In a message dated 7/5/02 9:41:13 AM Central Daylight Time, wb0dul@arrl.net
writes:

We just thought it would be nice of you to send the contest winner to
Jamaica for a week to rest up from the pressures of the contest. The
winner can take his wife or girlfriend, or both. :)

Oh, we would never take advantage of your advanced years. We wouldn't,
would we, guys and gals?

73,

Dick
WB0DUL@arrl.net

I still think it's great of JAY to make the offer to reward the winner. What
a guy!

Bob N0BHC

Wonderful .... only not so many rules that it takes a lawyer to
interpret them !!! Its a hobby.... <G>

No. Let's make them such that ONLY lawyers can interpret them. Yeah...
that's the ticket!

Peter, AG4KI

Peter Baskind, J.D., LL.M.
Germantown, TN
Voice: (901) 624-5295
Fax: (901) 624-6060
pbaskind@midsouth.rr.com

BTW: How 'bout a 10m event before the Summer is out? That might be fun,
too.

In a message dated 7/5/2002 10:36:34 AM Eastern Daylight Time,
wb0dul@arrl.net writes:

I agree with you on the short notice for the contest. I'm a little confused
as to why it has to be this weekend unless they want it to tie in with the
holiday, thus the name "Firecracker Sprint."

Actually, the reason why we picked this weekend is because it one of the
few weekends in July without any major contests going on. The 13-14 is the
IARU HF Championship, the 20-21 is the NA RTTY QSO Party, the 27-28 is the
Russian RTTY WW Contest and RSGB IOTA Contest...If you guys want, we can put
the sprint on the backburner til a later date...Jay N3DQU

And the winner does get a trip to Jamaica, right? On you, of course. Quit evading it. We're all waiting. :)

73,

Dick
WB0DUL@arrl.net

Wonderful .... only not so many rules that it takes a lawyer to interpret them !!! Its a hobby.... <G>

Tom, k3psk

OK, for everybody who wants to have a little fun this weekend, the PODXS
070 club is sponsoring the first ever PODXS 070 Club 40 meterPSK Firecracker
Sprint.

The date and times are Saturday, 6-July-2002, 2000 - 0200 YOUR LOCAL TIME.

For a complete set of rules go to:

http://www.angelfire.com/folk/leonards/40mrules.html

or if you have any questions, you can e-mail me at:

kf4fhs@ywave.com


Hope to see you this Saturday evening.

73, Bernie / KF4FHS

Local time? Everybody will be on at a different time. How about UTC? We all understand that.

73,

Dick
WB0DUL@arrl.net

Hey Ed,

If I forget to call you, just remember on Saturday night, when the big
hand is on the 12 and the little hand is on the 8, start calling CQ 40m TEST
:-)

See ya Saturday & 73,
Bernie / KF4FHS

Hey Jay,

YOUR local time. It starts at 8 pm Saturday evening, no matter where you
are.

73, Bernie / KF4FHS

In a message dated 7/5/2002 2:01:12 AM Eastern Daylight Time, wb0dul@arrl.net
writes:

And the winner does get a trip to Jamaica, right? On you, of course. Quit
evading it. We're all waiting. :)

Where the heck did this Jamaica thing come from anyways? I think you guys are
taking advantage of my advanced years hi!

STOP THE PRESSES.

I jumped the gun a little.

The 40 Meter Sprint will be from 2000 - 0200 LOCAL time, I repeat LOCAL
time, Saturday 6-July-2002.

I repeat again 2000 - 0200 LOCAL time. Saturday
6-July-2002

I will post when the rules are on the website.

73, Bernie / KF4FHS

OK all you squeaky wheels are goin to get some grease.

We are going to have a 40 meter Sprint type contest towards the middle to
end of July.

N3DQU and myself are working out the finer points, as you read this, so it
will be as fair for everyone as possible. When everything is worked out I
will post the rules.

Anyone with thoughts of Jamacia will need to contact N3DQU.

73, Bernie / KF4FHS

In a message dated 7/5/2002 1:30:44 AM Eastern Daylight Time, wb0dul@arrl.net
writes:

Local time? Everybody will be on at a different time. How about UTC? We
all understand that.

73,

Dick

Well, the problem with a low band sprint is that 40m will be good for only
part of the world, while the rest will be fighting the sun and fading f
layers. But if we do the sprint using local times instead, then 40m will be
good for everybody. No, you wont be able to work everybody in the contest,
but at least everyone will have more or less the same band to play on. I
think it will work out ok...Jay N3DQU

CQing 40 meters now.... 7071

Tom, k3psk

Count me in.
Benie,can you call me around 8 pm? Our sundials quit working down here around
sunset......

FWIW,as an avid 40M psker; the lower frequencies are a little less prone from
interference.I usually set the dial for 7.069.
Patience is the keyword,on 40M ,when you're getting slammed by
interference.And,even when the noise level is running S5-S7,you can still
pull out a trace or two.
Fun band.I've worked AL to WA on 5W,on 40M.
CU Sat.
73,
Ed N4ZUM

Hey Bernie,
Which LOCAL time? Yours or mine (Eastern or Pacific)?

Jay - AA8QQ

Hello Jim - Read with chagrin the comments printed in the lastest Gazette
fm the RTTY crowd regarding the PSKer's and FD 2002. I imagine this was the
way it was back in ye olden days when CW first came online (SPARK FOREVER!)
and maybe even the same things were said during the AM vs. SSB fracas as
well, altho I am not now nor ever have been a SSB aficionado! We toot our
horns about how amateur radio is so important to the field of communications,
but in reality we are not any different than the rest of the world when it
comes to holding onto the old in spite of the relative merits of the new (and
this from a dyed-in-the-wool CW op too hi). Them RTTY guys tho, better get
used to the fact that PSK is here to stay, regardless of our apparent lack of
on-the-air etiquette and/or expertise, you can bet your grandma's gold-plated
chad box on that! As a founding member of the PODXS 070 Club (now 225 members
strong!), I am here to tell you that the PSK community is healthy and
passionately enthusiastic with the mode. And as for contesting, as of this
date there is a PSK contest or on-the-air event for just about every month of
the year now, so you can hardly say that your average PSKer doesn't harbor
the ol' ham competitive spirit within. Maybe 'tis true that we aren't cut
from the same cloth as them RTTY guys, but then again, maybe that is not such
a bad thing after all, eh? Best 73 es cu on the screen de Jay N3DQU/PODXS 070
CLUB

Speaking of 10m....lately I've listened out for the beacons and I
usually hear at least 2 strong ones. From this location (VA) I mostly
hear K5AB in Central TX and W0ERE. I agree with Peter that the
e-skip doesn't seem all that great, but its certainly worthy of trying.
I'm wondering if amateur radio interest is way down or other
stations just need to hear all 59 or 599 signals to get on the air?
I enjoy listening for the weak/weaker signals. You never know what
you might get...maybe someone with an attic dipole running 5
watts!

The only bands that have decent activity right now are 15 & 20m.
Everything else is sketchy. I realize we're heading in the downward
direction with the sunspot cycle, but gee, it ain't all that bad, is it?

And, Jay AA8QQ, we'll have to set up a PSK sked on 40 & 80m.
I'm surprised we didn't hook up in the TDW contest.

73 - Karen W4GTM

Jim's GAZETTE
Newsletter #125
5 July 2002

Please feel free to forward this newsletter to any and all interested
parties, or to reproduce it in
any publication. All we ask is that you give credit where it is due.

Short Notes: Don AA5AU, who says he has nothing to do but 'watch TV, read
Email, surf the web and work RTTY--all at the same time,' now wants to share
that awesome knowledge with one and all. Never one to perform at a half-baked
clip, Don developed a complete tutorial for RTTY tyros, and it includes a
full treatment MMTTY, the free RTTY sound-card program. This may be a school
for all of us, veteran or newcomer. Just go to www.aa5au.com/rtty. You
will even have a chance to hear the sounds of RTTY! Many thanks to Don for a
splendid addition to the beginner's arsenal of knowledge.

The sounds of RTTY, I said. Yes, you can hear it at Don's website, but it's
not described in the esoteric terms that cropped up during various Internet
discussions this past week. John WA9ALS penned these immortal words--RTTY is
music, PSK31 is QRM. MFSK16 is somewhere in between. Chen
W7AY, who can't ever leave well enough alone, enhanced his reputation as a
colorful observer by the following: MFSK16 most resembles music, PSK is
like fingernails scratching on chalkboard, except the torture doesn't stop.
Hi!

Given these comments, neither one of these folks has many friends left in the
digital world any more. But Chen wasn't through yet. He went on, in his
inimitable poetic style, by writing: I used to think that 45 baud FSK sounded
like an old bicycle with very loose chains periodically banging against the
metal plate which protects your legs from the chain!

Oh, brother! Well, we must ask, what is music to Chen's ears? A CW pileup,
says he!! No wonder he doesn't understand that you look at not listen to the
digital modes. With the waterfall tuning, who needs the good or the bad sound
of PSK? I've never had the AF up high enough to hear more than a very tiny
chirp, just enough to remind me that, yes, the radio is really working. Hi!

Bill W5EC may be a typical digital convert. He wrote: In 45 years of radio I
never had the slightest interest in RTTY. Then, along came PSK and I knew I
could do that. I soon earned my DXCC in PSK31 (the pin says RTTY J). Then P5
came on the air and I had to switch to RTTY to work him. Got him! Now I
enjoy RTTY also. But I still like PSK for it is more relaxed and not as
stressful to me. Probably it is that way to a lot of others, one reason
contest
exchanges are slower. Everybody wants to put in his or her brag file.

Thanks, Bill. Your note is interesting and it also introduces a much broader
discussion on the subject of the attitudes and prejudices rising out of the
ARRL Field Day 2002 digital experience.

Field Day--the facts, based on published reports and personal observation: 1)
RTTY signals were as scarce as water in Wyoming, 2) the few RTTY
signals clustered on 20 meters, 3) PSK31 signals were thick as fleas on all
bands, 4) PSK operators demonstrated their lack of knowledge about the
sacred lore of contest exchanges while, 5) also demonstrated their lack of
interest in learning or caring anything about said lore, 6) had it not been
for
PSK, the ARRL would probably drop the digital modes from Field Day 2003, 7)
all of which, predictably, produced a remarkable response from the 'old
guard,' the keepers of the RTTY contesting flame.

Let's look at some extracts: 'If all the PSK ops would work RTTY on FD, they
would be surprised at the number of Q's they could achieve in a short time .
.
. and then they might want to try RTTY contests, too!'

'I was very disappointed in that there was very little RTTY activity on any
band but 20M, yet there was PSK on almost every band and a lot more of it!
The
worst thing about PSK was not the time per QSO but the really clueless and
rude operators that abound on the mode. Every time I get on PSK (and it's not
very often) I swear I'll never do it again.'

'Still a nasty contest mode!'

'These ops have no etiquette, no form, and especially no idea how to
efficiently transmit information across a less-than-perfect connection.'

And, so on. In general, the attitude reflects a belief that RTTY is the only
way to go, that current practices are the only acceptable method of operation
and
therefore, all who do not believe it are aliens not worthy of even their 31
kHz bandwidth! All were highly critical of these naive newcomers who start
calling on top of another signal (perhaps an act detected only by a stacked
array of monobanders!), or answer your call and give the exchange at the
same time, or start calling before an exchange ends. Gee, I've never seen
that kind of behavior in RTTY contests or DX pileups!

I'm sorry, but all these comments lead me to conclude the obvious. The
old-time contesters think Field Day is just another RTTY contest, one on
their
crowded calendar, one in which more radios, higher antennas and faster
exchanges make the difference. They seem to forget that FD is, by design, a
training session in emergency communications, an exercise that proves ham
radio's capacity to operate without the support of the local electrical
utility,
the perfect antenna farms and so on. Many others have forgotten as well. FD
is an experiment, an operation devoted to training, to luring new recruits,
to
portable operation . . . to hot dogs, sodas and fun!

Tom WX4TM said it best when he expressed his concern about the FD trends . .
. 'the tremendous number of 1D contacts (home, commercial power),
indicates a growing trend of more and more hams staying home instead of
getting out and supporting their local radio club. All of which indicates a
declining interest in participation and commitment to amateur radio in
general. I hope I'm wrong!'

And, to end the discussion, Jerry W4UK says, 'Was there much RTTY activity
this FD? Over at our club's site, some of the guys asked me if our club
should try RTTY next year."

PSK may have saved the day . . . and received nothing less than insults in
return.

A note from Joe EI4FV confirms that the Lee de Forest special event generated
an excellent turnout. There will be a bigger show next year, the 100th
anniversary! He also told of the Blind Amateur Radio Group (EI5HAM). Modeled
after and helped by the US Handi-Ham and Canada's CBN1B programs,
these 9-to-16 year kids learn radio the hard way. But the system works and
after an average two year stint, they are ready for their special license
test.
What a great program!

Of course, he also mentioned that the Irish soccer team did remarkably well
in the World Cup tourney. The team was welcomed home as heroes, even
though they finally lost. But their effort proved that even a small country
can make it to a place very near the top rung. Maybe next time around, Joe!

73 de Jim N2HOS: GAZETTE at www.n2hos.com/digital

Yes, a 40 M sprint would be great fun. I have found like N3DQU that I had as
many if not more contacts on 40M than 20M during FD and TDW.

On 80 meters a question - random length antenna any comments or suggestions
. I would like to run a long wire out into the woods behind the house and
see what happens.


have a safe 4th of July
73
Steve
N3UYI