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Spring "Maidenhead Madness" Event
Contest Rules
Primary Objective
For local hams to contact other stations in as many Maidenhead Grid Subsquares as possible in Lancaster County.
Secondary Goals:
1) To encourage local ham activity.
2) To introduce newly upgraded hams to some HF operating procedures like calling CQ, logging, using phonetics, chasing rare DX, and talking to people they don't already know!
3) To give APRSers, geocachers, and transmitter hunters something else to do while they drive around the county!
Date and Contest Period
Noon to 9:00 PM local time, Saturday, May 23, 2009.
Frequencies/Modes
All contacts must be made on 2 Meter FM simplex frequencies only. Although repeater contacts are not valid this year for point credit, you are encouraged to use area repeaters to announce your operation and your simplex operating frequency. Please do not abuse or monopolize any repeater, however, and always be courteous and yield to other users. Suggested 2 Meter simplex frequencies: 146.55 and 146.58. If these frequencies become congested, consider using 146.43, 146.46, 146.49, or any other simplex frequency of your choice. 146.52 is the National Simplex Calling Frequency and should not be used for contest contacts.
Entry Categories
1. Fixed. All contacts made from a single QTH/Grid Subsquare.
2. Mobile. All contacts made from a maximum of 12 different Grid Subsquares
3. Unlimited. Contacts may be made from any number of grid squares and may include any combination of mobile, fixed or portable operation.
4. Handheld. 5 watts or less. May include portable operation from one or more Grid Subsquares.
All categories may include helpers, loggers, navigators, guest ops, etc. (but all contacts must be made using the same callsign and in the presence of the callsign licensee.)
Contest Exchange
Each station should exchange their first name and the last two letters of their current Grid Subsquare. Use of phonetics is strongly encouraged.
Simplified Logging
Information logged for each contact must include the operator names and the last two letters of yours and the other stations' Maidenhead subsquares. Logging of date, time, mode and frequency of contacts is not required.
Scoring
Fixed Category: Multiply the number of different grids worked times the total number of contacts made.
Mobile Category: Add the total number of grids worked from each of your operating grids and multiply that sum times the total number of contacts made from all grids.
Unlimited Category: Same scoring as Mobile Category.
Handheld Category: Same scoring as Mobile Category if operation is from multiple grids; same as Fixed Category if operation is from one grid only.
Additional contacts with the same station (unless one or both of your grids has changed) will be considered duplicates and will not count, but there is no other penalty for duplicate contacts.
Active Elmer Bonus! If you team up with a new ham (licensed after January 1, 2008), a prospective ham, or a ham who does not own a radio of his or her own, multiply your total score by 1.1 (a ten percent bonus!)
Reporting
Logs and summary sheets should be emailed, mailed or given to Greg KTØK before June 31.
Miscellaneous
All contacts must be made using the same callsign, but you may recruit team members to operate, log, or navigate. If more than one operator uses your callsign, the exchange should include the actual operator's name. Only one signal/transmitter may be on the air at a time. Team members may take turns operating, but may not operate other radios at the same time!
Don't feel limited by your normal mobile antenna or handheld rubber duck antennas...be creative!
Think of ways to maximize your contacts and efficiency. Consider taking a list of stations who want to contact you and then call them one at a time (similar to our ARES Net checkin format). Remember to be courteous and let others share the frequency. Maximizing efficiency and "data throughput" on crowded frequencies is great practice for emergency communications and HF operating!
This is a great time to throw the GPS (or map!) in the car and drive out to the country, tour a few grid subsquares or have a picnic from your favorite park, and get on the air!
Awards
Award certificates will be given to each team member of the top three stations in each category. Additional awards possible as merited.
Contest Rules and Forms Package
Contest rules, sample forms and maps will be available at the May LARC club meeting or by download from this web site.
Download Contest Forms (pdf) (500KB)
How to determine your Grid Subsquare
There are many ways to determine your Grid Subsquare:
- Determine your latitude and longitude and enter those coordinates into the Grid Square Calculator at:
http://www.arrl.org/locate/grid.html or:
- Set your GPS unit to display your position in Maidenhead Grid rather than lat/lon. This is by far the easiest method for mobile stations to use, or:
- Use the Lancaster County Grid Square map supplied with the Contest Forms package, or:
- DO NOT rely on the grid square information for your home QTH provided by QRZ.com! Those grid squares are determined based upon the center location of your Zip Code and are commonly WRONG! Zip Code areas and Maidenhead Grids do not coincide! Once you determine your true Maidenhead Grid Square, you may wish to log on to QRZ.com and correct your listing info.
KTØK's 2007 Mobile Secret Weapon.
This is a great opportunity to test the effectiveness of your normal mobile setups as well as special setups like this that could improve your emergency communications readiness. What could be better than spending a saturday having Useful Fun?!
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