Upcoming Club HF Operating Events

This page is to provide a central place for members to find information about upcoming contests and other activations of the W4GAC/W4TA HF station at SPARC.

ARRL Sweepstakes SSB (November )

Dates: Saturday, November 16th @ 4:00 PM EST through Sunday November 17 @ 10:00 PM (Times will vary though)
Contest: ARRL Sweepstakes SSB
Goals: To work as many other stations in both the US, train operators and have fun.
Notes: This is a challenging contest due to a longer exchange than the standard 599. Our goal is generally to obtain a clean sweep where we work at least one station from every ARRL section. We also have the ability to use 160m in this contest so that may come in handy for the close in states like South Carolina.

SPARC’s Goals for Contesting

In all contests, our first goal is to ensure we train operators. We want members and prospective members to come down and operate. If you have no contesting or HF experience at all, that is great. We strive to foster an environment where people new to the hobby or contesting can learn in a positive environment. We frequently pair new operators with experienced operators so they may “learn the ropes” to pass on our love of contesting to others. You will learn how to use the software we use, how to operate a first-class HF station and have a tremendous fun. When you are not operating, we have many hams hanging around that can answer any question you may have about anything in general. Our operating environment is as much social as competitive. After all, with at most two operators and two loggers active, the rest of us are free to shoot the breeze on a multitude of topics.

Please note on all times, the start times are when the group will be at the station. For times throughout the weekend, please check Facebook or call on the club 2m repeater to confirm.

Past Events

CW WW RTTY (September 27 – 29, 2024)

Dates: Friday September 27 at 8:00 PM until Sunday, September 29 at 8:00 PM – We will be at the station at 7PM Friday, September 27, prior to the start
Contest: CW WW RTTY
Goals: Work as many other stations as possible while having fun.

ARRL RTTY Roundup (January 4 – 5, 2020)

Dates: Saturday January 4 at 1:00 PM until Sunday @ 1:00 AM and then 7:00 AM to 7:00 PM
Contest: ARRL RTTY Roundup
Goals: Work as many other stations as possible.

CQ WPX SSB (March 29 – March 31, 2019)

Dates: Friday March, 29 at 8:00 PM to Sunday at 8:00 PM
Contest: CQ WPX SSB
Goals: Work as many other stations as possible with unique prefixes as multipliers.
Notes: The SPARC Contesters will be participating in the CQ WPX SSB contest this weekend. This is a phone contest so it is particularly good for new people to get their feet wet with contesting and HF operating. We will be there starting at 7:00 PM tonight (Friday 3/29).
RESULTS:

ARRL RTTY Roundup ( January 5-6, 2019)

Dates: Saturday, January 5 @ 1:00 PM EST through Sunday January 6 @ 7:00 PM EST
Contest: ARRL RTTY Roundup
Goals: Work stations, fun and training new operators.
Notes (from Ron KP2N):Green Key bunch. The 2019 contest season is almost here and SPARC is starting out with the RTTY Roundup January 6-7. All our hard work building the antenna farm at DMI will be put to the test. Do you want to join in? Action starts Saturday, Jan. 5 at 1:00 PM local time. This is a 30 hour contest that we can operate 24 out of the 30, Both stations will be active using one as a RUN and the other hunting for MULTS. Last year W4TA did very well in RU and hope 2019 will put us on top. If you can spare an hour or so let me know ASAP. Please indicate what day and time we will see you at W4TA. Would like to have a schedule completed by next SPARC meeting.

ARRL Sweepstakes SSB Contest (November 17-18, 2018)

Dates: Saturday, November 17th @ 4:00 PM EST through Sunday November 18 @ 10:00 PM (Times will vary though)
Contest: ARRL Sweepstakes SSB
Goals: To work as many other stations in both the US, train operators and have fun.
Notes: This is a challenging contest due to a longer exchange than the standard 599. Our goal is generally to obtain a clean sweep where we work at least one station from every ARRL section. We also have the ability to use 160m in this contest so that may come in handy for the close in states like South Carolina. This is also the first contest in the new shack location and with the new Elecraft KPA-1500.
RESULTS:

CQ Worldwide DX RTTY Contest (September 28-30, 2018)

Dates: Friday, September 28 @ 8:00 PM EDT through Sunday September 30 @ 8:00 PM EDT (Times will vary though)
Contest: CQ Worldwide DX RTTY Contest
Goals: To work as many other stations in both the US and the World.
Notes: This is a full 48 hour contest but this effort is more casual than that. We will adjust the times according to those that are interested in operating. Friday night and part of Saturday will be active. This is an 80m through 10m contest and we will fun W4TA callsign at full 1500 watts with the new amp. It is a good warm-up for the upcoming Makrothen contest following this on in October.
RESULTS:

North American QSO Party RTTY Contest (July 21, 2018)

Dates: Saturday, July 21, 2018 at 2:00 PM EST to 2:00 AM on Sunday.
Contest: North American QSO Party RTTY
Goals: Work stations, fun and training new operators.
Notes: (From Ron, KP2N): Greenkey bunch …

The next RTTY contest from W4TA will be Saturday/Sunday,

July 21/22 at DMI starting at 1800Z (2 PM local). Running time

will be 12 hours and we will be class M2. This means both stations

will be active at the same times but on different bands.

Now that the excitement of Field Day has died down here is a chance

to get back in there and score some points. NAQP is a contest that we

don’t send RST but just a name (BEN) and location (FL). Also, all stations

will be running 100 watts or less. There will be two operating shifts. Saturday

2:00 to 7:00 PM and 7:00 PM to Sunday 2:00 AM

If you would like to help please let me know ASAP the shift and time window you like..Early responders get the choice spots.

As with all SPARC contests Bring Your Own Headphones. This contest is

also open to all SPARC members. Just show up and we will fit you in.

73 Ron KP2N

“RYRYRYRY”

Looking forward to see you at one of the two stations.

IARU HF Championship (WRTC) (July 14 – July 15, 2018)

Dates: Saturday July 14 at 8:00 AM (we start at 9:00) until 8:00 AM, Sunday July 15
Contest: IARU HF Championship
Goals: Work as many other stations as possible.
Notes: Note this is the contest used for the WRTC RadioSport Olympics Event. This will also be the first contest with the KPA1500 amplifier so it should be even more fun running the full 1500 watts to the Log Periodic. Building on Field Day, we will use SSB as long as we have people that want to work the station. If you enjoyed operating HF at Field Day, why not come down and see if you can work the WRTC2018 stations.

Florida QSO Party (April 28 – April 29, 2018)

Dates: Saturday April 28 at Noon until 10:00 PM, Sunday April 29 at 8:00 AM until 6:00 PM
Contest: Florida QSO Party
Goals: Work as many other stations as possible.
Notes:

CQ WPX SSB (March 23 – March 25, 2018)

Dates: Friday March, 23 at 8:00 PM to Sunday at 8:00 PM
Contest: CQ WPX SSB
Goals: Work as many other stations as possible with unique prefixes as multipliers.
Notes: The SPARC Contesters will be participating in the CQ WPX SSB contest this weekend. This is a phone contest so it is particularly good for new people to get their feet wet with contesting and HF operating. We will be there starting at 7:00 PM tonight (Friday 3/23) until sometime early tomorrow AM. Please call in on the 147.06 club repeater to confirm we are there before you drive down. You can also message on Facebook or Twitter.
RESULTS:

North American QSO Party RTTY Contest (February 24, 2018)

Dates: Saturday, February 24, 2018 at 1:00 PM EST to 1:00 AM on Sunday.
Contest: North American QSO Party RTTY
Goals: Work stations, fun and training new operators.
Notes: (From Ron, KP2N): Green Key Bunch ,,,,, almost time for another RTTY contest from W4TA. The North American QSO Party (NAQP) RTTY contest is coming Saturday, February 24th starting at 1800 UTC or 1:00 PM our time. The contest length is 12 hours and we will be using both stations at the club house. The exchange is our location (FL) and a name, in our case BEN. This to honor SK Blackie, whose call we now have, as this was his middle name. No RST, grid or serial number. The maximum power output level is 100 watts so no big amps allowed like we just used in CQ WPX.In NAQP MULTS count for each band. You will see stations asking for their contact to move to another band for a MULT, To score big we need lots of QSO’s and MULTS. Are you ready to join in?Please let me know ASAP please so I can see how many operators will be on hand and what hours you can work. First responders will get the choice time slots. The next scheduled RTTY contest is July, subject to summer storms.Thanks to all that helped with WPX as we ended up with a larger score than last year. Two thumbs up!!!73 Ron KP2N
“RYRYRYRY”

Looking forward to see you at one of the two stations.

CQ WPX RTTY Contest (February 9-11, 2018)

Dates: Friday, February 9 @ 7:00 PM EST through Sunday February 11 @ 7:00 PM EST
Contest: CQ WPX RTTY Contest
Goals: To work as many other stations in both the US and the World.
Notes: Last year was our best contest showing yet. We hope to exceed our previous score and even win the whole thing. We will be using NY4I for the prefix multiplier and running the amplifier. This will be a good test of the new antennas. Please note that we know this is the same weekend as the Orlando Hamcation. For those that are going to Orlando, you are welcome to stop by when you can. Our schedule is extra flexible and accommodating for drop-ins and, as always, new people.
RESULTS: We beat last year’s score by 100,000 points (3.3 Million). You can see the stats for our submitted score by clicking here.

ARRL RTTY Roundup ( January 6-7, 2018)

Dates: Saturday, January 6 @ 1:00 PM EST through Sunday January 7 @ 7:00 PM EST
Contest: ARRL RTTY Roundup
Goals: Work stations, fun and training new operators.
Notes (from Ron KP2N):Green Key bunch. The 2018 contest season is almost here and SPARC is starting out with the RTTY Roundup January 6-7. All our hard work building the antenna farm at DMI will be put to the test. Do you want to join in? Action starts Saturday, Jan. 6 at 1:00 PM local time. This is a 30 hour contest that we can operate 24 out of the 30, Both stations will be active using one as a RUN and the other hunting for MULTS. Last year W4TA did very well in RU and hope 2018 will put us on top. If you can spare an hour or so let me know ASAP. Please indicate what day and time we will see you at W4TA. Would like to have a schedule completed by next SPARC meeting.

Dates: Friday, October 13 8:00 PM until Saturday at 4:00 AM, Saturday October 14 @ 12:00 PM until Saturday @ 8:00 PM, Sunday July 15, @ 0400 AM until Sunday at Noon

Contest: Makrothen RTTY Contest
Goals: Work stations, fun and training new operators.
Notes: (From Ron, KP2N):

The annual Makrothen RTTY contest starts Friday, October 13 @ 8:00 PM. We go for 8 hours ending 4: 00 AM Saturday AM. We are off air until 12:00 PM Saturday where we start another 8 hour shift. At 8 PM Saturday we again go off air returning Sunday @ 4:00 AM. Contest ends 12:00 PM Sunday.

We exchange grid squares …. that’s it … just grid squares. Our score is the distance between contacts. It’s a fun contest, so are you in??? Let me know ASAP including time and day you could operate. BTW our grid is EL87.

We will be high power single transmitter. Our present antenna system will work just fine. No extra logger is needed as well as shopping for mults. I’ll try to have a schedule out a couple of days before the start. As always visitors welcomed.

Dates: Saturday, July 15, 2017 at 2:00 PM EST to 2:00 AM on Sunday.
Contest: North American QSO Party RTTY
Goals: Work stations, fun and training new operators.
Notes: (From Ron, KP2N): The next SPARC RTTY contest is NAQP, starting Saturday, July 15th at 2:00 PM and ending Sunday, July 16th at 2:00 AM. We will be operating class M2, which means we will have 2 stations going at the same time.

NAQP RTTY is a rate contest in which we exchange a name, in our case Ben, and a location (FL). No RST or serial number. NAQP is also a good contest for the first time operator and we encourage club members to join the action. In an effort to level the playing field all station are limited to 100 watts or less.

Dates: Saturday, April 29 1600Z (Noon EDT) – 0159Z (9:59 PM EDT) | Sunday, April 30 1200Z (8 AM EDT) – 2159Z (5:59 PM EDT)
Contest: Florida QSO Party
Notes: From Ron, KP2N: The annual Florida QSO Party (FQP) is just about a week away. SPARC is looking for operators. This year we are a special 1×1 station with the call W4S.
Stations will be looking for us to help spell out FLORIDA SUN. The action starts Saturday, April 29th, at 10 AM in the club DMI station. That day we will run from 10 AM until 8 PM. Sunday we start again at 8 AM and end at 6 PM. A total of 20 hours of fun. If you like to take part please let me know ASAP so I can come up with a schedule. Need to know the time and date when you would be available to help out, either on SSB or CW. For SSB we need both operators and loggers. CW ops do their own logging. As with all SPARC contests please bring your own headphones. (BYOH).

Dates: Friday March, 24 at 8:00 PM to Sunday at 8:00 PM (Saturday is not confirmed yet as we need more people to register to operate).
Contest: CQ WPX SSB
Goals: Work as many other stations as possible with unique prefixes as multipliers.
Notes: The SPARC Contesters will be participating in the CQ WPX SSB contest this weekend. This is a phone contest so it is particularly good for new people to get their feet wet with contesting and HF operating. We will be there starting at 7:00 PM tonight (Friday 3/24) until sometime early tomorrow AM. Saturday is tentative but should start around 10:00 AM. Sunday will will be starting at 8:00 AM and go for the whole day until 8:00 PM. Please call in on the 147.06 club repeater to confirm we are there before you drive down (especially tomorrow).

Dates: Saturday, February 25 at 1:00 PM EST to 1:00 AM on Sunday.
Contest: North American QSO Party RTTY
Goals: Work stations, fun and training new operators.
Notes: (From Ron, KP2N): The next SPARC RTTY contest is NAQP, starting Saturday, February 25th at 1:00 PM and ending Sunday, February 26th at 1:00 AM. We will be operating class M2, which means we will have 2 stations going at the same time. Right now I need a head count. We can offer the early shift, 1 PM to 7 PM, late shift from 7 PM to 1 AM, or the full shift of 12 hours. Please let me know your choice ASAP.

NAQP RTTY is a rate contest in which we exchange a name, in our case Ben, and a location (FL). No RST or serial number. NAQP is also a good contest for the first time operator and we encourage club members to join the action. In an effort to level the playing field all station are limited to 100 watts or less.

Looking forward to see you at one of the two stations.

Dates: Friday, February 10 @ 7:00 PM EST through Sunday February 12 @ 7:00 PM EST
Contest: CQ WPX RTTY Contest
Goals: To work as many other stations in both the US and the World.
Notes (from Ron KP2N): Contest starts tomorrow at 7 PM. The night crew is in place with Tom, W4CU, Dave, KR4U, and Johnnie, W4TSP. At 6 AM Saturday the day crew will take over. I’ll start it off at 6 AM followed by VE3XD at 7 and N4RI at 8. Rex, KB8ESY, will be there to fill in plus anyone else who stops by. Need a little help in installing the end support poles for the 80/40 dipole. I’ll be at DMI by 4 PM Friday.
Activity: As of this posting (12:45 AM on Sunday, February 12), the team has worked the entire contest so far. We have approximately 1300 QSOs and 1.6 million points. The team is still at the station and will be most of tomorrow. Give a call on the repeater especially if you were going to come down towards the final hours of the contest but the team should be there most of the day Sunday.
Results: Just over 3 million points exceeding our best effort in this contest.