howto:raccontests
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- | ~~NOTOC~~ | ||
- | ====== 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. | ||
- | |||
- | First, everything you need to know about the RAC Canada Day or Winter Day contest is located on the [[https:// | ||
- | |||
- | ===== Logs ===== | ||
- | |||
- | During the contest, the following information must be logged for each station: | ||
- | * Frequency in kHz (for example, 14.125 should be entered as 14125) | ||
- | * 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). | ||
- | |||
- | At the end of the contest, logs must be submitted to RAC. They will accept paper logs for submissions with less than 100 entries, but they really prefer electronic logs, which must be formatted as Cabrillo. | ||
- | |||
- | A Cabrillo file is really just plain text file formatted in a very specific way. For example, here's a copy of my Cabrillo file (with only a few entries as example): | ||
- | <hidden onHidden=" | ||
- | < | ||
- | START-OF-LOG: | ||
- | CREATED-BY: RAC_Contests.ods v2020.07.04 by VA7FI | ||
- | CALLSIGN: VA7FI | ||
- | LOCATION: BC | ||
- | CONTEST: RAC CANADA DAY | ||
- | CATEGORY-OPERATOR: | ||
- | CATEGORY-BAND: | ||
- | CATEGORY-MODE: | ||
- | CATEGORY-POWER: | ||
- | CATEGORY-TRANSMITTER: | ||
- | CLAIMED-SCORE: | ||
- | CLUB: Sun Coast Amateur Radio Club Society | ||
- | NAME: Patrick Truchon | ||
- | ADDRESS: REDACTED | ||
- | ADDRESS-CITY: | ||
- | ADDRESS-STATE-PROVINCE: | ||
- | ADDRESS-POSTALCODE: | ||
- | ADDRESS-COUNTRY: | ||
- | EMAIL: va7fi@rbox.me | ||
- | OPERATORS: @VA7FI | ||
- | SOAPBOX: First Canada Day contest on my own. Lots of fun! | ||
- | QSO: 14186 PH 2020-07-01 0008 VA7FI 59 BC VE3PJ 59 ON | ||
- | QSO: 14198 PH 2020-07-01 0012 VA7FI 59 BC WB0TEV | ||
- | QSO:146520 PH 2020-07-01 0112 VA7FI 59 BC VE7DX 59 BC | ||
- | QSO: 14211 PH 2020-07-01 0139 VA7FI 59 BC N8OO 59 201 | ||
- | QSO: 14152 PH 2020-07-01 0148 VA7FI 59 BC VE2CJR | ||
- | QSO: 14165 PH 2020-07-01 0159 VA7FI 59 BC VE6RAC | ||
- | 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, | ||
- | |||
- | {{ youtube> | ||
- | <WRAP center prewrap 90%> | ||
- | The first video shows where to download [[https:// | ||
- | </ | ||
- | |||
- | {{ youtube> | ||
- | <WRAP center prewrap 90%> | ||
- | The second video shows how to use the spreadsheet during the contest, and how to export the Cabrillo file after. | ||
- | </ | ||
- | |||
- | {{ youtube> | ||
- | <WRAP center prewrap 90%> | ||
- | 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' | ||
- | </ | ||
- | |||
- | Here is the link to {{ : | ||
- | <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 < | ||
- | * Distribute any derivative work under the same license. | ||
- | </ | ||
- | |||
- | Here's a copy of the code that generates the Cabrillo file: | ||
- | < | ||
- | <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 | ||
- | | ||
- | | ||
- | |||
- | |||
- | 'Note that for getCellByPosition(x, | ||
- | |||
- | ' | ||
- | | ||
- | | ||
- | |||
- | 'Open MyCallsign.log and get ready to write to it | ||
- | num = FreeFile() | ||
- | open filename for output as #num | ||
- | |||
- | 'Read " | ||
- | for i = 0 to 18 ' | ||
- | print #num, Sheet2.getCellByPosition(0, | ||
- | next | ||
- | ' | ||
- | print #num, Sheet2.getCellByPosition(0, | ||
- | |||
- | | ||
- | if Len(Soapbox) > 70 then | ||
- | truncated = " | ||
- | Soapbox = Left(Soapbox, | ||
- | Msgbox(" | ||
- | endif | ||
- | |||
- | print #num, Sheet2.getCellByPosition(0, | ||
- | |||
- | ' | ||
- | ' | ||
- | ' | ||
- | ' | ||
- | ' | ||
- | ' | ||
- | ' | ||
- | ' | ||
- | ' | ||
- | ' | ||
- | ' | ||
- | |||
- | |||
- | | ||
- | |||
- | | ||
- | | ||
- | |||
- | | ||
- | |||
- | 'read " | ||
- | i = 2 ' | ||
- | UTC = " | ||
- | while UTC <> "" | ||
- | Freq = Sheet1.getCellByPosition(0, | ||
- | Freq = Format(Freq, | ||
- | Freq = space(6 - Len(Freq)) & Freq ' | ||
- | |||
- | UTC = Sheet1.getCellByPosition(1, | ||
- | |||
- | Callsign = Sheet1.getCellByPosition(2, | ||
- | Callsign = Callsign & space(13 - Len(Callsign)) | ||
- | |||
- | RST = Sheet1.getCellByPosition(3, | ||
- | RST = space(3 - Len(RST)) & RST 'pad RST to 3 digits | ||
- | |||
- | Exch = Sheet1.getCellByPosition(4, | ||
- | |||
- | RSTGiven = Sheet1.getCellByPosition(5, | ||
- | RSTGiven = space(3 - Len(RSTGiven)) & RSTGiven | ||
- | |||
- | Mode = Sheet1.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, logline | ||
- | |||
- | i = i + 1 ' | ||
- | UTC = Sheet1.getCellByPosition(1, | ||
- | |||
- | ' | ||
- | wend | ||
- | |||
- | print #num, " | ||
- | |||
- | close #num | ||
- | |||
- | msgbox (" | ||
- | |||
- | |||
- | |||
- | end sub | ||
- | |||
- | |||
- | sub License | ||
- | |||
- | ' This spreadsheet and its script by Patrick Truchon < | ||
- | ' is licensed under a 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:// | ||
- | - "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 prevent it from transmitting the message again, or use the PTT to jump in and acknowledge the station. | ||
- | |||
- | The second message I would use to answer a CQ call during a pile up. All I'd have to do is press the button with the timing that I thought would be best. This was great in the early morning when Justine was still in sleeping. | ||
- | |||
- | The third message was to give my exchange once I received the other station' | ||
- | |||
- | I still had to use the mic a bit depending on the situation, but these pre-recorded messages took care of most of a lot of the grunt work. | ||
- | |||
- | ===== Last Thoughts ===== | ||
- | I didn't expect to enjoy contesting as much as I did. In fact, I found it strangely addictive. | ||