required, justmeasure the voltage and you know thetemperature. The basic device number isLM34, and there are several versionsavailable, depending on temperaturerange and accuracy. There is a Celsiusversion, too—the LM35. The one I chosewas the LM34CZ, which has a range of -40 to + 230 degrees F, with an accuracy
Figure 3—Transducer and digital multimeter.
of +/- 1.6 degrees. This version sells inthe $6 range and there are other versionsselling between about $2 and $16, de-pending on temperature range and accu-racy. They are available from Digi-KeyCorporation, www.digikey.com. Digi-Keyhas links on their Web site to themanufacturer’s data sheets if you wantmore information.
In my case, I use an inexpensive digitalmultimeter to monitor the temperature, butyou could use a dedicated digital panelmeter, or even an analog meter. Either way,I would put the meter close to the rig orcomputer monitor so you don’t have toglance away to see it. Figure 2 shows thehookup for the transducer. It’s about assimple as it could be. In a strong RF envi-ronment, you might need to put some by-pass capacitors from each active termi-nal to ground, and possibly add someshielding, too.
Figure 3 shows the installation in myshack. After wiring the transducer, I cov-ered the connections with silicone RTV. Myamplifier’s cabinet is aluminum, so I usednylon cable ties to hold the transducer inplace. If yours is steel, a small magnetglued to the transducer would do. Figure3 shows the transducer and the digitalmultimeter. Observant readers will noticethat I used a magic marker to place a deci-mal point at the correct point on the dis-play. This meter is only used for this pur-pose, but if I ever want to remove the deci-mal point, rubbing alcohol will take it off.
So now you have some things to thinkabout. If you have a few low-power con-tests under your belt, perhaps now is thetime to give high power a try. Just usesome caution and common sense withyour amplifier and watch your score goup!
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24 July/August 2005 NCJ
It is becoming more difficult for thecontester to find a place to put up thetypes of antennas we all dream of. Newhousing developments usually have re-strictions on what “improvements” can beadded to the property. More establishedareas often have town or city laws re-stricting towers.
Rather than staying off the air, some con-testers are resorting to stealth contesting.They are hiding or otherwise disguisingtheir antenna systems to prevent a visit fromthe development’s enforcement bureau.
A number of contesters responding tothis issue’s topic requested that their iden-tity be kept secret to avoid unpleasant en-counters with their Home Owner’s Associa-tion. In keeping with the stealth theme, thecall signs of the readers sharing their tipswill not be disclosed for this issue.
Meet Ed, Paul, Ray, Mel and ScottEd lives in a heavily wooded one-acre
lot. He operates on SSB and the digitalmodes on 160 through 2 meters running100 W.
Ed strives to make his antennas diffi-cult to see. For the lowest two bands Edstarts out with a 75-meter dipole madefrom wire with black insulation. When hewants to go down to 80, he clips on ex-tensions. A second set of extensions isused to make it resonant on the 160meter band. Ed likes green parachutecord for supporting wire antennas.
On 40 through 10 meters, Ed uses aground mounted SteppIR BiggIR. He hasinstalled 16 radials, each about 35 feet long.The chrome parts of the antenna are cov-ered with black tape to make it harder to see.
For 6 and 2 meters, Ed home brewedhis own copper loop antennas using theKØFF design. He also has a J-pole for 2meters. He uses PVC pipe for supportfor both types. The J-pole is actually in-side the PVC pipe. The pipe is paintedblack with random blotches of brown andgreen paint to make it difficult to see.
Paul has been very successful operat-ing contests from his stealthy station. Heprefers simple dipoles fed with twin lead.Paul likes black, gray or brown wire, whichis hard to see. On the other hand, the feedline is more visible, and Paul usually triesto run them up the trunks and branches oftrees to make them less obvious. Thematching system uses a pre-set L/C net-work with automatic band switching.
Paul considers each new antenna astemporary. He realizes that if the neigh-bors are unhappy with his antennas theycan probably shut him down. Paul doesnot ask for permission to put up new an-tennas, but does not try to push the en-
Contest Tips, Tricks & Techniques By Gary Sutcliffe, W9XT
Stealth Contesting—Part 1velope, either. He once installed a 36-foot push up mast to support an end fedwire. A neighbor commented that itlooked ugly, and Paul quickly switchedto a something less obtrusive.
If you know Ray, stealth antennas arenot the first thing you associate with him.It has not always been that way. After get-ting out of college he lived in a third-floorapartment with a large tree convenientlylocated about 100 feet away. Ray drilled asmall hole in the aluminum frame of a bed-room window. He ran a length of graystranded wire through the hole out to thetree. He put a piece of plastic tubing in thehole in the frame for insulation. A simpleknot at the feed end of the wire acted as astrain relief to keep the wire from beingpulled out of the apartment.
To feed the antenna, Ray used an Lnetwork consisting of a large coil and a500 pF variable capacitor. He could clipin fixed capacitors in parallel with thevariable cap to increase the total capaci-tance as needed for the lower bands. Hetied everything he could reach together,including the heating pipes, windowframe and balcony railing to act as theground. Ray used this with good resultsfrom 160 through 10 meters.
When he moved out of the apartment, Rayput a small self-tapping screw in the hole,and doubts anyone ever noticed it. Ray mayhave a chance to give this a try once again.He is moving to another state, and will bespending a few months in an apartmentwhile his new house is being completed.
Although Mel does not live in a neigh-borhood with restrictions regarding an-tennas, they are considering revising therestrictions. Mel does not want to giveanyone ideas to add antennas to the listof forbidden structures, so he keeps hisantennas low key. That means he avoidsshiny aluminum.
Mel has a 9 foot tower mounted on hisrooftop. It is painted tree bark brown andsupports a quad with wire elements. Thequad’s spreaders are also painted tree barkbrown. Mel has a 6 meter Yagi that ispainted—you guessed it—tree bark brown.He also uses wire antennas and likes touse black or olive colored rope for supports.To keep the rope even harder to see, Meltries to run them along branches and treetrunks wherever possible.
Mel also operates some contests mo-bile. He usually does not do the majorcontests mobile except when he is onvacation. He does like the QSO partiesof nearby states.
Scott likes to use trees to hide his an-tennas wherever possible. Although he hasused verticals, Scott likes wire horizontal
loops the best. The loops are inexpensive,says Scott. Twenty to twenty-five dollarswill buy you 500 feet of 12 or 14 gaugeelectrician wire at the local home empo-rium. He prefers wire with gray-black in-sulation for low visibility. Scott has alsofound them to be rugged, having survived3 winters, several tropical storms and aweak hurricane with only 1 wire break.
According to Scott, the horizontal loopshave low angles of radiation on the higherbands, but act as cloud warmers on thelower bands. This makes them useful forboth DX and domestic contesting. He alsofinds they are quieter than the verticals.
We are nearly out of space and still havecomments from a number of clandestinecontesters. We will pick up next time withtheir comments. If you are forced to uselow profile antennas at your station, pleasepass your best ideas for the next issue.Please get them to me by July 12.
Send in your ideas on these subjects,or suggestions for future topics. Postalmail: 3310 Bonnie Lane, Slinger, WI53086. E-mail: [email protected].
Here’s the list of major contests of possible interest to NorthAmerican contesters to help you plan your contesting activitythrough October 2005. The Web version of this calendar isupdated more frequently and lists contests for a 12-month pe-riod. It can be found at: www.hornucopia.com/contestcal/.
As usual, please notify me of any corrections or additionsto this calendar.
I can be contacted via e-mail at [email protected] luck and have fun!
Contest Calendar Compiled by Bruce Horn, WA7BNM
July 2005RAC Canada Day Contest 0000Z-2359Z, Jul 1NCCC Thursday Sprint 0230Z-0300Z, Jul 1Venezuelan Ind. Day Contest 0000Z, Jul 2 to 2359Z, Jul 3WLOTA Contest 0600Z, Jul 2 to 1200Z, Jul 3Original QRP Contest 1500Z, Jul 2 to 1500Z, Jul 3DARC 10-Meter Digital Contest 1100Z-1700Z, Jul 3MI QRP July 4th CW Sprint 2300Z, Jul 4 to 0300Z, Jul 5NCCC Thursday Sprint 0230Z-0300Z, Jul 8VK/Trans-Tasman 160m Contest,Phone 0800Z-1400Z, Jul 9
IARU HF World Championship 1200Z, Jul 9 to 1200Z, Jul 10FISTS Summer Sprint 1700Z-2100Z, Jul 9ARCI Summer Homebrew Sprint 2000Z-2400Z, Jul 10NCCC Thursday Sprint 0230Z-0300Z, Jul 15CQ Worldwide VHF Contest 1800Z, Jul 16 to 2100Z, Jul 17North American QSO Party, RTTY 1800Z, Jul 16 to 0600Z, Jul 17RSGB Low Power Field Day 0900Z-1600Z, Jul 17NCCC Thursday Sprint 0230Z-0300Z, Jul 22Great Lakes Sweepstakes 0000Z, Jul 23 to 2359Z, Jul 24VK/Trans-Tasman 160m Contest,CW 0800Z-1400Z, Jul 23
NCCC Thursday Sprint 0230Z-0300Z, Jul 29RSGB IOTA Contest 1200Z, Jul 30 to 1200Z, Jul 31ARS Flight of the Bumblebees 1700Z-2100Z, Jul 31
August 2005TARA Grid Dip Shindig 0000Z-2400Z, Aug 610-10 Int. Summer Contest, SSB 0001Z, Aug 6 to 2359Z, Aug 7National Lighthouse WeekendQSO Contest 0001Z, Aug 6 to 2359Z, Aug 7
European HF Championship 1200Z-2359Z, Aug 6ARRL UHF Contest 1800Z, Aug 6 to 1800Z, Aug 7North America QSO Party, CW 1800Z, Aug 6 to 0600Z, Aug 7SARL HF Phone Contest 1230Z-1630Z, Aug 7NCCC Thursday Sprint 0230Z-0300Z, Aug 12WAE DX Contest, CW 0000Z, Aug 13 to 2359Z, Aug 14Maryland-DC QSO Party 1600Z, Aug 13 to 0400Z, Aug 14
and 1600Z-2359Z, Aug 14NCCC Thursday Sprint 0230Z-0300Z, Aug 19SARTG WW RTTY Contest 0000Z-0800Z, Aug 20 and
1600Z-2400Z, Aug 20 and0800Z-1600Z, Aug 21
ARRL 10 GHZ and Up Contest 0600 local, Aug 20 to 2400 local,Aug 21
Keyman’s Club of Japan Contest 1200Z, Aug 20 to 1200Z, Aug 21North American QSO Party, SSB 1800Z, Aug 20 to 0600Z, Aug 21New Jersey QSO Party 2000Z, Aug 20 to 0700Z, Aug 21
and 1300Z, Aug 21 to 0200Z,Aug 22
NCCC Thursday Sprint 0230Z-0300Z, Aug 26ALARA Contest 0600Z, Aug 27
to 1159Z, Aug 28Hawaii QSO Party 0700Z, Aug 27
to 2200Z, Aug 28SCC RTTY Championship 1200Z, Aug 27
to 1159Z, Aug 28YO DX HF Contest 1200Z, Aug 27
to 1200Z, Aug 28Ohio QSO Party 1600Z, Aug 27
to 0400Z, Aug 28SARL HF CW Contest 1230Z-1630Z,
Aug 28Kentucky QSO Party 1600Z, Aug 28
to 0400Z, Aug 29
September 2005NCCC Thursday Sprint 0230Z-0300Z, Sep 2All Asian DX Contest, Phone 0000Z, Sep 3 to 2400Z, Sep 4Wake-Up! QRP Sprint 0400Z-0600Z, Sep 3AGCW Straight Key Party 1300Z-1600Z, Sep 3IARU Region 1 Field Day, SSB 1300Z, Sep 3 to 1259Z, Sep 4RSGB SSB Field Day 1300Z, Sep 3 to 1300Z, Sep 4DARC 10-Meter Digital Contest 1100Z-1700Z, Sep 4MI QRP Labor Day CW Sprint 2300Z, Sep 5 to 0300Z, Sep 6WAE DX Contest, SSB 0000Z, Sep 10 to 2359Z, Sep 11Swiss HTC QRP Sprint 1300Z-1900Z, Sep 10Arkansas QSO Party 1400Z, Sep 10 to 0600Z, Sep 11
and 1800Z, Sep 11 to 0200Z, Sep 12ARRL September VHF QSO Party 1800Z, Sep 10 to 0200Z, Sep 12North American Sprint, CW 0000Z-0400Z, Sep 11Tennessee QSO Party 1800Z, Sep 11 to 0100Z, Sep 12ARCI End of Summer PSK31 Sprint 2000Z-2400Z, Sep 11YLRL Howdy Days 1400Z, Sep 14 to 0200Z, Sep 16ARRL 10 GHz and Up Contest 0600 local, Sep 17 to 2400 local, Sep 18Scandinavian Activity Contest, CW 1200Z, Sep 17 to 1200Z, Sep 18Washington State Salmon Run 1600Z, Sep 17 to 0700Z, Sep 18
and 1600Z-2400Z, Sep 18QCWA Fall QSO Party 1800Z, Sep 17 to 1800Z, Sep 18North American Sprint, SSB 0000Z-0400Z, Sep 18CQ Worldwide DX Contest, RTTY 0000Z, Sep 24 to 2400Z, Sep 25Tesla Cup 0000Z-2400Z, Sep 24 (Phone) and
0000Z-2400Z, Sep 25 (CW)Scandinavian Activity Contest, SSB 1200Z, Sep 24 to 1200Z, Sep 25Texas QSO Party 1400Z, Sep 24 to 0200Z, Sep 25
and 1400Z-2000Z, Sep 25Fall QRP Homebrewer Sprint 0000Z-0400Z, Sep 26
October 2005TARA PSK Rumble Contest 0000Z-2400Z, Oct 1Oceania DX Contest, Phone 0800Z, Oct 1 to 0800Z, Oct 2International HELL-Contest 1400Z-1600Z, Oct 1 (80m) and
0900Z-1100Z, Oct 2 (40m)EU Autumn Sprint, SSB 1500Z-1859Z, Oct 1California QSO Party 1600Z, Oct 1 to 2200Z, Oct 2UBA ON Contest, SSB 0600Z-1000Z, Oct 2RSGB 21/28 MHz Contest, SSB 0700Z-1900Z, Oct 2German Telegraphy Contest 0700Z-0959Z, Oct 3YLRL Anniversary Party, CW 1400Z, Oct 5 to 0200Z, Oct 7Makrothen RTTY Contest 0000Z-0759Z, Oct 8 and
1600Z-2359Z, Oct 8 and0800Z-1559Z, Oct 9
Oceania DX Contest, CW 0800Z, Oct 8 to 0800Z, Oct 9EU Autumn Sprint, CW 1500Z-1859Z, Oct 8Pennsylvania QSO Party 1600Z, Oct 8 to 0500Z, Oct 9 and
1300Z-2200Z, Oct 9FISTS Fall Sprint 1700Z-2100Z, Oct 8North American Sprint, RTTY 0000Z-0400Z, Oct 9UBA ON Contest, CW 0600Z-1000Z, Oct 910-10 Int. 10-10 Day Sprint 0001Z-2359Z, Oct 10YLRL Anniversary Party, SSB 1400Z, Oct 14 to 0200Z, Oct 16JARTS WW RTTY Contest 0000Z, Oct 15 to 2400Z, Oct 16Worked All Germany Contest 1500Z, Oct 15 to 1459Z, Oct 16Asia-Pacific Fall Sprint, CW 0000Z-0200Z, Oct 16RSGB 21/28 MHz Contest, CW 0700Z-1900Z, Oct 16Illinois QSO Party 1800Z, Oct 16 to 0200Z, Oct 17ARCI Fall QSO Party 1200Z, Oct 22 to 2400Z, Oct 23CQ Worldwide DX Contest, SSB 0000Z, Oct 29 to 2400Z, Oct 3010-10 Int. Fall Contest, CW 0001Z, Oct 29 to 2359Z, Oct 30FISTS Coast to Coast Contest 0000Z-2400Z, Oct 30
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JulAug.pmd 6/10/2005, 3:50 PM26
NCJ July/August 2005 27
Recently, a cl ientasked me to help re-build some beams, priorto putting them back upon his tower. The workrequired making new el-ements, new beam-to-mast clamps, as well asa general “clean up” orreplacement of old,rusted hardware. Dur-ing this work, the clientraised several goodpoints, starting with theremark, “I didn’t thinkdrilling holes was sucha big deal. It’s easy.Well.. .most of thetime....”
That’s because, notso surprisingly, drilledholes do not alwayscome out nice andround, or in the right place. So, sincemore than skill is involved, right then andthere I knew that a new “WorkshopChronicles” column was in the works!
What do you need? An electric drill(nobody drills holes by hand anymore)and the right size drill bit(s), right? Atthis point, a few minutes reflection mayconvince you there may just be morethan one way to drill a good hole—ex-actly where you want it and of the exactsize and depth. So, what are the tricksor secrets to drilling success?
As Usual, the Right Equipment HelpsIf you already have a drill, fine. If you
have to buy one, choose a 3/8-inch vari-able-speed drill. A cordless drill is wellworth having, along with a spare batteryand charger. However, there are timeswhen an ac-powered drill (with highertorque) is worthwhile. While chucklessdrills now seem to be everywhere, some-times you will benefit from being able totighten the chuck by hand. In any case,buy the best drill you can afford. Lookfor one with bearings, not bushings, asyou shop. Usually, the more expensivethe drill, the better it will serve you.
Obviously, the variety of choices ishuge. You could even opt for a drill press,or a pneumatic drill, or an angle drill, ora hammer drill, or…well, you get theidea. Each version has a different pur-pose. For now, stick with a basic 3/8-inchvariable speed model.
One of your next realizations will be thatyou seem to be changing bits a lot. Hav-ing multiple drills can save you a lot oftime. For example, you can put a small bitin one drill, then the finish bit in another,
and a countersink bit in still another. Butwe’re getting ahead of the process.
Before Starting to DrillHere’s the first rule: measure twice,
cut/drill once. And always make a punchmark at the exact point where you wishto drill. In other words, use a centerpunch. This is vitally important, espe-cially when the hole must be exact.
“But Don,” you say, “I don’t have a cen-ter punch!” Here’s a simple way to en-sure starting a hole exactly where youwant it. Press the point of the drill bit onthe mark and slowly turn the chuckclockwise by hand once or twice beforesqueezing the trigger. This works fine forsmaller bits—anything under about 1/8-inch.
What about larger holes? Always drilla pilot hole first (I usually use 1/8-inch,mainly because I once bought 50 ofthem literally for pennies). Even thoughyou think this will slow you down, theoperation will go faster. Trust me. Eventhough instinct may say the best way toenlarge a hole is by progressively usinga larger and larger drill, this is wrong.It’s much safer to start with a pilot hole,and then complete the hole with the cor-rect finish-size drill bit. Trying to enlargea drilled hole by running a slightly largerdrill bit into the undersized hole is justasking for trouble since the pressure ofthe cutting action will only be on theoutside edges of the drill’s flutes. Thisaction can cause the drill bit to bind andcan ruin its cutting edges.
Drilling SpeedsIt’s possible to make this so compli-
cated that you spendall your time studyingcharts and graphs in-stead of working onyour project. Most ofthe time, an exact drillspeed isn’t cr it ical.Simply remember that:
1. Small drill bits upto 1/8-inch diameter orsmaller works best athigh speed.
2. Larger drill bits,1/4-inch diameter orlarger, should beturned at lower speeds(especially in hardsteels), with sufficientpressure applied to en-sure the drill is alwayscutting.
If you let the drillspin very fast without
cutting, the metal will get extremely hotand possibly harden to the point whereit dulls and no longer cuts (a blue tip isone telltale sign of such damage). Whenthis happens, switch to a smaller bit,drilling through before you switch backto a larger bit.
When bits get too hot, we need to con-sider using lubrication, or cutting oil,which will help prevent burning (kero-sene or turpentine also work well). Onlya few drops are needed. One clue you’rerunning too fast for the material is bitchatter; sometimes you may even seesmoke. If the bit turns faster than thespeed allowed by that bit’s geometry, itwill heat up and dull. If the bit goes tooslow, it will overload and bind. Again,experience will have to be your bestteacher.
Softer metals, like aluminum (say 6061-T6, which is a tougher aluminum alloy)still tend to clog drill bit flutes. Clamp yourwork. Drill slowly, and remove the bit fre-quently to free the flutes of chips. If youdon’t, you may find the drill jammed tightin the hole.
Holes in steel are best made with a drillpress. Use a slow speed, along with plentyof lubricant, and remember to keep pres-sure on the drill to keep it cutting.
This brief overview should give yousome cause for pause as you haul outthat drill for your next project. Usually,on the typical ham project, time takesprecedence over materials and tools.Toss in some variables, typical of mostany repair job, and suddenly you’ll real-ize that drilling a hole is indeed a com-plicated one-shot effort. Make it worthyour time.
JulAug.pmd 6/10/2005, 3:50 PM27
28 July/August 2005 NCJ
Taking the lead from Gary, W9XT’scolumn topic “Stealth Contesting” in his“Contest Tips, Tricks & Techniques” inthis issue of the NCJ, here are someideas for Stealth VHF Contesting.
Outside antenna restrictions from localzoning boards and homeowner associa-tion CC&Rs are becoming more commonin many parts of the United States. In myhometown of Wichita, almost all housingdevelopments built in the last 15 yearsstrictly prohibit outside antennas (with theexception of the small dishes for satelliteTV). Many hams are frustrated by theseobstacles and just give up. There are waysto contest competitively on VHF despiteoutside antenna restrictions.
Probably the best way to operate a VHFContest from an outside antenna restrictedQTH is not to. That is, don’t operate fromyour restricted location, but rather away fromyour home. There are a number of ways todo this. In the VHF contests there are theRover, Single Operator Portable and multi-operator categories. As a Rover or Singleop/portable, you compete only against sta-tions in the your category. A single op QRPportable station located on a hill can oftenput out a signal comparable with high-powerbig-antenna stations located in a valley or acity. The antennas can be home made andradios economical for the single op portablecategory. This is VHF Contesting “on a bud-get!” I often operate the VHF contests QRPportable from a high point in the Flint Hillsabout a one-hour drive from my home. Ken,WB2AMU, relates his adventures operatingthe January 2005 VHF Sweepstakes singleop QRP portable in the Spring 2005 issueof CQ VHF Quarterly.
Multi-Oping from a rural location ormountaintop is still another way to contest.For years I operated with the WBØDRLgroup from Salina, Kansas. Pete lived westof Salina in the countryside and was ableto build a great VHF contest station—noTVI, no antenna restrictions, etc. Othergroups operate portable from the same lo-cations each year. They usually pick amountaintop. Examples are W2SZ/1, K8GP,etc. You may be able to join a group likethis to operate a VHF contest. Or you may“guest operate” from a home station thatdoes not have antenna restrictions. If youbelong to a VHF club, often there are mem-bers who may allow other club membersto “guest operate” their stations. There arestations advertised in QST and DX Holi-day that are available to rent for a contest.Finally, if you have the means, you can buyland in the country and build yourself theVHF contest station of your dreams.
Operating from HomeIf none of the “away” options work for
you, and you plan to contest from your out-side-antenna-restricted home, you’ll obvi-ously be limited in the antennas you canuse. Nonetheless, you can still make con-tacts and submit an entry in the VHF con-tests. Starting with 6 meters, a potential atticantenna farm for a VHF contest may con-sist of a dipole, a loop or a 2-element Yagi.At one of the homes I lived in, the attic hadfew obstructions and a solid floor. I set upa tripod with rotor and had a 3-element Yagifor 6 meters and a 7 element for 2 meters.On 6 meters during Solar Cycle 22, I loggedall continents and many countries with theattic Yagi. The Moxon antenna is anothercandidate for attic or concealed outdooruse. The Par Electronics SM-50 6 MeterMoxon is advertised as “ideal for stealthoperation.” Visit www.parelectronics.com/for more info.
At our current home, there is no floorin the upper attic and many vertical woodsupports. Thus, a rotatable 6-meter Yagiwon’t work for me. I use a dipole for 6meters and a loop for 2 meters. I havefound the dipole to be an effective an-tenna for 6 meter Es openings and ca-pable of real DX. I contacted ZP6CW inParaguay with it on March 12, 2005 on 6meters during an “Es to TEP” opening toSouth America. A 6-meter “stealth” dipolecan be hung discreetly outside from aporch to a tree just for the contest. Thelowly dipole can be a hot performer on 6meters during Es openings, as BryanW5KFT reported on the “3830 Internetreflector” for the June 2003 VHF QSOParty (see sidebar).
The June VHF QSO Party often hasmany hours of Es openings on 6 meters,
so it is the best VHF contest to enter withsimple indoor or stealth outdoor antennas.Kim Stenson, W4KVS, in South Carolinahas “done quite a bit with modest equip-ment and indoor antennas on VHF” dur-ing last summer’s 6 meter Es openings.
“My first introduction to ham radiocame in the 60s when I was a young boygrowing up in Vermont. I was probablyabout 10 and when watching TV onesummer evening heard, “CQ 6, CQ 6, CQ6” come over the TV. I had no idea whatit was but my father knew right away thatit was our neighbor up the street, LeoBerry, W1OSU. For me, much of the al-lure of 6 meters is that it brings me backto that time.
My 6-meter station consists of anICOM 551-D and have used indoor an-tennas only – a dipole, loop, and 3-ele-ment beam. The dipole worked, but soongraduated to the loop, which workedmuch better, and then finally to the beam.Much of my station information is in-cluded in an article on indoor antennasin the March 2004 QST.
With the beam I have been able to getinto Europe and Africa via Es and lastsummer was able to work and confirmthe following during the period 3-4 July2004 on 6 meters:
G8BCG/PCT1HZEEH7RMThese contacts were a mixture of SSB
and CW. All except England were workedon July 4. As a bonus, I also worked FP/K9OT on CW the same day. A good dayfor me on 6 meters.”
Kim’s, Bryan’s and my own contactsshow that simple antennas can work on6 meters. No one is claiming these an-tennas will outperform a big Yagi on a talltower. If you can put a M2 6M9KHW upat 100 feet, for example, by all means doso. You will have a commanding 50 MHzsignal in the contest. But if you are un-able, and the choice is to use a simpleantenna or not enter the contest at all,try a simple antenna. You may be pleas-antly surprised at what you work.
Es has made appearances in the Sep-tember and January VHF contests. InVHF contests without Es openings, onemay still make 6-meter DX contacts us-ing indoor antennas via meteor scatterusing WSJT digital modes.
On 2 meters and 70 cm, stealth atticantennas like loops, Yagis or quads can“put you in the game” during a VHF con-test weekend. In the April 2005 issue ofQST Steve Ford, WB8IMY, reviewedKU4AB’s 2-Meter and 70-cm antennas.These are basic loop designs. Steve putthem in his “cramped attic antenna farm”
W5KFT—June 2003 VHF QSO PartyIn about 10 minutes I had built a 6-meterdipole and it took about another 10minutes to hang it about 10 feet off theground from one end of the porch to atree in the side yard. I hooked it up tothe IC-746 transceiver and I was readyto go, complete with hand mike andpaper log. As soon as I turned the rigon, it was gangbusters for the next fivehours. I would never have dreamed thatI could establish and hold a runfrequency, working stations at over 100per hour with about as basic a station asyou can put together. The weekend wasa blast. Thanks guys for all the contactsand the fun. Thanks to Ken, WM5R, forbringing basics back into perspective.VHF contesting is just plain fun!—Bryan, W5KFTSummary:Band QSOs Mults Score6 283 126 35,658
CN8LICT1EATCT1APE
Stealth VHF Contesting
JulAug.pmd 6/10/2005, 3:50 PM28
NCJ July/August 2005 29
and operated during the January 2005VHF Sweepstakes, making numerouscontest contacts. Steve notes, “I couldn’thear most of what the guys with the bigbeams were working, but with my 50 Wof RF, I was making contacts out to about90 miles (and I am not on a hilltop). TheKU4AB loops are reasonably priced. Seewww.ku4ab.com/index.html.
You can make your own loop antennas,small quads or Yagis. I have made VHFcontest DX contacts even on 1296 MHz withindoor antennas. In the September 1986VHF QSO party I worked WS4F (EM85) onMt Toxaway, North Carolina from Kansason 1296 MHz tropo using a 45-element in-door loop Yagi placed on two chairs point-ing out the window of my apartment!
VHF Contesting—The BasicsIn the March 2005 “The World Above
50 MHz” column wr itten by GeneZimmerman, W3ZZ, in QST, Gene de-scribes basic VHF contest station design.This article has good information aboutthe basics of VHF contesting, includingstation location, antennas, radios,transverters, station layout, feedlines andmore. One idea for building a high-qual-ity VHF contest station is to use theElecraft K2 transceiver with the ElecraftVHF transverters. Elecraft transvertersare currently available from 50 to 222MHz with a 432 MHz model to bereleased sometime in 2005. See
www.elecraft.com for more info.
All-Time June VHF QSO Party6- Meter QSO Totals
There are some additions to the tableof all time high 50 MHz QSO totals inthe June VHF QSO Party that appearedin last month’s column.
NW5E had 993 QSOs on 50 MHz inthe June 2003 VHF QSO Party. N4IS re-ported 955, with KC4PX posting 949QSOs on 6 meters. These are among thehighest QSO totals reported on 6 metersoutside of the W5 and WØ call areas forthe June VHF QSO Party. Who will bethe first station outside of W5/WØ tomake over 1000 QSOs on 6 meters inthe June VHF QSO Party?
May 6-Meter Es Bring June VHF
Contest Records?In the previous column, we discussed
whether a good February/March 6-meterEs season predicted a great June VHFContest Es opening. As I write this columnin mid May, there have been several ex-tensive 50 MHz Es openings. On May 12,stations in W1 and VE1 worked into Eu-rope on 6 meters, and on May 13, N3DBrepor ted hearing the 9Y4AT/b andFY7THF/b 6-meter beacons. On both daysthere were hours of coast-to-coast double-hop Es. If the June VHF QSO Party hadbeen held on May 12-13, it would havebeen an awesome contest.
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The decline of Sunspot Cycle 23 wasfelt in this Phone Sprint with 20-metersclosing early and the resulting 20-meterQSO totals down from what they were ayear ago. However, 40 and 80 meters dida good job in making up the difference,so overall scores weren’t down too much.One certainly would not have been ableto tell that conditions were worse from thenumber of logs submitted. One hundredand forty-six logs were received, which isonly 10 less than the record number fromlast February. This continues a trend inthe last few Phone Sprints of receivingmore logs with a relatively small numberof QSOs. It is great that more contestersare participating, even if they only makea few QSOs, and it is awesome that theyare sending in their logs. There was alsogood participation from rare areas withseveral KL7s, a VE8, a VO1 and a VE9on the air. No DX logs were received, butone or more participants logged the fol-lowing DX multipliers: C6, HR, J3, KP2,KP4, V4 and XE. Yours truly didn’t oper-ate, but in looking at the band break-downs, I would say 80 meters was longand quiet. Look at the 6s and 7s; thereare some impressive 80 meters QSOstotals there.
As a reminder, I am continuing thechanges made in February 2004 to theHP and LP Top Ten listings by addingyou-and-them error percentages, andadding QSOs Lost and hour-by-hourQSO totals for the LP Top Ten. I havealso newly added to the HP Top Ten a +/- rating of claimed vs actual scores. I willtalk more about this later.
QRPJeff, NX9T, decided to turn down the
power this time and picked up the QRPwin from North Carolina. W8LBO andK6UFO (Mr “That Is Mork Not Mark”)took QRP second and third respectively.I’m sure QRP was tough sledding withthe conditions. Good job guys!
Low PowerDan, N6MJ, continued his winning
ways in the LP category. He finished justout of the Top Ten QSOs and multiplierswith only 100W in poor conditions. Infact, Dan’s 291 QSOs represented thesecond highest LP QSO total ever.N5DO, Dave, also turned in a very goodLP performance topping 10K points andtaking second from Texas. Coming inthird with another fine performance fromhis new home in Georgia was Jeff,KU8E. Perennial LP Top Ten finishersVE5SF and K7SV took fourth and fifth.Nobody has finished in the LP Top Tenmore than Sam and Larry. Rounding outthe Top Ten were N6ZFO, NA4K,WØETT, NA4BW and ACØW.
High PowerWinning the HP category for the third
time was Bill, K4XS. He led in QSOs andwas one short of the top number of mul-tipliers. Congrats, Bill!
After his record shattering number ofQSOs in CW Sprint the week before, Iguess N6TR thought he would try to getthe Sprint Clean Sweep, and he almostdid. Tree only finished 5 QSOs behindBill to take second. In addition, Tree hada Golden Log that is no easy feat with300+ QSOs.
Top 10 Band ChangesK9PG (at WB9Z) 83KW8N 81K4XS 78W9RE 66W7RN (KL2A) 49AE6Y 38NA4BW 34ACØW 29W6YX 24N6ZFO 24
of the usual suspects with K6LL, K9PG,K7RI (K7SS), W6YX (N6DE), W7WA,KW8N, K6LA, and W7RN (KL2A) plac-ing third through tenth. It was N6DE’sand KL2A’s first time in the Top Ten.
As I stated earlier, I have added a newcolumn to the Top Ten box. It showswhether a participant moved up, down,or stayed the same when comparingclaimed position to actual position. The +means they moved up from their claimedposition, - means they moved down, and0 means they stayed in the same posi-tion. I have stated several times in the pastthat logging accuracy makes a big differ-ence, especially in the HP Top Ten wherethe scores tend to be bunched close to-gether. For example, good logging accu-racy by Ken, K6LA, in conjunction withsome not-so-good logging accuracy bycompetitors above him, allowed Ken tomove into the final Top Ten when hisclaimed score was 11th place.
Golden LogsThe Top Ten Golden Logs were N6TR,
N6ZFO, K9PW, WA7BNM, K1HT, K4HA,N8AA, VE3RCN, N6AN and K4BEV. TheTop Reverse Golden Log (meaning therewere no busts of that station’s sent info inthe receiving station’s log) was my goodfriend just up the road from me—K4HA.Bob had the “double-double” of having agolden log both ways. Congratulations toall on the accuracy! If you want a copy ofyour log checking report, please send an
were a few records broken or estab-lished. In QRP, NX9T established themark for North Carolina, and W8LBOextended his record for Michigan. Newlow power area records are K2PS inNew Jersey, KU8E in Georgia, AE7DXin Nevada (the old record dated back to1997) and KL1V in Alaska. Even onehigh power record was eclipsed byVE3KZ in Ontario. You can view the SSBSprint records at www.ncjweb.com/ssbsprintrecords.php.
TeamsA new team named Only One Radio
took top team honors with a score of111,593. Second was the always-strongSMC #1, and right on their heels wasNCCC #1. The difference between sec-ond and third was only 713 points.Rounding out the top five teams wereSCCC #1 and TCG #1.
NotesThere were some reports of contes-
tants forgetting the rules about giving bothcalls in the exchange and not obeying theQSY rule (so called “round robin” QSOs).This is just a friendly reminder to re-checkthe rules and make sure you are in com-pliance with all of them.
The September 2005 Phone Sprint
will be held at 0000Z on September 18(September 17 local time). Get on andjoin us in the fun!
Finally, I am writing this as I have justheard of the passing of W7RM. I nevermet Rush Drake, but I have heard somegreat stories about him from K7SS andNØAX. He was truly a legend and inno-vator in our sport. We should all strive tocarry on a bit of the contesting flame thathe and other early contesting giantshave left to us.
SoapboxTerrible conditions here. Looking forward to
doing this from my new home station in Sep-tember.—KA9FOX. You know things are badwhen you start working West Coast on 80meters at 0158Z.—K9PG. Interesting condi-tions. Too bad it wasn’t a DX contest.—K7SV.Couple hours of fun and frustration.—K6OWL.A lot of fun! Dismal numbers, but my first-evercontest.—KL7RY. Low antennas and QRPmake for a slow Sprint. QRP to keep the neigh-bors happy.—K6UFO. Someday I will get thehang of this.—K1GU. Finally, I think I am backin the contesting saddle again. Keep an eyeout for me.—N5SMQ. Jukka enjoyed trying theSprint during his visit to the station. He’shooked.—OH6LI at K6NA. It was a treat to workthe mighty N6TR on SSB.—N6AN. The 40-meter antenna was soldered to radials lastweek for the 160-Meter Contest. Guess wedon’t get points for soldering mid-contest?—WØZP (N6TR and I will have to take the mid-contest soldering bonus under advisement forthe future—Ed). Poorest performance in years.Did work KL1V and VE8NSD.—KØOU.
Chaos: [kâ’äs’] n [ < Gr, space ] 1 ex-treme confusion or disorder 2 state ofamateur radio bands during sprint con-test—cha-ot?ic [kâ ät’ik’] adj.
The 56th CW Sprint was held on Feb-ruary 14 2005 UTC. Conditions seemedto be good for most everyone, at leaston two of the three bands. A total of 49stations made at least 100 QSOs on 20meters and another 19 stations made atleast 100 QSOs on 80 meters. Stationsin the Northeast or black hole (W9/W8area) probably had some justification forcomplaining however, as scores fromthose areas were somewhat depressed.
Activity continues to be very strong—and the chaos factor was indeed high. Afactoid that demonstrates this is K1HTlogging 255 QSOs, but never working thestation who won the contest.
For those of you who have not oper-ated this contest and are wondering whythe chaos is so high, you will need tounderstand the “sprint QSY rule.” I oncegave a talk at the local radio club aboutthe sprint, and after I was done explain-ing it, I gave everyone a log sheet andwe operated a sprint with the 40 or sopeople in the room. If you called CQ andsomeone answered you, you had to takeat least 5 steps before you could CQagain, or at least one step if you wantedto answer someone else CQing. Imag-ine a bunch of grown men tripping overchairs to answer someone CQing beforesomeone else did. Of course, this wasn’teveryone’s cup of tea, and there werefour gentlemen watching this from theback of the room. One of the high pointsfor me was walking up to them and call-ing CQ with “you don’t have to be in thecontest to give me a point” added. Oneof them finally gave me a QSO, prob-ably just to get rid of me shouting in frontof them.
Now, imagine doing this on the radio,except instead of taking 5 steps, youhave to QSY 5 kHz.
This unique contest rule total lychanges the way you operate the con-test. No longer do you just get on onefrequency and press F1 over and overto work guys. Your best rates occur whenyou can quickly find someone CQing thatyou haven’t worked, have him come backto you, and then have someone else callyou when the QSO is over. Having aperfect “doublet” QSO like this is whatsprint operators dream of. It balancesoperator ability and station capabilitybetter than any other contesting format.
Because of the chaos created by this
February 2005 CW Sprint Results Boring Amateur Radio Club
mode of operation, the rules require thatboth call signs be sent during the ex-change. This helps remove any confu-sion about who is working whom. It isimportant to make sure you hear yourcall sign, as it is very possible the sta-tion you think you are working is actu-ally working someone else. Again, it isn’tlike everyone owns a frequency, so thesituation is very dynamic.
QRP Top TenOnly three logs using less than 5 W
were received this time. Long time QRPSprint veteran Dale, KG5U, posted an-other win in this category that he helpedpioneer. Dale’s 6992 points was wellahead of NØSXX and N6WG, but NØSXXset a new QRP Colorado record. Nowthat we have the records shown for QRPand low power broken out by QTH, youmight see some of the big guns enter-ing this category to establish records intheir respective state or Canadian callarea. Making 184 QSOs, or even 100QSOs with 5 W is a very brave act in-deed during this contest. Rumor evenhas it that some of the big guns mighttake 5 minutes off at the end of the con-test, switch off the amplifier and make aQRP entry with the club call sign.
Low Power Top TenThe low power category continues to
see stiff competition among those tryingto make the top ten box, which is muchstiffer than the span in the other catego-ries. The difference between the top scoreand the 10th score was less than 10 per-cent. Don, W4OC, who was probably yourSouth Carolina multiplier, edged out Larry,K7SV, by a couple of QSOs to take firstplace. Pat, NA0N, edged out NØAX andNØAT to grab 3rd place. N5DO, K3MM,K1HT, WQ5L and KA9FOX filled out thebottom half of the box.
High Power Top TenLast September, it took N6TR a whole
hour to make just one QSO from Alaskausing a portable setup. This time, thingswere a little better for Tree as he made123 of them in the same period of time.This was one better than the 122 BillFisher had during his initial 400+ QSOeffort. After a second hour of 119, Treewas well on his way to his second 400QSO finish. Typically, things really slowdown in the 3rd hour, but Tree leveragedhis new four-square on 80 meters andmanaged to work 97 more guys. Hecruised past 400 QSOs with 22 minutesleft in the contest and finished with 427QSOs. This was indeed an untouchableeffort by Tree, who easily won his 10thCW Sprint.
Steve, N2IC, took second place hon-ors with a comfortable margin above therest of the pack. This was Steve’s 31sttop ten showing and he seems to be wellestablished at his new QTH in NewMexico. Steve also moved ahead of N5TJin the top ten-appearance list. Tim, K3LR,and Dave, K5GN, tied for the third placescore—followed closely by Phil, N6ZZ,from New Mexico. Dan, N6MJ, pilotedW6YI to a sixth place finish, with N5RZoperating K5TR’s station coming in 7thplace. N2NT, N9RV and NK7U filled outthe rest of the box. Chris, KL9A, who ap-pears in the top ten for the first time,manned NK7U. Congrats, Chris! Sinceonly a very few number of QSOs weremade from Idaho, I am sure many peoplehope you will go back to Idaho next time.
If you look at the next five scores af-ter the top ten, you find W4PA, K5ZD,K5KA, K1KI and N6AA. These fivegentlemen have a combined total of 110top ten finishes. Randy, K5ZD, doesn’tmiss the top ten very often, having 33showings by himself. This is another in-dication of the strong activity, and howtough it is to make the top ten.
We included a new box, showing thetop ten with stations that had fewer than10 band changes. K3LR shows up inboth boxes, along with three of the 11th-15th scores previously mentioned.
Team CompetitionThe Southern California Contest Club
for top team honors.This is the 22nd victory for the well-
tanned team, which also set the highestteam score last year. The old Indepen-dent Contests team that started out withvictories in the first nine sprints has thesecond best total, followed by the Win-ning Alliance of Sprint People (WASP),which has won eight. The Blues Broth-ers have won four, and the NCCC andSCC twice each.
Third place went to the Northern Cali-fornia Contest Club, followed by thePVRC/FRC team, SMC #1 and SSC #1,who all had scores over 100K points.One new team we saw this time aroundwas called “Coathanger.” No wonderWØRTT and WØZP were so weak.
History has shown that the most suc-cessful way to increase participation inthis event is to sponsor a team. The pro-cess is easy to do on the Web(www.ncjweb.com) and can be done upto the start of the contest.
Golden LogsThe automated checking process was
unable to remove any QSOs from 12logs. Congrats to K4RO for the onlygolden log with over 300 QSOs. Con-sidering the level of checking possiblein this contest, this is quite the achieve-
ment. A few people had problems withthe logging of a station who sent “DC”as his QTH. We tried our best not to dinganyone for this. In the future, it might beworth adding DC to your contest pro-gram, so that it counts the same as MD.DC is not a separate multiplier in thesprint and if the name is Rice, it mightget confused as Rhode Island by yourlogging software.
RecordsWith the help of Ken “shoeless”
Adams, K5KA, N2IC and a few others,we now have the CW Sprint records bro-ken up by power level for each QTH. Youwill notice that there are many opportu-nities to establish the first record in manyof the QRP categories and even somein the Low Power one. These are bestviewed at the NCJ Web pagewww.ncjweb.com.
Congratulations to Ray, WQ5L, whoset a new low power record for Missis-sippi and Gary, NØSXX, who establishedthe QRP record for Colorado. The onlyother record set was for the total num-ber of QSOs—427 by N6TR. This was ajump of 22 QSOs over the previousrecord. You would have to go back to1979 to see a bigger jump in the QSOrecord, when N2NT pushed his Febru-
JulAug.pmd 6/10/2005, 3:51 PM34
NCJ July/August 2005 35
ary mark of 304 QSOs up to 327 in Sep-tember. One wonders if the confluenceof factors will ever occur again to en-able someone to break this new record.
Next TimeThe next NCJ CW Sprint will be held
on September 11 UTC. Will N9RV beable to repeat his victory from last Sep-tember after having most of his anten-nas destroyed by an ice storm? WillN6TR once again be in KL7, using a wirehung out of the 3rd floor window ofKL7RA’s “shack”? Will N5RZ drive toK5TR’s house, or operate at home witha hamstick? Will anyone ever be on fromNorth Dakota again in this contest? WillW4OC, K4NO and K4FXN all show upto give us those rare W4 mults? Willanyone new join the 400+ QSO club?Will someone put together a team scoreto beat the SCCC? Tune in next time.
For team registration, use the NCJWeb page at www.ncjweb.com. Logsare submitted via e-mail [email protected] and are due sevendays after the contest. We do try to ac-cept any logs that are late for a goodreason, but once we have turned thecrank on the results, having to add an-other log requires a lot more work. Therewere several logs that came in morethan two weeks after the contest andwere not included in the results. At leastone of these would have been a newstate record.
If you are encouraging someone tooperate the sprint for the first time, re-member to pass along the Spring Sur-vival Web page URL at n6tr.jzap.com/sprint.html. This page has detailed ex-amples of actual sprint QSOs, includingsound files.
Soapbox
—Only about 10 minutes of operating. Ihad a back injury that hasn’t fully healed.After 10 minutes in the chair, I’d had enough.It was a fun 10 minutes, though. Next time.—AA4LR
—Twenty meters completely dead here.Forty meters wasn’t in great shape, but Iscratched around for 30 minutes working thelouder stations but decided it wasn’t a goodyear for an entry from Europe! Kudos to N9RVW2MUM N2NT AA4GA who came back to myCQs—G4BUO
—Heard but did not work UT. Never heardclose mults like IA, NE, AR. Best 4 hours inradio.—KØOU
—Nice little contest you fellows run.—K1AR
—Challenging propagation from New En-gland. I don’t recall ever arriving so often atthe wrong time in QSOs in progress. I musthave been one of the few stations that N6TRdid not work.—K1HT
—This was my first serious attempt at com-peting in the NA Sprint on CW. My hat goesoff to all the FB ops out there with such im-pressive CW skills!—K1KD
—Lost around 10 QSOs when the cat un-plugged the linear and computer, which aretemporarily set-up upstairs.—K3MD
—Missed KY! Didn’t do as well as Iplanned due to: a: antennas; b: propagation;c: operator; d: all of the above. Answer d.—K4FXN
—Congrats to Tree on an amazing QSOtotal!—K4RO
—Always a great contest. Well worth the5.5 hour drive to operate at Geo’s. Congratsto the great ops and thanks to all for theQSOs.—K5TR
—I was stuck in alternate universe whereno one would answer my CQs and I was beatout almost every time! —K5ZD
—TS-870S, AL-80B at 800W, A3 at 30 feet,40-meter loop at 35 feet/80-meter Windomat 42 feet. I really wanted to haul my stuffdown to N6IJ and use the antennas there butdidn’t have time. Another Little Pistol Con-test Station effort here. Developed a splittingheadache after the first hour, which was thepits, but still had fun. Sure are a lot of sharpoperators in the CW Sprint! Had a side-con-test with K7NV for beers in Visalia over whowould find who first S&Ping. I won first on 20meters, but Kurt socked it to me on 40 and80 meters.—K6VVA
—Suffering from a bout of the flu. Startedgreat, but tired very quickly.—K6XX
—Let’s do it again real soon!—K7SV—This one will get your blood pressure up!
Didn’t get to op much due to Valentine’s Dayfestivities.—KB5NJD
—Could have used SO2R capability thistime.—KM3T
—Great ops. Thanks again. See you allnext time.—KTØR
—Whew! What a hoot! See you all in thenext one.—KV8Q
—The collision with the RTTY WPX on 40was pretty massive! Pretty good activity thistime—lots of new calls. Now to just get ‘emin the log! Didn’t hear a couple of the usualmults. The 300 barrier will eventually fall.—NØAX
—Congratulations to Tree on yet anotheroutstanding performance. “Even on my favor-ite table he can beat my best.” Ward, can youhelp me out here? Thanks to all of you foranother 4 hours of the highest octane radiofun available. It is great to have brokenthrough the 300 QSO barrier again. My firsttwo hours were OK with 180 Qs in the log.Then things really slowed down. Somehow Icannot sustain the rate going into the thirdhour and if the pace doesn’t pick up on 80during the last 60 minutes, my second halffalls short. One of these days I’ll crack 350!One radio, 3 antennas, one amplifier, andabout 10 band changes made manually. Howdo you guys manage two radios at this fre-netic pace? I know, I know. The same wayyou get to Carnegie Hall.—N6AN
—This was my best Sprint by a longstretch. I had 55% more QSOs, finally break-ing through the 100 QSO barrier and 77%more score points. Tonight I’m enjoying theol’ Happy Dance. I was surprised how wellmy short 40-meter dipole did on 80 meters.That’s not a lot of wire for this band. Eightymeters was noisy here, so I used my 160-meter flag loop for receiving and had no prob-lem hearing anyone I worked. As always,CQing wasn’t the best use of my time. I did
better when I did the S&P thing, once I caughtthe rhythm of the game. I also tried to getrepeats on numbers and names I wasn’t sureof. We’ll see if that helps when my log getsinto the hands of the Scoring Gods. Anyway,it was fun, it was intense, and it’s over. Seeyou all in the ARRL DX contest.—N6WG
—New excuse: Lack of sleep! I blew off fourQSOs by doing silly things like pushing thewrong button or QSYing before logging thecontact.—N6XI
—Bands were reasonably good, but verylong skip. It sure got rough in spots; had a 5-minute gap with no QSOs! I sure missed my40-meter Yagi.—N9RV
—Chased K6LL around 80 for the AZ mult.No joy. Got KC7V instead with 5 mins to go!Low power and wet noodle antennas suck inSprint, but they are better than nothing atall!—NE6I
—Wow, what a circus! Can’t wait till nextone.—WØZP
—Some day I’ll get the hang of this one.—W1JQ
—Thanks to N2BA for use of his station.—W1NN
—This contest rocks!—W2RQ—Hardly a brilliant showing, but still a lot
of fun, made all the more interesting that myday began in Switzerland at 0300 EST.—W3EF
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JulAug.pmd 6/10/2005, 3:51 PM35
36 July/August 2005 NCJ
Scores(* indicates low power **indicates QRP)Call Name QTH 20 40 80 QSO Mlt Score Team
K5ZD RANDY MA 108 113 114 335 45 15075 TR and BertK1KI TOM CT 114 105 119 338 44 14872 YCCC #1W1WEF JACK CT 108 109 96 313 41 12833 YCCC #1KM3T OJ NH 88 114 97 299 42 12558 TR and BertK1HT *DAVE MA 80 100 74 254 40 10160 YCCC #1W1EBI GEO MA 56 69 73 198 39 7722 YCCC #1NY1S *JOE ME 50 61 56 167 37 6179K1KD GRANT VT 53 68 56 177 34 6018W1JQ *MIKE CT 32 35 30 97 35 3395 YCCC #1NN1N DAVE CT 26 16 22 64 22 1408 YCCC #2K1AR JOHN NH 0 0 34 34 18 612 YCCC #2W2JU *ALEC CT 0 0 17 17 13 221N2NT ANDY NJ 101 155 105 361 44 15884 PVRC & FRC #1K2UA RUS NY 61 98 118 277 43 11911 TR and BertW2RQ BILL NJ 72 111 121 304 39 11856 PVRC & FRC #1W1NN HAL NY 95 101 82 278 42 11676 MRRCW2LC SCOTT NY 81 115 69 265 40 10600N2GC MIKE NY 62 81 100 243 41 9963 YCCC #1K2QMF TED NY 54 61 57 172 38 6536WB2ABD *PAUL NY 0 61 0 61 30 1830
Poor propagation? Obviously, it didn’thave much effect on the latest NAQPRTTY. Wayne, K7WM, probably said itbest: “Constant action. RF makes its ownpropagation!”
Of the 258 SO, and 7 M/2 logs sub-mitted, there were 25 State/Provincerecords surpassed, along with the NAQPRTTY record! Ty, K3MM, established anew NAQP RTTY record (149,574),eclipsing the old record, held by Don,AA5AU, (143,058). AA5AU establisheda new LA record, with his second placescore (143,946). AA5AU had more mul-tipliers, than K3MM, 198 to 194, butcouldn’t overcome the QSO difference,771 to 727. Terry, AB5K, finished third,while establishing a new TX record(131,207). Following closely in fourth,establishing a new AZ record (131,124),was Dave, K6LL, again with more multi-pliers, 196 to 179, than AB5K, but un-able to overcome the QSO difference,733 to 669. Mark, K5AM, established anew NM record (126,854) with moreQSOs than K6LL, 697 to 669, but K6LL’smultiplier count, 196 to 182, made thedifference. Eight, of the “top 10” stations,established State/Province records.
There were 10 DX logs submitted, withAndy, DH8WR/HC2 (94,116) leading theway. DX stations are certainly encour-aged to participate, and strive for therequired 200 QSO minimum, required fora plaque or certificate. Andy, DH8WR/HC2, fell only 7 QSOs short of the re-quired minimum.
Seven M/2 logs were submitted, withW6YX (N6DE, KJ9U, W6LD, N7MH,K6UFO) piloting the perennial WestCoast powerhouse to a new M/2 record,225,544. With 968 QSOs, it only seemsa matter of time, until W6YX, or anotherM/2 station, breaks the 1000 QSO bar-rier.
NN6NN (N6EE, AK6DV, W6XK) with170,649, edged W5KFT (KD5SQF,K5TWJ, K5PI), with 162,918, for second.W5KFT led in QSOs, 918 to 849, butcouldn’t overcome the NN6NN multiplierdifference, 201 to 189.
The Team competition was very wellrepresented, with 26 teams. While fail-ing to surpass their existing record(560,772), SWACC (K6LL, K5AM,K7WM, W7WW, AD6WL) was clearly theone to beat. The SWACC score(551,410), easily outdistanced the SO1Rteam (W1ZT, K4GMH, K9MUG, WX4TM,K4WW) score (387,597). Larry, WØETC,again did his usual fine recruiting jobfor TCG, as TCG was representedwith 6 teams. I believe that the team in-
February 2005 NAQP RTTY Results Shelby Summerville, K4WW
volvement leads to better individualscores. Please don’t forget, if you’re or-ganizing a team, to register that teamon the NCJ Web at www.ncjweb.com/rttynaqpteamreg.php.
If your team isn’t registered prior tothe contest, the score wil l not becounted!
I would be remiss, if I didn’t pass alongthanks to Wayne, K7WM, for the job hehas done in the past as contest man-ager. I have some big shoes to fill! Also,
special thanks to Bruce, WA7BNM, forhandling the log checking!
There seems to be some misunder-standing of the rules, regarding theuse of packet cluster, for Single Op-erator stations. For clarification:“packet cluster use (viewing of spots)is not allowed for Single Operator sta-tions.” To keep from having to convinceme that you were only “sending spots,not viewing them,” I highly recommendthose Single Operator stations, refrainfrom sending spots.
SoapboxN7MQ: First ever NAQP. Still learning
RTTY contesting, but making progressand having a ball!
VE9DX: Always happy to provide themult anytime.
W6YX: We had a great time and arereally pleased that we’ve broken the M/2 NAQP RTTY record two years in a row.
N4ZZ: My first NAQP RTTY and foundit to be quite different from SSB and CW.
K3GP: Experienced some of the bestsustained hourly rates ever. It was ablast.
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JulAug.pmd 6/10/2005, 3:51 PM39
40 July/August 2005 NCJ
Operators in the western US domi-nated the top-ten single op scores in theJanuary 2005 edition of the NAQP CWcontest with the first five places goingto stations in California, Oregon andArizona. N6MJ operated W6YI’s stationto a new overall single-op record of367,928 points, just ahead of ZF2NT’sold record of 367,360 points. KL9A pi-loted NK7U’s superstation to a highlycompetitive second place showing andnew Oregon record, while N6TR tookthird. N6RO was fourth from California,followed by Arizonan K6LL in fifth. N3BBnipped fellow Texan K5PI and AustinPowers teammate, operating K5TR, forsixth by a mere 47 points, while Califor-nian K6LA took eighth. W9RE and W4PArounded out the top ten from Indiana andTennessee, respectively.
K7UP, operating from New Mexico,easily won the single-op QRP categorywith more than double the score of sec-ond-place Californian N6WG. WB8RTJtook third from Ohio, while VA3DF cap-tured fourth from Ontario with WB8JUIin fifth from Ohio.
The N2IC multi-two crew took firstplace from New Mexico, narrowly miss-ing setting a new multi-two record. K5KAtook second from Oklahoma, whileW6YX was third from California.
The Southern California Contest Club#1 team used top-ten single-op finishesby three of its members to take firstplace in the team competition by a widemargin over the second-place NorthernCalifornia Contest Club Team 1. TheTennessee Contest Group #1 team cap-tured third.
A number of new records were set.K1KD broke AA1SU’s old Vermontrecord, while W5WMU broke his ownLouisiana record by more than 30k.KO7X more than doubled WC7S’s Wyo-ming record and N8II upped WA8WV’sWest Virginia record by 8k. N6KI, oper-ating XE2MX, and VE9DX each broketheir own Mexico and New Brunswickrecords, respectively, while TG9/NØATand VP9/W6PH established first timerecords for Guatemala and Bermuda.
Please remember that one of the waysyou can increase your final score is toincrease your logging accuracy. A sig-nificant number of the logging errorsfound were the result of inaccurately log-ging the band on which the QSO tookplace, particularly when one stationworked the same station on multiplebands in quick succession.
N6RO 316,386 1134 279 CA NCCC Team 1K6LA 272,209 1051 259 CA SCCC #1AE6Y 228,588 886 258 CA NCCC Team 1AC6T(at N6VR) 225,544 968 233 CA SCCC #1
K2KW 212,121 819 259 CA NCCC Team 3K6AM 206,701 817 253 CA SCCC #1N6NF 204,204 884 231 CAK6RIM 165,845 809 205 CA NCCC Team 2KF6T 165,087 747 221 CA NCCC Team 2K6MR 156,026 706 221 CA NCCC Team 2N6ZFO 153,853 709 217 CA NCCC Team 2W6XU 151,956 756 201 CA NCCC Team 1N3ZZ 145,440 720 202 CA NCCC Team 2ND2T 143,514 714 201 CA NCCC Team 3AD6E 138,690 670 207 CA NCCC Team 3WN6K 128,576 656 196 CA SCCC #2W6EEN(N6RT) 100,206 586 171 CA SCCC #2
K6DGW 87,007 521 167 CA NCCC Team 4K6EY 76,908 493 156 CA SCCC #3K6CTA 73,935 477 155 CAK6SRZ 62,205 435 143 CA NCCC Team 3W6TK 58,212 378 154 CA SCCC #3N6EM 57,799 359 161 CA NCCC Team 4K6XV 49,950 333 150 CAW6SJ 47,614 358 133 CA SCCC #3KQ6ES 46,440 344 135 CA*N6WG 45,406 311 146 CA NCCC Team 4K6RB 44,336 326 136 CA NCCC Team 6K6XX 41,987 347 121 CAN6PE 39,615 285 139 CA SCCC #3KE6ZSN 38,144 298 128 CA NCCC Team 5K6LRN 29,880 249 120 CA NCCC Team 3*K6III 26,784 216 124 CAKE6QR 22,470 210 107 CA NCCC Team 5NO6X 20,790 210 99 CAK6ZCL 17,672 188 94 CA SCCC #4*W6OT 11,232 144 78 CAN6XI 9295 143 65 CA NCCC Team 5K6OWL 8448 128 66 CA NCCC Team 6W6OAT 7776 144 54 CA NCCC Team 4AD6FR 7040 110 64 CAN6WK 6527 107 61 CAN6NC 6160 110 56 CAK6CSL 5916 102 58 CAKG6HAF 4320 80 54 CAW6LEN 3567 87 41 CA SCCC #3W6YL (W6CT)2485 71 35 CA NCCC Team 5AE6C 2380 68 35 CA NCCC Team 5AD6ZJ 2301 59 39 CAN6AA 912 38 24 CA SCCC #4W6QE 736 32 23 CAWA7BNM 180 15 12 CA SCCC #4W6RKC 32 8 4 CA*N2YM/6 28 7 4 CA
NK7U(KL9A) 358,124 1261 284 OR Straight Flush
N6TR 329,376 1128 292 ORK6LL 297,810 1103 270 AZ SCCC #1K8IA 242,277 973 249 AZ Azenmokers #1W7RN(KL2A) 196,504 847 232 NV NCCC Team 1
VE3EJ 235,755 845 279 ON CCO Team 1VE3XB 138,600 700 198 ONVE3DZ 137,970 730 189 ON CCO Team 1VE3ZI 121,149 641 189 ON CCO Team 4VE5ZX 110,201 637 173 SKVE3IAY(at VE3RM)108,944 619 176 ON CCO Team 1
VA3NR 98,667 577 171 ON CCO Team 1VE3SMA(at VE3OSZ)97,825 559 175 ON CCO Team 2
VE3JM 95,900 548 175 ON CCO Team 2VE5SF 91,784 596 154 SKVE6BMX 88,960 556 160 ABVE5MX 88,184 584 151 SKVE3KZ 86,376 488 177 ON CCO Team 3VE4VV 84,303 551 153 MB MWA #1VE7FO 74,260 470 158 BCVE2AWR 74,102 469 158 PQVE3KP 66,138 438 151 ON CCO Team 1VE1RGB 61,858 394 157 NSVE1AWP 52,800 400 132 NSVE3RZ 42,545 335 127 ON CCO Team 3VE3GLO 39,151 329 119 ON CCO Team 2*VA3DF 37,723 317 119 ON CCO Team 2VA7LC 30,622 251 122 BCVA3EC 30,360 264 115 ON CCO Team 5VE3HG 26,643 249 107 ON CCO Team 3VE3FH 18,966 218 87 ON CCO Team 4VE3JAQ 18,584 202 92 ON CCO Team 4VE9DX 15,840 180 88 NBVE3RCN 15,050 175 86 ON CCO Team 3VE3FU 12,191 167 73 ON CCO Team 2*VE6EX 10,305 229 45 ABVE4YU 7378 119 62 MBVE3TW 5341 109 49 ONVA7MM 4606 94 49 BCVE3UKR 3333 101 33 ONVE3GKB 1617 49 33 ONVA3HUN 1537 53 29 ON*VE3MGY 1092 39 28 ON CCO Team 5VA2SG 551 29 19 PQ*VE3LMS 350 25 14 ONVE2DWA 108 18 6 PQ
Our KX1 4-watt, 3-band CW transceiver is the new featherweight champ! Pocket-size and with controls on top, it's ideal for trail-side, beach chair, sleeping bag, or picnic table operation. DDS VFO covers both ham and SWL bands; the receiver handles CW, SSB, and AM. Features memory keyer, RIT, logbook lamp, and internal battery. Optional internal ATU and attached paddle. Basic KX1 kit covers 20 & 40 m ($279). KXB30 option adds 30 m ($29).
• New XV Series transverters for 50, 144, and 222 MHz
• New KRC2 Programmable Band Decoder
K2 Transceiver
KAT100 ATU
Visit our web site for details on the K1, XV Series, KRC2, and mini-module kits.
Elecraft K2 and K2/100 Transceivers. Our 160-10 m, SSB/CW transceiver kit is available in 10 and 100-watt models, which share the same chart-topping receiver performance. Add the new KDSP2 option for versatile notch and bandpass filtering, plus noise reduction. K2 pricing starts at $599.
NEW KRC2 Universal Band DecoderOur new KRC2 universal Band Decoder can automatically switch any combination of antenna relays, filters, amplifiers, or other equipment as your rig changes bands. It supports analog, digital, and RS232 band control inputs.
. Decodes band data from our K2, Icom, Yaesu and Kenwood rigs
. Microprocessor control / Software reconfigurable
. Rugged source & sink relay drivers for all HF bands
. Also has BCD HF band and transverter band outputs
. Price: $159
JulAug.pmd 6/10/2005, 3:51 PM44
NCJ July/August 2005 45
4el 20 turned on the mast in a 53 MPH wind.
Should have used Slipp-Nott!
Slipp-Nott installedOn a HAM-IV Rotator
Slipp-Nott installedOn a Create RC-5ARotator
3el 40 with Slipp-Nott technology did not turn on the mast in a 667 MPH wind
Two examples of 4130 Chrome-Moly mast that did not turn in the rotators in a 67 MPH wind.
The most innovative product in antenna hardware in decades!
Add-on clamp for existing antenna installations to provide the needed friction
to stop slippage in medium to severe winds.
Use on rotators to stop slippage. Alternative to pinning masts and risk
stripping gears. Use on antennas to stop slippage on mast.
• Large ground mountedrotating bases for turning thewhole tower.
• Large elevated rotors forrotating towers on towers.
• Accessories for mountingantennas to rotating towers.
• New rotor control system fortracking and aligning multistacked antennas.
• Turn, align and track all yourantennas with one Computercontrol system. Auto bandselection from your radio.
KØXG Systems1906 Valley Vista DrBettendorf, IA 52722(563) 441-5751
www.K0XG.com
KØXG Systems
AntennaRotationandControlSystems
Visit Our Web Site!www.K0XG.com
JulAug.pmd 6/10/2005, 3:51 PM46
NCJ July/August 2005 47
A picture is worth a thousand words...
With the
ANTENNA MODELTM
wire antenna analysis program for Windows® you get true 3D far field patterns that are far more informative than conventional 2D patterns or wire-frame pseudo-3D patterns.
Now you can have all the advantages of the MININEC code and Sommerfeld-Norton ground too, down to 0.02 wavelengths above ground. No split load, split source, or equiva-lent monotaper element approximations are needed. Enjoy superior graphing and 2D far field plot comparison capability.
Describe the antenna to the program in an easy-to-use spreadsheet-style format, and then with one mouse-click the program shows you the antenna pattern, front to back ratio, front to rear ratio, input impedance, efficiency, SWR, and more.
An optional SSymbols window with formula evaluation capability can do your calculations for you. A MMatch Wizard designs Gamma, T, or Hairpin matches for Yagi antennas. A CClamp Wizard calculates the equivalent diameter of Yagi element clamps. YYagi Optimization finds Yagi dimensions that satisfy performance objectives you specify. Major antenna properties can be graphed as a function of frequency.
There is nno built-in segment limit. Your models can be as large and complicated as your system permits.
ANTENNA MODEL is only $85. This includes a Web site download aand a permanent backup copy on CD-ROM. Visit our Web site for more information about ANTENNA MODEL.
or PC printer port for automatic antenna switching
as you change bands.
XT-4 CW Memory Keyer
Battery powered and small size for VHF rover, FD,
DXpeditions and vacations. 4 memories.
XT-4BEACON - CW Beacon IDer
Easy to program IDer for VHF beacons. Low power.
Selectable speeds 5-25 WPM.
Visit our web site for new products.
Unified Microsystems PO Box 133
Slinger, WI 53086 262-644-9036
www.unifiedmicro.com
NCJ Subscription Order CardThe National Contest Journal features articles bytop contesters, letters, hints, statistics, scores,NA Sprint, NA QSO Parties, and more. Big gun orsmall, the NCJ provides you with a valuablesource of information on the active world ofcompetitive radio.
Subscription rates for 6 issues (one year):
In the US, surface mail $20 ($28 First Class)In Canada by airmail $31Elsewhere, surface mail $32 ($40 Airmail)
Name
Call
Address
City
State or Zip or
Province Postal Code
Mail to NCJ Circulation, ARRL, 225 Main Street,Newington, CT 06111, USA.
Remittance must be in US funds and checks mustbe drawn on a bank in the US.Maximum term is 12 issues and prices are subjectto change without notice.
Hot Rodz™ Adjustable Antenna Capacity Hats• Doubles the efficiency of mobile antennas. • Allows reduction/elimination of whip. • Includes machined hub, 6", 12", and 24" Rodz.DXE-HR-1P For Hustler Mobile
Antennas ...................$37.50DXE-HR-2P For Screwdriver
Antennas ...................$47.95DXE-RODZ-48P 48" rods ....................$12.95DXE-RODZ-72P 72" rods ....................$22.50DXE-MM-1* Auto transformer.......$34.95*Auto transformer matches low impedance of short antennas for lower SWR.
Verticals on Sale!Best Antenna Value Anywhere!Easiest assembly and tuning of any multi-band vertical.4BTV (10, 15, 20, 40m).........................$108.755BTV (10, 15, 20, 40, & 75-80m) .........$138.756BTV (10, 15, 20, 30, 40, & 75-80m) ...$168.75See DXEngineering.com for details!
Patent Pending
Check our secure website for Sales, Specials, E-mail and
the parts that you need!Tech/International: 330.572.32001.800.777.0703
Order Today!DXEngineering.com
RFI Suppression Beads • Reduce or eliminate ignition/injector noise • 3 S-units improvement not uncommon!• Hear many more stations• New 31-mix is optimal for HF• Special large-mass beads• Snaps on—no cutting• Mobile or home use—any RFI applicationDXE-CSB-275P Up to 0.275", 10-pack ...................$23.25DXE-CSB-525P Up to 0.525", 5-pack .....................$22.25DXE-CSB-750P Up to 0.750", 5-pack .....................$25.80
High Torque Stainless Saddle ClampsAvailable in nine sizes ranging from 0.5" to 3.0".• Exact fit to tubing sizes• 18-8 stainless steel U-bolt• As-cast rippled surface on saddleComplete dimensions available on our website.Starting at just $3.99!
Tilt BaseEasily raise/lower your Hustler, Hy-Gain or Butternut for tuning, weather, or CC&R accommodation.DXE-TB-1P For Hustler verticals;$39.95DXE-TB-2P For Butternut and
most Hy-Gain 1/4-wave verticals....$59.95
Radial KitKit includes 12 radials cut to length, four each for 10, 15, and 20 meters.1/4 inch ring lugs areincluded. Just strip the wire ends, crimp, and solder.Attach to a radial plate to maximize the performanceof your HF vertical antenna.DXE-RADW-1K 12 radial wire set for
10, 15, and 20m...................$14.95DXE-RADW-40MK 4 radial wire set for 40m......$12.95DXE-RADW-80MK 4 radial wire set for 80m......$23.95
Polyphaser Lightning ProtectionEasy to install—much cheaper than a new radio! See website for higher power and other frequencies.PPC-IS-50UX-CO Flange, 2KW at HF, 375W at VHF...$56.95See DXEngineering.com for many more Polyphaser products!
8-Direction Transmit Four Square With Controller• W8JI design provides increased gain and F/B over other designs
• EIGHT directions plus Omni• 5 KW CW/10 KW PEP SSB• Proven high power DX Engineering RF Relays• Professional quality circuit board layout for reliable performance
• Weatherproof welded stainless steel enclosure and chassis• Delay line assemblies available• 160, 80, and 40m bands—other bands available soonDXE-TFS-1P..............................................................$695.00First units available in September!
Active Receive Antenna• W8JI design • Operates from 100 kHz to 30 MHz—killer SWL antenna!
• Receive only • Same performance as a full size antenna
• Uses 102 inch whip for antenna element• Directional arrays easily set up using DX Engineering Receive Four Square
• Can be vertical or dipole configurationDXE-ARAV-1P Active Receive Antenna,
vertical configuration ..................$229.00DXE-ARAH-1P Active Receive Antenna,
horizontal configuration .............$259.00
Stainless Radial Plate with Coax Attachment Makes radial attachment a snap!• Fits pipe, 4x4 and 6x6 posts• 0.125" thick 304 stainless steel• High current coax connection to radials• Accommodates 60-120 radialsDXE-RADP-1P Complete with 20 stainless
bolt sets ........................................$49.95DXE-RADP-1HWK 20 sets of 0.25"
stainless hardware ..........................$4.95DXE-8x16RT Coax jumper cable—interface cable for
easy connection to Hustler BTV....$13.95DXE-CAVS-1P Stainless saddle clamp, for attachment
to round tube 0.5" to 1.75" o.d........$7.89DXE-363-SST Silver/Teflon® bulkhead ...................$6.95
DXE-ARAV-1P
Receive Four Square With Controller• W8JI design• Performance of a 2-wavelength Beverage antenna in a fraction of the space
• Better than EWE, Flag, Pennant, or K9AY arrays
• Operates from 100 kHz to 30 MHz• 4 directions selectable—superior F/B• Can use with DX Engineering 102 inch Active Antenna for full size performance
DXE-RFS-1P Receive Four Square with Controller ...$289.95Remote Antenna Switches• Best SWR and port isolation on the market!
• Weatherproof, welded stainless steel housing for best RF shielding
• 8-position switch• Controller included10 KW Key-Down RF Switch• Better than 60 dB of port-to-port isolation• Better than 1.1:1 SWR below 30 MHzRR8-SD-P.................................................................$495.005 KW Key-Down RF Switch• Better than 70 dB of port-to-port isolation• Better than 1.1:1 SWR below 30 MHzRR8-HP-P.................................................................$349.00
Saratoga EZ-PSK Interfaces• Sound card interface for digital mode operation
• No jumpers—just plug in and go • No external power required• Icom, Kenwood, and Yaesu versions available• USB interface versions also available• All packages include CD with HamScope and Digipan software
EZ-PSK, Icom 706/703............................SALE! only $39.95EZ-PSK, Non-USB models..........................................$43.95EZ-PSK, USB models..................................................$73.95See DXEngineering.com for more details!
Reversible Beverage System RBS-1P• Two Beverage antennas in the same space, receive in opposing directions
• Both antennas can share common feedline to one receiver or use two feedlines to different receivers
• Simply apply 12-15 Vdc to the feedline to switch receive direction
DXE-RBS-1P .........................................$129.00DXE-FVC-1 Feed point voltage coupler when
purchased with RSB-1P .....$59.00
Patent Pending
HOT WYRZ™ Shortened Multi-band Antenna• Lightweight design• 3.5 through 30 MHz• Works on Ham and SWL frequencies
• 74 feet long—no coils—linear loaded elements • Works best with 4:1 balun (in-tuner or separate)• UV-rated polymer insulators • Includes center and end insulators, stainless steel hardware,100 ft. stranded 300 Ohm feedline, 100 ft. Dacron guy rope
DX Engineering Current Baluns• Amateur and commercial models with power handling of 5, 10, and 10 KW-plus
• High power baluns for use w/antenna tuners• High efficiency, low loss—designs by W8JI • 1:1, 2:1, 4:1, 6:1, 9:1, and 12:1 ratios availableStarting at just $84.95!
Patent Pending
Patent Pending
FREE Hat!With a $100
Purchase
HOT WYRZ™ Ladder Fed Dipole Antenna• Rugged, lightweight design • Stainless steel hardware• Includes 100 feet of premium ladder feedline
DXE-WA-260 260 ft. Dipole Antenna for 160m and below.....................$59.95
DXE-WA-135 135 ft. Dipole Antenna for 80m and below .................$49.95
DXE-WA-070 70 ft. Dipole Antenna for 40m and below .................$49.95
US TOWERMA40/MA550 ..........................$1099/1699MA770/MA850 ....................... $2799/4349TMM433SS/HD ...................... $1479/1789TMM541SS ...................................... $1939TX438/TX455 ......................... $1379/1899TX472/TX489MDPL ...............$3139/8239HDX538/HDX555 ....................$1649/2889HDX572MDPL .................................. $7549PLEASE CALL FOR HELP SELECTING A US TOWER FOR YOUR NEEDS. SHIPPED FACTORY DIRECT TO SAVE YOU MONEY!
UNIVERSAL ALUMINUM TOWERS4-40'/50'/60' ..................... $539/769/10897-50'/60'/70' .....................$979/1429/18699-40'/50'/60' ....................$759/1089/152912-30'/40' ...................................$579/89915-40'/50' ............................... $1019/144923-30'/40' .................................$899/133935-40' .............................................. $1569BOLD IN PART NUMBER SHOWS WIND LOAD CAPACITY. PLEASE CALL FOR MORE UNIVERSAL MODELS. SHIPPED DIRECT TO YOU TO SAVE YOU MONEY.
GAP ANTENNASChallenger DX .................................... $289Challenger Counterpoise ..................... $29Challenger Guy Kit ............................... $19Eagle DX ............................................ $299Eagle Guy Kit ....................................... $29Titan DX ............................................. $329Titan Guy Kit ........................................ $29Voyager DX ........................................$409Voyager Counterpoise ......................... $49Voyager Guy Kit ................................... $45PLEASE CALL FOR DELIVERY INFO.
PHILLYSTRAN GUY CABLEHPTG1200I ......................................$.45/ftHPTG2100I ......................................$.59/ftPLP2738 Big Grip (2100) ..................$6.00HPTG4000I ......................................$.89/ftPLP2739 Big Grip (4000) .................$8.50HPTG6700I ....................................$1.29/ftPLP2755 Big Grip (6700) ............... $12.00HPTG11200 ....................................$1.89/ftPLP2758 Big Grip (11200) .............. $18.00PLEASE CALL FOR HELP SELECTING THE PHILLYSTRAN SIZE FOR YOUR PROJECT.
COMET ANTENNASGP15, 6m/2m/70cm Vertical ............. $159GP6, 2m/70cm Vertical ..................... $149GP9, 2m/70cm Vertical ..................... $189B10NMO, 2m/70cm Mobile .................. $39SB14, 6m/2m/70cm Mobile ................. $59SBB224NMO,2m/220/70cm ................ $69 SBB2NMO, 2m/70cm Mobile .............. $39SBB5NMO, 2m/70cm Mobile .............. $55SBB7NMO, 2m/70cm Mobile ............... $69UHV4/UHV6 ................................ $109/149MORE COMET ITEMS IN STOCK—CALL.
BENCHER / BUTTERNUTSkyhawk, Triband Beam ...................$1129HF2V, 2 Band Vertical ....................... $249HF5B, 5 Band Minibeam .................... $359HF6VX, 6 Band Vertical ..................... $339HF9VX, 9 Band Vertical .....................$369A1712, 12/17m Kit ................................. $54CPK, Counterpoise Kit ....................... $129RMKII, Roof Mount Kit ....................... $159STRII, Roof Radial Kit ........................ $125TBR160S, 160m Kit ........................... $139CALL FOR MORE BENCHER/BUTTERNUT.
FORCE 12–MULTIBANDC3 10/12/15/17/20m, 7 el .................$659C3E 10/12/15/17/20m, 8 el .................$699C3S 10/12/15/17/20m, 6 el .................$579C3SS 10/12/15/17/20m, 6 el .................$599C4 10/12/15/17/20/40m, 8 el ............$799C4S 10/12/15/17/20/40m, 7 el ............ $719C4SXL 10/12/15/17/20/40m, 8 el .......... $1019C4XL 10/12/15/17/20/40m, 9 el .......... $1189C19XR 10/15/20m, 11 el .........................$999C31XR 10/15/20m, 14 el .......................$1389CALL FOR MORE FORCE 12 ANTENNAS.
H2, Aluminum Hazer, 12 sq ft ............ $359H3, Aluminum Hazer, 8 sq ft .............. $269H4, HD Steel Hazer, 16 sq ft .............. $339
ALUMINUM ROOF TOWERSRT424, 4 Foot, 6 sq ft ......................... $159RT832, 8 Foot, 8 sq ft ........................ $239RT936, 9 Foot, 18 sq ft ......................$389RT1832, 17 Foot, 12 sq ft ................... $519RT2632, 26 Foot, 9 sq ft ....................$869
TOWER HARDWARE3/8"EE / EJ Turnbuckle ...................$11/121/2"x9"EE / EJ Turnbuckle ............. $18/191/2"x12"EE / EJ Turnbuckle ........... $21/223/16" / 1/4" Big Grips ..........................$5/6PLEASE CALL FOR MORE HARDWARE.
HIGH CARBON STEEL MASTS5 FT x .12" / 5 FT x .18" ..................$35/5910 FT x .18" / 11 FT x .12" .............$129/8016 FT x .18" / 14 FT x .12" .......... $179/10919 FT x .12" / 21 FT x .18" .......... $129/23522 FT x .25" / 24 FT x .25" .........$349/379
DXA Watch K7C in your Web browser. No special software required. DXA allows DXers to view the current status and activities of the DXpedition in near real-time. Within a few seconds after making your contact, you’ll see confi rmation of that contact entered in the DX log. But that's not all! See for yourself at www.cordell.org/DXA.
i756PROIII The DX’ers rig.Icom’s 756PRO series of rigs are proven performers, having racked up hundreds of thousands of Qs in DXpeditions all over the world. The PROIII’s digital advancements and its ability to pull the weak signals out of pileups is surpassed only by its big brother, the IC-7800.
Take your DX enjoyment to the next level. After completing your successful Kure Atoll contact and monitoring all the traffic on the bands,
jump in on www.cordell.org/KURE and watch the DXpedition excitement continue. Watch as your friends make their QSOs in near real-
time or check out some of the many other activities. Learn more about this special corner of the world and its fragile ecosystem as Cordell
Expeditions leads this international group of highly experienced radio amateurs and field scientists to this remote location!
