HAM RADIO CONTESTING 101
Why contest? It is big fun in and of itself, and you can easily measure your progress as you improve. There is nothing like a contest to point out if those station improvements you've made are really working. You'll find that being from a low population western state makes you a hot commodity in many contests - for once you'll be the rare station as folks wait to get that Montana, Idaho or Wyoming multiplier! By picking and choosing your 'battles' you can fit the challenge of contesting to your available time, equipment, and interests. It is a nice mix of computers, radios, antennas, interfacing equipment together, and making new friends.
This is not your Elmer's contesting! Interfacing the personal computer to the rig has changed everything. The computer and freely available logging software not only keeps your log and submits it effortlessly as an e-mail attachment to the contest organizers, the computer also controls the rig's frequency, mode, and will call and answer CQ using WAV format audio files so you can rest your voice (sample). On CW the computer will generate the correct information and key your rig for you. Your job is to make sure the calls and exchanges entered into the log are accurate to avoid being penalized, ponder strategy as conditions change, and listen and learn from those contest operators who are more experienced then you. In contesting you can always improve your skills, station, and scores.
The following presentation suggests a way to get started in this aspect of radio sport. By no means is this the only way to go, but it is a direct path to getting started with little frustration. Enjoy the journey and be sure to give me a contest contact!
73,
Gene, KB7Q
gene@geneshea.com
GEAR UP
Transceiver -
Any rig that has an interface port built-in will do to
get started. Even though it has a receiver as wide as a barn door I used an Icom
706 when I started out. Mid-level rigs with more selective
receivers (i.e. Kenwood TS-850S, Icom 746Pro, Yaseu FT 1000 etc.) that stand up
better to strong adjacent signals found in a contest are very much to be
desired, but at this point the rig is probably the least important piece of
gear. The initial goal is to get the station interfaced correctly, master the logging
software, and jump into a contest or two. If you are lusting for a new rig anyhow check
out the online reviews and
send a check off to HRO or AES for that new FT-2000 or IC 756ProIII. Tell
your spouse that I made you do it - just don't give them my phone number!
In a contest you can improve your transceiver's receive performance significantly by simply turning off the pre-amp and even adding a bit of attenuation. This stops the "big boys" from over-loading your front end. You'll be surprised at how much garbage simply disappears with these few adjustments. The noise blanket is another source of receiver distortion - keep it off.
Starting out I'd stick to the low power class. QRP is pretty frustrating for beginners, and you can easily blow up a mis-tuned amplifier in the heat of battle trying to run high power. A bare-foot 100 watt transceiver keeps it simple and lets you concentrate on making and logging contest contacts.
Computer/Rig Interface - Probably the cheapest, most reliable interface box available to link your computer to the rig is microHam's USB II interface. For $139 you get the box, the correct cable for your rig, and a USB cable that goes to the computer. Not only does this box provide rig control to the computer, it supplies push-to-talk control, CW keying, and provides audio isolation between the computer's sound card output and the microphone input of the rig. Remember the goal is to have the computer do most of the CQ'ing and talking during the contest, so we'll be using the interface to ship audio files or code (for CW contests) from the computer to the rig on demand. This interface is a quality RF hardened piece of gear, MFJ it's not.
Computer - I like to use a laptop computer because I not only operate contests from home, but also my RV, a friend's QTH, or a mountain cabin. If the power drops out the battery in the laptop keeps the logging program alive until I can get things going again. By now any computer you use should be running Windows XP with at least 256 Mb of RAM. Go into the "Sounds and Audio Devices" control panel and hit the "Sounds Tab" and select "No Sounds" for the sounds scheme. You don't want the various beeps and boops of Windows XP going out over the air. In the "Day and Time" control panel you'll want to learn how to set the computer's internal clock accurately using the Internet. This will keep your log entries accurately time-stamped. The computer should have at least one USB port and a sound out connector like a headphone jack.
Logging Program - There are several excellent logging programs available, some for free. While folks have 'Holy Wars' over the pro and cons of each program, my choice was simple. On the advice of Fred, KE7X, I downloaded and mastered the N1MM logger program. I'm quite pleased with this program for several reasons: It is free, it is updated frequently, there is a discussion group on the Internet, and it just plain works. I've used it in both CW and SSB contests over the past three years. Click here to see a representative screen shot of the logging program.
You'll submit your log for scoring as an electronic file attachment to an e-mail sent to the contest organizers. An e-mail robot will even send you a confirmation of your log submission. All contest logger programs will support the Cabrillo file format required.
With modern contest logging software you should always work duplicate ('dupes') contacts. These days there is no penalty for doing so, and it is easier to just log a dupe then to try and tell the other ham you've already work. And who knows, you may not have really worked him the first time. It happens.
N1MM Logger and many other programs have a feature called "ESM" i.e. "Enter Sends Message". This means that as long as you keep hitting the enter key the computer will do what ever needs to happen next at each step of a contest contact. Seeing this feature in action just once will convince you that you need to master "ESM" mode no matter what. It streamlines and speeds along the QSO process.
Headphones - Trust me your family probably isn't nearly as excited about ham radio contesting as you are. Sure hamming keep you out of the Long Brach Saloon, but listening to 20 meter madness during a contest gets old in about 3 minutes if you're not part of the game. Headphone not only let you hear more during a contest, they keep family harmony intact. Spend the money and get a Heil or Sony headset. A Heil headset comes with a great boom microphone which you'll need for SSB contests anyway. I use a Sony headset for CW contests, it seems the Sony headset gives me a bit more audio output with my K-2 transceiver then the Heil. Tip: Learn to keep the receive audio level out of your rig fairly low, it will be less fatiguing over time, and it will protect your hearing. It is easy to get excited and crank the headphone gain way up, but in the long run it will just make you tried and careless sooner.
Antennas - This is where you get the most bang for the buck. At this point in the sunspot cycle anything you can do to improve your 20, 40, and 75/80 meter antenna farm is going to greatly improve your score and enjoyment. A directional antenna (a small tri-bander perhaps), not only gives you gain in one direction, the front to back ration kills signals off the back of the antenna so you can hear better in the desired direction. Don't have the space or money for better array? Can you operate from a club station near-by? I'm unable to do 160 meter contests well from my suburban QTH in Bozeman, but I have access to a cabin on 20 acres high in the mountains south of Livingston that really plays. Have radio can travel!
Station Comforts - A good chair, non-reflective bright lighting, and a supply of light snacks go a long way toward keeping your energy and efficiency up during a contest. Avoid caffeinated drinks until the very end - water or juice will do a much better job of keeping you hydrated.
SO MANY CONTESTS, SO LITTLE
TIME
Not all contests are a 48 hour death march like
operating the
CQ World Wide Contest as an all-band effort. I'm thinking I'm too old for that kind of abuse. You don't need to be a "ham
hermit" to have fun contesting. The
ARRL 10 Meter
Contest held each mid-December favors daylight only openings. The ARRL and
CQ Magazine 160 meter contests are after sunset affairs. I usually get a full
days sleep while making an all out effort in these contests. The National
Contest Journals sponsors four hour
Sprint events twice a year.
This same magazine also organizes the
North American QSO Party event
twice a year, these allow a maximum of 10 hours of total operating time. Even in
the big DX contests like the CQ World Wide or the ARRL DX contest you can be a
single band entry that by the nature of propagation limits your on the air
time. The CQ Magazine WPX Contest is
a great one for beginners; plenty of action and it even has a class for those with limited antenna
farms and for folks who are new to ham radio.
CQ or SEARCH and POUNCE?
At first you'll want to tune around your band of
choice in a contest, find a station calling CQ, listen to his exchange
while he works a few other stations, and then give him a call and exchange the
required information and log him. Then you'll tune around again and repeat the
process with a new CQ'ing station. This is search and pounce or S&P. A good way
to start, and an especially good way to find multipliers you've missed toward
the end of a contest. However, to do well in a contest most folks find a clear
frequency and call CQ. At first calling CQ and the response it generates will be
overwhelming, so stick with S&P until you feel comfortable driving the logging
program. However, your goal should be to get to the point where you can call CQ
yourself. Even slow going calling CQ beats S&P in most cases. Learn to do both
techniques well, many times I'll S&P down the band until I find a clear spot to
call CQ.
Finding a clear frequency in a contest is the trick. Running low power to a random wire antenna in a tree in last year's SSB version of Sweepstakes I found myself up around 21.441 Mhz before I found clear air. A clear space is easier to find on CW, but if you go high up in the band you can still find room on SSB.
QUICK IMPROVEMENT TIPS
An Extra class ham ticket gives you the whole band
to contest in and access to all those Extra class hams calling CQ at the bottom
of the band. If you're a CW op 15 minutes a day with the
Morse Runner contest practice
program will greatly enhance your skills. Improve that antenna. Keep track of
how you do in each contest so you can see the progress you make over time. "Seat
time" is everything. I've won and lost my class in contests by just 1 or 2 contacts. With
experience you'll come to realize that those 20 contacts made in the last hour
of the contest make all the difference in how you'll place. Just knowing that
keeps me motivated until the end even though a hot shower and a soft bed seem
pretty tempting. Read the results posted to the
3830 web site
right after the contest ends, some of the narratives are quite informative and
you can compare your raw score to others right away without having to wait for
the official results to appear. Find a mentor. Become the master of the logging
program - yap, you'll probably have to read the manual!
USEFUL WEB LINKS
AUDACITY (audio file editing program)
