2002 North American Meteor Scatter Rally
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Purpose: To promote the use of VHF/UHF meteor scatter communication
techniques.

Objective: Work as many stations as possible, in as many Maidenhead
grid locators as possible, via meteor scatter on the amateur radio
bands above 50 MHz.

Rally Period: 0000 UTC on April 27, 2002 through 2359 UTC on May 12,
2002. This is two full weeks plus a third weekend. The event starts
on Friday evening, North American time, and ends on Sunday evening two
weeks later. The dates are chosen to make good use of the Eta
Aquarids meteor shower.

Operation: We're calling this a Rally, rather than a Contest, because
the purpose is generating activity rather than "winning". Scoring
rules are provided, however, to make it interesting -- and scores
will be posted following the event. Both random and scheduled QSOs
are encouraged; more points are awarded for random QSOs. A "random"
QSO is one for which no schedule or pre-arrangement has been made by
the participating stations. It is permissible to "spot" yourself
calling CQ: for example, on the Ping Jockey web page, by posting
something like "W2ABC calling CQ to SW on 144.130 using FSK441". If a
QSO results from someone answering such a CQ with no other
announcement or non-meteor communication from the calling station, the
contact will be deemed a random QSO.

Any communication mode may be used, so long as QSOs are made by the
reflection of signals from meteor trails. The honor system applies!
Because the Eta Aquarids shower generally produces short-duration
ionized trails, high-speed modes such as FSK441 or HSCW will probably
be the most effective.

A station may be worked for credit only once per band during the
Rally, unless one of the stations has changed grid squares. For
"Roving" stations, a separate log should be submitted for each grid
activated. Each such log will be scored separately.

QSO Requirements: To log a completed contact you must copy both calls,
4-digit grid locator, and rogers. Any form of liaison communication
between the parties involved in a contact in progress is prohibited.
Any interruption of a contact in progress requires both stations to
restart the QSO attempt from the beginning. All information required
for a complete contact must be exchanged using meteor scatter and no
other propagation mode.

Entry Classes:
Single Band Low Power
Multiband Low Power
Single Band High Power
Multiband High Power

To qualify for the low power categories your power output must be 200
Watts or less for all QSOs.

QSO points:

Multipliers: The number of unique four-digit grid squares worked per
band, summed over all bands.

Scoring: Your final score is the sum of all QSO points times the sum
of unique four-digit grid square multipliers on each band.


Reporting: The following information should contained on the summary
sheet accompanying the log: Callsign used, Grid Square(s) activated,
Maximum power used, Name, Address, and Email Address (if available).
Log information must contain the following data: Date and time of QSO,
callsign of station worked, frequency, grid square, assisted (A) or
random (R), and claimed QSO points.

For example:

The summary sheet should include a table of the following form:

Total Score = 48 points x 20 grids = 960


Logs must be postmarked or email dated no later than May 31st.
Email logs should be sent in ASCII format to: [email protected].
Postal mail logs should be mailed to:

L. R. Tipton
778 CR123
Edna, Tx 77957


Sample log pages and summary sheets are available from

http://groups.yahoo.com/group/wsjtgroup/

or

http://www.qsl.net/wa5ufh/

Any reasonable facsimile of these log forms may be used.

Note: The radiant of the Eta Aquarids shower is projected to
provide the best conditions during the contest from approximately
one hour before sunrise local time for approximately eight hours
daily. This is the suggested best operating time each day.
Remember though, high-speed meteor scatter contacts can be
completed at any time of the day.


The 2002 North American Meteor Scatter Rally is sponsored by
WA5UFH, KM5ES, and K1JT -- your friendly WSJTGROUP moderators.
We look forward to working you on meteor scatter.