This coming weekend on the RTTY Radio

For those who don’t want to fight the QRN on 160-CW this weekend, there are two RTTY contests.  The TARA RTTY Melee starts at 0000Z 01 December (that’s Friday evening) and runs through 2359 01 December.  Then starting at 0000Z on 02 December (Saturday evening) through 2359 is the 10-meter RTTY contest.  In both contests the exchange is RST and STATE, so you should be able to roll from one to the other, or you can pick your favorite 24-hour run.  This will be the last chance this year to work out some more bugs in your operating process.  I don’t know how busy these contests will be, but the 10-meter test should give you a chance to collect some additional countries and states.

73, Mike, K1DM

CQ WW RTTY Sept 29 & 30

This years CQ WW RTTY contest is quickly approaching. The contest starts this Friday night and runs through Sunday. The W1AN station in Ledyard, CT will be open for operators. We will be setting up two Elecraft K3s and put the new RTTY Meister II PCs through a full test this weekend. For those considering operation in the WPX RTTY contest next February at NP3U, this will be the formal “get your feet wet” and muddy test. We will be use W1DX for the station call. Several operators are needed. We aim to keep the chairs full as a multi-2 as best as we can.

Please post here your operating plans for this weekend, and whether you can stop by for a few hours. I hope many CTRI members can participate, here or at home.

 

73, John W1AN

 

DL-DX RTTY Contest This Weekend

For those of you who’d like to keep up with your RTTY skills, the DL-DX RTTY Contest is a fun way to do it. It’s very popular, which means lots of activity and maybe even a chance to work a rare band/mode-country. Running only 24 hours, it starts at 1100Z Saturday and ends at 1059Z Sunday.

You can check out the particulars at WA7BNM’s contest calendar web site: http://www.hornucopia.com/contestcal/weeklycont.php?mode=custom&week=current#4099

I hope to hear some CTRI members this weekend!

73,

Pat, NG1G

BARTG RTTY Contest

The BARTG RTTY contest starts this evening at 10 pm local time and goes until Sunday at 10 pm local time. This contest is a fun one and has been gaining popularity as the mode gains followers.

The rules are simple but the exchange contains an RST, serial number, and the time (4-digit).

Here is what I will be using for messages within N1MM – Chuck, KA1CQR had asked me to post some for discussion.

<pre>
F1 CQ,{TX}{ENTER}CQ NG1G NG1G TEST {RX}
F2 Run Exch,{TX}{ENTER}! 599 {EXCH} {EXCH} {TIME2} {TIME2} {RX}
F3 Run End,{TX}{ENTER}TU NG1G {RX}
F4 {MYCALL},{TX}* {RX}
F5 His Call,{TX}!{RX}
F6 TU Now…,{TX}{ENTER}{LOGTHENPOP} TU NOW… ! 599 {EXCH} {EXCH} {TIME2} {TIME2} {RX}
F7 Serial #,{TX}{ENTER}{EXCH} {EXCH} {RX}
F8 Time, {TX}{ENTER}{TIME2} {TIME2} {RX}
F9 Agn?,{TX}{ENTER}AGN? {RX}
F10 Number?,{TX}{ENTER}NR? {RX}
F11 Time?,{TX}{ENTER}TIME? {RX}
F12 Wipe,{WIPE}
F1 CQ,{TX}{ENTER}CQ NG1G NG1G TEST {RX}
F2 S&&P Exch,{TX}{ENTER}599 {EXCH} {EXCH} {TIME2} {TIME2} {RX}
F3 S&&P TU,{TX}! TU {RX}
F4 S&&P Call Him,{TX}{ENTER}* {RX}
F5 His Call,{TX}!{RX}
F6 {MYCALL},{TX}* {RX}
F7 Serial #,{TX}{ENTER}{EXCH} {EXCH} {RX}
F8 Time, {TX}{ENTER}{TIME2} {TIME2} {RX}
F9 Agn?,{TX}{ENTER}AGN? {RX}
F10 Number?,{TX}{ENTER}NR? {RX}
F11 Time?,{TX}{ENTER}TIME? {RX}
F12 Wipe,{WIPE}
</pre>

Each person should tailor his messages to his needs, of course. I send my info twice because my station is a little pistol and I know that unless conditions are good I get a lot of requests for fills. Plus, as we discussed at the last meeting, RTTY doesn’t have error correction, so without other data to compare to, if you send a serial number and time once the other station has no way to know with any reliability if that’s actually what you sent. If you send two serial numbers and time and they are dissimilar, at least the other op knows to ask for a fill.

 

I wrote these on the fly today, since I didn’t have one for N1MM yet. I may adjust depending on conditions, etc. Remember, at www.rttycontesting.com there are suggestions for RTTY messages for Writelog, and a link to a message length calculator that you may find helpful. The N1MM web site also contains macro files but I find them to be lengthy. They’re a good start though.

 

I welcome any suggestions or questions.

 

73,

Pat, NG1G

NP3U Spreadsheet

I’ve started a spreadsheet for us to keep track of the items we think we need (or want) to bring to Puerto Rico for the 2013 CQ WPX RTTY contest.  

Please review the spreadsheet, think about what may be missing from it (please note there are three tabs), and put it in a reply to this post. I will update the spreadsheet as needed and repost the updated version. If you are planning on going (we’re not asking for a commitment right now) and there’s something of a non-personal nature you will volunteer to bring, please note that in your reply post. I’ll include that in the spreadsheet.  

I’m hoping this will also start some discussion in the CQWPX RTTY forum, a link to which you can find in the links bar at the top of this web page.  

73,

Pat, NG1G  

NP3U Spreadsheet