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Contesting

I keep notes on contests I’ve entered in my notebook in order to check my claimed scores against the adjudicated results, set targets for next time and to remember the highs and lows. Some of those notes are repeated below.

Further down are instructions for changing NTP servers so as to set the clock more accurately on a Windows PC and a couple of scoring spreadsheets for BERU (RSGB Commonwealth Contest).

Contest records

2008 (ZL2iFB)

  • CQ 160 CW. Had a brief play but my topband antennas are clearly no good and the amplifier was playing up. More work needed to even vaguely competitive.
  • LZ DX. Worked a handful just for the hell of it, and then got spammed by the contest organizers expecting me to enter ...
  • UBA . Worked about 50 to fill in a few ON band-slots.
  • ZL Jock White Memorial Field Day . Worked a handful, then discovered I should have been giving out branch 00 not 48 since I was a fixed station. Oops. Must read all the rules next time...
  • RSGB Commonwealth (BERU) . This was interesting for me. I had a reasonable start at 11pm local, worked through the night and took a couple of hours sleep around lunchtime the next day. Things were really slow going in the afternoon with no joy working the Africans behind the hill, so I took a long walk and contemplated calling it a day. In the end, I came back before dusk to find 40m open to G-land but although there were lots of G signals, they were all very weak (S-zeroes). I had a good long run and finished with a better score than last year. I logged with N1MM which doesn’t support BERU: I had to set find a contest that used serial numbers and allowed extra text for the HQ stations. After the contest, I converted the log to BERU format by a bit of hacking in NotePad and Word, and scored it manually on a spreadsheet printout (see below). 4515 raw points x Southern Hemispere Fudge Factor = 6601 points claimed.
  • WPX SSB . I wasn’t planning to enter this one ... but got carried away. After logging 100 QSOs in Logger32 which is pretty hopeless in a contest situation, I decided to transfer to N1MM, which was an interesting move. N1MM successfully imported the ADIF log extract but somehow I messed up the serial numbering. I couldn’t convince N1MM to continue numbering >1, and for some reason it wanted to restart at 1 on each band. In the end, I ignored the suggested serial number and simply used the QSO number at the bottom of the screen. The first day was a blast with good runs on 15 & 10m. Overnight, we had a power cut but luckily the generator works well and seemed quite happy to power the linear (with better regulation than the house supply in fact!). On the final day, the bands were comparatively terrible. I was unable to run on any band; 40m was full of EU sigs but due to their local QRM, only a few could even hear me; 10m was open with half a dozen W beacons audible but only a handful of W stations to work. Still I slogged it out for just under 1,000 QSOs in total.

2007 (ZL2iFB, E51iFB)

  • RSGB Commonwealth Contest (BERU) . Although my entry was rather disappointing, I was glad to be a part of the winning ZL team and get a nice commemorative medal for my efforts. I understand the Southern hemisphere’s handicap advantage will be reduced next year ...
  • CQ WPX CW.  Despite having an eminently collectable callsign (E51iFB), this was another very disappointing effort, thanks to me being the wrong side of an enormous chunk of Rarotongan granite from most of the accessible population centres. I only managed 51 QSOs in a couple of hours on the Saturday evening, on 40m only using a vertical in a palm tree by the beach. The entire E51iFB log was subsequently lost in a puff of logic due to the sudden failure of the laptop’s hard drive (lesson learnt! At least it wasn’t one of the major entries). I apologise to anyone seeking a QSL: sorry, no chance.
  • Oceania DX CW. I started this contest with good intentions on 40m & 80m but lost the will to continue at around 1am local when the amplifier antenna changeover relay started sticking in the TX position.  There was just enough leakage in the RX path to hear strong signals but I guess they were about 30-40 dbs down on normal. I fixed the amp with a surplus Jennings vacuum relay during Sunday and rejoined the contest for dusk. All in all, 365 QSOs are in the log, all of them on 40+80m. 
  • CQ WW CW. In conjunction with my pal and fellow ex-pat Phil (VK4BAA ex-G0HSS), we completed some antenna upgrades and entered as two single-op single-band entries from my home: Phil doing 15m and me on 80m. Receive problems on the low tribander, coupled with lousy condx, gave Phil a hard time. He had a 40m quarter wave vertical and loop to fall back on but missed the beam’s gain. We didn’t have time to rig up the 5-ele 15m monobander, unfortunately. I had it much easier on 80m with a decent choice of antennas: a topband doublet up the hill, an inv-Vee dipole in the trees out front and a bent 80m quarter wave vertical that is evidently too bent to work. The inv-Vee did most of the work. I think I’ve landed another Oceania record score but only time will tell ...

2006 (ZL2iFB, ZL6QH, VK9NI)

  • ZL Field Day. I operated with my pals at ZL6QH in a field on Quartz Hill. FD is curious here in ZL. It’s 40+80m only. As activity levels are so low, we’re allowed to work each other again every hour. 
  • CQ WPX CW. I entered at VI9NI, a DXpedition to Norfolk Island. Despite that interesting special event callsign celebrating the 150-year arrival of the Pitcairn Islanders in 1856, and some decent CW contest ops, we did quite badly - just didn’t seem to be getting out for some reason.
  • Oceania DX CW. I entered the multi-multi section at ZL6QH with Brian ZL1AZE, Wilf ZL2BSJ and John ZL1BYZ, all top notch CW contesters and DXers.
  • CQ WW SSB . Part of a multi-multi entry at ZL6QH.
  • CQ WW CW . Single-op assisted, 40m single band, QRO from home. 840k points. Placed FIRST in Oceania, setting a new Oceania record and 5th worldwide. The contest was a blast thanks to excellent worldwide propagation both nights due to the low sunspots/solar flux, K-index and A-index and a pretty quiet location here in the ZL countryside. I was still working stuff an hour or two after dawn/pre dusk and probably should have taken even less sleep but my work schedule didn’t give me much rest in the week prior to the contest (as usual, excuses excuses). I used simple antennas: a quarter wave ground plane (albeit with an extensive earth may made from deer fencing) and a dipole at about 50 feet. The vertical is an efficient radiator but can be rather noisy on receive. I really ought to rig-up a changeover relay to transmit on the vertical and listen on the dipole. A four-square would be good too. So many ideas, so little time ... Meanwhile, the Oceania record stands.

2005 (G4iFB, G3GRS, G0FBB --> ZL2iFB, ZL6QH)

  • CQ WW CW - ZL6QH multi-multi - first place Oceania, lots of fun!
  • CQ WPX CW - chased DX instead of entering, again
  • RSGB HF NFD - Gravesend RS - third place restricted
  • RSGB VHF FD - Windmill CG - first place open - I operated 2m where we placed 2nd

2004 (G4iFB, G0FBB, G3GRS, GJ2A)

  • RSGB AFS CW - CDXC - second of ? clubs, I placed 16th of 224
  • RSGB HF NFD - Gravesend - third place restricted
  • RSGB VHF FD - Windmill CG - second place open
  • CQ WW CW - GJ2A multi-two - 8.2 million points, sixth place world
  • CDXC 9BCW - competition abandoned when John’s house burnt down!

2003 (G4iFB, G3GRS, G0FBB)

  • RSGB HF NFD - Gravesend RS - third place restricted, just me and G4BUO on the team this year
  • RSGB IOTA - 12 hour CW 100W unassisted, placed 5th overall, first G
  • RSGB VHF FD - Windmill CG - placed first open section
  • RSGB SSB FD - Windmill CG - details lost
  • CQ WW SSB - chased DX instead of entering
  • CQ WW CW - SOSB(A) 15m QRO - 406k points, first UK and new UK record

1999 (G4iFB, M6T)

  • CQ WW SSB - Multi-multi at M6T - 29 million points, EU record still stands. I operated 160m again.
  • No more time for contesting this year - doing an MBA

1998 (G4iFB, M6T)

  • CQ WW SSB - M6T multi-multi - I operated 160m - details lost
  • No more time for contesting this year - doing an MBA

1997 (G4iFB, G3GRS)

  • RSGB AFS CW - CDXC - details lost
  • RSGB HF NFD - Gravesend RS - second place restricted behind GM3POI/P this year!

1996 (G4iFB, G0KPW, G3GRS)

  • CQ WW CW - Single op 15m at home - 406k points, G record still stands
  • CQ WW SSB - G0KPW (now M6T) multi-multi.  First place G . I operated 160m, got 67 countries
  • CQ WPX CW - 28MHz QRO single op, claimed 66k points, results lost
  • RSGB AFS CW - CDXC - placed second out of 70 clubs, I was 6th of 304 entrants
  • RSGB AFS SSB - CDXC - placed third of 77 clubs, I was 9th of 186 entrants
  • RSGB HF NFD - Gravesend RS - first place restricted, won the Bristol Trophy yet again
  • RSGB IOTA - 12 hour mixed - placed 5th of 36, second G
  • RSGB SSB FD - Gravesend RS - restricted, claimed 303k points, results lost
  • RSGB 2nd Topband - placed 5th of 44
  • RSGB 1st Topband - aborted entry when amp blew a coupling capacitor
  • CDXC 9BCW - results lost

1995 (G4iFB, G3GRS)

  • RSGB 1st Topband - placed 7th of 48
  • RSGB HF NFD - Gravesend RS - first place restricted, won the Bristol Trophy again
  • RSGB 7MHz DX CW - placed 19th of 46
  • RSGB AFS CW - CDXC - placed 3rd of 1-- clubs, I was 18th of 343 entrants
  • RSGB QRP Fixed - technical disqualification from 11th place for having a QRO PA (though I didn’t use it!)
  • CQ WW SSB - 160m single op - details lost
  • CQ WW CW - chased DX instead of entering
  • RSGB 2nd Topband - claimed 892 points, results lost
  • ARRL 160m CW - placed 2nd of 3 UK entrants
  • RSGB Summer Topband - placed 6th of 32
  • CDXC 9BCW - placed 27th of 34 ... using 5W QRP all year :-)

1994 (G4iFB, GW4iFB, GW8GT, G3GRS)

  • CQ WW CW - GW8GT multi-single - 3.9 million points, first place UK
  • CQ WW RTTY - GW8GT multi-single - 1.7 million points, second place world, first place UK
  • CQ WPX SSB - GW8GT - 80m single op - 1.5 million points, first place EU, third world, new EU record
  • CDXC 9BCW - placed 6th of 22
  • RSGB AFS CW - Flight Refuelling ARS - 14th of 90 clubs, I was 65th of 320 entrants
  • RSGB AFS SSB - Flight Refuelling ARS - 41st of 73 clubs, I was 107th of 141 entrants
  • RSGB 1st Topband - details lost
  • CQ WPX SSB - single op 80m at GW8GT - new EU record
  • RSGB HF NFD - Gravesend RS - first place restricted, won the Bristol Trophy again
  • RSGB 1st Topband - placed 10th of 32
  • RSGB Summer Topband - placed 4th of 83
  • RSGB 2nd Topband - placed 9th of 40
  • RSGB IOTA - GW8GT - 1.8 million points, placed 4th of 37

1993 (G4iFB, GW4iFB, GW8GT, GB5CC, G3GRS)

  • CQ WW CW - Single op 15m at GW8GT - 600k points - new UK record & GW record still stands.
  • RSGB Commonwealth - operated GB5CC HQ station at GW8GT
  • RSGB RoPoCo 1 - placed 15th of 55
  • RSGB County Roundup CW - placed 20th of 39
  • CQ WPX CW - chased DX instead of contesting!
  • RSGB HF NFD - Gravesend RS - first place restricted, won the Bristol Trophy again
  • IARU - GB3HQ at Flight Refuelling with G3SQX - details lost
  • CQ WW SSB - placed 3rd G low power
  • RSGB Club Calls Contest - Flight Refuelling RS - placed 6th of 69

1992 (G4iFB, GW4iFB, GW8GT, GB2RS, G3GRS)

  • CQ WW CW - Multi-multi at GW8GT - 17.5 million points. What a buzz! GW record still stands.
  • CQ WW SSB - at GW8GT - details lost
  • CQ WPX CW - Operated GB2RS demo station at the RSGB radio rally at the NEC in Brum
  • RSGB NFD - Gravesend RS - first place restricted, won the Bristol Trophy again
  • CQM - first place 20m single op from G

1991 (G4iFB, GW4iFB, GW8GT, GB5CC)

  • CQ WW SSB - GW8GT multi-single - details lost
  • CQ WW CW - GW8GT multi-single - details lost
  • RSGB HF NFD - Gravesend - first place restricted, won the Bristol Trophy
  • RSGB AFS - Gravesend RS - 15th of 93 teams. I was 208th of 345 entrants.
  • RSGB Commonwealth - operated GB5CC HQ station at GW8GT
  • CQ WPX SSB - entered but the entry was lost :-(
  • CQ WPX CW - GW8GT multi-single - 5.9 million points, placed 10th world, 5th EU, first GW

1990 (G4iFB, GW4iFB, GW8GT, G3GRS, GB5CC)

  • CQ WW CW - Multi-single at GW8GT - 7.6 million points. GW record still stands. Operators G3OAY Neil, G4BKI Paul, G3SXW Ed, G4VXE Tim, GW4LXO, GW4TTO, GW0MAW Norman, GW3NWS Ross, GW4JBQ Julian, GW5NF Roger, GW0CLD, GW6ZUQ Dudley, GW3KYA Brian, GW4iFB me.
  • WRTC - 1st UK, 7th EU, 12th world
  • SAC - 584th overall, 4th of 6 G’s
  • RSGB LP FD - had lots of fun with just 100mW but submitted a rather pathetic checklog
  • RSGB Commonwealth - operated GB5CC HQ station at G6LX
  • RSGB SSB FD - Gravesend RS - first of 29 restricted
  • RSGB VHF FD - Windmill CG - second of 36 open. On 2m we made 3rd place, despite a solder blob coming adrift in the masthead preamp
  • RSGB HF NFD - Gravesend RS - 3rd out of 49 restricted
  • RSGB AFS - 3 A’s B team - placed 58th out of 94. I was 63rd out of 339 entrants
  • WRTC - just played in that one.

1989 (G4iFB, G4BUO, G0FBB)

  • RSGB HF NFD - With G4BUO and G4FAM - placed 3rd of 64 in restricted (the same score would have placed us 2nd in the Open section that year!)
  • RSGB VHF FD - with Windmill CG - placed 6th of 49
  • RSGB SSB FD - with Gravesend RS - placed 2nd of 34 in restricted section, not bad for the club’s first ever entry in that contest!
  • RSGB 2nd Topband - placed 43rd of 44, missing the wooden spoon by 1
  • RSGB RoPoCo 1 - placed 15th of 50
  • RSGB RoPoCo 2 - placed 26th of 43
  • RSGB County Roundup CW - placed 7th of 31

1988 (G4iFB, G3LRS, G5UM)

  • RSGB HF NFD - Leicester Radio Society A team placed 1st on 160m single-band with a genuine 10W.
  • RSGB VHF FD - Leicester Radio Society placed 6th out of 48
  • RSGB Region Roundup - placed 4th of 7 QRP.
  • RSGB Summer Topband - I checklogged for G3SJJ.
  • RSGB 7MHz CW - placed 19th out of 39.
  • RSGB 432MHz AFS - Leicester Radio Society placed 11th out of 21.
  • RSGB AFS - Leicester Radio Society A team placed 21st out of 96. I was 53rd out of 354 entrants.

1981-87 (G4iFB, G3LRS, G5UM etc.)

  • I have no notes and only a vague recollection of contesting during this period. I recall several HF NFDs with Sutton and Cheam RS at Tadworth, and VHF FDs at Leek, then I moved to Leicester in 1983. I was at university throughout so only really did club events.

1980 (G4iFB, G3LCH?)

  • RSGB HF NFD - with Sutton & Cheam RS - placed 20th out of 51

1979 (the year I was licensed as G4iFB)

  • RSGB 21/28 SSB - placed 28th out of 38
  • RSGB 21 CW - placed 21st out of 39

 

Contest miscellany

Instructions for adding NTP servers to Windows XP

I’d like to auto-synchronise the clock on my PCs with NTP servers on the Internet, so I know I’m starting the contest on time and logging QSOs accurately. The built-in Windows function accessible by double-clicking the system clock on the XP desktop only includes two NTP servers (time.windows.com and time.nist.gov), both of which are in the US. I would prefer to use a server nearer ZL, but there’s no obvious way to add NTP servers to the Windows list.

A bit of Registry searching later, I’ve found the NTP server list and discovered how to hack it.

Disclaimer : this process involves changing your system’s registry. This worked on my Windows XP machines - I haven’t tried it on any other version. I offer no guarantee it will work on your system!  Take a registry backup first and proceed at your own risk. 

0. Backup your registry.  If you don’t know how to do this, stop right here and go find out. A few moments backing up sure beats several hours rebuilding your entire system because you accidentally deleted or changed the wrong key ...

1. Open the registry editor by clicking the Start menu, then Run..., enter “regedt32” into the dialogue box and hit return.

2. Navigate to the following registry key by finding and clicking the relevant + buttons starting at HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE:

    HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE/SOFTWARE/Microsoft/Windows/CurrentVersion/DateTime/Servers

In the default configuration on my PCs, there were 3 values under that key:

  • “Default” = 2
  • “1” = time.windows.com
  • “2” = time.nist.gov

3. Add another key value of type string (right-click in the right pane, select New --> Value --> String)

4. The name of the key value should be “3” (just type 3 <Return> if the new key name is highlighted).

5. The value of the new key value should be the domain name of your chosen NTP server - I use ntp.adelaide .edu.au but you should find and choose an NTP server near where you live. I found the Adelaide one using the list built-in to timeRC.exe, an old time synchronization program I found knocking around on my hard drive. I guess Google knows them all.

6. The “Default” value appears to define which NTP server is used by default. I changed mine to “3” and it works for me.

7. Add more NTP servers if you wish by going back to step 3.

8. Close regedt32.

9. Double-click the clock to pull up the time synchronization dialogue.

10. Click the Internet time tab.

11. In the drop-down box, your new NTP servers should now be visible. Pick one and click ‘Update now’.

12. If it works, you should see a success message very quickly. If not, you most likely have a problem with your Internet connection (try again - I’m on a satellite link that often times out but usually works eventually) or firewall settings (sorry, I can’t help you there as each firewall program is different. Look for a configuration  option to allow outbound NTP traffic and if necessary list the NTP servers you added at step 5 in the ‘permitted sites’ list.)

13. Check the ‘Automatically synchronize with an Internet time server’ box to have your PC resynchronize itself automatically once a week. This is a set-and-forget option. It consumes a negligible amount of memory and CPU time so turn it off if you are tight.

14. Start and finish the next contest bang on time!

 

BERU checklist

Here’s a 2-page checklist for fellow semi-Luddites who prefer to keep track of their Commonwealth Contest bonus QSOs on paper, to supplement the computer log. It is an Excel spreadsheet and contains my mults from BERU 2006.

BERU checklist

There are four columns on each band to tick off the four possible bonuses: HQ stations and the first three regular QSOs. Don’t forget to strike out your own call area since home country QSOs don’t earn bonuses (check the rules!).

Thanks to ideas from Ian GM3SEK, here’s a post-contest version to help tot-up your claimed score. I’ve added some instructions.