The North American QSO Party, https://ncjweb.com/naqp/ takes place this
weekend, from 1PM CDT, Saturday, August 15 to 1AM CDT Sunday morning, August
16. That's only 12 hours, but if you work "only" 3 or 4 hours, that would be a
great intro.
To wit:1. The maximum allowable power is 100W. So you won't be going against
the "big guns" with their 1500W.2. NAQP is very popular with contest shy hams
through experienced renowned contesters. Rest assured, that you will not be at
a loss for contact possibilities.3. It is SSB only, so that is usually the
easiest to start with and traditionally offers the greatest comfort level.4.
Tip: Operate well into the General portion of the band. Most competitive ops
generally operate in both the Extra and lower General portions, however those
with less experience (and consequently speak more slowly) usually operate much
higher. Example: for 40M, the General portion starts at 7.175 MHz, so go up to
at least 7.225 or even 7.250 and test the waters.
The exchange is simply your name and state. Keep them simple. Say "Texas" or
spell "TX." Keep the name short - Jim for James, Al for Allen or Alphonso, Jon
for Jonathan, etc.
If you want to increase your enjoyment, use some contest software. The most
popular are N1MM (n1mm.com) and N3FJP (n3fjp.com). N1MM is very popular with
competitive contesters. N1MM is free and offers a lot of excellent features.
Be aware that due to it's many features, it takes a some familiarization to
load and initially to use, plus it has 844 pages of instructions (generally the
defaults are sufficient at first) so initially it is usually best to go with
simpler software. N3FJP is an easy download and easy to get started with
(again, for any settings, the defaults are usually sufficient) and does more
than what you need. It costs $9 (PayPal on-line and is an immediate download)
but offers free lifetime upgrades and if you want other contest modules for
other contests, you can buy the entire suite of over 200 modules (contest
specific plus the general logger) for $49 less any payments for specific
modules (like NAQP) you previously made.
More on N3JFP - It takes a few hours to get the password, but before that, you
can download it immediately and use it for up to 30 contacts for free. Don't
wait until the contest to break yourself free of $9 however, because you don't
want to lose a few hours of contest time waiting for the password after you
make the 30 Qs. Get it now, play with it, and then decide (a few days before
the contest) if you want to spring the $9.
So, both offer advantages depending on where you are in the contesting game. I
have always been a casual contester and have been doing it regularly for 15
years and use N3FJP.
One last tip - be patient! It might take a few minutes to an hour but you will
get the knack. Remember, speak slowly and enunciate each syllable. There is
no rush!
Give NAQP a try. You only commit a few hours and it is fun.
Tnx es 73de John, K5IZO
________________________________________________
Brazos Valley Amateur Radio Club
BVARC mailing list
[email protected]
http://mail.bvarc.org/mailman/listinfo/bvarc_bvarc.org
