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Since 1930, the American Radio Relay League has sponsored the most popular and longest-running domestic Amateur Radio competition, the November Sweepstakes. “SS,” as it is affectionately known, is one of the most beloved on-air ham events in North America. Last year’s SS had over 3,200 entrants from all around the US and Canada! Since 1999, there’s also been a special entry category just for School Clubs. If your club is looking for something fun and challenging to do that will unite your membership in a common cause and generate a lot of fun, the November Sweepstakes is it.
In addition to competition within the Sweepstakes School Club category, Ken Harker WM5R sponsors the Collegiate Championship (www.collegiatechampionship.org), a contest that takes place within the ARRL Sweepstakes, as a way for collegiate clubs to compete head-to-head. When you add up all the opportunities for records, challenges, and certificates, Sweepstakes can be an energizing and enjoyable experience for your radio club.
The Quick Overview
Here’s how SS works: The contest runs on two separate weekends in November, one for CW and one for SSB. Each contest begins Saturday afternoon and goes for 30 hours until Sunday evening. You are allowed to be on the air for 24 of the 30 hours. The contest takes place on the HF bands (160, 80, 40, 20, 15 and 10 Meters). The idea is to make as many contacts as you can in as many ARRL Sections as you can during the contest period. There are 80 US and Canadian sections; a link to the sections list is below.
The Exchange
Contest QSOs require an exchange of information between stations. The SS exchange contains several pieces of information, in a specific order that honors the days when actual message-handling was a part of the event. Stations in SS must exchange the following information, in this order:
- The call sign of the station you’re working.
- A serial number, beginning with 1. This number goes up by 1 every time you make a QSO; your first QSO gets #1, your second QSO gets #2, etc.
- Precedence, a letter indicating your entry class (A, B, Q, U, M or S – See below for definitions).
- Your own call sign.
- Check, the last two numbers of the year you were first licensed.. Example: If your club was first licensed in 1928, your check is “28”.
- Your ARRL Section. See http://www.arrl.org/contests/sections.abv.html for a list. To determine your ARRL Section, visit http://www.arrl.org/locate/locate.html .
Entry Classes
Stations can enter SS in one of six entry categories:
A = Single Operator, Low Power (150 watts or less)
B = Single Operator, High Power (1500 watts or less)
Q = Single Operator, QRP (very low power, 5 watts or less)
U = Single Operator, Unlimited
M = Multioperator
S = School Club
As an “S” entrant, your school club can transmit with up to 1500 watts of power, can use spotting assistance to see what stations are on (such as dxsummit.fi or dxwatch.com), and have multiple club members take turns on the air. You are limited to one transmitted signal on the air at any one point in time, however.
What Does A Contest QSO Sound Like?
Contest QSOs are very short and to the point. Because it’s a competition, stations are trying to be as efficient as possible, making the most of their time. There’s no “chit-chat” involved. Here is what a QSO would sound like between The University of Illinois station, the Synton Amateur Radio Club (W9YH), and the Missouri University of Science and Technology club (WØEEE):
WØEEE: CQ SS CQ SS, Whiskey Zero Echo Echo Echo.
W9YH: Whiskey Nine Yankee Hotel.
WØEEE: Whiskey Nine Yankee Hotel, number 1-4-8 Sierra from Whiskey Zero Echo Echo Echo, check 31 Missouri.
W9YH: QSL, Whiskey Zero Echo Echo Echo, number 1-3-7 Sierra from Whiskey Nine Yankee Hotel, check 25 Illinois.
WØEEE: QSL, thanks. CQ SS from Whiskey Zero Echo Echo Echo.
On CW, it would look like this:
WØEEE: CQ SS CQ SS WØEEE
W9YH: W9YH
WØEEE: W9YH 148 S WØEEE 31 MO
W9YH: R WØEEE 137 S W9YH 25 IL
WØEEE: TU WØEEE SS
So, what was just exchanged? WØEEE was calling CQ, and W9YH answered. WØEEE told W9YH:
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W9YH is WØEEE’s 148th QSO in the contest.
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WØEEE is entered as a School Club.
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WØEEE was first licensed in 1931.
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WØEEE is in the Missouri section.
In response, W9YH told WØEEE:
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W9YH confirms all the data WØEEE just sent.
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WØEEE is W9YH’s 137th QSO in the contest.
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W9YH is entered as a School Club.
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W9YH was first licensed in 1925.
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W9YH is in the Illinois section.
WØEEE then thanked W9YH for the QSO, and started calling CQ SS again.
For more detailed information on how to participate in Sweepstakes, look for the article “How To Work Sweepstakes” by Ward Silver, NØAX, under the “related Information” section at www.arrl.org/contests.
Why Should Your Club Participate?
Aside from it being a heck of fun, contesting unites a club towards a common objective. It’s a team sport: all club members can contribute to the effort. Contesting teaches you about propagation, how to copy weak signals under less than ideal conditions, and getting a message through quickly and efficiently. If your members have even a passing interest in public service or emergency communications, contesting sharpens practical skills that directly apply to other facets of Amateur Radio.
If that weren’t enough, consider this: There are record scores in the School Club category that could be easily claimed; in fact, many Sections have NEVER had a log submitted in the School Club category! Here is a list of the ARRL Sections that have never had a log submitted in the School Club category of SSB Sweepstakes:
Call Area 1: Eastern Massachusetts, Maine, New Hampshire, Vermont.
Call Area 2: Southern New Jersey
Call Area 3: Delaware
Call Area 4: Kentucky, Puerto Rico, South Carolina, West Central Florida
Call Area 5: West Texas
Call Area 6: Orange, Pacific, San Diego, San Francisco, San Joaquin Valley, Sacramento Valley
Call Area 7: Alaska, Eastern Washington, Montana, Western Washington, Wyoming
Call Area 8: West Virginia
Call Area 9: All sections have at least one entry.
Call Area Ø: Iowa
Canada: Maritimes, Newfoundland/Labrador, Quebec, Manitoba, Alberta, British Columbia, Northern Territories
Here’s the list of no School Club logs received for CW Sweepstakes:
Call Area 1: Connecticut, Maine, Rhode Island, Vermont, Western Massachusetts
Call Area 2: New York-Long Island, Northern New Jersey, Southern New Jersey
Call Area 3: Delaware, Eastern Pennsylvania, Maryland-DC, Western Pennsylvania
Call Area 4: Northern Florida, Puerto Rico, South Carolina, Southern Florida, West Central Florida
Call Area 5: Mississippi, New Mexico, West Texas
Call Area 6: East Bay, Los Angeles, Orange, Pacific, Santa Clara Valley, San diego, San Francisco, San Joaquin Valley, Sacramento Valley
Call Area 7: Alaska, Eastern Washington, Montana, Oregon, Western Washington
Call Area 8: West Virginia
Call Area 9: All sections have at least one entry.
Call Area Ø: Iowa, Minnesota, North Dakota, Nebraska, South Dakota,
Canada: NONE
Many School Club records are only a few thousand points; you might break the current record with only 200 QSOs or so! Complete Sweepstakes records are available in the Records area of www.arrl.org/contests.
Rivalries
Sweepstakes could also be a great way to introduce competition among other schools in your Conference, or extend rivalries that currently exist between two colleges in other sports. I wonder if Michigan could defeat Ohio State in a Sweepstakes challenge… would the Longhorns of Texas triumph over the Sooners of Oklahoma? Would the Crimson Tide of Alabama wash over Auburn? Would YOUR school beat your biggest rival? Throw down the gauntlet and challenge them! Be sure to let your school paper know what you’re up to; it’s a great way to get some recognition for your club and stir up some school spirit in the process.
Some of the Fine Print
Of course, every contest has rules. I’ll go over some of the rules that apply to School Clubs in particular, but be sure to read the rules in their entirety at http://www.arrl.org/contests/rules/2009/novss.html.
- Only currently enrolled regular students and faculty/staff of the institution are eligible to operate a School Club entry. Alumni may “Elmer” by giving advice or coaching, but may not operate the station during the competition.
- School clubs must operate from established stations located on the campus. No portable operation from a near-by contest station is allowed. A club may operate from a member’s station only if no on-campus station exists.
- There is no distinction between Single and Multi-operator stations or power levels in this category.
- You must submit an official entry to be eligible for awards.
Small Club? No Problem!
Even if your club station is not well-equipped on HF, you can still make a lot of contacts because “Sweeps” is not a DX contest. In fact, low, wire antennas are a secret weapon in the arsenal of many top stations. If you don’t have HF antennas installed, try temporary dipoles on 80/75, 40, or 20 Meters. At heights of 30 to 60 feet, these antennas will pull in hundreds of stations all around North America.
Make the most of your HF transceiver, too. If you don’t have an amplifier, just practice using the “barefoot” rig and be sure you know how to operate it well. For the receiver, you’ll need to know how to select filters and use the passband adjustments. Here’s a tip – turn down the RF gain or switch in some attenuation to keep from overloading the receiver’s amplifiers. If you plan on operating in the CW contest, now is the time to be sure a 500 Hz CW filter is installed in the radio or find out how to adjust the rig’s DSP for narrow bandwidths. On transmit, practice adjusting the microphone gain for a clean signal on the air. You’ll find a footswitch far more convenient than a handheld PTT switch! And if you want to try VOX operation, practice setting the VOX controls for smooth operation. If you do have an amplifier, set up the tuning on each band and mark the adjustments with temporary front panel labels to prevent mistakes in the heat of the competition.
Time is short; the ARRL November CW Sweepstakes is November 7-9 and Phone Sweepstakes is November 21-23. However, there’s still plenty of time to plan an effort with your school club, or go solo from your club station if nobody wants to join you. Think about your rivals…can you best them? Maybe even go for a record score? You are only limited by your desire. Get your club together and get active in one of the best operating events Amateur Radio has to offer…The November Sweepstakes!
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