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Contests
One of the more enjoyable parts of ham radio for me is contesting. While I can't
compete with the Big Guns running the full legal limit, the latest radio, and
monobanders for each band I still have a lot of fun. For me it is a case of
competing with myself, trying to do better than I did last year. While I don't
always beat last years score, it does provide a reasonable goal.
The DX contest sponsored by the
ARRL and
CQ Magazine are the
ones I am most likely to play in. The DX contest will usually draw a
pretty good crowd so it isn't so hard to find someone to work that you haven't
worked before. An added bonus in the ARRL DX contest is that the DX
stations can only work US or Canadian stations for points. The DX contest
have one weekend for CW (Morse code) and a different for SSB. So for each
contest you get two weekends.
There are lots of other contest sponsored by different organizations during the
year. The WA7BNM site has a
good listing and you will find one contest or another just about any weekend.
You should always find out what the rules are for any contest you plan to enter.
The information to be exchanged will vary depending on the contest, and it's
better to know what it is before you make a call so you don't have to ask the
person on the other end what is going on.
There are two ways to make contacts in a contest. If you have a big signal you
may want to sit on a frequency and call for contacts. Usually something like CQ
Contest from N4QVM, or QRZ Contest de N4QVM. This is called running stations and
works fine if you have a big signal and can pick out the callsigns coming back
to you. Even with a weaker signal it can work if you get away from the thick of
the battle. You have to find a frequency that is at least quiet enough for other
stations to hear you.
The alternative for low power stations is the hunt and pounce method. This
involves tuning up and down through the bands and working any station you
haven't worked before. Usually you can work a station once on each band, but
there are a few contest around that only allow you to work the station once
period. You have to keep track of the stations you have worked so you don't try
to work them again when it doesn't count for any points. This will usually get a
short reply of "Dupe" and the other station keeps on calling. This isn't an
insult, it just means that you are a duplicate contact and don't count for any
points. A computer logging program comes in real handy during contests since it
will point out all dupes when you enter the call.
If you are working toward DXCC and don't have all that many countries worked
yet, it is possible to work that first hundred in a DX contest in a single
weekend.