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HF Contests Committee. Features
and Articles.
A Beginner’s
Guide to RTTY Contests.
Republished
from RadCom, August 2003. Copyright RSGB. www.rsgb.org
By John Barber, GW4SKA,
Phil Cooper, GU0SUP; and Dick Whittering, G3URA.
Since the advent of the use of the computer soundcard
to decode digital signals there has been more activity
on RTTY than ever before. One now hears more stations
during a single day on RTTY than were normally heard
in a week a few years ago. Much of this increase is
due to the very effective, and free, MMTTY (1) program,
by Mako Mori. This in itself has brought thousands of
people world-wide on to the mode to enjoy the casual,
friendly world of RTTY. Many RTTY operators use RTTY
contests simply as a way of increasing their DXCC totals,
working towards a ‘Worked All States’ (WAS)
or ‘Worked All Zones’ (WAZ) award, or picking
up
new prefixes and many of them continue to use MMTTY
to this end.
RTTY Contest Programs.
Whilst this is all very well, and can also
give the ‘novice’ contester a flavour of
what can be worked during an RTTY contest, MMTTY is
not
designed as a contesting program. It therefore does
not have the capabilities of a dedicated contest package
such as, say, WriteLog (2) or RCKRtty (3). These programs
can recognise incoming callsigns preceded by “DE”,
track your score, show needed calls, multipliers and
duplicate contacts and do much more to help you maximise
your score. While MMTTY will not always produce a contest
log in the format specified in the rules (particularly
if a ‘Cabrillo’ log is required), all specialised
RTTY contesting programs, like the two mentioned, will
produce the correct format needed when sending in your
log. A ‘Cabrillo’ log, by the way, is a
standardised log format in which all the information
is in one file that includes the contest log, your name
and address, callsign and comments. An alternative for
producing logs is Cabrillo Tools by WT4I (4) which will
convert various files into the correct Cabrillo format
for you. This type of log is now required in all RSGB
HF contests and most RTTY contests. Most logs can be
e-mailed to the contest address and will be acknowledged.
Any comments you have about the contest can be included
in the ‘soapbox’ section of the Cabrillo
log, but not in your e-mail text, as this may only be
seen by a ‘robot’ mail handler! Always send
in your log, no matter how many or how few contacts
you made. Your log, yes yours, with only 20 or so QSOs
in it, is used to verify the points claimed by the other
contestants whom you worked. “But with only 20
QSOs, I’ll come last”, I hear you say. I
doubt it! While trying out some new software, Dick,
G3URA, ended up working just 16 stations in one contest
and when the results came out, there were at least five
stations below him. Despite a ‘low’ score
there is also the possibility that you may be the only
G, M or 2E station to submit a log in any particular
class, meaning you could end up with a certificate for
being the top G in that
class. Before submitting your log, do read through it
and make sure it looks OK. Ensure there are no obviously
wrong calls or daft exchanges. Printing the log out
and then looking it may help you spot anything untoward.
Before the Contest.
Entering a contest can be a bit daunting
the first time. The following few paragraphs are aimed
to help the beginner take the plunge and offer a few
tips from both avid contesters and a contest manager.
The first rule in any contest must be: “Read The
Rules!” The rules for all
major RTTY contests can be found on the web (5), and
are also published in the British Amateur Radio Teledata
Group (BARTG) (6) monthly magazine, Datacom, together
with detailed operating tips for all the major contests.
The rules will state date and time, the exchange required,
where to send logs, and in which format they must be.
The rules will say if there are different classes of
entry, and a single band entry may suit you if you are
restricted by time or aerial considerations.
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| Always keep a copy of the
rules handy. Before the contest, set up some simple
memory ‘buffers’ containing only the minimum
information required for calling another station and
exchanging the relevant information. It is also a good
idea to add a couple of ‘return’ characters
to the beginning and end of the exchange, as this can
make your exchange stand out a little more. For a contest
where the time also has to be exchanged, the buffers
might look like this: “DE GW4SKA GW4SKA K”
(Use this to answer a CQ. Never send his call and always
send the ‘DE’, see below). “RGR UR
599 001 001 1254 1254 DE GW4SKA K” (meaning I
have your message, this is mine for you). These will
be fine in most conditions but be prepared to repeat
the serial / time etc several times if copy is poor,
like this: “001 001 001 TIME 1254 1254 1254 QSL?
BK.” Set up a separate buffer for this. There
is no need to repeat the RST as it is always 599 no
matter what the conditions!
During the Contest.
Never send any unnecessary information such
as names, your rig, power or aerial details. Also, even
if the station worked is a new country for you, never
ask for his QSL information, as you can find this out
after the contest. Remember that the serious contester
will be aiming to make about two contacts every minute,
so stick to the essential information only. Remember
too, to call exactly on the other station’s frequency
and keep the ‘AFC’ and ‘NET’
controls turned off when answering a CQ. Think about
your exchanges and watch what others are doing. Most
of us know our own callsign so seeing it three times
before we see your callsign just once, is a real ‘no-no’.
For example, sending “GU0SUP GU0SUP GU0SUP DE
G3URA PSE K” will probably not get you that muchneeded
GU multiplier! Know what the ‘multipliers’
are. Are they countries? Prefixes? Zones? This will
be explained in the rules, which you will have read
before the contest, right? Are there bonus points for
working different continents? If you run a ‘little
pistol’ station where anything outside Europe
is a bonus, don’t forget that the Canary Islands,
EA8, counts as Africa, and Cyprus, 5B4 or ZC4, counts
as Asia. Both are fairly ‘local’ and easily
worked. Having a ‘little pistol’ station
can have some advantages, as most of the time you will
be in ‘S&P’ (‘search and pounce’)
mode while the ‘big guns’ will sitting on
one frequency calling CQ. You can pick and choose whom
you work; they can’t. Never forget that they want
your call and will do their best to get you in their
log. This is especially true if you have a regional
locator in your callsign, such as GM or GI. If they
are rare DX and have a huge pile-up, worry not. If it
is a 48-hour contest wait 24 hours and call them on
the second day, when they will be crying out for contacts
and will want you in their log. |
Top: Typical contest logging
software screen: this is the RCKRtty program configured
forthe BARTG Spring RTTY
contest.
Bottom: Using the WriteLog program for an
RTTY contest. |
If you do have to wait patiently
for your turn to work the DX, again, watch what is going
on: there should be no need to ask for a repeat of his
serial number, for example. In some contests, suchas
the Australian ANARTS, points are based on distance
worked and in these types of test it is far better to
trawl the bands looking for DX rather thanjust work
mainly European stations. Watch out for time limits
on band changes or off times. These will be in the rules.
If, for example, you are limited to two band changes
in 10 minutes don’t work that one multiplier on
10 metres if you can’t hear any other stations,
or you will then have to sit on a quiet band until the
10-minute time period has elapsed (however, if you just
can’t resist working that VP6 before returning
to 20m, you can always use up the rest of the time with
a ‘comfort break’!) If you are keen to try
CQing, even with your ‘little pistol’ station,
think about doing so in the dying hours of the contest.
Then, many of the big boys will start to search and
pounce for those extra contacts that escaped them during
the main part of the contest.
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| Intrested?
More information about RTTY contesting and
the datamodes in general can be found by joining BARTG
(6), from which several RTTY awards are available. There
is also a popular RTTY reflector (7) where you can ask
questions, find QSL routes, and compare contest scores.
Other helpful
information can be found on the ‘RTTY Info’
website (8), where there is an excellent RTTY tutorial
for those wishing to learn more about the mode.
New RTTY operators will find contesting a very easy
way to make a start on the mode without the need to
type at furious speeds. Those with more experience will
know that in any of the major contests held each year,
they can find well over 1000 stations to work. Look
at the contest calendar (5), read the rules, join in,
but most of all, have fun! We look forward to seeing
you on our screens and seeing your calls listed in the
results. Oh, and one last bit of advice: Read the rules
- again! ?
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Co-author Phil Cooper, GU0SUP, operating
RTTY from Guernsey. |
W E B S E A R C H
(1) www.qsl.net/hammsoft
(2) www.writelog.com
(3) www.rckrtty.de
(4) www.wt4i.com
(5) www.rttyjournal.com/contests
(6) www.bartg.demon.co.uk
(7) http://lists.contesting.com/mailman/listinfo/rtty
(8)
www.rttyinfo.net
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By John Barber, GW4SKA, 29 Brithdir Street, Cathays,
Cardiff CF24 4LE.
E-mail:
, Phil Cooper, GU0SUP; and Dick Whittering, G3URA.
Republished from RadCom, August 2003.
Copyright RSGB. www.rsgb.org
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