Category Archives: Contests

NCRC Scores in Top 10 for Field Day 2018

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Under the leadership of Silent Key John King, WA1ABI, the NCRC Field Day 2018 effort was another one for the record books.  Using the call sign W1LY for the main stations, and W1SYE for GOTA, the club placed 10th nationally and in 2nd place in New England.  Please note that the top ten finishers are among all classes of stations (as many as 15 transmitters, we had 2).  Here is the list published in the December QST:

So how significant is 10th place?  There were a total of 2,903 stations competing so NCRC placed 10th out of 2,903 entires.  Within our own 2A class, we were second place nationally, out of the more than 1,200 stations in that category.  Only 403 more SSB contacts, or 202 more CW contacts would have gotten 1st place in category 2A.

John, you will be missed in future years, but you did an excellent job of showing us how to run the event safely and smartly.  Thanks to all the operators, the folks that helped setting up and taking down, and the wonderful cooks that kept us all on our feet.

Join the Chase: 2018 International Grid Chase

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Don’t forget that for all of 2018, the ARRL is sponsoring an International Grid Chase.  Hams all over the globe will be looking to work as many different grid squares as possible.  Here in RI, our grid square is FN41.  From an ARRL Post:

“The objective of the ARRL International Grid Chase is simple: Work stations in as many grid squares as possible and upload your log data to ARRL’s Logbook of The World. If you are not currently registered with Logbook of The World, this is a good reason to get started. Go to https://lotw.arrl.org/lotw-help/getting-started/. Registration and uploading are free.

Every new grid square contact confirmed through Logbook of The World counts toward your monthly total, so you have an incentive to start the chase as soon as you ring in the New Year.”

If you have a LotW account you can check your score here (while updated several times a day it is not real-time)

New England QSO Party May 6 & 7

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The NEQP is a great time to check out antenna systems and offers a moderately paced opportunity to work new states and countries.   You’ll find a wide variety of participants, from newcomers to experienced contesters, all interested in making contacts with New England stations.

We’re working to make sure that all of the New England counties are active again this year and would appreciate your help.  Get on for at least an hour or two and join in on the fun.  Please let me know if you can put in any time at all so we can work on activity from the rarest counties.   Will you be QRV?   Let us know which county you’ll be on from with a message to info@neqp.org

Oh yes, the NEQP is also lots of fun when mobile.  Every time you cross a county line the action starts over again.   It’s amazing what a 100w radio and mobile whip can do.

The QSO Party is 20 hours long overall, in two sections with a civilized break for sleep Saturday night.  It goes from 4pm Saturday until 1am Sunday, then 9am Sunday until 8pm Sunday.  Operate on CW, SSB and digital modes on 80-40-20-15-10 meters.   For each QSO you’ll give your callsign, a signal report and your county/state.   Top scorers can earn a plaque and everyone who makes 25 QSOs and sends in a log will get a certificate.

Last year we had logs from 179 New England stations and 300 more from around the country and world.

The full rules are here ->  http://www.neqp.org/rules.html

Winter Field Day – Great Success!

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Winter Field Day 2017 has come and gone.  Members of the Portsmouth Emergency Management Agency and NCRC fielded two stations in Glen Park; a phone station that was on 24 hours, and a CW/Digital station that was on as activity permitted.  Thanks to the large number of folks that showed up to help with set-up/take-down.

Although far less ambitious in terms of the antennas and number of stations than Field Day in June (it IS winter, after all), last year was the first effort, and the team turned in 15,624 points to take 2nd place nationally, for a multi-operator station outdoors.  Early indications are that this year’s score will be substantially higher!

Besides the obvious benefit that such events have for emergency communication training (emergencies don’t just happen in the summer), it provides good publicity for our club.  In fact we have a new member applicant as a result!

Lots of folks were involved.  A partial list is:  Paul N1PSX, Pete W1LAB, Willy W1LY, Dave KC1GPA, Dave W2DAN, John WA1ABI, Mike AA1XQ, Howie K1TZQ, Dave W1DEC, Paul K1YBE, Paul, KC1DJO, Chuck N1CKT, Steve KC1AQQ, James K1SD, Rob KB1ZZU, Bob WB4SON

Mast for CW/Digital Station antenna raised by Willy W1LY, Paul N1PSX, Mike AA1XQ,  and Dave KC1GPA (left to right)

CW/Digital Antenna is a 135 foot dipole fed with ladder line, 25 feet in the air.

Howie K1TZQ, at the key of the CW tent

The Satellite Station operated from WB4SON’s truck. IC9100 with a Toughbook running SatPC32

The Satellite Antenna was a crossed 2m/70cm beam held by a photo tripod and set to the Az/El of mid-pass