Steel City Members Paul, KC3WHX and Neil, N3WMI will be hosting this contest up at the clubhouse next weekend. (Dec 9&10) We currently have a lot of Tech operators so here is a contest made just for YOU! Please consider helping the guys out by joining them and making some 10 meter contacts from the club house. If interested please reach out to Paul at paulpghpa (at) comcast (dit) net
Objective: For Amateurs worldwide to exchange QSO information with as many stations as possible on the 10 meter band.
Contest Period:
Second full weekend in December. Begins 0000 UTC Saturday and runs through 2359 UTC Sunday. Operate for a maximum of 36 hours out of the 48-hour period. Off times must be at least 30 minutes long.
Exchange:
All stations send a signal report. W/VE stations, including Alaska and Hawaii) send their state or province. (District of Columbia stations send “DC”.) Mexican stations send their state or province. DX stations send a serial number.
Limited Antennas Overlay:
Operation is limited to the use of single-element antennas such as a single vertical, end-fed wire, or a single dipole antenna no more than 50 feet above ground at its highest point. The antenna(s) may cover multiple bands, as in the case of multiband verticals and dipoles with fan or trap constructions.
This antenna evolved during my search for a beam with a really great front-to-back ratio to use in hidden transmitter hunts. This design exhibits a very clean pattern and is perfect for RDF use. It trades a bit of forward gain in exchange for a very deep notch in the pattern toward the rear. (You could optimize the design for more forward gain, but at the expense of a really good notch in the pattern toward the rear.) It is a design that can be constructed using only simple hand tools (no machine shop needed) and still perform well. It has been duplicated several dozen times by other local hams and has been successfully used as a club construction project.
Some ISS crew members make random, unscheduled, amateur radio voice contacts with earth-bound radio amateurs, often called “hams”. They can make radio contacts during their breaks, pre-sleep time and before and after mealtime. Astronauts have contacted thousands of hams around the world. The work schedules of the ISS crew dictate when they are able to operate the radios. The crew’s usual waking period is 0730 – 1930 UTC. The most common times to find a crew member making casual periods are about one hour after waking and before sleeping, when they have personal time. They’re usually free most of the weekend, as well.
