Annoying Contests

[w0sz]

Hello to the group.  Well, what can I say.  I've been a ham for many years but have never worked a CW contest before.  Well, I've had the opportunity to spend some time in Hawaii and I just happened to be here for the ARRL CW contest.  I took the K3 and Buddipole antenna with me to Hawaii.  I was suspect about the Buddipole antenna but my friend KI0KB insisted that I take his with me.  The wife and I are staying in a Condo on the Mauna Lani Resort on the Big Island north of Kona .  I setup the antenna outside the condo next to a lava field next to the golf course.  It has the 8 foot extension on the tripod base and I used the 9 foot whip with two counterpoise wires out into the lava field.  I took the RigExpert AA-54 with me and it was easy to prune the coil for 40 meters.  For 20 through 10 meters I adjusted the counterpoise for 20 meters and used the antenna tuner in the K3 to get the best swr on the bands below 20 meters.  What can I say.  The K3 worked like a charm.  Being in Hawaii is a bit different in that you are the DX and you try to work stateside.  My CW was a bit rusty but that's one of the beauties of the K3.  It does a very good job of decoding CW.  So when I would miss a letter of the call the K3 would catch it and I was good to go.  I have the 5 pole 500Hz CW filter in the K3 and the receiver was amazing.  I had 20 over Japanese stations right next to Stateside stations and was able to copy them without all the hash and inter-mode despite the key clicks from you know where.  I had a ball.  You know why the K3 works so well?  It's because Wayne and others are active hams and like to operate.  Wayne likes Contests!  Anyway, I again have to thank Elecraft for putting the fun back into the hobby.  To think I could travel to Hawaii with a K3 and a Buddipole and have so much fun.  BTW after the contest I was listening of 20 meters SSB and there was Sabu VU2ELJ.  He finished talking with a guy on the West Coast and I called him.  He was a S-2 with me but I gave him a call.  Guess what?  He came right back to me!  I've never worked India before but the K3 and the Buddipole vertical got through from the lava field, ha.  Best 73, Steve W0SZ
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[Gary K9GS]

Thanks for calling me on 40M Steve.  I remember our QSO.

You weren't loud but you had a good signal in between the noise
crashes.  There was a thunderstorm moving through Southern IL that was
pretty loud here in Southern Wisconsin.

The K3 did it's job!

I'm glad you enjoyed your first CW DX Contest!  So where are you going
for CQWW CW in November ?:))

On 2/19/2012 10:15 PM, [hidden email] wrote:
>
> Hello to the group.  Well, what can I say.  I've been a ham for many years but have never worked a CW contest before.  Well, I've had the opportunity to spend some time in Hawaii and I just happened to be here for the ARRL CW contest.  I took the K3 and Buddipole antenna with me to Hawaii.  I was suspect about the Buddipole antenna but my friend KI0KB insisted that I take his with me.  The wife and I are staying in a Condo on the Mauna Lani Resort on the Big Island north of Kona .  I setup the antenna outside the condo next to a lava field next to the golf course.  It has the 8 foot extension on the tripod base and I used the 9 foot whip with two counterpoise wires out into the lava field.  I took the RigExpert AA-54 with me and it was easy to prune the coil for 40 meters.  For 20 through 10 meters I adjusted the counterpoise for 20 meters and used the antenna tuner in the K3 to get the best swr on the bands below 20 meters.  What can I say.  The K3 worked like a charm.  Be
 ing in Hawaii is a bit different in that you are the DX and you try to work stateside.  My CW was a bit rusty but that's one of the beauties of the K3.  It does a very good job of decoding CW.  So when I would miss a letter of the call the K3 would catch it and I was good to go.  I have the 5 pole 500Hz CW filter in the K3 and the receiver was amazing.  I had 20 over Japanese stations right next to Stateside stations and was able to copy them without all the hash and inter-mode despite the key clicks from you know where.  I had a ball.  You know why the K3 works so well?  It's because Wayne and others are active hams and like to operate.  Wayne likes Contests!  Anyway, I again have to thank Elecraft for putting the fun back into the hobby.  To think I could travel to Hawaii with a K3 and a Buddipole and have so much fun.  BTW after the contest I was listening of 20 meters SSB and there was Sabu VU2ELJ.  He finished talking with a guy on the West Coast and I called him.  He w
 as a S-2 with me but I gave him a call.  Guess what?  He came right back to me!  I've never worked India before but the K3 and the Buddipole vertical got through from the lava field, ha.  Best 73, Steve W0SZ
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--


73,

Gary K9GS

Check out K9NS on the web:  http://www.k9ns.com
Greater Milwaukee DX Association: http://www.gmdxa.org
Society of Midwest Contesters: http://www.w9smc.com

************************************************


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[Edward R Cole]

Tony,

Thanks for mention of EME.  There are many weak-signal VHF to mw hams
that are discovering the K3 for its superb receiver performance!  I
made that move starting in 2010 when I bought my K3/10 (#4043) and
began to accumulate transverters for use on VHF and up.  This was
considered the best performance approach for many years before the
advent of dc-light transceivers.  1998 brought out the FT-847 turning
a lot of heads and resulting in a lot of eme'rs obtaining one and
selling off the transverters.  The pendulum is swinging back (a lot
to do with new SDR's).

We look forward to VHF contests as this increases activity and
increases odds of working long distance.  EME contests are the
highlight of the year.  Yes we use standard signal reports: OOO means
I copied your call and heard my call.  RO means I copy your signal
report.  RRR means I copied your RO, and 73 says all reports were
copied by both stations and  the contact is valid.  Thus four
separate reports are sent before EME is a valid contact.  Try that in
an HF contest?

Oh and the path loss is only 255 dB.  This is the kind of stuff that
pushes performance and advance in technology (and quality).  This is
WHY I purchased my K3.

I avoid HF contests, but understand the attraction.  I do not work a
lot of HF DX, but that was what got me interested in ham radio.  I do
not operate on CW very much (but it was how I started out in 1958
with a Novice license on 40m).  BTW it still is the main mode for EME
though digital is gaining in popularity.

So I appreciate the forces that improve our stations.  BTW operating
with 14w on HF is fun!  I am working on my 300w HF amp and hope to
have it running by next weekend (expect 14w/250w out from a pair of
MRF422).  That's only 13 dB improvement (two s-units).

Thanks, Elecraft, for pushing the limits!

------------------------------

Message: 31
Date: Sun, 19 Feb 2012 20:26:12 -0600
From: Tony Estep <[hidden email]>
Subject: Re: [Elecraft] Annoying contests
To: [hidden email]

Yep, that is the key to progress in ham gear (and most other things
too). Everybody, even the no-code ragchewer, could adopt Nate's
attitude and demand great performance from their ham gear.

And contests, chasing DX in a massive split pileup, working EME, and
other on-the-edge stuff is the only way to really push the state of
the art forward. Anyone can claim that their radio meets some vague
esthetic standard of excellence, but full-throttle operating under
competitive conditions sorts the pretenders from the contenders.

===snip


73, Ed - KL7UW, WD2XSH/45
======================================
BP40IQ   500 KHz - 10-GHz   www.kl7uw.com
EME: 50-1.1kw?, 144-1.4kw, 432-QRT, 1296-?, 3400-?
DUBUS Magazine USA Rep [hidden email]
"Kits made by KL7UW" http://www.kl7uw.com/kits.htm
======================================
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[Ian Kahn, KM4IK]

All,

It seems to me we are beating a dead horse here.  Contests are here as
part of our hobby, just as many other hobbies have
contests/competitions.  I enjoy contests.  I like the challenge and, in
some cases, have made improvements to my station as a result of contest
operations.  For those of you who don't like contests, simply don't
contest.  12m, 17m, 30m, and 60m are "no contest" bands.  Please feel
free to use them and ragchew to your hearts' delight.  Ragchew on all
the bands when the contest is for some mode other than that which you
operate.  However, it strikes me as beyond the pale the course this
thread has taken based on a few people's dislike of radio sport.

The beautiful thing about this hobby is that there is something for
everyone.  I don't enjoy CW or QRP, but know many people who do.  While
I prefer other operating modes, I still enjoy listening to, and learning
from, CW QRPers' experiences.  I enjoy operating PSK31, but know of many
people who don't.  That's fine, too.  I think it is time we all realized
that this hobby is much, much larger than any one person or group and
his/her/their interests.  Not to put too fine a point on it, but I feel
it is time to draw this discussion to a close before Eric has to get out
his Wouff Hong and start beating us all with it!

Just my two cents' worth.

73,

--Ian

Ian Kahn, KM4IK
Roswell, GA
[hidden email]
K3 #281, P3 #688


On 2/20/2012 4:07 AM, Edward R. Cole wrote:

> Tony,
>
> Thanks for mention of EME.  There are many weak-signal VHF to mw hams
> that are discovering the K3 for its superb receiver performance!  I
> made that move starting in 2010 when I bought my K3/10 (#4043) and
> began to accumulate transverters for use on VHF and up.  This was
> considered the best performance approach for many years before the
> advent of dc-light transceivers.  1998 brought out the FT-847 turning
> a lot of heads and resulting in a lot of eme'rs obtaining one and
> selling off the transverters.  The pendulum is swinging back (a lot
> to do with new SDR's).
>
> We look forward to VHF contests as this increases activity and
> increases odds of working long distance.  EME contests are the
> highlight of the year.  Yes we use standard signal reports: OOO means
> I copied your call and heard my call.  RO means I copy your signal
> report.  RRR means I copied your RO, and 73 says all reports were
> copied by both stations and  the contact is valid.  Thus four
> separate reports are sent before EME is a valid contact.  Try that in
> an HF contest?
>
> Oh and the path loss is only 255 dB.  This is the kind of stuff that
> pushes performance and advance in technology (and quality).  This is
> WHY I purchased my K3.
>
> I avoid HF contests, but understand the attraction.  I do not work a
> lot of HF DX, but that was what got me interested in ham radio.  I do
> not operate on CW very much (but it was how I started out in 1958
> with a Novice license on 40m).  BTW it still is the main mode for EME
> though digital is gaining in popularity.
>
> So I appreciate the forces that improve our stations.  BTW operating
> with 14w on HF is fun!  I am working on my 300w HF amp and hope to
> have it running by next weekend (expect 14w/250w out from a pair of
> MRF422).  That's only 13 dB improvement (two s-units).
>
> Thanks, Elecraft, for pushing the limits!
>
> ------------------------------
>
> Message: 31
> Date: Sun, 19 Feb 2012 20:26:12 -0600
> From: Tony Estep<[hidden email]>
> Subject: Re: [Elecraft] Annoying contests
> To: [hidden email]
>
> Yep, that is the key to progress in ham gear (and most other things
> too). Everybody, even the no-code ragchewer, could adopt Nate's
> attitude and demand great performance from their ham gear.
>
> And contests, chasing DX in a massive split pileup, working EME, and
> other on-the-edge stuff is the only way to really push the state of
> the art forward. Anyone can claim that their radio meets some vague
> esthetic standard of excellence, but full-throttle operating under
> competitive conditions sorts the pretenders from the contenders.
>
> ===snip
>
>
> 73, Ed - KL7UW, WD2XSH/45
> ======================================
> BP40IQ   500 KHz - 10-GHz   www.kl7uw.com
> EME: 50-1.1kw?, 144-1.4kw, 432-QRT, 1296-?, 3400-?
> DUBUS Magazine USA Rep [hidden email]
> "Kits made by KL7UW" http://www.kl7uw.com/kits.htm
> ======================================
> ______________________________________________________________
> Elecraft mailing list
> Home: http://mailman.qth.net/mailman/listinfo/elecraft
> Help: http://mailman.qth.net/mmfaq.htm
> Post: mailto:[hidden email]
>
> This list hosted by: http://www.qsl.net
> Please help support this email list: http://www.qsl.net/donate.html

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[mikerodgerske5gbc]

See comment below:

To: [hidden email]
Message-ID: <[hidden email]>
Content-Type: text/plain; charset=ISO-8859-1; format=flowed


The K3 is certainly where it is in the *sales* pecking order because of
DXers and contesters.  Not much need to pay for the extra performance a
K3 offers if all you're going to do is rag chew and check into nets.

Dave   AB7E

I'm thankful for the dx'ers and contesters that keep the money flowing but I'm neither.
I'm a rag chewer to the fullest. I don't like nets in general but... I used to partake in a rag chew net on 14.305 and about 15-30 minutes into the net, another one started on
14.3075 which gave me fits!
That's what led me to get a k3!

It may not matter if your spinning the dial but if you have scheds or something similar it does. It's also fulfilling to operate such a fine piece of equipment.

I know we rag chewers are a minority and I'm ok with that. I work a lot of weak signal 6-20m plus 60m. Very little 40 and no 75.

73
Mike R

Sent from my spy ring

Amateur/Ham Radio KE5GBC
HF & Echolink mobile
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[Julius Fazekas n2wn]

*chuckles*

It's funny to see the complaints after a major contest. (as long as I've been a ham)

But recently I have heard complaints about EME (!?!) really... seems that the newfangled digital version has raised the cackles of some of the "traditionalists". Go figure.

I know when the moon is low on the horizon and all round and aglow, I do ponder trying 6M EME. I think it would be pretty cool.

Worked a couple of K2s (that I know about) and plenty of K3s over the weekend. Found folks up to 150 on some bands, and much less on others, and this with less stellar SF numbers than during CQWWDX. 20 had activity around the clock. 'Twas fun... and the K3 did a fine job as usual!

(plenty of calls from here heard too!)

Cheers,
Julius
n2wn