In the log this week
* Contest Spotlight: Worked All Europe DX RTTY
* MVARC Gets Prepared at Mount Vernon Hospital
* MVARC Nets on the Air
* What’s happening with DX?
* Solar Activity Update
* Upcoming Contests
* Interesting Online Radio Content
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Contest Spotlight: Worked All Europe DX RTTY
This weekend brings the Worked All Europe DX Contest on RTTY from 0000 UTC on Saturday, November 8 (so 7 PM ET on Friday) until 2359 Sunday, November 9 (6:59 PM ET on Sunday). The exchange consists of signal report and a serial number starting at 001. If a station does not send a serial number, 000 should be logged. Bands of operation will be 80 meters, 40 meters, 20 meters, 15 meters, and 10 meters. Operating categories include Single-Op LOW (100 Watts or less), Single-Op HIGH (Over 100 Watts), and Multi-Op. Single-Op stations can only work 36 of the 48 hours of the contest and off times must be a minimum of 60 minutes. Multipliers for non-European stations are the number of countries defined in the WAE Country List and for European stations they are every non-European DXCC entity with some exceptions in the rules. Country multipliers are also weighted by band so 80 meter mults are multiplied by 4, 40 meter mults by 3, and 20/15/10 meter mults by 2. The total multiplier is the sum of the weighted multiplier points of all bands.
Unlike the SSB and CW variants, in the RTTY version everyone can work everyone. The only intercontinental requirement is in QTC traffic. And what is QTC traffic? Well, it is a unique part of the WAE contests where you can get additional points by reporting contest QSOs to DX stations. These are involved message passing style reports consisting of time, call sign, and serial number. So the example given in the rules is “1307 DA1AA 431” which means that the station DA1AA was contacted at 1307 UTC and sent serial number 431. Those QTCs can only be sent once, and if transferred correctly count for a point to the sender and receiver. Up to 10 QTCs can be sent by two stations. There are some involved rules for sending multiples, so make sure to check out the rules for details. Final scores are the total QSOs plus QTCs on all bands multiplied by the band-weighted multipliers. Full details and rules can be found at https://www.darc.de/der-club/referate/conteste/wae-dx-contest/en/wae-rules/.
The WAE contests are a great way to work a bunch of DX and test your message passing mettle with the QTCs. Good luck.
MVARC Gets Prepared at Mount Vernon Hospital
Photo Courtesy Corey KN4YZY
This week MVARC went to Mount Vernon Hospital to check the radio gear that is in place for potential emergencies. Ken W4RUS, Corey KN4YZY, Gersohn KO4IUK, and Jim K4HYT made sure everything was working as needed. Jim provided a new microphone for the setup as the existing one had a cracked cable. They also updated the memories programmed into the FTM-400XDR with the latest information for frequencies around the area. It was a successful outing and the team followed it up with lunch. Thanks to the team for their hard work to keep us prepared to assist the hospital in times of need.
MVARC Nets on the Air
* 2 Meter FM Net: Tuesdays at 7 PM [146.655/- MHz (141.3 Hz PL Tone) ]
* 2 Meter Digital Net: Immediately Follows 2 Meter FM Net [146.655/- MHz C4FM]
* MVARC Slow Speed CW Roundtable: Saturday and Sunday at 7:30 AM [3.565 MHz CW]
* MVARC Cherry Tree Net: Saturday and Sunday at 8:30 AM [3.920 MHz LSB]
What’s Happening with DX
There will be a good amount of DX on the bands this week. Stations on the air include Cambodia (XU7O), Ogasawara Islands (JD1BMH), Sierra Leone (9L8MD), Madagascar (5R8IC, 5R8TT, 5R8XX), Togo (5V7RU), Chatham Islands (ZL7/LZ1GC), Tanzania (5H3MB), Burundi (9U1RU), Gabon (TR8CR), Mali (TZ4AM), Rodrigues Island (3B9KW, 3B9/M0CFW), Colombia (HK3JCL), Marcus Island Minami Tori Shima Islands (JG8NQJ/JD1), Solomon Islands (H44MS), and Antarctica (DP0GVN).
A calendar of DXpeditions can be found at https://dxnews.com/calendar/
Solar Activity Update
As we go to press the Solar Flux Index (SFI) was 163 and the estimated sunspot number was 104 with 5 numbered sunspot regions visible from Earth. Over the last week the SFI has increased. Solar activity has been at moderate levels recently. The geomagnetic field was at G1 (minor) to G3 (strong) storm levels and the Kp index reached 7 yesterday. The solar wind peaked at nearly 700 km/s. Solar activity is predicted to be at moderate to high levels with geomagnetic activity at G3 (strong) storming levels today due to the anticipated arrival of a full halo coronal mass ejection, at G2 storming levels Saturday due to the arrival of a second coronal mass ejection, and at unsettled to active levels Sunday. The chance of solar radiation storms at the S1 or greater level is at 20% today through Sunday. R1 to R2 radio blackouts are expected in the near term with a predicted probability of 80% today through Sunday. R3 or greater blackouts are possible with a 35% chance predicted today through Sunday. There is a chance of 6 meter propagation so keep an eye on the band and spotting clusters to be ready for the next time the magic band does its thing. Despite the current stormy conditions, it remains a fantastic time for amateurs to get on the air and work the world.
Good sources of real-time solar information include https://www.spaceweatherlive.com/ and https://solarham.com/. A good overview of conditions can be found at https://dx.qsl.net/propagation/. To see D-layer absorption data and associated radio blackouts, visit https://www.swpc.noaa.gov/products/d-region-absorption-predictions-d-rap. To see real-time Maximum Usable Frequency (MUF) and Critical Frequency (foF2) information from radiosonde data, visit https://prop.kc2g.com/.
Upcoming Contests
On the contest calendar this weekend we will see the ARRL EME Contest, the WAE DX Contest on RTTY, the PODXS 070 Club Triple Play Low Band Sprint, the FISTS Saturday Sprint, the 10-10 International Fall Contest on Digital, the JIDX Phone Contest, the SKCC Weekend Sprintathon, the OK/OM DX Contest on CW, the CQ-WE Contest on CW, the AWA Bruce Kelley 1929 QSO Party, the FIRAC HF Contest, and the 4 States QRP Group Second Sunday Sprint. As always the K1USN SSTs, MSTs, and CWTs will also be on the air.
The full contest calendar with events and exchanges can be found at https://www.contestcalendar.com/weeklycont.php
Interesting Online Radio Content
Tim K5OHY takes a look at the NorCal Doublet Antenna -
Mark KD7DTS, Ara N6ARA, and Justin K5EM talk about building community through radio sport for Sofas on the Air -
Randy K5ZD talks CQ WW RTTY with Gabry IT9RGY and Prezmek SQ9ORQ -
Today I Found Out explores the origins of SOS as a Universal Distress Call -
Steve KM9G takes a look at versions 2 and 3 of the SI4732 radios -
Mike K8MRD takes a look at chokes made by KF8ASE -
George VK2AOE builds a digital VFO for a 49er kit -
Walt K4OGO builds and tests the ARRL Momobeam Moxon and Yagi for 10 and 6 meters -
Rob N1NUG takes a look at the zBitx QRP radio -
Walt K4OGO tests out a phased vertical array using the Performance Z-Arrays system -
Matt M0DQW takes a look at a portable Vivid RTL-SDR from UUGear -
Josh KI6NAZ compares and contrasts the Baofeng Mini and TidRadio H3 and H3 Plus -
That’s it for this week.
Best 73,
Ed
N2EC
