For this year VHF At the meeting in Holice, an interesting proposal was made for the winter QRP plant. As I have participated several times in the Christmas race from Liščí hora in the Krkonoše Mountains, where I ran on cross-country skis with equipment in my backpack, set up a station in the snow and wrote in a diary with fragile hands, I know what it entails.
I proposed the conditions as a kind of compromise between the Iron Man (rather Yeti) and the fat man. Unfortunately, we've softened up a bit over the years, so I can't drive everyone out into the cold and snow at once, that would be a particularly massive loss of radio amateurs.
Proposition only in brief, the rest as in the summer Classic QRP race.
– Date: First Sunday in February, 1st stage 09.00 – 11.00 UTC 432 MHz, 2nd stage 11.00 – 13.00 UTC 144 MHz. Each stage will be evaluated separately.
V DL je v té době Winter BBT contest, jednou jsem se omylem do něj připletl v sobotu na Klínovci na 1296 MHz a nestačil jsem psát do logu. V životě poprvé jem na tomhle pásmu musel použít volání podle čísel :=))) Bohužel pásmo 1296 MHz nenavazuje, je v sobotu, a já nechci závod natahovat na 2 dny. V OK1 bude rozhodně co dělat, z OK2 to zase budou delší štreky. Rušení by mělo být minimální, prskání hrozí jenom při chumelenici.
I would be interested in your opinion on the evaluation of both stages together by a simple sum of points. I don't think that at this time 432 MHz is so technically and operationally more complex than 144 MHz that connections have to be scored differently. Most devices are capable of both bands.
– Single category, Multi and Single together
I don't think there will be enough of us to create more categories. In addition, during 2 hours, at most 4 hours, there is practically no need to take turns, especially if the operator uses antifreeze. The disadvantage is then a somewhat more adventurous descent on cross-country skis from the selected hill.
I do not consider help in building the antenna as help in the race.
– Power max 10W
– Powering all devices required for operation (TCVR, rotator, bug, PC ...) from chemical sources, can be recharged during the race only from solar cells or mechanical sources powered by human power.
It's just that whatever you drag up the hill, you have it there. It's a wireless connection, so what do wires stretched somewhere in a socket have to do with it? If you want to warm up by spinning the cart, you have the option.
– QTH arbitrary, there may be an electric current on the dimension
There are few hills where there is no longer a barrack or a BTS of one of the operators. You can easily broadcast from a warm hotel room - but be careful, power the device only from chemical sources, that always applies! I rely on your sense of fair play. You can also stick the neck of the broom out the window only on Friday.
– The antennas may be erected no earlier than the Friday before the race
That the race was a little dirty after all. Otherwise, stations with 10 tons of aluminum on a forest of masts, fed by the appropriate herd of HP, would still win. I have no objection to such sub-regional stations, it takes a lot of work and even more money to build it all, but this is supposed to be a slightly different race. It is very difficult to build and anchor anything larger in the snow, what in the summer is an hour's work in the winter requires a whole day and in a snowstorm one feels like Sysiphos - probatum est.
I am asking for opinions and comments on the proposed propositions. My email is ok1dom@seznam.cz, also Discussion on the OK2KKW website could be the right place. And not to forget, I expect to evaluate the race. But if someone wants to evaluate it and commits to doing it for a longer period of time, I will gladly leave the honor to him.
Mirek OK1DOM
Notes on the Winter QRP race
I received a number of comments on the previous outline of the proposals for the Winter QRP race, I tried to answer them individually. Here is a summary of the responses to the comments:
● The date is given, at the same time as Winter BBT. This gives both the date and time zone. There is no point in changing anything. The gap between the race on 144 MHz and 432 MHz would be nice, but on the one hand, the whole race would be prolonged, on the other hand, there would be nothing to do at the end, the opposing stations in DL would pack up. I try to conceive the race from the point of view of a competitor who works in the snow from a laptop on a hill. There is every quarter of an hour that you know the hell about going home earlier.
- Stálé nebo přechodné QTH, v době, kdy si do koncese můžete dát, co chcete, se rozdíl stírá. Spíše by to přinášelo nelogičnosti typu, že klub, který stanoviště vybudoval a má ho zapsané v koncesi jako domovské by závod nemohl jet, zatímco člen téhož klubu, který má domovské QTH zapsané v obci pod kopcem, by jet mohl.
- It is not usual for VHF races to have a different category for stations "from the hearth" and from the hill. It would only create bad blood, see the previous point. In general, if you want to achieve a decent result, climb the hill.
- There is now at least a BTS of one of the operators on almost every hill. A hill without current is hard to find. There is no point in insisting on the condition that there is no electric current on the elevation.
- The power of 10 W for the QRP plant on VKV has been in proposals for at least 15 years, I do not have older proposals. 5 W applies to QRP on KV. I am trying to have unified proposals for the summer and winter QRP race, so that the competitors can use the same tried and tested equipment.
- V propozicích starších QRP závodů byla podmínka, že zařízení bude napájeno z chemických zdrojů. Není důvodu se k ní nevrátit, nota bene když Winter BBT má stejnou podmínku rovněž. Automaticky se tím omezí výkon a při omezených zdrojích je nutno více přemýšlet, jestli s tím, co máme k dispozici vystačíme celý závod volat výzvu, nebo ušetříme kapacitu akumulátorů poslechem a prolaďováním pásma. Chápu, že se zdá nelogické PRO toho, kdo sedí u zařízení doma, že metr od zásuvky napájí zařízení z baterek, ale snažím se sjednotit co nejvíce výchozí pozici všech závodníků ve prospěch těch, co vyrazí v zimě na kopec. Prostě čím více námahy závodu věnujete, tím větší šanci na umístění máte.
- I do not want to limit the weight of the entire device. If you feel like it, go to BBT, everything is described in a sophisticated way. Smaller and lighter devices tend to have worse parameters, I don't want to be the cause of cluttering the spectrum and noise.
- Probably the most comments were about the impossibility of using stable antenna systems. Again, my effort to unify the initial conditions applies here. You can't build anything big on a hill in the snow. The antenna system affects the radiated power more than the PA power. There was a huge discussion about it on ok_listu. So, please, next to the monster with 10 tons of aluminum, kindly pick up a smaller rake. An equally stable system will needlessly be encased in ice.
- The Friday deadline for erecting antennas is based on proposals from other portable plants.
- If you go full speed, then on DX cluster there is no time. You won't have enough energy from batteries for that anyway. Negotiate the connection as you wish, but own it QSO including the transfer of the competition code must take place on the band, that is perhaps clear.
- V zimě v chumelenici nebudou notebooky zrovna ochotně fungovat nemluvě o kapacitě akumulátorů, která po celý závod nevydrží. Proto jsem přistoupil k přijmu různých forem papírových deníků, i když se to zdá krokem zpět. Pošlete-li mi log elektronický, velmi mi tím usnadníte vyhodnocení. Prosím soubor nazvat call.edi, u skenů call.jpg či v jakém formátu mi to pošlete, mám potom pohodlné přiřazení souborů jednotlivým závodníkům.
The last draft was at http://www.ok2kkw.com/next/zimniqrp_2009.htm
I am asking for your comments on the proposals at ok1dom@seznam.cz, ok_listu or discussion at OK2KKW.