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This is intended as just a start, many of our club members are now avid contesters, if you need more info the contact some one on the list below. This page is a work in progress.......by Paul NN4F If you are new to contesting, hopefully you will find this page useful. One of the most important things is having good logging software, to make sure you can log all those contacts you make. Sure your normal logging software can log your contacts, but to get the most out of a contest you need contest specific software, there are several available. Some you have to pay for such as the N3FJP software, some are free. My personal preference is N1MM and this is FREE. It can be a little intimidating to set up and use, but once you get the hang of it, it is very easy and does so much. N1MM allows you to choose from all the major contests and many smaller ones too. It also allows you to run RTTY using the MMTTY plug-in. It can also be used as a voice & cw keyer. If you delve into the setups even more it will control your radios, rotators and much more, you can contact me here if you need help setting it up. OK so you have the software installed, time to look for your first contest, you can find out what's coming up using the link and the bottom to the contest calendar. Make sure you read and re-read the rules. Make sure you know what the contest exchange is. For example in the recent ARRL DX SSB contest, the idea is for the US stations to work as many DX stations as possible, so here our exchange was 59 SC. If you were located in Florida, it would have been 59 FL or 59 Florida. The DX station responds with 59 KW or 59 K which was the signal report and their power level. So it is always important to know the exchange you give out, so are states, some are sections, so require power, some your first name, some use sequential numbers for each contact. If your unsure you can always listen a little while before you jump in. (also in contests all signal reports are 59 or in CW 599 or 5NN) So it's time for your first contest, you understand you probably won't win anything, but who knows, most contests have different levels, such as Multi-Op, Single Op High Power, Single Op Low Power. Most ARRL contests have certificates for each section. So you could have a low score, but come in first in SC, doesn't matter is only 10 people in SC entered, your certificate still says WINNER SC SECTION. But you ask how do I get a reasonable score? simple, it's called time in the chair... the more you operate, the larger you score will be. You have to plan your time well. Most big contests are 48 hours, now some people work all 48 hours, especially the multi-op stations, but you as a single op may work 24/36 etc. Knowing when to grab some sleep is important, because different bands are open at different times, more so right now at the sunspot minimum. If you were to operate in a 160M contest, then you would sleep during the day and operate at night, 160 being primarily a night-time band, you get the idea. There are also two ways to operate in a contest, you will see people mentioning running or search and pounce (S&P). Running - this is picking a frequency and sitting on it and calling CQ Contest and waiting for the people to come to you. This is not easy for a smaller station, but it can be done. You can get much higher rates this way if it works for you. S&P - tuning up and down the band, picking off stations one by one. This is more time consuming, because you may have to tune-up your antenna, listen, get the call, call them back, move on possibly having to re-tune etc.. you get the idea. Most contests also have an Assisted Mode, where you can use packet clusters for spotting stations, this make S&P a breeze, now you can't always rely on the spots to be accurate, 99% of the time they are, but occasionally a call sign may be listed incorrectly so listen first. This also ties in well with N1MM, it can utilize these spots in a window called a Band Map, utilizing this you can click on the call sign and it will re-tune your radio to the correct frequency, and if operating on 40M to EU and the EU station is operating split, i.e. they are transmitting on 7.091 but listening on 7.250, then N1MM will set this up for you. It can't get any simpler. For now I have a small station, so making the most of the assisted modes helps considerably. (2007 ARRL DX SSB - 431 Contacts for 234,000+ points in 22 hours SOAB (A)LP ). If you operate in a contest, one of the important things is submit your log, even if you only have a few contacts, always submit your log. This helps with the log-checking, and who knows, you may even win something to boot.
TARC Contesters
(The comments in () are my attempt at a bit of in-house humor) Links Software A good DX primer everyone should read
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