The college contesting season is upon us once again this Fall. Twice a year the School Club Roundup (SCR) contest is held on the high frequency (HF) amateur radio bands. This contest is sponsored by the Council for the Advancement of Amateur Radio in the New York City Schools (CAAR/NYCS) as well as the ARRL and it's divisions. The next SCR contest starts Monday October 19, 2009 and goes through Friday October 23, 2009. This is a week long event that caters to school club schedules. The event has seen good amounts of activity in the past but this year could even better. Is your club prepared for the contest? It's not hard in this contest to operate in and low-key and fun way, perfect for introducing a new member to amateur radio contesting.

Rules & Operation

• School clubs can enter a single transmitter "S" category.
• Regular club stations use the "C" category
• Individual stations use "I" category
  
•  The exchange is:
• call sign, RST, class (S for schools), US State or Canadian Province or DXCC country
• Follow the information on the ARRL SCR Rules Website for submitting logs
• 30 day maximum from the end of the contest (November 23, 2009) to submit logs
  

Scoring

• Each station may be contacted once on phone and once on CW/digital
• Repeaters may not be used
• Satellites and real-time packet are allowed
• Points for contact
• 1 point for SSB and voice modes
  
• 2 points for CW and digital modes
• Multiplier is calculated by:
• # of US States and Canadian Provinces + 2*( # of class "C" stations) + 5 x ( # of class "S" stations)

Final score = ( # of contact or QSO points ) * ( multiplier )

Suggested Frequencies

Logging

     Software for logging contacts or QSO's during the school club roundup is an easy solution to hand writing contacts. One version that has been used extensively is SCR-LOG the school club roundup log. There are versions for Microsoft OS Windows, DOS, Mac OS 8 & 9, Mac OS X, and the Linux operating system. There are even SCR paper log sheets for download which you can print out and send in a large envelope. A good note for Linux users is that you must have the stdc++5 libraries. Most newer distributions use libstdc++6.x.x and the program has not been updated for it. Logit! which is another logging program for the school club roundup contest can also be used. It is based on Java and is also cross platform A.K.A Windows, Mac, Linux compatible.

Obtaining More Information

     To answer any questions that may arise when setting up or operating in the school club roundup, you have several options to get the answers you need. First off, you can join the SCR-L Yahoo group where there is a large amount of activity in the weeks surrounding the school club roundup contest. Simply email the address provided to join the group. Another option is to comment on this article or ask in the CollegeARC contesting forum here on www.CollegeARC.com.

Awards and Recognition

     All participants in the school club roundup who submit logs are usually printed in QST magazine just like any other contest. Additionally the top three entries in each category will be awarded a certificate for obtaining their position. Those who do not make the top three entries can apply for a certificate from the sponsoring group on the main school club roundup Website. A certificate can even be downloaded for printing by the participating schools.

Why Participate?

     Operating in the school club roundup offers low stress contesting which is perfect for introducing new members of your college amateur radio or ham radio club. Unlike larger contests, the station can either operate in contest mode where rapid contacts or QSO's are made or just hang out ragchew a little with other stations or school clubs. The bands won't be cluttered with contesters and all the school clubs are "big guns", often getting themselves into pile-ups.

     All college radio clubs should attempt to participate in the school club roundup. Looking at some of the past years university and college club results offers supporting evidence for serious competition. According to the February 2009 SCR contest soapbox PDF file there were a total of 6 (six) college/university stations who competed and submitted logs. Yes! Only six stations submitted logs for a chance to win the college/university category.

     In the college/university category during the February 2009 SCR contest 50% or half of the competing colleges and universities won award certificates for the top three positions. So get your club organized and get on the air, it's going to be a fight out there! The more the merrier as they say. We hope to see you between October 19-23, 2009 for the school club roundup contest. Good Luck!