http://subs.zinester.com/9526 News of upcoming happenings in the North American QRP CW Club (NAQCC) including details of our monthly challenges and sprints. en http://archives.zinester.com/9526/83992.html?rss=1 From NAQCC VP John K3WWP - Time to remind our members of our monthly challenge.
For March, we are doing another of our popular alphabet challenges. In addition
to being the month that "comes in like a lion and goes out like a lamb" or
vice-versa and the first month of spring in the Northern Hemisphere, it has
also become known as the month of St. Patrick. As you know, St. Patrick is the
patron saint of Ireland and his memory is celebrated each year on March 17
which is the anniversary of his death in the year 461 A.D.

Therefore our March challenge is to make words dealing with St. Patrick. There
is a list of 12 words (and numbers) on the rules page of the web site at http:/
/www.arm-tek.net/~yoel/. Check them out and go to it as soon as 0000Z arrives
on March 1st.

This may well be one of the last newsletters you receive via Ezine. We may be
switching over to "in-house" publishing of the newsletter to give us more
... ]]> 83992 Sun, 26 Feb 2006 17:33:34 MSK http://archives.zinester.com/9526/82427.html?rss=1 From NAQCC VP John K3WWP - I must be having a lot of fun because time is really
flying. Here it is almost time for another NAQCC weeknight sprint. That means
time for me to pound out another newsletter.

The sprint is this Wednesday, Feb 15 (UTC) at 0130-0330Z. For those more
familiar dealing with local time that's Tuesday evening, Feb 14 at:
EST - 8:30-10:30PM
CST - 7:30-9:30PM
MST - 6:30-8:30PM
PST - 5:30-7:30PM

The sprint will be on 80M only as is usual during winter months. Hopefully the
propagation gods will provide us with some good conditions this time. They
weren't very kind the last two sprints, at least here in the USA Northeast.
I've noticed that conditions have been quite good on 80M recently, but that is
... ]]> 82427 Sun, 12 Feb 2006 18:37:34 MSK http://archives.zinester.com/9526/80865.html?rss=1 From NAQCC VP John, K3WWP - As we mentioned, in addition to promoting our
monthly sprint and challenge, these newsletters will also dispense other news
about the NAQCC. Well this issue has some really exciting news.

Since the club got started, we have been asked from time to time about a
membership certificate. We originally decided against having one because of the
cost and effort involved. However, Tom and I put our heads together and came up
with an idea that costs you nothing and involves very little effort on my part
to implement.

All you need to do is go to the club web site at http://www.arm-tek.net/~yoel/
and click the link under the club logo on our main page. There you'll find
instructions on obtaining your own personalized membership certificate. There
are other organizations with similar mechanisms for obtaining a certificate,
but we think our personalization scheme is unique, although we haven't really
... ]]> 80865 Mon, 30 Jan 2006 09:15:41 MSK http://archives.zinester.com/9526/79396.html?rss=1 Hello Subscriber,

From NAQCC VP John, K3WWP - This is our monthly "Remind 'em of the upcoming
sprint" edition of our newsletter, so....

Our January sprint is on the 19th at 0130-0330Z. If you prefer to think in
local time, that translates to the following:
EST - Jan 18th 8:30-10:30PM
CST - Jan 18th 7:30-9:30PM
MST - Jan 18th 6:30-8:30PM
PST - Jan 18th 5:30-7:30PM

The sprint this month as in all winter months is on 80M only. Theoretically 80M
in winter and at this stage of the sunspot cycle should provide excellent
evening propagation conditions. However this was not true in December when
... ]]> 79396 Sun, 15 Jan 2006 17:37:24 MSK http://archives.zinester.com/9526/77643.html?rss=1 From NAQCC President Tom, KB3LFC - An old lesson was reiterated for me during a
QSO on 12/26 with a QRO station, N1EP on 80 Meters. Band conditions were very
rough with heavy QRN. I heard a faint signal punching through near 3.560 and
thinking it was another QRP station I went back to it.

After two tries I got a reply, "QRZ?" to which I replied by sending his call
and my call twice.

It took three or four more tries for him to copy just my call in the heavy QRN
but he finally got it. It took four or five additional tries for him to be able
to copy the RST, my name and QTH (state only). I could barely copy him, it took
some really careful listening. I learned that N1EP, Phil in Milbridge, Maine,
was running 50 watts. I could only imagine that if I was really straining to
hear his 50 watt signal what he must have been going through to copy my puny 4
watts. Yet, the amazing thing was that Phil hung in there. He didn't even give
... ]]> 77643 Fri, 30 Dec 2005 21:24:24 MSK http://archives.zinester.com/9526/75533.html?rss=1 From NAQCC VP John, K3WWP - Welcome to issue # 12 of the NAQCC informative
newsletter. As is usual with our mid-month edition, we tell you about the
upcoming sprint. Also some info on our club awards including a 2006 renewal of
our popular QSO-A-Day award and the debut of a brand new award.

The December sprint is this Tuesday evening, December 13 in our usual time slot
of 8:30 to 10:30 EST or in more ham-friendly time, Wednesday, December 14
0130-0330Z. The Special Award this sprint is for getting the most different
letters and numbers from the stations you work, which relates to our popular
alphabet challenges.

Participation last month continued an upswing from our all-time low in
September. We almost tripled the number of logs received from September to
November going from 11 to 28. That's very encouraging after our deep
disappointment in September. Also the number qualifying for our monthly sprint
... ]]> 75533 Sun, 11 Dec 2005 16:23:43 MSK http://archives.zinester.com/9526/73952.html?rss=1 From NAQCC VP John, K3WWP - Welcome to issue # 11 of the NAQCC informative
newsletter. As is usual with our second edition of each month, we tell you
about the upcoming challenge.

One of our more popular challenges was our '5' challenge from last December, so
we are doing a similar challenge this December. We call it the 12 Days Of
Christmas Challenge. To honor the upcoming year of 2006, we want you to make 6
rag chew QSO's of 30 minutes or more. All QSO's must be 2XCW, and you must be
running QRP, but the station you work can be running any power level. The QSO's
must take place during the last 12 days of 2005, i.e. between Dec 20 at 0000Z
and Dec 31 at 2400Z. Complete rules are on the web site at http://
www.arm-tek.net/~yoel/ as usual.

I promised I'd have some stats about our sprints for our first anniversay in
October, but the inevitable delays crept in and..... Well, here they are about
... ]]> 73952 Mon, 28 Nov 2005 21:06:36 MSK http://archives.zinester.com/9526/71974.html?rss=1 From NAQCC President Tom Mitchell, KB3LFC - Just FYI regarding the upcoming
Nov. 16 Sprint: For the first hour I will be working the sprint using our club
call, KB3MQT, No. 1100. All who contact KB3MQT will receive a computer
generated QSL card. To save postage let me know your e-mail address after the
contest so the card may be sent via e-mail. If you do not have e-mail, I will
mail one out via postal mail to all stations I work with the club call. For the
last hour of the sprint I will use my own call, KB3LFC. John, K3WWP; Larry,
W2LJ; and I hope this sprint will have good participation. Best 72/71 to all.
------------------------------------------------
From NAQCC VP John Shannon, K3WWP - Welcome to another edition of our
informational newsletter. You won't find a lot of glitz and glamour here, just
the news. This mid-month issue's main purpose is to remind you of our monthly
sprint and Tom has done that above so I'll mention a couple of other newsworthy
matters.

... ]]> 71974 Sun, 13 Nov 2005 18:37:22 MSK http://archives.zinester.com/9526/69520.html?rss=1 From John, K3WWP, NAQCC VP - Hello again. My, these months go by quickly, don't
they. This one went by even more quickly since this newsletter is going out a
bit early for a reason I'll mention down a couple paragraphs.

I promised in the last newsletter to explain the '71' at the end. Well, we at
NAQCC figure that since most of us are minimal QRPer's, i.e. with our simple
(often indoor) antennas and straight key usage, as opposed to running QRP with
huge antenna farms and computers, etc., we should indicate that in our QSO's
and correspondence. Since 73 means best wishes and regular QRPer's use 72 as
their best wishes greeting, we at NAQCC are using 71 as our greetings. That
says we are doing our QRP activities in a minimal way.

I'd like to explain our awards program a bit more. We offer the following
awards to our members and non-members as well:

... ]]> 69520 Mon, 24 Oct 2005 16:57:36 MSD http://archives.zinester.com/9526/67622.html?rss=1 From Larry, W2LJ - Fellow Hams, just a reminder that on this coming Tuesday
night October 11th, is the monthly NAQCC 80/40 Meter Sprint.

This month's Sprint has a "Homebrew" theme to it. A certificate will be awarded
to the highest score earned by an operator who uses equipment homebrewed from
scratch (no kits this time around).

Time: Tuesday night October 11th - 8:30 to 10:30 Eastern Daylight Time (Wed
0030-0230Z)

Frequencies: 80 Meters 3555-3565 kHz (Be courteous to FISTS operating on
3558 kHz)  and 40 Meters  7039-7050 kHz (Avoid W1AW on 7047.5 kHz)

Exchange:
RST - SPC (State Province or Country) - NAQCC Nr.
... ]]> 67622 Sun, 09 Oct 2005 16:49:41 MSD http://archives.zinester.com/9526/66372.html?rss=1 From John, K3WWP - This is the issue of our newsletter in which we publicize
our upcoming monthly challenge. However our October challenge has not been
finalized yet, so to get the latest info when it becomes available, you'll have
to check the website at http://www.arm-tek.net/~yoel/. We could issue another
newsletter but I am trying to strictly limit the newsletters to two per month
to avoid any complaints of spamming.

The October challenge will have something to do with our new club call which
was applied for around the middle of September. No word from the FCC on that
yet, and when we do get a sequentially assigned call, we want to immediately
apply for a vanity call. Hopefully we will have that by the time of the first
anniversary of the club on October 15.

With our first anniversary approaching, this is a good time for a "State of the
Club" address, but don't worry, I won't drag it out into a long formal address,
... ]]> 66372 Thu, 29 Sep 2005 16:10:04 MSD http://archives.zinester.com/9526/64787.html?rss=1 From John, K3WWP - Well it's time again to remind our newsletter readers of our
monthly sprint which takes place this Wednesday (Sep 21) evening at 8:30P EDT
which translates to Thursday at 0030Z. As always full details of the sprints
are available on the club web site at http://www.arm-tek.net/~yoel/.

Since the special category this month is for those who are newcomers to
contesting and/or CW it is even more important to slow down our CW for this
one. If you search and pounce, try to call at the other station's sending
speed. If you call CQ, throw in some s-l-o-w CQ's here and there.

I have had a very busy past few weeks here and never did get a chance to send
out corrections from last month's sprint logs as I usually do. I'll make every
effort to do so this time as the comments I have gotten from you say you
appreciate being notified of such corrections.

... ]]> 64787 Mon, 19 Sep 2005 03:20:45 MSD http://archives.zinester.com/9526/61946.html?rss=1 From Tom, KB3LFC, NAQCC President - Greetings to all NAQCC members. Well, here
we are less than two months shy of the NAQCC?? s one-year anniversary and we
are nearing 1,000 in membership. Truly amazing!
 Who will the 1,000th member be? Whoever it is, we would like to feature their
photo on the club?? s Web site for sure.
 Why is having 1,000 members so exciting?
 Stop and think of how many QRP clubs are in existence today, and how many can
claim a greater number of members. A few to be sure, but these clubs have been
in existence for several years at least, some for a decade or more.
 Why is the NAQCC proving to be one of the most popular and fastest growing
clubs in the world?
 Personally, I believe it is due to the fact that we epitomize what true
Amateur Radio is all about. We offer our members (and non-members too) a
challenge that may soon disappear from radio entirely if clubs like ours don??
t take action to make our voice heard when the validity and usefulness of
... ]]> 61946 Mon, 29 Aug 2005 04:38:27 MSD http://archives.zinester.com/9526/58795.html?rss=1 From K3WWP, NAQCC VP - It's almost time for our monthly sprint, and that means
time to publish our 'Sprint Reminder' edition of the club newsletter.

 The August Sprint is on Tuesday evening, August 9th at 8:30 to 10:30 PM EDT.
That's more commonly known among the ham fraternity as Wednesday, August 10th
from 0030-0230Z. Remember from now on, sprints in even months will be on a
second Tuesday while sprints in odd numbered months will be on a third
Wednesday. That allows you to make plans to take part far in advance.

 This month we have a very different kind of Special Category. It won't appeal
to everyone, but some may find it interesting and want to give it a try. It's
sending with your 'off' hand. In other words if you normally use your right
hand for keying, try with your left hand this time and vice versa. Silly?
Perhaps, but remember someday you may lose the use of your primary hand and
then where will you be? Think about it. That really did happen to one of our
... ]]> 58795 Sun, 07 Aug 2005 18:39:16 MSD http://archives.zinester.com/9526/57837.html?rss=1 From K3WWP, NAQCC VP - Hello again. I hope those of you who entered our July 20
Sprint had as much fun as I did. Conditions were a bit rough, but CW will get
through when all else fails.
 In August our Sprint date will be the 9th (EDT) which is a second Tuesday.
From now on our Sprints in even numbered months will be the same, that is on
the second Tuesday (EST or EDT). Make plans now to join in.
 The main purpose of these end of month newsletters is to remind you of our
Challenge for the coming month. In August we are doing another of our Alphabet
Challenges which have proved to be popular. All you have to do in August is to
get the 26 letters of the English alphabet from the calls of stations you work.
Of course all the QSO's involved must be made using CW and QRP. The station you
work must also be CW, but can be running any power level.
 You can get any number of letters from a single call. For example my call,
K3WWP would be good for K, W, and P. Our president, Tom's call of KB3LFC would
be good for K, B, L, F, C.
... ]]> 57837 Sat, 30 Jul 2005 05:25:12 MSD http://archives.zinester.com/9526/56389.html?rss=1 Greetings Subscriber

From John, K3WWP - Welcome to the second edition of the NAQCC Newsletter. This
is our mid-monthly edition which will serve to remind readers of, and invite
participation in our monthly Sprint. As always, full sprint details can be
found on the club web site, but sometimes we forget to check there and miss the
sprints.

This, being an odd numbered month, means the sprint is on the third Wednesday
which is July 20th. Our regular time for every sprint is 8:30-10:30 EDT (or EST
in the months when DST is not if effect. That is equivalent to Thursday, July
21st from 0030-0230Z for those who think in UTC.

I've noticed that many members who participated in our earlier sprints no
longer show up. I wonder why. There have been some comments that our logging
... ]]> 56389 Sun, 17 Jul 2005 21:59:09 MSD http://archives.zinester.com/9526/53227.html?rss=1 From John, K3WWP, NAQCC VP:

Welcome to the true premiere edition (we did send out a test copy before) of
NAQCC News. We're glad to have you aboard, and hope this will provide you with
an easy way to keep up with NAQCC happenings. We plan to use these newsletters
mainly to promote our club activities among the membership. So we will be
sending out two newsletters a month. One will be sent the Saturday or Sunday
before our monthly sprint. The other a couple of days before the end of a month
to promote our Challenge and Sprint for the coming month.

Having said that, let's get down to business now. One of the purposes of the
NAQCC is to promote CW activity on the lesser used CW bands. Unfortunately
lately 30M seems to be falling more and more into that category. Because of
that, our July Challenge is to make 30 QSO's on 30M which we cleverly(?) call
the 30/30 challenge. Basically all you have to do is get on 30M and make an
... ]]> 53227 Wed, 29 Jun 2005 17:58:44 MSD http://archives.zinester.com/9526/52768.html?rss=1 Welcome to the first issue of NAQCC News. This is only a test of the newsletter
system and will contain no real club news. We have set up this newsletter as a
means of reminding our members of our upcoming sprints and challenges. It will
also contain important club news when appropriate. This is not a mailing list
where everyone can post messages. It is only for NAQCC officers to pass news to
the members. Our first real issue will be posted near the end of June with
details about our July events. Since this is a new venture for the NAQCC some
experimenting will be necessary to fine tune the system. Please bear with us
during this experimental time. Thanks - K3WWP






... ]]> 52768 Sat, 25 Jun 2005 15:28:57 MSD