howto:raccontests
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howto:raccontests [2020/07/04 17:35] – va7fi | howto:raccontests [2020/11/29 23:21] – va7fi | ||
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+ | ~~NOTOC~~ | ||
====== RAC Contests Log ====== | ====== RAC Contests Log ====== | ||
- | This year was my first time participating in the RAC Canada Day contest on my own. It was a lot of fun and also very instructive. Here are a few things I learned. | + | <WRAP center round info 85%> |
+ | I just updated | ||
+ | </ | ||
- | First, everything you need to know about the RAC contests (Canada Day or the Winter Day) is located on [[https:// | + | |
+ | Last summer was my first time participating in the RAC Canada Day contest on my own. It was a lot of fun and also very instructive. | ||
+ | |||
+ | First, everything you need to know about the RAC Canada Day or Winter Day contest | ||
===== Logs ===== | ===== Logs ===== | ||
- | At the end of the contest, | + | During |
+ | * Frequency in kHz (for example, 14.125 MHz should | ||
+ | * Mode (CW or PH) | ||
+ | * Date and Time in UTC (for example 2020-07-01 and 0135) | ||
+ | * Callsign | ||
+ | * Signal Report (for example 59 on phone or 599 on CW) | ||
+ | * Exchange (Two letter province code for Canadian Stations, or the serial number for other stations). | ||
- | A Cabrillo file is really just plain text file formatted in a very specific way. | + | At the end of the contest, logs must be submitted to RAC. |
- | * This {{https://www.rac.ca/wp-content/uploads/ | + | |
- | * The [[https:// | + | |
- | For example, here's a copy of my Cabrillo file (with only a few entries as example): | + | A Cabrillo file is really just plain text file formatted in a very specific way. |
- | < | + | < |
< | < | ||
START-OF-LOG: | START-OF-LOG: | ||
Line 45: | Line 55: | ||
END-OF-LOG: | END-OF-LOG: | ||
</ | </ | ||
+ | The first 21 lines give RAC all the information they need about the operator. | ||
</ | </ | ||
- | \\ | + | < |
+ | RAC does NOT want this information emailed to them in the body of the email. | ||
+ | |||
+ | Regular contesters use logging programs which can generate these files while providing features that facilitate the logging process during the contest. | ||
+ | |||
+ | But since I'm not a regular contester and I didn't have time to familiarize myself with a logging program that would run under GNU/Linux, I simply used a spreadsheet to log my entries and tweaked it as the day went on to add my points and check for duplicate stations. | ||
+ | {{ : | ||
+ | |||
+ | Here are a few introductory videos I made to explain how to use the spreadsheet, | ||
+ | |||
+ | * The first video shows where to download [[https:// | ||
+ | {{ youtube> | ||
+ | |||
+ | * The second video shows how to use the spreadsheet during the contest, and how to export the Cabrillo file after. | ||
+ | {{ youtube> | ||
+ | |||
+ | * The third video shows a bit of the hidden formulas and the script that generates the Cabrillo file. It's like looking under the hood of the car: it's not needed to drive it, and it doesn' | ||
+ | {{ youtube> | ||
+ | |||
+ | |||
+ | |||
+ | Here is the link to {{ : | ||
+ | <WRAP indent> | ||
+ | <WRAP round box 80%> | ||
+ | Licensed under Creative Commons [[https:// | ||
+ | * Run it for any purpose. | ||
+ | * Study and modify it. | ||
+ | * Copy it to help others. | ||
+ | * Improve it, and release the improvements to the public, so that the whole community benefits. | ||
+ | |||
+ | Provided that you: | ||
+ | * Attribute the work to me by linking to [[https:// | ||
+ | * Distribute any derivative work under the same license. | ||
+ | </ | ||
+ | |||
+ | Here's a copy of the code that generates the Cabrillo file: | ||
+ | |||
+ | <hidden onHidden=" | ||
+ | <code VBScript> | ||
+ | REM ***** BASIC ***** | ||
+ | |||
+ | sub cabrillo | ||
+ | |||
+ | 'Get directory path from spreadsheet location. This will be used to create | ||
+ | Dim path as String | ||
+ | | ||
+ | path = Tools.Strings.DirectoryNameoutofPath(ThisComponent.url, | ||
+ | |||
+ | ' | ||
+ | dim Doc as object | ||
+ | Doc = ThisComponent | ||
+ | | ||
+ | | ||
+ | |||
+ | ' | ||
+ | |||
+ | ' | ||
+ | | ||
+ | if MyCallsign = "" | ||
+ | MyCallsign = " | ||
+ | | ||
+ | | ||
+ | |||
+ | 'Open MyCallsign.log and get ready to write to it | ||
+ | num = FreeFile() | ||
+ | open filename for output as #num | ||
+ | |||
+ | 'Read " | ||
+ | for i = 0 to 1 ' | ||
+ | print #num, Sheet1.getCellByPosition(0, | ||
+ | | ||
+ | |||
+ | ' Row 3 needs to be upper case. | ||
+ | print #num, Sheet1.getCellByPosition(0, | ||
+ | |||
+ | for i = 3 to 19 ' | ||
+ | print #num, Sheet1.getCellByPosition(0, | ||
+ | | ||
+ | |||
+ | ' | ||
+ | print #num, Sheet1.getCellByPosition(0, | ||
+ | |||
+ | | ||
+ | if Len(Soapbox) > 70 then | ||
+ | truncated = " | ||
+ | Soapbox = Left(Soapbox, | ||
+ | Msgbox(" | ||
+ | | ||
+ | |||
+ | print #num, Sheet1.getCellByPosition(0, | ||
+ | |||
+ | ' | ||
+ | ' | ||
+ | ' | ||
+ | ' | ||
+ | ' | ||
+ | ' | ||
+ | ' | ||
+ | ' | ||
+ | ' | ||
+ | ' | ||
+ | ' | ||
+ | |||
+ | |||
+ | | ||
+ | |||
+ | | ||
+ | | ||
+ | |||
+ | | ||
+ | |||
+ | 'read " | ||
+ | i = 2 ' | ||
+ | UTC = " | ||
+ | while UTC <> "" | ||
+ | Freq = Sheet2.getCellByPosition(0, | ||
+ | Freq = Format(Freq, | ||
+ | Freq = space(6 - Len(Freq)) & Freq ' | ||
+ | |||
+ | UTC = Sheet2.getCellByPosition(1, | ||
+ | |||
+ | Callsign = Sheet2.getCellByPosition(2, | ||
+ | Callsign = Callsign & space(13 - Len(Callsign)) | ||
+ | |||
+ | RST = Sheet2.getCellByPosition(3, | ||
+ | RST = space(3 - Len(RST)) & RST 'pad RST to 3 digits | ||
+ | |||
+ | Exch = Sheet2.getCellByPosition(4, | ||
+ | |||
+ | RSTGiven = Sheet2.getCellByPosition(5, | ||
+ | RSTGiven = space(3 - Len(RSTGiven)) & RSTGiven | ||
+ | |||
+ | Mode = Sheet2.getCellByPosition(6, | ||
+ | |||
+ | ' | ||
+ | ' | ||
+ | 'QSO: 14165 PH 2003-07-01 1044 VA1ABC | ||
+ | ' | ||
+ | |||
+ | logline = " | ||
+ | logline = logline & Freq & " " | ||
+ | logline = logline & Mode & " " | ||
+ | logline = logline & ContestDate & " " | ||
+ | logline = logline & UTC & " " | ||
+ | logline = logline & MyCallsign | ||
+ | logline = logline & RSTGiven & " " | ||
+ | logline = logline & MyProvince & " " | ||
+ | logline = logline & Callsign & " " | ||
+ | logline = logline & RST & " " | ||
+ | logline = logline & Exch | ||
+ | |||
+ | print #num, Ucase(logline) | ||
+ | |||
+ | i = i + 1 ' | ||
+ | UTC = Sheet2.getCellByPosition(1, | ||
+ | |||
+ | ' | ||
+ | wend | ||
+ | |||
+ | print #num, " | ||
+ | |||
+ | close #num | ||
+ | |||
+ | msgbox (" | ||
+ | |||
+ | |||
+ | |||
+ | end sub | ||
+ | |||
+ | |||
+ | sub License | ||
+ | |||
+ | ' This spreadsheet and its script by Patrick Truchon < | ||
+ | ' Creative Commons Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 4.0 Unported License. | ||
+ | ' < | ||
+ | ' | ||
+ | ' You are free to: | ||
+ | ' | ||
+ | ' | ||
+ | ' | ||
+ | ' | ||
+ | ' | ||
+ | ' | ||
+ | ' Provided that you: | ||
+ | ' | ||
+ | ' | ||
+ | |||
+ | end sub | ||
+ | </ | ||
+ | </ | ||
+ | < | ||
+ | ===== 7300 Recorded Voice TX ===== | ||
+ | The other thing I learned during the contest is how to record a short message on my IC-7300 and play it back on the air so I could save my voice a bit. The details are on [[https:// | ||
+ | |||
+ | {{pdfjs 100%, | ||
+ | |||
+ | I ended up recording three messages: | ||
+ | - "CQ Canada Day Contest, this is VA7FI" (in phonetics) | ||
+ | - " | ||
+ | - "Thank you, you are 59, BC" | ||
+ | |||
+ | To call CQ, I used the first message on a 7 second repeat loop. If someone answered, I could either press the button again to stop the loop, or use the PTT to jump in and acknowledge the station. | ||
+ | |||
+ | I used the second message to answer CQ calls during pile ups. All I'd have to do is press the button and hope I'd get an answer. This was great in the early morning when Justine was still in sleeping. With my headphones on, the whole thing was virtually silent. | ||
- | The first 21 lines give RAC all the information they need about the operator. | + | I used the third message to give my exchange once I received |
- | RAC does NOT want this emailed | + | I still had to use the mic a bit depending on the situation, but these pre-recorded messages took care of a lot of the grunt work. |
- | Regular contesters use logging programs which can generate these files while providing many bells and whistles during the contest | + | ===== Last Thoughts ===== |
+ | I didn't expect | ||
- | But since I'm not a regular contester and I didn't have time to familiarize myself with a logging program that would run under GNU/Linux, I simply used a spreadsheet to log my entries and tweaked it as the day went on to add a few features like duplicate check and |