++++++++++++++++++ Elecraft EQP 2003 Results/ Comments ++++++++++++++++++ Date: Sat, 08 Mar 2003 16:32:25 -0800 From: Wayne Burdick Organization: Elecraft To: Elecraft Subject: [Elecraft] EQP SSB SUGGESTION: Start at center of indicated band segments Hi folks, Wow -- lots of fun out there in EQP land. Thanks for participating! The only disappointing thing so far is the small amount of SSB activity. Granted, CW has a S/N advantage over SSB, but with all those K2/100's out there, we should be able to pick up the pace. To that end, I would suggest that everyone start listening/CQing as close as possible to the center of the SSB band segments that were posted in the rules. This will give everyone a smaller target when they're in the mood for SSB activity. For example, try 14275, 7275 (EU 7075), 3875, +/- QRM of course. Have fun! I'll be looking for QSOs on the low bands tonight. 73, Wayne ++++++++++++++++++++++ Reply-To: dock0evz at earthlink.net From: "Doc K0EVZ" To: "qrp-l reflector" , "Elecraft " Cc: "doc k0evz earthlink" Date: Sat, 8 Mar 2003 22:22:0 -0600 Subject: [Elecraft] K0EVZ EQP Gang: Well finally pulled the plug on EQP, but man oh man--it was a BLAST! Looks like 123 QSOes on several bands, with 9 FT's. Setup here was K2 to the 560' horizontal loop up 33'. Sure increased my respect for those of you who are true contesters. Wow. Gotta lot to learn here. Plus I need to install a bigger.....bladder, maybe. 73, --Doc/K0EVZ ++++++++++++++++++ From: "Trevor Jacobs" To: "Elecraft Mailing List" Date: Sat, 8 Mar 2003 22:18:18 -0800 Subject: [Elecraft] QSO Party... Hey Gang, Well, that was fun!!!!!! I ended up with 70 QSO's on the K1. Time to hit the sack as I'm pooped. Nice to hear some familiar calls on the band!!! This is my first attempt at a contest and I really had a blast. The logger software was really nice once I got used to it. Normally I'm more of a laid back rag chewer, but this was a lot of fun. Guess I'm going to have to hone my contest skills, as I can see that this is addictive ;-) Hope all of you had as much fun as I did! Sorry for the couple of stations that I couldn't pull through. Noise level was S5 to S7 today in Burbank on 40 meters! Wish they'd fix that. Take care and we'll see you on the bands... 73's Trev KG6CYN http://home.earthlink.net/~kg6cyn http://www.qsl.net/kg6cyn +++++++++++++++++++ Reply-To: "Dominik Bugmann" From: "Dominik Bugmann" To: Date: Sun, 9 Mar 2003 13:05:28 +0100 Subject: [Elecraft] EQP report a few lines on: http://www.swiss-artg.ch/hb9czf/contests/2003/eqp/eqp.html Hope to spend more time in 2004. 73 de Dominik, HB9CZF http://www.qsl.net/hb9czf +++++++++++++++++++ Date: Sun, 9 Mar 2003 08:33:30 -0500 Subject: Re: [Elecraft] EQP SSB SUGGESTION: Start at center of indicated band segments From: Dave Gingrich K9DC To: Elecraft On Saturday, Mar 8, 2003, at 19:32 EST, Wayne Burdick wrote: > The only disappointing thing so far is the small amount of SSB > activity. > Granted, CW has a S/N advantage over SSB, but with all those K2/100's > out there, > we should be able to pick up the pace. While I didn't spend a lot of time lurking, I did move around the various SSB suggested spaces. Did not hear a single E-related QSO. I was sort of hoping to, since SSB remains the only mode I have not had a contact with a known K2 . :) =========================== Dave Gingrich, K9DC ++++++++++++++++++ From: "David Gropper" To: Date: Sun, 9 Mar 2003 07:15:03 -0800 Subject: [Elecraft] EQP Party. Hi Folks, >> 72 2E1LOK / M3LOK K2 #2448 said:- >> Where was everybody in Europe on SSB? > > My question is "Where were the stateside stations...??? I worked into Minn. K2 .10W to W0UJ running FT817 5W portable at the start of the contest with no problem... But after spending 3 hours yesterday a.m. on SSB and again this morning for 2 hours - no K2's around :-( Plenty of S9-20 signals from the Kilowatt nets.... However - I nervously tried out my poor code on several unsuspecting EQP'ers and made 8 CW contacts yesterday - more than I've made in total in the last 20 years :-) Thanks to all who did QRS for me and their patience ... I had a really great time. Dave KK7SS K2 #3003 ++++++++++++++++ From: K9ut at aol.com Date: Sun, 9 Mar 2003 11:42:32 EST To: elecraft at mailman.qth.net Subject: [Elecraft] EQP Great to hear and work many K1 and K2 rigs .Maybe next time i will have more time ! Tks to Wayne and Eric! 72, 73 Jerry Uhte K9UT #1273 K2 ++++++++++++++++ To: mw0idx at etarcadia.freeserve.co.uk, elecraft at mailman.qth.net Date: Sun, 9 Mar 2003 08:46:27 -0800 Subject: Re: [Elecraft] EQP From: k6se at juno.com Roger, MW0IDX wrote: "Heard K6SE today on 20m and 15m but despite attempts, my 15 watts and 67' doublet just wasn't loud enough!!" ========== Sorry I didn't hear you, Roger. I did work a number of EU stations who were using a K1 or K2 (including a field tester!), but perhaps they were using beam antennas. All of my QSOs were on CW. Checked SSB several times, but heard no activity. It was an excellent opportunity to work 100 different K1s and K2s, which is what kept me going in the EQP. When I check my log, I'll have to count the different S/Ns up and see if I qualify for that award. Had lotsa fun in the EQP and looking forward to the next one. 73, de Earl, K6SE K2/100 #2622 +++++++++++++++++ From: K8KFJ at aol.com Date: Sun, 9 Mar 2003 14:13:59 EST Subject: Re: [Elecraft] EQP To: elecraft at mailman.qth.net A sudden warm, beautiful springlike day after coming out of a long, hard, and brutal West Virginia winter made it extremely difficult to spend any time in the hamshack Saturday. However, I did make a handful of Qs and enjoyed EQP and it's concept very much. Thanks to those who heard me and give me a contact. My thanks to Pat Collins N8VW and Jerry Bliss K6III for their sponsorship of EQP. 72, Gary -K8KFJ- #1194 K1 ++++++++++++++++++ From: "David Schornak" To: Subject: Re: [Elecraft] EQP Date: Sun, 9 Mar 2003 15:26:38 -0500 I want to say that I had a really fun time for the little time I spent in the contest of course I was not out to win just to have fun so I would to say thanks to kb2oew,va3stl,kf0gr,w6lar,ve1uy.for finding and working me 73's KG4LSK David k2 3027 +++++++++++++++++ Date: Sun, 09 Mar 2003 13:23:32 -0800 From: "Rick Tavan" Organization: TIBCO Software Inc. To: elecraft at mailman.qth.net Subject: [Elecraft] EQP 2003 N6XI SOABLPCW Returning from the mountain QTH to the city on Thursday, I forgot to bring either K2 or K1. So Saturday morning, this was my excuse to warm up the plane and do an emergency rig retrieval flight. Got home around 3:00 PM with only a few hours to play before leaving for a company party. When I got home at midnight, there was no one left on the bands. Nonetheless, it was great to hear a lot of Elecrafters while I was on the air and a special pleasure to work both Wayne and Eric. Thanks for all the fun, guys! Managed 101 Q's, all CW, one on battery power, including 5 field testers. The K2/100 worked beautifully, as it has for thousands of QSOs in more mainstream contests in the past. It is my "rig of choice" for contesting. See the review on the K2 for Contesting in the upcoming issue of NCJ. If you are a budding contester and don't subscribe, think about it! It is an ARRL speciality publication available on ham radio store counters and, better, by subscription. 73, /Rick N6XI ++++++++++++++++++++ Date: Sun, 09 Mar 2003 17:06:04 -0600 From: k4zm To: "elecraft at Elecraft List" Subject: [Elecraft] EQP Summary and comments Call - K4ZM Band CW SSB Digital QSO Pts QSO Pts QSO Pts ---- --- --- --- --- --- --- 160M 0 0 0 0 0 0 80M 6 18 0 0 0 0 40M 33 99 0 0 0 0 20M 38 114 0 0 0 0 15M 41 123 0 0 0 0 10M 1 3 0 0 0 0 6M 0 0 0 0 0 0 --- --- --- Total 119 357 0 0 0 0 Field Tester Bonus 40 Battery Bonus 25 Grand Total 422 Points Rig - K2/FT Serial Number - 18 Comments - I enjoyed the contest. Thanks to all you guys that worked so hard to put it together. We lost 6 hours to bad weather. We operated from a Civil War Battlefield at Blakeley, Alabama. John, KD4ORO, and I decided to camp on the battlefield and operate. This was a good and a bad idea. The Friday forecast called for clear skies and lots of sunshine for Saturday and Sunday. However Saturday it drizzled rain all day and Sunday morning at about 2AM the battlefield again sounded like a true battlefield. We enountered sever thunderstorms and heavy torrential rain for over 6 hours. Life is not good in a tent in torrential rainfall. We stayed dry thanks to several tarps placed over the tent prior to the arrival of the storm. Lightning was striking all around us and we had about 2.5 inches of rain fall in the 6 hours. I used a 600 ft closed horizonal loop at 70 ft. fed wth 440 ohm ladder line and an old Heath B1 4:1 Airdux balun and tuned it with the KAT2 in my K2. SWR was great on all bands. Needless to say the coax from the balun was on the ground outside the tent during the lightning storm. John, KD4ORO, used his K1 with its KAT1 and used a 35 ft. Ground mounted vertical. I made several pictures and will try to get them on the web this next week. Some of the highlights other than the weather was working several European stations and Hawaii and qso's with Wayne, N6KR and Eric, WA6HHQ. Thanks again all and especially to the gentleman who provided the dupe checking software. 72 Jim +++++++++++++++++++ To: elecraft at mailman.qth.net Date: Sun, 9 Mar 2003 23:43:02 +0000 From: k6iii at juno.com Subject: [Elecraft] EQP comments solicited It is most interesting to me to read the EQP comments. Want to improve the rules and content for next year. Also, if you have any specific observations about the software that was provided on the Elecraft web page, I would like to hear them. Will pass along to the author. Send direct to me and also copy the Reflector. I've seen some comments about separate SSB and CW weekends. I've only seen a few comments from people who were on SSB. I managed to moved 20 CW guys to SSB and picked up 20 extra contacts that way. I managed to work 9 FT's. There may have been more but they seemed to be mostly missing. Perhaps we did not do a good enough job of urging these FT's to get on the air. Or it could just be that FT's are not operators and just like to test the gear. Did anyone work digital mode? Did we get the start/stop times right? Is the 24-hour format OK, or would you have preferred a 12-hour period? I am interested in seeing N8VW's compilation of statistic. I logged onto a telnet node but found very few others there. Virtually no spots were made on the N7TR telnet node other than the few I personally made. Was this idea a bust? Why? Thanks to all who participated in this first-ever EQP. Its you guys-n-gals that make it a success. I thought it was a pretty laid-back, polite operation (I hesitate to call it a 'contest'). And of course, BIG THANKS to Co-Sponsor Pat (N8VW) for taking on this EQP management load, and to the program author for the fine software. Of course all this would not have happened if Eric and Wayne hadn't come along with these MUCHO MOJO rigs. de Jerry/k6iii EQP 2003 Co-Sponsor San Jose, CA +++++++++++++++++ From: "Trevor Jacobs" To: , Subject: Re: [Elecraft] wrong call? Date: Sun, 9 Mar 2003 16:05:32 -0800 That would have been pretty neat! BTW I did hear Nao JA6PA on 15, but didn't make it his way this time. Did anyone work him? He's usually got a very nice signal into Southern CA. I've even worked him using the MP-1 on 10 on the YL's 1st floor balcony in Long Beach at 5 watts. Don't know if he was in the contest or just looking for a QSO, but thought I heard him calling a couple of guys on 15. Think I'll be putting a K2 together before too long. Would have been nice to drop down on 80 meters and see what was happening. Would also like 10 meters as well. Did anyone have any luck with 10 yesterday? 15 seemd to be in good shape and I got 22 QSO's on 15. 17 qso's on 20 and 31 on 40. Probably could have done better on 40 except that the local noise was bad last night. Sure did have a good time listening to all the signals on the bands! 73's Trev KG6CYN http://home.earthlink.net/~kg6cyn http://www.qsl.net/kg6cyn ++++++++++++++++++ To: elecraft at mailman.qth.net Date: Sun, 9 Mar 2003 17:00:23 -0800 From: k6se at juno.com Subject: [Elecraft] K6SE EQP Results Here's how it tallied at K6SE (all QSOs were CW): Band CW QSOs CW Pts Bonus 160 4 4 5 80 2 2 5 40 54 54 15 20 108 108 35 15 46 46 10 10 5 5 0 Total: 219 219 70 Final Score: 219 + 70 = 289 Rig: K2/100 #2622 My K2 performed flawlessly during the EQP. Ran the receiver with the CW filter set at 700 Hz and with the AF2 audio filter engaged. Never used the RIT because operating split worked very well for tuning in those who weren't zero beat with my signal. This was the first extensive operation using the KPA100 and it never got real hot. All Elecraft rigs sounded good except for one who had and obvious problem (his "T" in "RST" was 1). I heard Wayne working the same guy later on, so Wayne knows who it is. It was especially fun working those who were using a K1, knowing that they were QRP. Several JAs and Europeans using K1s were worked. Looking forward to the next EQP. 73, de Earl, K6SE ++++++++++++++++++ From: "k6xr" To: "Elecraft" Date: Sun, 9 Mar 2003 17:21:45 -0800 Subject: [Elecraft] summary at k6xr Here is my summary at k6xr. With a new k1 I had a really great time. Worked 82 k1/k2 rigs! 29 states and 2 countries. I enjoyed working all the other elecraft rigs, the ft's, and Wayne n6kr on both cw and ssb although I used a ts570 at 5 watts for the ssb side. Can't wait for field day! As I told one of my friends, My k1 is like my dog, it is my best friend! Call - K6XR Band CW SSB Digital QSO Pts QSO Pts QSO Pts ---- --- --- --- --- --- --- 160M 0 0 0 0 0 0 80M 0 0 0 0 0 0 40M 46 138 1 3 0 0 20M 32 96 0 0 0 0 15M 39 117 0 0 0 0 10M 0 0 0 0 0 0 6M 0 0 0 0 0 0 --- --- --- Total 117 351 1 3 0 0 Field Tester Bonus 20 Battery Bonus 25 Grand Total 399 Points Rig - K1 Serial Number - 01512 Reggie k6xr 48 years operating K1-4 01512 norcal 2306 qrp arci 8701 ++++++++++++++++++++ From: "Rod N0RC" To: Date: Sun, 9 Mar 2003 19:55:48 -0700 Subject: [Elecraft] EQP Soapbox/Summary Folks, SETUP/OPERATION: K2 2006. 10W into attic antenna, why 10W because I can! :-) 10.5 Hours worked, 115 QSO's, all CW 30 QSOs 40m 50 QSOs 20m 35 QSOs 15m 31 States 3 Canadian Prov. 1 DX 17 K1s 63 K2s 8 FT units LOW LIGHTS: o Missed Elecraft CC by 12 o Not enough Canadians worked o Didn't work a single station in WY o noise on 20m o didn't work S/N 286 my first K2 (it was sold long story) o didn't hear Gary AA7MY :-( HIGH LIGHTS: o Worked fearless leaders Wayne & Eric, (killer portable signal Eric) o Worked HB9CZF o Worked 3 Canadian Stations o Worked several good friends, K0EVZ, W0CGR, WA8NTA, K5BGB o Worked all Dakotas, (North & South) o Worked ME & NE WEAKEST STATION HEARD AND WORKED o WI6O 119/339 but I logged him! STRONGEST STATION HEARD AND WORKED o Too many to mention, excellent signals folks COOLEST CALLSIGN WORKED o K5JAZ from Louisiana LOWEST NON FT K2 S/N WORKED: 53 (OP didn't send FT) HIGHEST K2 S/N WORKED: 4438 (probably wrong but that's what I wrote done) Next Highest was 3498. CUPS OF COFFEE CONSUMED: SRI LOST COUNT :-) BEST BREAK TAKEN FROM THE CONTEST ACTION: 20mi bike ride Thanks all for your QSO and patience when required. Already looking forward to the next one. 73, Rod N0RC +++++++++++++++ From: N0tk at aol.com Date: Sun, 9 Mar 2003 22:48:11 EST To: elecraft at mailman.qth.net Subject: [Elecraft] N0TK EQP Summary It was nice to put the K1 on the air again and the EQP made for lots of fun, The attic dipoles seemed to work well and the Elecraft owners gang was willing to pull out the weak signals. Highlights were working HB9CZF who gave me a 419 report and KH7T since I just got back from vacationing in KH6-land. Contact totals were spread across the 3 bands of the K1 with 48 Qs on 40m, 46 Qs on 20m, and 39 Qs on 15m. Worked 64 different K2 SNs and 14 different K1 SNs. TKS to all for participating and to N8VW and K6III for sponsoring the QSO Party. 73 Dan N=D8TK Highlands Ranch, CO +++++++++++++++ Date: Mon, 10 Mar 2003 04:42:26 +0000 To: elecraft at mailman.qth.net From: VR2BrettGraham Subject: [Elecraft] EQP 2003. VR2BG Total 68 Qs - half non-Elecraft, 9 K1s & 25 K2s (one FT - WA6HHQ). Running K2/100 & 30/40/80m elevated vertical force-fed on other bands. Probably had a slight advantage with BERU participants living in the past thinking that HK was still part of the Commonwealth! Otherwise, pretty good activity for a niche event in its first running. 73, VR2BrettGraham +++++++++++++++++ Date: Sun, 9 Mar 2003 23:40:20 -0800 (PST) From: "Martin AC6RM" To: Reply-To: elecraft at ac6rm.net Subject: [Elecraft] AC6RM EQP Summary: Appologies for the incredibly lame fist, but it was BIG fun. TEN k2 contacts: #2 (i stood up and yanked my headphones off my head when i heard eric come back to me!), 438, 2833, 3159, 213, 3289, 166, 12FT, 1626 and 700. Most at 20 watts, except #3159, 166 and 1626 where I boosted it partway thru the qso cuz my lame-ass antenna (and my bad fist) was giving the receiving op trouble copying my serial number. Thanks for your patience. Let's do it again next month! 73, Martin AC6RM ++++++++++++++++++ From: "Dave Sergeant" To: elecraft at mailman.qth.net Date: Mon, 10 Mar 2003 08:30:28 -0000 Subject: [Elecraft] EQP G3YMC As previously mentioned I spent most of the weekend in the RSGB Commonwealth contest (BERU) and hence had only about a couple of hours in EQP. Managed 12 QSOs (10 different K1/K2) and activity was fairly low here in Europe. All these were on CW with 5W from my K2. Managed a scratchy QSO with Earl K6SE on 15m (called with no joy on 20m...). VE1RGB and W0SOC were my only other transatlantic QSOs, all the rest being Europe. Log already submitted (didn't take me long even without the software...) As somebody who chases QRP countries it would have been nice to have heard K2/100 to distinguish the high power ones (OK, I guessed that Earl was QRO..). N0RC wrote: >HIGHEST K2 S/N WORKED: 4438 (probably wrong but that's what I wrote >done) That would have been W0SOC (K2 438) ....... In the Commonwealth contest I had lots of fun. Conditions were good, and I worked quite a few VKs on 40, 20 and 15 and one ZL. Together with several other nice ones (9J2, 9V1, 9M2) my all time K2 QRP total is now at 173 and my 2003 total at 101. With conditions like this EQP had to take second place!! 73 Dave G3YMC dsergeant at iee.org dsergeant at btinternet.com http://www.dsergeant.btinternet.co.uk ++++++++++++++++ From: "Deinhardt, Toby" To: "'K2 at linuxcolumbus.com'" Cc: "'elecraft at mailman.qth.net'" Date: Mon, 10 Mar 2003 10:13:03 +0100 Subject: [Elecraft] EQP from Germany Hallo. Heard very few EQP Stations from the States and almost none on SSB. My CW is rather QRS which doesn't help much either. This was my first "contest" where I worked alone, so despite only 42 QSOs in 24 Hours, I feel happy. #3248 held up well and had a good burn in. vy 73 de toby -- DJ7MGQ (ex dg5mgq, dd5fz) Call - DK0MN (op: DJ7MGQ) Band CW SSB Digital QSO Pts QSO Pts QSO Pts ---- --- --- --- --- --- --- 160M 0 0 0 0 0 0 80M 6 6 0 0 0 0 40M 9 19 2 2 0 0 20M 11 21 7 7 0 0 15M 5 7 1 1 0 0 10M 1 1 0 0 0 0 6M 0 0 0 0 0 0 --- --- --- Total 32 54 10 10 0 0 Field Tester Bonus 0 Battery Bonus 25 Grand Total 89 Points Rig - K2 Serial Number - 3248 Comments - DK0MN is the club station of the Munich-North chapter of the DARC. +++++++++++++++++++ From: DL2HRF at aol.com Date: Mon, 10 Mar 2003 04:56:19 EST To: elecraft at mailman.qth.net Subject: [Elecraft] EQP DL2HRF Hello Guys, This is my summary sheet of the first EQP: Band CW SSB Digital QSO Pts QSO Pts QSO Pts ---- --- --- --- --- --- --- 160M 0 0 0 0 0 0=20 80M 0 0 0 0 0 0=20 40M 10 30 0 0 0 0=20 20M 5 15 0 0 0 0=20 15M 0 0 0 0 0 0=20 10M 0 0 0 0 0 0=20 6M 0 0 0 0 0 0=20 --- --- --- Total 15 45 0 0 0 0=20 Field Tester Bonus 0=20 Battery Bonus 0=20 Grand Total 45 Points Rig - K1 ( 2Band 40,20 ) Serial Number - 1434 Comments=20 Hard to find someone in Europe to take part in the EQP. I called hours for hours CQ EQP. Thinks there where only a few people knowing about this party over here.So it needs much more publicity. Some fellows called in, and possibly understood QRP instead of EQP ( I always used slow speed ), so we "ragchewed" as usual. And I did=B4t count these contacts for the contest. Any way it was fun and I try to be in next EQP if I got the time, thanks all the guys who called me. (some on 2 bands: G3YMC G4APO 9A3RR MW0IDX special thanks !) No DX so far. 73 de Tom, DL2HRF +++++++++++++++++ From: "Louis Aull" To: Date: Mon, 10 Mar 2003 09:07:57 -0500 Subject: [Elecraft] EQP SSB I've seen a lot of complaints about no SSB. I worked SSB 10 watts for 2 hours on 21.325 and 21.300. Among others I worked: M3ALS, and VE5QRP ( nice call ). It was a real strain on the voice so I took my time and worked 10 q's. The biggest problem was other nice hams who just answered the CQ. Most spent a lot of time asking about the K2 kit. On 21.325, I kept getting chased around by PSK signals that would open up right on top of me. 21.300 was also busy sometimes. I would lean over to the speaker to listen for weak qrp ssb answers and some S9 100 watt would back me off. The EQP idea is great, I worked 90 other QSO's CW, a lot of fun. Lou Aull AE4JA/qrp +++++++++++++++++ Date: Mon, 10 Mar 2003 10:17:47 -0500 From: Bob Patten To: Elecraft Reflector , SOC Reflector , Jan Kueera , QRP-L Reflector Subject: [Elecraft] Results W0SOC in EQP 2003 ELECRAFT QSO PARTY Call used: W0SOC Location: FL Category: K2/438 for all QSO's Mode: MIXED Power: 5W Callsign of Operator(s): N4BP Exchanged Information: W0SOC 559 K2/438 FL Hours of Operation: 17:35 band CW QSOs CW pts Ph QSOs Ph pts ---------------------------------------------- 160 0 0 0 0 80 7 21 0 0 40 86 258 0 0 20 120 360 0 0 15 127 381 3 9 10 26 78 2 6 ---------------------------------------------- TOTAL 366 1098 5 15 Bonus Points: 50 (10 Field Tester's) 25 (Battery Power) -- 75 Bonus Points + 1113 QSO Points = 11188 TOTAL SCORE Club or Team Name: Aluminum Kings Comments: W0SOC is the new call of the Second Class Operator Club. This was the first time the call was used. For six hours of the EQP, the SOC Marathon Sprint was also on. During that time period, "SOC NR 1" was included in my sent exchange. Noteable QSO's: Field Tester HB9AFH - three bands OK1NR - Pres of Czech SOC UA9AKW FG/SM6LOD WB6HGJ K2/4428 (That's what he sent!) K1/1135 & K2/1135 back to back QSO's Field Testers #1 & #2 -- 73, Bob Patten, N4BP Plantation, FL E-Mail: n4bp at arrl.net Website: http://www.qsl.net/n4bp QRP ARCI #3412 SOC #1 ARS #799 Whiners #6 FISTS #7871 +++++++++++++++++ Date: Mon, 10 Mar 2003 09:36:39 -0600 (CST) From: Bruce Rattray To: Louis Aull Cc: Subject: Re: [Elecraft] EQP SSB Hello Louis and everyone...well I thoroughly enjoyed my time in & out of the EQP...I REALLY hope it is run again in whatever form...I ran SSB & CW and did mostly CW due to the vy few SSB signals I could hear in the great white & cold north eh!?!(minus 50 dC windchill)...hihihi...I think it was Wayne who part way through suggested ssb signals try sitting in the middle of each band segment...I checked the middle but no luck...this might be a good idea for next time... ...most of the time, I would begin by checking CW on 20 mtrs, work a station or two and then move to 15 mtrs cw and then to 10 mtrs cw...10 mtrs turned out to be disappointing in VE5 land... ...at this point I would move to 10 mtrs ssb, then down to 15 mtrs ssb and and then check out 20 mtrs ssb... ...when the band finally opened, I moved to 40 mtrs cw and worked a few stations there with nothing heard on ssb...I think I only had 1 contact on 10 mtrs and that was cw... ...as usual, nothing on 80 mtrs or 160 mtrs...no 6 mtrs here... ...for the sake of variety I would also cover the bands by checking cw on say 20 mtrs and then 20 mtrs ssb...then I would move to 15 mtrs, do the same and then to 10 mtrs, etc.... ...tried 3 different times to work W0SOC but it was not to be...terrific signal in here Bob but must have been the 'ol one-way skip thing that is common in this neck of the propagation woods... ...I really enjoyed the software written for EQP...who wrote this please?...very well done imho...worked 100%...I have one suggestion for the screen layout...maybe consider moving the ELECRAFT title up to the top of the screen and have the pop-ups, such as DUPE, appear on either side or one side, of the ELECRAFT title...and move Band, Mode & Power down to where ELECRAFT was so as to cut down on movement of the cursor when changing bands and modes?.... ...as well, I really liked being able to electronically send in my results shortly after the event was over...sure beats the many hours checking the old paper logs by hand...hihihi... ...I'm ready to do this event again anytime....a big thanks to the two chaps who got things going, K6III and I can't recall the other fellow's call sri...boy I love my K2 eh!?!..... ...72/73 - Bruce (VE5RC+VE5QRP) QRP-C#1 QRP-L#886 ARCI#9683 Zombie#272 A-1 Operator Club - 10/10# 944 - QRP Borg#1 - Whiner#10 - - VE5QRP SOC#11 - VE5RC SOC#12 - oo#148 - K2#2032 - COG#15 - "QRP! How sweet it is!" "I am da man wit "DAH" paddle!" +++++++++++++++++ From: "=?iso-8859-1?B?V9hJRkw=?=" To: Subject: Re: [Elecraft] EQP Soapbox/Summary Date: Sun, 9 Mar 2003 23:32:03 -0600 Me too! We aren't going to have to wait a whole YEAR, are we??? RonE WØIFL K2 nr 2133 > Thanks all for your QSO and patience when required. Already looking > forward to the next one. > > > 73, Rod N0RC ++++++++++++++++++ From: "Stephen King" To: Date: Mon, 10 Mar 2003 14:57:49 -0500 Subject: [Elecraft] W3SMK EQP Summary Summary Sheet: W3SMK K2 #2644 CW QSOs CW Pts Bonus 80m 1 3 40m 31 93 40 20m 8 24 15m 21 63 5 10m 5 15 TOTAL 198 25 SCORE: 223 RIG: K2 #2644 Comments: Had a great time! Fell far short of my goal of Elecraft CC, but fun nonetheless. Condx on 40m were great and lots of activity on 15m, too. Worked 25 states, 6 DXCC entities, 42 K2's and 5 K1's. A good start on making Elecraft CC! I hope this activity has even more participants next time! Is there an award for working W0SOC on 4 bands? Peace & 73 Stephen W3SMK K2 #2644 ++++++++++++++++++ Date: Mon, 10 Mar 2003 14:07:54 -0600 From: "Kenneth E. Harker" To: Elecraft Reflector Subject: [Elecraft] EQP ideas Here are some of my thoughts about the EQP. I admittedly had but little time to operate the event, and my perspective is that of a guy who is mainly a phone contester, and definitely not a CW QRPer, so I may not be in the mainstream of Elecraft rig owners... For one thing, when I look at the rules of the contest, I see several issues with them from the perspective of the event being a _competitive contest_. For those who just want to get on and work other Elecraft stations and don't really care about a score, the following may seem bizarre or irrelevant: * 24 hours sure seems like a LONG time for an event of this scope. On the other hand, if you were to limit it to any less, you would necessarily negatively affect some bands or paths in favor of others. Elecraft has a worldwide customer base, after all. If you wanted to limit the time of operation (and I'm not sure you necessarily would) you could put a limit of 12 hours of operation during the 24 hour period, with off-times of at least half an hour in length. This might encourage some to take the contest more seriously if they knew that they could pick and choose twelve good hours of propagation and not have to worry about putting in a whole 24 hours to stay competitive. Anyone who is likely to do more than 12 hours anyway is going to be able to spread out their off times to let them get the openings and work the bands they care about. * Despite the suggested frequencies, you REALLY want to explicitly state that the contest is only on the 160, 80, 40, 20, 15, and 10 meter bands. Or, you might have some lid getting on 17M and calling "CQ Contest." In the current rules, WARC band operation is only denied as an aside in the FAQ appendix. Personally, I think limiting the contest to 160, 80, 40, 20, 15, and 10 meters is best - I think allowing VHF operation where Elecraft rigs are the IF rig for a transverter is kind of a distraction from the main event. I would be surprised if anyone actually made a QSO that way this year. * The rules don't mention digital QSOs at all. There is an implication that PSK31 and RTTY QSOs are not allowed because the sample summary sheet in the FAQ only lists SSB and CW QSOs, and because the example frequencies listed are limited to SSB and CW frequencies. But, PSK31 QSOs are not explicitly forbidden. I think I'd mention that you can work each station for QSO points once on each band on phone, CW, and digital (where digital means PSK31 or Baudot RTTY.) * Under categories, I think "category 2" should be redefined: "Stations using other equipment for transmission and reception." Or something like that that makes it clearer that it's the rig (and not the keyer or the external bandpass filters or the rotor controllers, etc.) that is the determinant of category. I would also label the categories "Single-op K1," "Single-op K2," and "Single-op Other" and use those labels (rather than the much less meaningful "category 1" and "category 2") in the descriptions of the exchange and awards certificates. * I'd further vote for splitting the categories by: "Single-op K1 QRP," "Single-op K2 QRP," "Single-op K2 Low Power," "Single-op Other QRP," and "Single-op Other Low Power," using the 5W CW/10W Phone divider for QRP/LP. * In the current rules, it is not clear whether or not K1 owners are competing in the same entry category as K2/100 owners. The Categories section of the rules states explicitly that they are in the same entry category, but the FAQ appendix mentions a "K2 class" that doesn't actually appear in the rules. Very confusing. * I don't really like the scoring. For one thing, there's a huge incentive to operate QRP, but there's no incentive whatsoever to work other Elecraft rigs. Someone could work 100 QSOs using 5W, not work a single other Elecraft owner, and beat someone who worked 250 QSOs using 100W who in the process worked 200 other Elecraft owners. That seems wrong to me, and it just encourages more operators to go QRP, which results in fewer overall QSOs. The scoring format of most contests boils down to "QSO points x multipliers" where multipliers are chosen to give the contesters an incentive to work an interesting variety of stations. In DX contests, this is often DXCC countries or CQ zones, in state QSO Parties, it might be counties, in VHF contests, it's grid locators... For an Elecraft QSO Party, I think the multipliers should give operators an incentive to work other Elecraft stations. (Of course, the whole reason for the EQP is to do this, but the scoring doesn't reinforce this concept.) My suggestion: simply put QRP and low power into separate classes so they're not competing against each other, and make the scoring QSOs x # of unique Elecraft serial numbers worked per band per mode. (And maybe explicitly say that K1 #123 is not the same as K2 #123 - they each count as unique serial numbers.) If stations got a multiplier for K2 #123 on each CW and SSB, there would be a much stronger incentive to make QSOs on SSB to make a higher score. There would also be an incentive for stations to move around and operate on all the HF contest bands, rather than sticking to one band. * I'm not sure I like the idea of letting one contestant operate the contest with multiple Elecraft rigs. This would seem to give that contestant a HUGE advantage over their competitors. They can make twice as many QSOs simply by switching back and forth between rigs. At the very least, I'd change the rules so that those who use multiple rigs must submit a separate contest entry for each rig. * The example summary sheet in the rules FAQ appendix seems to imply that Field Tester bonus points are given per band, even though the rules and the FAQ itself both say otherwise. * Cross-mode QSOs are just completely undesirable on HF. I don't know of any other contest that allows them. * "QSOs are encouraged." What does that mean? How else do you score any points? +++++++++++++++++++ From: "Stephen King" To: , Subject: Re: [Elecraft] EQP comments solicited Date: Mon, 10 Mar 2003 15:30:39 -0500 What a great operating event! I would make one change ... the times. The 24 hour period was ok, but 1/3 of the time was when most folks sleep (and activity did seem to tail off quite a bit after midnight local time) and it ended at the beginning of a day that most people have off. If 24 hours seems like a good amount of time I would shift it so that most of the time is shifted to Sunday (all day and into the evening). Another possibility would be to make it more leisurely and make it Friday night to Sunday night. Thanks again Jerry and Pat ... it was a blast! Peace & 73 Stephen W3SMK K2 #2644 ++++++++++++++++ From: "Bob Wolbert, K6XX" To: Date: Mon, 10 Mar 2003 12:37:06 -0800 Subject: [Elecraft] K6XX in EQP Had a great time putting my new toy to work (K2 #3289). Even though I had a 5-hour late start due to other commitments, made 168 total QSOs, including 161 CW, 7 SSB. 160m to 10m. All phone QSOs were QSY's from the CW band. Worked NA, Eu, AS, and OC, but no AF or SA heard in EQP. 30 states. 25 pts battery bonus, plus 8 unique field testers. Total score: 567 points. Qualified for the Elecraft CC by working 100 unique serial numbers during the contest period (101 if I count the guy who insisted he has a 4000+ serial number...). Nice putting K2's # 001 & 002 into the log. Getting very close to regular DXCC with the <2 week-old K2. Total (unverified, of course) stands at 94. And now at 33 US states. Guess it's working! 73 de Bob, K6XX www.k6xx.com +++++++++++++++++++ From: "Stephen King" To: "Kenneth E. Harker" , "Elecraft Reflector" Subject: Re: [Elecraft] EQP ideas Date: Mon, 10 Mar 2003 15:51:48 -0500 From: "Kenneth E. Harker" > My suggestion: simply put QRP and low power into separate classes so they're > not competing against each other, and make the scoring QSOs x # of unique > Elecraft serial numbers worked per band per mode. (And maybe explicitly > say that K1 #123 is not the same as K2 #123 - they each count as unique serial > numbers.) I like the idea of a multiplier too ... and giving incentive to working Elecrafts is a good one ... QSO points x unique K1/K2 serial numbers worked (per band per mode sounds way too complicated!) ..... Peace & 73 Stephen W3SMK K2 #2644 ++++++++++++++++++ From: "Jay Henson" To: "Elecraft List" Date: Mon, 10 Mar 2003 16:28:46 -0600 Subject: [Elecraft] EQP - Soapbox All, What a fun time that was. I hope this one becomes a regular event, maybe even more often. Very laid back fun with very courteous operators. The wx was a little dreary but no thunderboomers until this AM. With breaks for family needs, personal needs, burning some steaks on the grill for supper, etc., I guess I put in about 6 or so hours total. I managed 75 Q's with 27 SPC's, and 1 DX Q. My time was split with about 1/3 calling CQ and 2/3 S&P. I also worked 6 FT's. Not a real barn burner by any stretch but I am very happy. Operating condx was K2 #1073, 120' end fed wire (45' high - great E/W antenna) and 300' loop at 40'. Highlights Heard (but did not work) Eric WA6HHQ Saturday evening on 15m. The band was durn near dead so did not get a chance to catch him. Also heard JA5DIM late on 15. I rang his doorbell but we could not complete the exchange. Worked F6FTB Sunday AM. My K2Logit logging program worked very well. I found several improvements that I need to make and a couple of needed changes to work into the code. All in all, it did well considering this was my first REAL test of the program. Lowlights Did not spend as much time as I wanted in the fun. Did not read the announcement very closely and spent a lot of time above the "standard" QRP calling frequencies. Lots of folks up there with me but I think most of the action was on the recommended frequencies. Attention to details!!!!! Did not work any SSB. Jim N0UR asked me if I could do SSB and it took me a few moments to think about where my mike was located. Didn't really have an opportunity to drag it down. Did not work Eric or Wayne. My best to all and looking forward to the next EQP fun. Jay AJ4AY Mobile, AL QRPL 1372, ARCI 8131, FISTS 7917, FP -115, SOC 220 +++++++++++++++++ From: BobDobson at aol.com Date: Mon, 10 Mar 2003 19:10:14 EST To: elecraft at mailman.qth.net Subject: [Elecraft] EQP musings All: First of all, I personally had an absolute blast during the EQP. Although I was tempted to switch in my dummy load to get a better antenna, I managed to cover a much larger share of the planet than I had originally anticipated. Those of you with the patience and intestinal fortitude to dig my signal out of the ionospheric muck will receive the genuine, not-so-coveted "Worked WA4FOM Award". Unfortunately, it's still just a cheesy QSL card until my order from Octavia arrives. These cards are suitable for wrapping fish or training puppies (albeit very small fish and even smaller puppies). I was again shocked and amazed by the performance of the K1/K2 rigs. Even when 15 meters appeared to be dead, I would occasionally hear signals leap out of the quiet, again reassuring me of the inherent superiority of the Elecraft design. After a while, I found that I could identify with startling accuracy the Elecraft radios just by the sound of the keying waveform. To paraphrase Goldilocks, it's "not too hard, not too soft, but just right". Although I generally use my organic audio filter (ears) to sift out the QRO pack, I was forced a few times to actually kick in the narrower filters and the AF filter. Wow. By and large, the operators were of impeccable caliber; I saw VERY little of the "contest shark tank" mentality unless of course an FT was the prey. Only one station did not heed my "PSE QRS" pleas when their code speed was a bit much for me. A few weeks of copying W1AW should take care of that little problem. I am convinced that the more elegant craft (elecraft?) of QRP brings out the patience and general good operating practice that burns deep in the heart of all hams. Which brings me to another point; I was actually able to log one SSB contact. I was disappointed that there was so little voice activity during the EQP. Perhaps, as others have suggested, there should be a separate voice EQP just to stimulate interest. Unfortunately, this will (temporarily) exclude the K1 crowd, but might serve to boost K2/KSB2 sales. :) I second the idea of having more EQPs; once a year is just not often enough. Oh, by the way, I sincerely hope something will appear in QST about this event. Maybe we could call the article "Revenge of the Peanut Whistles"...or not. 73, Bob WA4FOM K2 # 2537 (B-upgraded and has the soldering iron burns to prove it) ++++++++++++++++++ From: "James Brown" To: Subject: [Elecraft] EQP Soapbox/Summary Date: Mon, 10 Mar 2003 18:39:10 -0600 Hey Gang: Greeting from Louisiana, home of JAZZ and James Brown, K5JAZ (thanks, Rod and Colin). Really enjoyed the EQP. I, like others, monitored the SSB frequencies but didn't hear a single EQP'er. Worked strictly CW at 5 watts. Antennas used were a 88 foot doublet (14Mhz EDZ) and a Gap Titan. Made DX contacts with KP4/WB8ICN, VE1RGB and HB9DCL. Notable stateside contacts were with K6III, N0RC, K0EVZ, K6SE, and last but certainly not least, WA6HHQ (K2 #2). Somehow I managed to miss K2 #1... Loudest signal on the band was definitely K6SE. For future EQPs, I would like to see seperate SSB and CW contests. That would perhaps get the K2 ops to try out that nifty SSB2. Thanks to everyone involved in making the EQP happen, and to all participants. Here's my summary: Call - K5JAZ Band CW QSO Pts ---- --- --- 160M 0 0 80M 1 3 40M 24 72 20M 45 135 15M 27 81 10M 0 0 6M 0 0 --- --- Total 97 291 Field Tester Bonus 5 Battery Bonus 0 Grand Total 296 Points Rig - K2 Serial Number - 2535 Regards, Jim Brown +++++++++++++++++++ Date: Mon, 10 Mar 2003 21:54:14 -0400 From: Gary Bartlett To: elecraft at mailman.qth.net Subject: [Elecraft] EQP Suggestions Hello, gang: My thanks to all those who put up with my CW and worked me in the EQP contest. I thoroughly enjoyed myself. In total, I made 194 QSOs, albeit running 100 W for all but three of them (the excuse being what I perceive to be marginal antennas here). In retrospect, I dearly wish I had run exclusively QRP. Which brings me to my suggestion: In order to help drive home the message to people such as myself who are too quick with the PA switch, why now add Output Power to the exchange, say perhaps in the form of rig/power (e.g., K2/5 or K2/100), for future parties. I know it means a bit more sending and copying, but I am convinced that if I had been repeatedly hammered by the message that I was receiving perfectly copyable signals from a 5 or ten Watt transmitter, I might ultimately have been smart enough to back off my output, too. It is an issue of conditioning. I find it not an easy thing to automatically think QRP after having run 100W rigs for so many years, and difficult to stop assuming that that is what the other guy is running as well. The logging software worked very nicely for me. My only suggestion there is that the two RST windows be co-located. I found myself constantly tabbing to the bottom of the log display to enter "RST Sent" before I forgot it, then dashing back to the top line to enter the data coming in. The highlight for me was working the principals at Elecraft and some of the regular contributors to this wonderful forum, including the EQP organizer, and a number of Elecraft-equipped DX stations. I side with those who don't want to wait another whole year to do this again. Gary, VE1RGB K2 #2519 (and #3223 in-progress) ++++++++++++++++++ From: BobDobson at aol.com Date: Mon, 10 Mar 2003 21:26:45 EST Subject: Re: [Elecraft] EQP Suggestions To: garybartlett at accesswave.ca, elecraft at mailman.qth.net I have to agree with Gary's observations on the logging software with regards to the co-location of the received and sent RST values. NOW I know why VE1RGB was so strong; I dread to think what he could have done to my receiver had he been running the legal limit. 73, Bob WA4FOM ++++++++++++++++++ From: "COLIN WHITMORE" To: "Elecraft" Date: Mon, 10 Mar 2003 22:30:03 -0700 Subject: [Elecraft] EQP Question I tried to work the same stations with both radios but they kept thinking that I was working them again with the same radio. I gave up after a couple of QSO's and just stuck with the K2. Maybe next time I'll alternate which radio every hour or so. I did a fair job in the EQP but I had a couple of missed calls and was wondering if anyone else got it right. The first is KJ5VU/7 in AZ, K2 2629. I was thinking this may be KG5VU/7 he is actually out of TX but may have traveled to AZ for the EQP, hence the /7. Can anybody confirm this? The other is WA3TB in NY. I haven't a clue as to what some other interation may be for this one, but a local ham pointed out that it might have been WA2TDE. He didn't have an Elecraft rig. Any ideas? Cheers, Colin N0YGY K1 - 942 K2 - 2833 +++++++++++++++++ From: "Deinhardt, Toby" To: "'elecraft at mailman.qth.net'" Cc: "'k2 at linuxcolumbus.com'" , "'k6iii at juno.com'" Date: Tue, 11 Mar 2003 12:51:07 +0100 Subject: [Elecraft] EQP suggestions/Rule changes Hallo! The rules for the EQP have several problems and they I feel be improved upon. Despite these weaknesses, I would like to thank the Pat and Jerry, and all participents for a wonderful time. There are various quirks, which I assume are unintended, e.g. you get a bonus for at least one QSO with battery power and are not allowed to recharge during the contest. In other words, do your first qso with battery power, get 25 bonus points and then turn on your power supply for the next 23 or so hours but do not recharge your battery at the same time. Also, as has been pointed out by others, "real" QSOs and not just wham, bam, 599 are intended, but not supported by the rules. With this in mind I would like to suggest changing the rules as follows. I hope these changes will clear up some of the unwanted quirks without damaging the fun, look and feel of the EQP vy 73 de toby --------------------------------------------------------------------- Object: To work as many other Elecraft owners and have fun doing it. Contest Period: 1500z March x to 1500z March x, xxxx Suggested Frequencies: CW 1805-1815, 3530-3540, 7030-7040, 14050-14060, 21050-21060, 28050-28060 SSB 1905-1915 (DX 1840-1890), 3850-3900 (DX 3650-3700), 7250-7300 (DX 7050-7100), 14250-14300, 21300-21350, 28300-28350 Call: "CQ EQ" or "CQ EQP" in CW/Digital, "CQ Elecraft QSO Party" in SSB Power: 100 watts output maximum Modes: CW, SSB and "Digital" (RTTY, PSK etc.) Categories: Category 1a Stations using Elecraft K1 transceivers (for all contacts). Category 1b Stations using Elecraft K2 transceivers (for all contacts). (This includes stations which use K1s and K2s during the EQP) Category 2 Stations using all other transceivers. Stations in category 2 may only work stations in categories 1a & 1b Exchange: Category 1a & 1b -> RST, Elecraft Rig Type, Rig Serial Number and State, Province or Country (K1/K2 Field Testers Add "FT" to your Elecraft Rig Type) Category 2 -> RST and Name, QTH ***Please use real RST's*** Dupes: Each station can be worked once per mode and band, i.e. the same station could be worked three times per band, once in CW, once in SSB and once in a digital mode. Scoring: Mode/Power Source of Power Length of QSO 0:01-5:00 5:01 - 10:00 >10 Min. CW 0 - 5 W Battery, Solar etc. 6 12 18 Digi 0 - 5 W Battery, Solar etc. 6 12 18 SSB 0 - 10 W Battery, Solar etc. 6 12 18 CW 0 - 5 W Mains PS 3 6 9 Digi 0 - 5 W Mains PS 3 6 9 SSB 0 - 10 W Mains PS 3 6 9 CW 5.1 - 15 W Battery, Solar etc. 4 8 12 Digi 5.1 - 15 W Battery, Solar etc. 4 8 12 SSB 10.1 - 15 W Battery, Solar etc. 4 8 12 CW 5.1 - 15 W Mains PS 2 4 6 Digi 5.1 - 15 W Mains PS 2 4 6 SSB 10.1 - 15 W Mains PS 2 4 6 CW 15.1 - 100 W Battery, Solar etc. 2 4 6 Digi 15.1 - 100 W Battery, Solar etc. 2 4 6 SSB 15.1 - 100 W Battery, Solar etc. 2 4 6 CW 15.1 - 100 W Mains PS 1 2 3 Digi 15.1 - 100 W Mains PS 1 2 3 SSB 15.1 - 100 W Mains PS 1 2 3 If the power level changed during a QSO, the highest power level used during this QSO is used to calculate the points for the QSO. Bonuses: 10 points for each unique K1/K2 field tester worked. 5 points for each unique K1/K2 worked. (K2FT 1 would be worth 5 points for the serial number and 10 for the FT, i.e. 15 bonus points total) Final score: QSO points + bonuses. Award Certificates: category 1a -> Top 5 US/Canada category 1a -> Top 5 DX category 1b -> Top 5 US/Canada category 1b -> Top 5 DX category 2 -> Top 5 US/Canada category 2 -> Top 5 DX ++++++++++++++++++ From: "Max Moon" To: Subject: [Elecraft] EQP ideas Date: Tue, 11 Mar 2003 10:36:16 -0600 Hello all, In terms of EQP Ideas, aka possible rule changes for next time, several suggestions have focused on making the EQP more like other contests. However, the K2 is different than other rigs, so the contest can be different than other contests. For example, some ops have asked for a points multiplier for SPC, as in other contests. A "different than other contests" suggestion is for a points multiplier for something like individual rig serial numbers per mode per band. While it's been noted that this latter idea would be too complicated, since it's probably relatively easy to revise the logging software to include a dupe/counter feature based on serial numbers & bands (& even modes as well), I guess I'd say, let's be unique & do it that way. It encourages EQP QSOs rather than either total QSOs or SPC QSOs. Similarly, one of this year's contest goals is "QSOs are encouraged." (I'm assuming that "QSOs are encouraged" means that LONGER QSOs are encouraged--more than normal sub-minute contest exchange.) As it stands, there is no incentive in terms of scoring for us to chat with each other. If the scoring is revised so that the longer your QSO is, the more points you get, then we would have an incentive to mention things like when we got the rig, what options we've installed, what mic we're using, etc. Personally, I would rather not see the contest go beyond 24 hrs. Whether those are mostly on Saturday or Sunday doesn't make much difference-whatever is most convenient to most ops. But going beyond 24 hrs. will make it less appealing to ops who can only compete part of the time. Basically, if I can only join the EQP for 10 hrs, I'm more likely to do it if that's 10 hours out of 24 hours maximum rather than 10 out of 36 or 48 maximum. (Personally, I'd vote with the idea of any 10 or 12 or 15 hours from within a 24 hr period.) Yes to HF (non-WARC) only & yes to any possible mode. Max, k0max k2 #917 ++++++++++++++++ From: "Bob Wolbert, K6XX" To: Date: Tue, 11 Mar 2003 10:11:45 -0800 Subject: [Elecraft] EQP: QRP/LP categories? NO. Regarding the suggestion to add a Low Power and a QRP category... I disagree. A VERY nice thing about EQP was the flexibility to increase power to complete a marginal QSO WITHOUT re-categorizing your entry. In most contests, the rules state that "_ALL_ QSOs are made at XX Watts or less", otherwise you move up to a higher power category. The fact that in EQP you are merely penalized a point or two if you need more power is a great idea. You now may use your best judgement as to what power level to employ on a dynamic basis. Use 5W as a default, but have the flexibility to QRO to complete a difficult QSO. In EQP, where the activity isn't very high, you need to milk each available QSOs for all the points you can get. Three points per is your goal, but if it is a choice between three and ZERO, it is in both station's interest to QRO. The fact that the operator isn't re-categorized for one or two higher-power QSOs in EQP is a stroke of genius, IMHO. In EQP, I made one 80W QSO after the other station just couldn't copy my 5W. 73 de Bob, K6XX k6xx at arrl.net www.k6xx.com +++++++++++++++++++ Date: Wed, 12 Mar 2003 21:55:27 +1300 From: Ron Willcocks To: Elecraft Reflector Subject: [Elecraft] EQP my $0..02 worth Hi all, I have read most of the comments about the EQP event....some with quite a bit of amusement, and it would appear from most comments, everyone had a good time. I guess everyone has preconcieved ideas what a QSO party should be like, but I think Jerry and Pat have the balance pretty right. No contest (ooops....QSO party) will be perfect. It is up to the contestants to make it work,and on the whole, it appears this initial effort *was* succesful. The fact that few were on SSB is academic.Possibly a lot of the SSB ops were a bit bashful about operating what is a basically CW rig on voice, but I imagine that will change in the next event. Given a bit more time and advertising and I think this idea will definitely grow. Unfortunately , with the sinking propogation I am unlikely to improve on my miserable score, but we need an event like this to sharpen the weak signal skills. My only mis-giving concerning frequency allocations is the 20m one. I ended up working more FISTS members and receiving their numbers than I had EQP contacts there. Some were so overpowered by the exchange I sent back they didn't complete the QSO! (baffled perhaps?) CYa in the next one ......numbers #1 and #2 next time down here perhaps? Cheers......Ron ZL1TW ++++++++++++++ From: "Wallace, Andy" To: "'k6iii at juno.com'" Cc: elecraft at mailman.qth.net Subject: RE: [Elecraft] Re: Your EQP Suggestions - why have scores? Date: Wed, 12 Mar 2003 12:51:55 -0500 > -----Original Message----- > > Good mornin' Ken, > > Scores are an incentive to keep people hanging in there; > they show 'progress'. Other incentives were: Work the FT's, > Work towards the Elecraft Century Club and W.A.S. certificates. > I think I would like to see participation certificates awarded to > everyone who made, say, 100 contacts. All good ideas. I hear all the comments and it seems like half the group prefers more ragchew-y goals and half prefers contest-y goals. I think a less -competitive- and more -fun- scoring level would be something like this: Participating class = <100 contacts = 1 point per non-FT contact Next level = >100 contacts = 200 points fixed 10 points each per FT contact (per band) 50 points for battery power, less than full operating time 100 points for battery power, full operating time (operating time is not necessarily full duration of contest, of course) No extras for choice of rig, power (though K2/100 by battery is uncommon!) This sort of scheme would give people the incentive of making at least 100 contacts, satisfying the competitive urge... Once you make 100 contacts, your score won't increase except by field testers, which means you'd want to stick around and hunt for them. Hopefully it would also encourage ragchews, because you have 24 hours to do the 100 contacts to reach the plateau. There are 1000 different ways of running a contest -- these are what I came up with. Just ideas! I like the idea of sending only summaries -- we should be HONEST here, it's a hobby after all. Less work for the organizer, too. I haven't totalled my score -- but I had FUN, which was the goal, and was very, very impressed to hear so many Elecrafts on the air. And like other people, I'd like a repeat more often than once per year. Thanks to all the organizers and EQP software authors, too! -Andy +++++++++++++++++ From: "C. GONDARD" To: Date: Wed, 12 Mar 2003 20:45:59 +0100 Subject: [Elecraft] EQP at F6FTB Hello K2/K1 friends, This is my log submission for the EQP 2003. I stayed on QRP 5 watts all the contest; Unfortunaltely , I had some = other family activities planned for this week end, so I was able to stay = only 4 hours with my K2. Conditions sometimes were very good; VR2BG and K6SE were really strong = saturday afternoon (that is a long way from EU ..); but a lot of QSB. = Very happy to qso with Vitas LY2FE on 2 bands; by the way, the only SSB = QSO !! I heard no EU activity on 40 m, but I don't stayed a long time on = this band. That was a very pleasant contest, with a good friendly spirit ************* Elecraft QSO Party Score Summary Band CW SSB Digital QSO Pts QSO Pts QSO Pts ---- --- --- --- --- --- --- 160M 0 0 0 0 0 0=20 80M 0 0 0 0 0 0=20 40M 0 0 0 0 0 0=20 20M 1 3 1 3 0 0=20 15M 34 102 1 3 0 0=20 10M 0 0 0 0 0 0=20 6M 0 0 0 0 0 0=20 --- --- --- Total 35 105 2 6 0 0=20 Field Tester Bonus 15=20 Battery Bonus 0=20 Grand Total 126 Points Rig - K2 Serial Number - 644 Comments - ******* 73 to everybody Chris / F6FTB K2 # 644 ++++++++++++++++ To: k6iii at juno.com, elecraft at mailman.qth.net Date: Wed, 12 Mar 2003 13:58:04 -0800 Subject: Re: [Elecraft] EQP my $0..02 worth - SPC, etc... From: k6se at juno.com The EQP rules are ok except for a few things that I think would improve the event: 1 - Do away with the RST/RS requirement. I gave everyone 599 because that's what I programmed into one on my K2's message memories. I suspect that others probably did the same (meaning not all reports given were accurate, anyway). The exchange should only be the rig (K1 or K2), S/N, FT (if it's a Field Tester) and State/Province (DX countries need not send their country prefix as part of the exchange because it's already obvious) 2 - There is not enough spread between power levels and points per QSO. I would suggest 3 points/QSO for K1s and K2s barefoot (no KPA100), 2 points for medium power (15.1 to 100 watts, i.e., with KPA100) and 1 point for QRO (more than 100 watts). This would help level the playing field (which is 'way off kilter as it stands now). 3 - A multiplier based on the number of different S/N's worked. This would make everyone's score look more reasonable compared the teensy scores which are now possible. 4 - Rather than only once, bonus points should be awarded for each FT worked on each mode and/or band. 73, de Earl, K6SE --__--__-- ========== I actually programmed "599 K2 2622 CA" into the message memory. This eliminated fatigue and any possible sending errors if I had to send that by hand for each QSO. The same RST for everyone also allowed me to not have to log the sent RST into the logging program provided on the Elecraft Web site (others complained of the difficulty in logging both sent and received RSTs into the log). Doing away with DX countries having to send their country prefix (which is obvious from their callsign) agrees with VR2BG's suggestion. 73, de K6SE ++++++++++++++++ Date: Mon, 17 Mar 2003 07:42:30 -0500 From: Pat n8vw To: elecraft at mailman.qth.net Subject: [Elecraft] eqp summaries received Happy St. Patties day. Here is a list of summaries I've received so far. aa6av ab4vf ac6rm ad6gi ae4ec dk3dua dl2hrf f6ftb g3ymc hb9afh hb9czf ji1efp jr9opj k0evz k4ir k4uk k4zm k5jaz(z) k5zty k6iii k6se k6xr k6xx k7re k7tq k7zyv k8nwd k9nx kb2oev kc2jav ke2wb kg6cyn kh6b kj9c kk7ss ly2fe m3lok n0tk n0ur n0ygy n2wg n3wt n4bp n4gsd n4hh n4nr n4ob n6wg n6xg n6xi n8vw na8m nc3s nf0g ni5f ni8n no5dl ny1p pa0rbo va3df va7dz ve1rgb ve5qrp vr2bg w0av w0ifl w0ufo w3anx w3dp w3smk w4fms w5ya w6gy w6ur w6zh w8tm w8ymo w9nqp wa2dgd wa4cit wa4fom wa8cdu wa9pwp wb8rtj wm5r wz7w zl1tw If you sent your summary and I missed it let me know. I'll go back through the emails to make sure I haven't missed anybody. Pat N8VW ++++++++++++++++++ Date: Fri, 21 Mar 2003 15:30:40 -0500 To: elecraft at mailman.qth.net From: Kevin Cozens Subject: Re: [Elecraft] EL QP Greetings, one and all. Band CW QSOs CW Pts SSB QSOs SSB Pts Bonus 160 0 0 0 0 0 80 0 0 0 0 0 40 2 6 0 0 0 20 12 36 0 0 0 15 14 72 0 0 5 10 0 0 0 0 0 Total 114 0 5 Battery Bonus: 25 Score: 144 Rig: K2 S/N 2172 Comments: Worked 5 new states during the EQP then picked up Wisconsin afterwards in the Wisconsin QSO Party. Only heard (and worked) one Canadian station, one field tester, and one K2/100. I never heard any DX stations or either Eric or Gary. I listened at times for SSB contacts but didn't hear anything. Being somewhat antenna challenged (using an MP-1 from inside a second floor bedroom) I have learned that I am not generally heard if I call CQ using SSB so I stuck to using CW. Having worked QSO parties and other contests I have noticed the difference between running CW vs. SSB in terms of how likely it is for people to respond to a CQ. At 11:41 AM 03/08/2003 -0500, John, N3WT wrote: >Just send at the speed you are comfortable with. Every Elecraft operator is >a gentlemen and will return at your speed, no problem. This was true for the most part. However, there were two stations I could name that were running 25+ wpm(?) that didn't slow down. The faster of the two was heard earlier on in the contest. My mind wasn't in to copying numbers that well then. I was sending at only 15 wpm but the station never slowed down. I couldn't copy the stations info so I gave up and moved on. For the other station, I was able to get his info by listening to it a few times while other stations were worked. If multipliers were added to the event, my feeling is they should be awarded for each unique K1/K2 serial number worked. Each unique serial number should only be counted once (regardless of band/mode worked). This provides encouragement to work more K1/K2 owners. I don't like the idea of points based on the duration of the QSO. It would complicate things too much and take out the fun of the event since one would be worried about noting the start/end times of a contact. Adding ones name to the exchange (instead of the RST) would be nice. The DXCC entity is redundant for ops outside of Canada and mainland US. Actually, Canadian stations sending province is actually redundant since the prefix of a Canadian call indicates the province. Power class should be based on the maximum power used during the QSO party. One person stated that they entered as QRP but had to crank the power up to 80 watts to work one station. To still enter as QRP, don't count the 80 watt contact, or drop power class and simply score each QSO based on the power level used for the QSO. To do otherwise seems a little unfair to the stations that were QRP the whole time. After all, its supposed to be a fun event. If you can't work someone QRP, you can't work them QRP. Don't sweat it and try someone else. I look forward to the next event (whether that is next year or in six months time). Cheers! Kevin. (http://www.interlog.com/~kcozens/) +++++++++++++++++++ From: N0tk at aol.com=20 To: frstephenk at stfrancishigh.org=20 Sent: Friday, March 28, 2003 10:35 AM Subject: Re: [Elecraft] ELECRAFT NET: Introduction! In a message dated 3/27/2003 1:02:01 PM Mountain Standard Time, = frstephenk at stfrancishigh.org writes: Stephen I believe the EQP was successful because of the activity level and = participation of the Elecraft owners. The ability to work DX was also a = positive factor. I participated because I like to run my K1 in contest-like operation. I = was also curious as to what the activity level might be.=20 I looked to hook up with some of the group that posts on the Elecraft = reflector. Also, I thought it would be a good place to increase my = totals toward the CC award. I got a lot more than expected. The activity level was higher than = anticipated, I was able to for some DX, and I got a good start toward = the CC award. TKS for volunteering to start a net for Elecraft owners. This will also = help those who are going for the CC award. 73 Dan N=D8TK Highlands Ranch, CO ++++++++++++++++++ Date: Mon, 12 May 2003 09:03:05 -0400 From: Pat n8vw To: elecraft at mailman.qth.net Subject: [Elecraft] eqp results All, Results at http://www.linuxcolumbus.com/eqp2003results.html If you need them in a different format or have problems let me know off list. Cya'll at Dayton. Pat N8VW +++++++++++++++++++