QRV 10 Meter band contest

QRV AT THE QTH OF ZS6DLL

15/12/2013

My good friend Dick (ZS6RSH) and i decided to setup a temporary station in my back garden to take part in the ARRL 10 meter band contest on Saturday 15/12/2013

STATION SETUP

Dick attaching the poles to the base plate

HOMEBREW MOXON ANTENNA USED BELOW

ANTENNA ATTACHED AND GETTING READY TO HOIST INTO THE AIR

DICK CHECKING THINGS AT THE STATION

DICK OPERATING CW WITH HIS ELEKRAFT K2 RIG RUNNING 5 WATTS QRP

SOME INFORMATION ABOUT THE CONTEST

Contest Details and Objectives

1. Object: For Amateurs worldwide to exchange QSO information with as many stations as possible on the 10 meter band.

2. Date and Contest Period: Second full weekend of December. Starts 0000 UTC Saturday; ends 2359 UTC Sunday (December 14-15, 2013)

2.1. All stations operate no more than 36 hours out of the 48-hour period.

2.2. All off-times must be a minimum of 30 consecutive minutes (see General Rule 3.15)

2.3. Listening time counts as operating time.

3. Entry Categories:

Note: Mixed-mode entries - read rule 6.5

3.1. Single Operator (use of spotting networks is NOT PERMITTED):

3.1.1. QRP (5 watts or less)

3.1.1.1. Mixed Mode (Phone and CW)

3.1.1.2. Phone only

3.1.1.3. CW only

3.1.2. Low Power (150 watts or less)

3.1.2.1. Mixed Mode (Phone and CW)

3.1.2.2. Phone only

3.1.2.3. CW only

3.1.3. High Power (1500 watts or less or your country's maximum power limit, whichever is less)

3.1.3.1. Mixed Mode (Phone and CW).

3.1.3.2. Phone only.

3.1.3.3. CW only.

3.2. Single Operator stations that use spotting networks will be entered in the Multioperator, Single Transmitter category.

3.3. Multioperator, Single Transmitter (use of spotting networks is permitted):

3.3.1. Low Power (150 watts or less)

3.3.2. High Power (1500 watts or less or your country's maximum power limit, whichever is less)

3.3.3. Includes single operators using spotting networks.

3.3.4. This category is mixed-mode only.

4. Contest Exchange:

4.1. W/VE stations (including Hawaii and Alaska) send RS(T) and state or province (District of Columbia stations send signal report and DC).

4.2. DX stations (including KH2, KP4, etc) send RS(T) & sequential serial number starting with 001.

4.3. Mexican stations transmit RS(T) and their state.

4.4. Maritime mobile stations send RS(T) and ITU Region (R1, R2 or R3).

5. Scoring:

5.1. QSO points:

5.1.1. Two points for each complete two-way phone QSO.

5.1.2. Four points for each two-way CW QSO.

5.2. Multipliers: (counted once on phone and once on CW).

5.2.1. Each US state and the District of Columbia.

5.2.2. Canada: 14 provinces - See Appendix A at bottom for complete list.                  

5.2.3. Mexico: 32 states - see Appendix B at bottom for complete list.

5.2.4. DXCC countries (except US, Canada and Mexico).

5.2.4.1. KH6 and KL7 participate and count as US states, not DXCC Entities.

5.2.5. ITU regions (maritime mobiles only).

5.3. Final Score: Multiply QSO points by total multipliers (the sum of states/VE provinces/Mexican states/DXCC countries/ITU regions per mode).

OVERALL EXPERIENCE OF THE DAY

Well this is the first contest i have participated in since i took a break from Ham Radio for something like 10 years. I don't consider myself to be a serious contestor but it was great to take part ,talk to and make contacts with other Ham radio Operators around the world. The two modes of operation we used in the contest were CW (5 watts) which Dick was operating and SSB (phone) which dick and were operating initially at 30 watts and then stepping up to 80 watts off my Yaesu FT-857D rig. Disk was running an Elekcraft K2 QRP rig. The antenna we used was a Home brew "Moxon" antenna, first time i had used one of these antennas so it was a nice interesting experience to learn about this antenna and use it in the contest. The antenna is a directional antenna with a driven element in front and a reflector element on the back , in addition to that the antenna exhibits a high front to back ratio as well as a nice low signal to noise ratio on the rigs.  Overall i found the antenna was very effective and we were able to make contacts quite easily on CW as well as Phone when we had the antenna pointing in the right direction.The rotation of the antenna was done by pulling a guy rope attached tot eh top on the antenna and pulled to what ever direction we wanted to work "Armstrong Style" Hi Hi.

Overall a great day in the sun enjoying the great hobby of "Amateur Radio". 

Contest Log Sheet