Outlaw Jack Reed WA7LNW/W7CXX operating the 2022 CQWW CW contest. This is his HF remote setup using two K3’s over the internet. 

Outlaw Mike KC7V sez!

January 2023

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Welcome AOCC members!

 

The 2022 fall contest season is over.  The 10m contest, in my opinion, was the one to participate in.  Conditions were great and should be better to EU as the cycle progresses.  As NA2U says, there ain’t no meters like 10 meters.  AOCC members put up some fantastic scores.  Once again AOCC shows it is one of the premier contest clubs in the country.   We have world class stations, world class operators and great ops with peanut whistle stations.  We appreciate everyone’s contribution to our AOCC score totals.  Keep those coming.

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For you VHF Contesters and DX’ers there was an outstanding opening to VK/ZL on December 2nd and another short ZL opening on December 14.  Late November and early December seems to be a good time to pay attention to a possible opening in that direction.  The thinking is that this was an E’s to TEP link but with the SFI continuing to spike at times F2 propagation could be coming in this cycle.

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As I reflect on 2022, it is hard to not be impressed by our members participation and scores in contests.   Efforts come from big stations as well as stations with wires thrown out windows and everything in between.  Whatever you have, you get in and participate and contribute points for our club.  Thank You!

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Wishing you all the best in your contesting efforts in 2023.

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The club has moved to groups.io for our reflector.  Groups.io is more modern and allows us to do things not possible on our previous reflector, such as attachments, embedded photos and supports html email.  Chuck, KF7U, is leading the move and sends invitations to new members and is the contact point for other members that want to join the Arizona Outlaws Contest Club groups.io.

I look for potential programs for AOCC so that from time to time we can get together, at least virtually, to enjoy a contest presentation. 

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Ned AA7A, Larry WO7R and Mike KC7V are part of the team putting together the 2023 Visalia International DX convention, scheduled for April 21-23, 2023. There are contest presentations,  including the K3LR Contest Academy.  This is the first time this popular convention  has been held since 2019.  Come and join in on the fun.

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I’d like to hear about changes, improvements in your contest station so everyone will know about it.  Send me your updates.

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AOCC Roundup

We’ll plan on the 2023 Roundup for the August/September time period.  We normally have it on the last Saturday in August but now there is the Worldwide Digital Contest on that weekend.  We can only hope that we can have an in-person get together in late summer.

 

2022-23 AOCC Officers

President – Mike Fulcher KC7V

North Area VP – Ray Benny N6VR

Central Area VP – Chuck Zanella KF7U

South Area VP - Owen Watson AK7W

Secy/Treas - Larry Reader KE2VB

 

AOCC Ladder

I expect to see more activity from the Outlaws this year with better band conditions.  We will have great races with the increased sunspot activity. 

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Contest News

Monday email announcements of the coming weekend’s contests, both AOCC Ladder and otherwise, are handled by Bob K8IA.

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AOCC member Andy KK7AC leads the charge promoting QSO parties.  He is a great resource if you have questions about these domestic contests.

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AOCC has now hosted two presentations thanks to Virgil K7VZ who allows us to use his Zoom capabilities.  Rob Sherwood, NC0B, shared an excellent presentation on receivers https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bxS4zc3hpgA.  Kyle AA0A enlightened us on Node Red and his contest dashboard.  Video is here - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NvjVmvdOZc0.

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If you do not subscribe to the ARRL Contest Update, you should.  Brian Moran N9ADG, authors the publication and it is free.  It is chock full of interesting tidbits.  You can go here to subscribe:  http://www.arrl.org/the-arrl-contest-update

Many clubs record their presentations with guest speakers and post them on YouTube.  There are some good ones to watch, so do a search sometime. Other great resources:

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• The Daily DX is a great source for upcoming contest expeditions.  If you do not subscribe you can try a free 2 week trial here - http://www.dailydx.com/free-trial-request/ or https://twitter.com/dailydx    410-489-6518

 

• Don’t forget the WA7BNM Contest Calendar where you can find dates and links to rules for all contests.  https://www.contestcalendar.com/

 

• I’d be remiss to not mention the National Contest Journal (NCJ) as our own Lee Finkel KY7M is the editor.  NCJ - the National Contest Journal

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MAJOR AOCC Contest Happenings since our last website update (June 2022)

Note: The links shown below can be seen only by members of AOCC, as our Reflector is private.

 

• AOCC Finishes #6 in the Unlimited Club Competition for the 2022 ARRL DX Contest (SSB+CW) Contests with 36,369,619 points from 54 entries.

https://groups.io/g/ArizonaOutlawsContestClub/message/230

 

CW scores: https://groups.io/g/ArizonaOutlawsContestClub/message/164

SSB scores: https://groups.io/g/ArizonaOutlawsContestClub/message/337

 

• AOCC Finishes #6 USA Club in 2022 CQWPX RTTY Contest with 12,714,358 points from 20 entries. (No groups.io link available)

• AOCC Finishes #7 USA in 2022 CQWPX (SSB+CW) Contest with 54,180,312 points from 51 entries.

https://groups.io/g/ArizonaOutlawsContestClub/message/817

 

CW Scores: https://groups.io/g/ArizonaOutlawsContestClub/message/819

SSB Scores: https://groups.io/g/ArizonaOutlawsContestClub/message/411

 

• AOCC finished #6 USA in 2022 CQWW 160 (CW+SSB) with 1,966,266 points from 32 entries.

https://groups.io/g/ArizonaOutlawsContestClub/message/227

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AOCC Success in Contests

AOCC scores in contests continue to be impressive.  Please continue to report your scores to 3830 no matter how small you think it may be.  We want all the points!   The URL for 3830 posting is:  http://www.3830scores.com.  Submittal choices are usually on the top left. 

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Outlaw Bob K8IA’s team of score reporters, (K6LL, K8IA, KE2VB, KF7U, N1JM and N7IR) report success, both individually and team-wise, on the AOCC reflector.  New score reporters are always welcome. Email Bob K8IA if you can help out.

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Website Contributions

We encourage you to send pictures of you and your station, tower, or antennas.  We also invite stories of any contest experience you have had that we can post on the AOCC webpage.  The club members want to know you!

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Important: Contest Dates through the end of June 2023 - AOCC Ladder Events

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Jan 07-08 ARRL RTTY Roundup (600 pts)

Jan 14-15 NAQP CW (600 pts)

Jan 21-22 NAQP SSB (600 pts)

Jan 21-23 ARRL VHF Contest (500 pts)

Jan 27-29 CQ 160m CW Contest (700 pts)

 

Feb 04-05 CW Sprint (300 pts)

Feb 11-12 CQWPX RTTY (900 pts)

Feb 18-19 ARRL DX  CW Contest (900 pts)

Feb 25-26 NAQP RTTY (500 pts)

Feb 24-26 CQ 160m SSB Contest (600 pts)

 

Mar 04-05 ARRL DX SSB (900 pts)

Mar 18-19 Russian DX Contest (800 pts)

Mar 18-20 BARTG HF RTTY (500 pts)

Mar 25-26 CQWPX SSB (1000 pts)

 

Apr 08-09 JIDX CW Contest (300 pts)

Apr 15-16 CQMM Contest (700 pts)

Apr 29-30 Florida QSO Party (300 pts)

 

May 06-07 7th Area QSP Party (700 pts)

May 27-28 CQWPX CW (1000 pts)

 

Jun 10-12 ARRL VHF Contest (800 pts)

Jun 17-18 All Asian CW (500 pts)

Jun 24-25 ARRL Field Day (50 pts) for all participants

More information and rules of these contests can be found at: https://www.contestcalendar.com/contestcal.html

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NEW MEMBERS

A wild west welcome to new Outlaws:

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Cary Gielniak K7CFG, Maricopa AZ

Alan Fletcher K8AXF, Rio Verde AZ

Chuck Claver NJ6D/N7KU, Tucson AZ

Art Blank WA7NB, Tucson AZ

Arlene Schwartz KE6GFI, Wickenburg AZ

John Kountz WO1S, Wickenburg AZ

 

We’re glad you’ve joined the gang!

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 73, Outlaw Mike KC7V
“There’s a ruckus brewing out there!”

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