12-18-2014, 09:42 PM
I'm interested.
Some info from the ARRL website:
Equipment Required
On 6 and 2M, it is common to use a minimum of 100 watts to large rotatable beam on tower, perhaps 50 ft high, from a location that has a clear view of the horizon. Your range is significantly reduced by an obstructed horizon. On these bands, upper sideband or USB is the mode most commonly used, though it isn't unusual for contest stations to switch to CW to make contacts that would otherwise not happen. Stations have a lot of incentive to make those little improvements--as once you get to a station range of 100 miles, relatively small increases are needed to get it out to 200 miles.
On the higher bands, power gets harder to come by, but high gain antennas get easier. Thus, a few watts on 10GHz might have as much range as 100 watts on 2M, provided those razor sharp beams are pointed accurately. Most operators stick to 2' or smaller dishes on 10GHz, though there are expert operators who use 4' dishes with the aid of beacons for azimuth calibration. By convention, beams for terrestrial use are horizontally polarized, as opposed to the vertical polarization standard for FM.
QSO points for the VHF Contest:
5.1.1. Count one point for each complete 50- or 144-MHz QSO.
5.1.2. Count two points for each 222- or 432-MHz QSO.
5.1.3. Count four points for each 902- or 1296-MHz QSO.
5.1.4. Count eight points for each 2.3 GHz (or higher) QSO.
I would also suggest that we enter in the "multi-operator limited" category which limits us to 4 bands (no other difference, spotting assistance still allowed). From viewing last year's contest stats, looks like most multi-ops enter as "multi-operator unlimited" (perhaps by habit or perhaps these were single ops with spotting assistance that didn't understand the difference). However, most of these didn't work more than 4 bands anyway and were competing unnecessarily among a larger pool of entrants. Because of this, I think we can be more competitive in the "multi-operator limited" class because we won't be using more than 4 bands anyway.
I did some analysis on the 2014 contest results for the 81 New England logs that were entered. Attached is a picture of the distribution of total QSOs for the top 4 bands (attached). Keep in mind that these results are only for New England stations which will most likely approximate our experience in the contest. Stations in less populated parts of the country probably wouldn't have as many QSOs.
I would suggest that we try to find a radio (and amp if needed) to meet these requirements if possible:
2M - 100W or more
440MHz - 100W or more
50MHz - 100W or more
222MHz - 100W or more (optional)
Rotatable beams for each band as high as possible
High quality low-loss coax
Note: There was some question as to whether John K1LYP's radio could be interfaced with the computer and logging software. I appreciate John's offer and let's find out if it would work for us.
Does anyone have any leads on any of this gear?
73,
Joe
Some info from the ARRL website:
Equipment Required
On 6 and 2M, it is common to use a minimum of 100 watts to large rotatable beam on tower, perhaps 50 ft high, from a location that has a clear view of the horizon. Your range is significantly reduced by an obstructed horizon. On these bands, upper sideband or USB is the mode most commonly used, though it isn't unusual for contest stations to switch to CW to make contacts that would otherwise not happen. Stations have a lot of incentive to make those little improvements--as once you get to a station range of 100 miles, relatively small increases are needed to get it out to 200 miles.
On the higher bands, power gets harder to come by, but high gain antennas get easier. Thus, a few watts on 10GHz might have as much range as 100 watts on 2M, provided those razor sharp beams are pointed accurately. Most operators stick to 2' or smaller dishes on 10GHz, though there are expert operators who use 4' dishes with the aid of beacons for azimuth calibration. By convention, beams for terrestrial use are horizontally polarized, as opposed to the vertical polarization standard for FM.
QSO points for the VHF Contest:
5.1.1. Count one point for each complete 50- or 144-MHz QSO.
5.1.2. Count two points for each 222- or 432-MHz QSO.
5.1.3. Count four points for each 902- or 1296-MHz QSO.
5.1.4. Count eight points for each 2.3 GHz (or higher) QSO.
I would also suggest that we enter in the "multi-operator limited" category which limits us to 4 bands (no other difference, spotting assistance still allowed). From viewing last year's contest stats, looks like most multi-ops enter as "multi-operator unlimited" (perhaps by habit or perhaps these were single ops with spotting assistance that didn't understand the difference). However, most of these didn't work more than 4 bands anyway and were competing unnecessarily among a larger pool of entrants. Because of this, I think we can be more competitive in the "multi-operator limited" class because we won't be using more than 4 bands anyway.
I did some analysis on the 2014 contest results for the 81 New England logs that were entered. Attached is a picture of the distribution of total QSOs for the top 4 bands (attached). Keep in mind that these results are only for New England stations which will most likely approximate our experience in the contest. Stations in less populated parts of the country probably wouldn't have as many QSOs.
I would suggest that we try to find a radio (and amp if needed) to meet these requirements if possible:
2M - 100W or more
440MHz - 100W or more
50MHz - 100W or more
222MHz - 100W or more (optional)
Rotatable beams for each band as high as possible
High quality low-loss coax
Note: There was some question as to whether John K1LYP's radio could be interfaced with the computer and logging software. I appreciate John's offer and let's find out if it would work for us.
Does anyone have any leads on any of this gear?
73,
Joe
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