SDARS Construction Contest award photo

John, M1CDL, presents the SDARS Construction Contest award to Andrew, G8BYB (right).

Andrews home brew mast was well engineered and thought out project. Well done.

6 meter UK AFS

20th Oct. 2013 UK AFS Contest

Conditions for this contest did not seem very good to me with only one short opening to Italy. I0FHZ seemed surprised to be called by a station in the UK and came back to me in his native tongue, tricky for me as my Italian is non-existent. Trying to work out letters in a call sign is difficult with phone when strong accents are present. This is one of the reasons I prefer CW as a mode.

Six meters is not normally a very good band for me as I appear to be quite deaf, receiving far better reports than I give out during the UKAC's. For this contest I changed the antenna from 3 elements to a 4 element beam and certainly noticed a difference in the angle of reception. I also changed the feeder over from my normal RG214 to Ecoflex15 and also ran a preamp next to the radio (not at the mast head). The last hour was still very slow though. None of the excitement that runs right up to the wire that you get on the UKAC's.

As can be seen on the map most of the qso's were as my normal UKAC standard with the one I0FHZ standing alone for good dx. I ended up calling CQ a bit high in the band (50.256 MHz) as the lower part of it was so crowded. I hope that didn't make it difficult for operators to find me. Also power levels are much higher in this contest compared to the Tuesday evening contests so front end overload has to be taken into consideration.

I tried calling in CQ in CW a few times just to relieve the boredom but got no takers. The other continental station that I worked was PA4VHF which was harder work than the Italian.

We will now have to see how the rest of the Country faired and what damage the man with the red pen does to my score!

Thanks to Bob, M1MHZ, for the loan of the antenna and preamp. My points go to Spalding & District Amateur Radio Society (SDARS). I hope you all did well.

73 de Jim G0HGH

SDARS Construction Contest

This years Construction Contest was keenly contested with some interesting projects being worked upon in the Club.

I (G0HGH) submitted a selection of CW keyers, Graham (G8NWC) demonstrated his ATV kit, Phil (M0PAC) showed off his impressive magnetic loop antenna, but the winner was Andrew (G8BYB) with his well engineered lattice mast, some photos of which are included below.

Well done Andrew, an impressive project.

Beginners CW Group

The beginners CW group at SDARS (Spalding & District Amateur Radio Society) has made excellent progress. In four months they have gone from complete novices to knowledgeable operators. It was always the aim to make the group student led rather than just following my instructions so it was particularly pleasing when, at our normal Club gathering, they requested some further information about CW Contesting. 

We covered the basics;

• reading the rules
• Where in the band to operate QRS
• What exchange information was needed and
• how to make that exchange.

We then had our own small, mock contest. We decided what the exchange information was going to be and then one would start calling CQ TEST. I don't think I have heard so much laughter from operators learning CW! It was great to see and hear them enjoying using CW and having fun with it, doing what they wanted to do.

At the beginning there were many errors but these were taken in good spirit and the nerves soon started to calm. Early errors included; 

• not incrementing the serial number so every contact was 599 001
• Actual sending errors. The most common being sending too many dits in a 5
• panicking

It was a great session and the the group got a lot out of it. The laughter must have been infectious as it looks like we now have the demand to start another beginners class from scratch from some new novices. What on Earth have have we let ourselves in for!

73 de Jim G0HGH

RSGB UKAC 144MHz Oct 1 2013

As usual in the RSGB UKAC 2 meter contest, conditions before the start were good with OZ1ALS being heard working many European stations. Then, as our contest starts, conditions fade and the DX gets buried in the QRM.

Despite heavy noise levels from West through North to East, I managed to score a personal best with a good spread of stations worked throughout the UK. My best DX was, once again, GI4SNA. What I would do without him I don't know!

It is nice hearing CW being used more frequently in the UKAC Contests and I did manage a number of contacts on the key. It was also nice to hear some new stations that I have not worked before including David, G7AGI, who I have worked on the Twitter net but not the radio before.

IO92WS is a crowded square so well worth pointing your antenna in this direction as there are quite a few points to be had here. Thanks to all stations worked and to those who tried but disappeared in the QSB. It was a most enjoyable evening and my ears are still ringing with the sound of white noise.

Station for 2 meters here is;

• Yaesu FT897
• Abt 60 Watts
• 11 ele Tonna up 12 meters agl at 0 (yes zero) feet asl.
• Mast head pre amp by HA8ET
• FA-SM station manager for sequencing

73 de Jim G0HGH

N1MM part 1

N1MM Contest Logging Programme - part 1

There is no doubt in my mind that if you are interested in Contests, even in a small way, then computer logging is a skill that needs to be seriously considered. Having entered a couple of RSGB UKAC contests using paper logs and then transcribing to the Contest web site I found that it was a laborious process that is prone to copying errors.

In SDARS our VHF contesters are very keen and active. The logging software that most of us use for VHF and up is Minos because it is recommended by the RSGB, provides an entry in the required format and because a lot of Club members use it, help and assistance is always at hand.

Minos is however primarily for VHF use, when it comes to HF I have decided to settle on using N1MM logging software. The reasons for this are;

1. It's free. I am not a fanatical Contester so spending money on something that gets infrequent use is just not viable.
2. It is quite similar to Minos in use so the learning curve is not too steep.
3. It provides an entry in Cabrillo format, required for many HF Contest entries.

Having said that it is similar to Minos to use only scratches the surface though. N1MM is an extremely complex and complicated programme when you look at it in more detail. Whereas Minos is purely logging software, N1MM also incorporates so many extra functions including rig and rotator control that you would need to be a dedicated contester to master it completely. I will not even try and cover N1MM in depth here but will try to explain how I use the basic functions within it.

To install N1MM is a two step process, firstly you need to download and install the core programme called Full install. This can be downloaded here; http://n1mm.hamdocs.com/tiki-list_file_gallery.php?galleryId=7 . Once that is done you download the latest updates and install those on top of the main programme. http://n1mm.hamdocs.com/tiki-list_file_gallery.php?galleryId=15

It is important to install the updates immediately after the first full install but after that it is only necessary once every now and then. Installation is straight forward and should go smoothly. Only the latest update has to be installed so ignore the others.

If you start N1MM without connecting your rig to the computer with a CAT cable you will receive an error opening port message when opening the software. Don't Panic – To use the basic logging programme you do not need to be connected to the radio. You will probably find the default band selected is 20 meters. To change this simply type in the “call sign” entry box “3.5” and hit enter for 80 meters. If the mode is not correct just type in “CW” or “PHONE” and hit enter again.

The first task is to select the correct Contest Format. Take your time on this as it was where I made several errors the first time I used the programme and mistakes are difficult to remedy later.

From the top menus select “File” then “New log in Database”.

This brings up a set up box. The first item is “Log Type”. There are loads of contests to select from and getting the correct one is very important. For the RSGB UK CC contest scroll down until you get to “RSGB80MCC”.

Some are not as obvious, the Cub Sprint is “EUSCW” so look at the rules on the actual contest web site and you might find the format to select there.

Selecting the correct Contest format is important as it opens up the correct information entry boxes in the main window that each specific Contest requires.

The rest of the set up window is more straight forward and contains a lot of your station information in much the same way as Minos except with an HF slant.

You are now pretty much ready to start a Contest using N1MM as a simple logging aid. As in Minos you enter Call sign being worked then Tab across to the next field until all of the required field are filled in and then hit Enter.

Many VHF contesters are amused to find that the Report defaults to 599 in HF Contests. At least in N1MM you can enter a different RST but I'll save my thoughts on that topic for another missive!

At the end of the Contest when it comes time to produce your entry, check with the Contest rules to make sure you know what format is required. Most of my Contest activity is for RSGB Contests and they require a Cabrillo file. To produce one Simply go to “File” menu and select “Generate Cabrillo File”. Make sure you know where you saved it too as this is what you send to the RSGB.

Essentially much of this simple utilisation of N1MM is very similar in operation to Minos. The fun starts when you connect your Radio to the computer and delve a bit deeper into the software's capabilities.

When you connect your radio to the computer using a CAT cable or interface then N1MM becomes very interesting indeed. The software will then track your operating frequency and mode automatically. If you connect a WinKey or similar keying device, you can send CW from the computer keyboard or from Macros within N1MM. However this is where most of the problems start to surface. Interfacing your computer, radio and software so that they all “talk” to each other is not always easy especially if you already use certain ports on the computer while using other software like Ham Radio Deluxe. If using more than one programme at a time always open up N1MM first and always turn your radio on and select VFO A, the correct band and mode before starting N1MM.