April GBARC Challenge

[Adam_VE3FP]

April is a great month for refreshing your operating skills and getting ready for Field Day in June. Weekend of April 17 & 18 is the Get on the Air on World Amateur Radio Day as well as the Ontario QSO Party. Canada and specially Ontario will be on the list of "to get" stations around the world. There will be no shortage of contacts to be made for any operator whether new, old, rusty or seasoned. Brush the dust off the mic or polish up your CW key or paddles. 
Since we have members living in Grey and Bruce counties, I would like to propose a challenge: Grey VS Bruce.  
  1. RAC Stations contacted
  2. Most Ontario Counties
  3. # of Qs / operator
  4. Total points per County
  5. Acknowledgement of participation  
Any other suggestions are welcome.

Links:
   OQP - http://www.va3cco.com/oqp/rules.htm
   World Amateur Radio Day - https://www.rac.ca/ward2021/

Maybe GBARC will email some official certificates to participants. 

[VE3PQ Paul]

YES,,  Great idea....    I'm in GREY,,,  had been planning to be on for both events...   This will add to the fun..
Any other GREYs want to join a team  ????

"PQ........

[VA3KOT John]

I will be participating in the Ontario QSO Party. Per Adam's suggestion, any club member who submits a log summary to this forum will receive a PDF QNI certificate. Even one QSO will still get you a certificate. No logs necessary; just post your summary.

[Adam_VE3FP]

As one of the most popular Amateur Radio weekends for Ontario ops quickly approaches, (Saturday Apr. 17, 2:00pm to 1:00am DST then Sunday from 8:00am till 2:00pm is the Ontario QSO party as well as the World Amateur Radio Day) the bands should be quite busy and opportunities for new contacts should be plenty. 
In the recent years GBARC members used to take part in this contest similar to Field Day as a group but current Covid-19 situation does not permit group gatherings. For newly licensed ops, it is a great opportunity to make many contacts and experience the sport of contesting. 
You don't need to operate for the duration of the contest. Set your own goals like number of hours you want to operate or number of contacts, counties, states or countries want to make. 
To make it more interesting is why I thought the Grey vs Bruce challenge would be of interest. 

For those who never operated contest on their own, here is where to start. 
https://n1mmwp.hamdocs.com/mmfiles/
   install logging program: preferably N1MM+ Logger and configure your radio in Config menu
                               then: select QSOPARTY from Log Type menu.
Making contacts is simple:
    If you Search & Pounce (you responding to station who is calling) : 
                    Send your call once : VE3FP  
                    if N8AA hears your call, he will send his exchange : VE3FP 599 OH
                    you VE3FP will send your exchange: 599 GRY
    If are Running (you are calling):
                   Send CQ OQP (once or twice) followed by your call VE3FP
                   if you hear N8AA to your call then you send the exchange: N8AA 599 GRY
                   he will respond with his exchange: 599 OH  you will then send TU
that is all there is to it. 

If you have any problems setting up the logging program, post your questions on this forum.

[VA3KOT John]

Adam; although it's a good idea, only 4 people identified contesting as one of their interests in the poll conducted last December and all of them live in Grey County. I could add myself to that count (I'm a casual contester) but I also live in Grey County.

A better option may be to publish the results for the club as a whole, here in this forum, and make it a club competition rather than a county competition. You are probably the most dedicated contester in the club so would you mind taking charge of that?

I'll be working the OQP and the RAC GOTA day this weekend and I'll post my results here. I'll email a GBARC certificate to the top three contesters in the club who post their results on this forum.

[Adam_VE3FP]

Yes, you are right. The only thing I thought since we have some new hams to the hobby, this would be a good opportunity to try this aspect of the hobby and make some DX contacts. 

[Adam_VE3FP]

Just to add to your comment John. The second option you mentioned would be fine as well and publish the results as a whole for GBARC on the forum. My idea was to spark some competitive interest. Easy way to add QSOs for many awards like WAS(Worked All States), DXCC, grid squares and others.

Like I've said, anyone needs more information setting up the computer for logging. Post your questions here on this forum.

[Tom VA3TS]

Hi Adam, what did you use for a "Sent Exchange" in the n1mm setup?

[Adam_VE3FP]

Tom, 
Here is the complete setup in N1MM for OQP
   - from the File menu : create New Database : I named my "2021QSOparties"
   - again goto File menu : create new log 
   - Log Type : select QSOPRTY from pull down menu
   - State for Log Type : select ON from pull down menu
   - Sent Exchange : enter your county (GRY for me) no need for RST 
Don't forget to update wl_cty.dat and master.scp from the Tools menu 

Hope that helps