Competition is a type of operation that often provokes conflicting reactions among amateurs. Why do so many amateurs compete so passionately? What's so exciting about that? And what is it that other amateurs do not find anything too interesting in the competition? We offer you a closer look at this type of operation.
Humans have competition in their nature. You will meet him in the stock market, where companies try to raise their share prices as high as possible, in the film industry, where the weekend sales of new films are watched, and of course in sports, where there is competition at all levels: from very well organized professional football teams to a few club players who hit a tennis ball back and forth on the court in Dolna Horna on Saturday morning. Have you ever thought about competing? Why don't you compete? Think you're not physically up to it? Physical condition is not important in amateur radio competitions. Do you think it is expensive? It's not! Do you need special equipment? You don't need it, average equipment is enough to start with. Is it difficult? It's not! Is it funny? YES! Can you beat the result achieved in OK? YES!
Súťaženie sa traduje takmer od začiatku amatérskeho vysielania. Hneď po prvej svetovej vojne bola snaha preskúmať krátke vlny a nadviazať spojenie na stále väčšie a väčšie vzdialenosti. Boli stanovené časové obdobia na nadviazanie transatlantického spojenia. Úspech sa dostavil rýchlo a z týchto období sa nakoniec vyvinuli ARRL DX contest-y. Za uplynulých 80 rokov sa, samozrejme, veľa zmenilo a podmienky súťaží boli postupom času upravované. Všetky súťaže majú rovnaký základný princíp, rozdielne sú iba špecifiká, ktoré dávajú jednotlivým súťažiam zvláštny charakter. Vždy je cieľom nadviazať počas súťaže čo najviac spojení s inými súťažiacimi stanicami a pritom získať čo najviac násobičov. Násobiče v danej súťaži sú stanovené v jej podmienkach.
Pri tzv. DX contestoch sú ako nový násobič započítavané zvyčajne krajiny podľa zoznamu DXCC, so stanicami ktorých bolo nadviazané spojenie. Pri CQ WW DX contest-e, ktorý je jednou z najviac obsadených súťaží, sú násobičmi krajiny a zóny, pri CQ WPX contest-e sú násobičmi rôzne prefixy. V iných súťažiach platia ako súťažné spojenia iba tie, ktoré sú nadviazané so stanicami niekoľkých krajín, napr. OK/OM.
Whatever the competition, you're trying to make as many connections as possible and make as many multipliers as possible. You get your point gain - your result in the competition - by multiplying these two numbers. Simple, right? Not quite! In order to achieve a good placement, it is necessary to choose a suitable strategy, but more on that later. Only valid connections are taken into account in competitions, i.e. those where we hand over our brand and connection code to the opposing station, receive similar data from it and confirm everything.
Kód, ktorý vysielame, sa zvyčajne skladá z reportu RS alebo RST and serial number of our connection in the competition; in other competitions, however, it is submitted as a code, e.g. zone number, operator's age, district code, etc., or even a more complex code.
During the competition, we try to establish as many connections as possible, so we work quickly, and the correct handover of codes is a matter of operational skill and operational efficiency. The main competitions last the whole weekend (48 hours). Good contests are competitive. Very competitive - and that's a bit of a problem. The band is full of competing stations that are in a hurry - they want to achieve the highest result by minimizing the loss of time. Connections are fast and rushed, no time for politeness.
Other non-competitors would like a bit of quiet space on the strip for normal operation, but on some weekends when the big competitions are on, that's hopeless. Most of the time, it is resolved only by complaints, but sometimes such a situation results in completely non-amateur behavior. However, it is possible to find a place on the bands for both competitors and non-competitors - all you need is a little tolerance and understanding, or use WARC pásiem.
You will read in the article
How to start?
Let's say you have an adventurous nature and decide to try competing. How to start? Think it through first. If you decide to turn on your gear on Saturday morning, throw yourself into the competitive frenzy and end up placing well, you're setting yourself up for disappointment.
Remember that every seller of a device warns new users to read the user manual. It should be the same for novice competitors: read the conditions of the competition in advance - they are published in amateur magazines or you can find them on the Internet.
Väčšinou nejde o viac než jednu až dve strany. Čítajte a sledujte rubriky o súťažiach vo všetkých amatérskych časopisoch, ktoré zoženiete. Nájdete tam výsledky rôznych minulých súťaží i upozornenia na termíny a podmienky blížiacich sa súťaží – malých i veľkých, jednopásmových, napr. CQ 160 Meter contest, súťaží pre menej bežné druhy prevádzky, ako napr. CQ/RJ RTTY contest, či ešte špecializovanejších, ako je ARRL EME contest.
You won't be ready for some of these competitions yet, but it's good to know what's happening where.
Keďže sa v súťažiach používa špecifický žargón, možno vám spočiatku informácie nebudú celkom jasné, ale čoskoro im porozumiete – všetko je väčšinou jednoduché a logické.
You will meet e.g. with expressions single-op, multi-op a multi-multi. Znejú tajomne, no po prečítaní podmienok zistíte, že ide len o skratky rôznych kategórií:
- Single-op – one operator, completely alone, without help, without a DX cluster.
- Multi-op – a group of operators who take turns at one transmitter.
- Multi-single – multiple operators, but only one transmitter in operation at any time.
- Multi-multi – more operators and more transmitters at the same time.
If you have the opportunity, go to a club where someone competes, talk to them and gain experience. If you won't be too much of a bother, ask him if you can sit next to him during the next competition and watch.
The terms of any competition do not prohibit you from sitting next to the operator and watching him, unless you are helping him in some way. However, be aware that he is competing and in the middle of a race – don't interrupt him and save your questions for the end.
Just listen for a few hours at home with your device. Find out what's happening on each band at different times, day and night. For example in DX competition during the day, don't expect much traffic on 80 meters.
Such knowledge will help you a lot in your first participation.
Strategy
Now is the time to think about how to participate in the competition and achieve the best possible result. Success is a matter of strategy.
What antennas do you have available? You may have a multi-band antenna for 20, 15 and 10 meters and wire dipoles for the lower bands.
Some competitions, e.g. CQ WPX, have a special category for stations with low power (100 watts and less) and simple antennas.
Study the conditions (and last year's results if you can) and see where you have the best chance of placing well. Then start preparing.
Only later, with experience and better conditions, you can consider more powerful antennas.
Practical tips
If you don't ride CW, the competition is the perfect opportunity to improve - it provides a tough but effective workout.
Many successful amateurs started by:
- použili memory key,
- have prepared your brand and code in advance,
- they listened until they picked up the counter station's signal,
- and only then they called.
V súťažiach sa reporty zvyčajne dávajú 59 na SSB a 599 on the CW—regardless of actual readership. This habit simplifies operation.
It is very important during the competition prehľadne zapisovať denník:
- station brands,
- received and sent codes,
- time (in UTC).
The diary is sent to the evaluator after the competition. Today, most amateurs use počítačové programy, ktoré minimalizujú chyby, neumožnia duplicitné spojenia a automaticky počítajú výsledok.
Conclusion
Competition is fun. You will love it after you participate in several competitions. It's not that terrible. Just try it.
Jan Kučera, OK1NR