Directors ....
Bob Wolbert, K6XX k6xx@arrl.net

Ken Keeler, N6RO

n6ro@arrl.net
Dean Wood, N6DE dwood@cisco.com
Kurt Andress, K7NV 7nv@contesting.com
ARRL CAC member: Jim Pratt, N6IG... n6ig@arrl.net
JUG Editor: George Daughters, K6GT...
k6gt@arrl.net

The NCCC 75 meter
net meets on Thursdays
at 9PM,
3830kHz
approximately

June Contests

Dates

IARU Region 1 Field Day, CW
Jun 2-3
ANARTS WW RTTY Contest
Jun 9-10
Portugal Day Contest
Jun 9
Asia-Pacific Sprint, SSB

Jun 9
ARRL June VHF QSO Party
Jun 9-11
All Asian DX Contest, CW
Jun 16-17
Marconi Memorial HF Contest
Jun 23-24
ARRL Field Day
Jun 23-24

For a complete calendar, log submission details, and
due dates for logs, visit:
http://www.hornucopia.com/contestcal/index.htm
Blindsided!
Stunned. Shocked. Amazed. Chagrined. KO'd,
TO'd, PO'd. Outflanked. Surprise-attacked. All of
these and more, less flattering, words fail to adequately
express how we feel to learn that NCCC, the SS
Dynasty Club, was beaten in 2000 SS by... no, not
PVRC... beaten by the Society of Midwest Contesters!
No, don't take that as lack of respect. SMC is a real
contest club with real operators and real history. But
their SS efforts in the past have provided no indication
of challenge. Look for yourself:
Page 2
1999 Won Medium category with 48 logs
1998 3rd Place in Unlimited category with 76 logs
1997 5th (last) Place in Unlimited with 70 logs

Then, out of the blue, with no warning, this sleepy
mid-western contest club comes from behind with 211
logs and 4.6M points to beat our 4.1M effort! Not just
beat - clobber, destroy, annihilate, humiliate. Did I
read that email correctly? 211 logs?! Where the h---
did they get 211 logs? ... I am still in Phase 1 of post-
tragedy response - denial. No, it didn't happen, it
couldn't have happened, it shouldn't have happened. ...
Please, tell me it didn't happen. Yet, emerging, still
unofficially, from the caverns of Dayton, this seems to
be the incredible, unbelievable, unfathomable,
untenable, undeniable result.
Help me, members. Help me to emerge from
denial and begin to deal with this loss. Help me to
face the future with confidence. Tell me you will not
let this happen again. Tell me you will rally behind
the NCCC flag and restore your club to its rightful
place atop the SS victory podium. Tell me that this
new competitor will strengthen our resolve, cause us to
improve our antennas, get each and every one of us to
operate both modes (yes, even that "other mode!"), put
in a major effort if we can and a minor effort if we
can't, and send in our logs. All of our logs! Even the
itsy, bitsy logs representing a few stolen moments
between our child's wedding, our promotion party and
the IPO planning session. Look at it this way: if our
members had turned in only 30 more logs of 20K
points each, we would have won. 20K! Do you
realize what 20K points is? How about 200 QSOs and
50 sections? Or 160 Q's and 65 mults. ANYONE can
score 20K points, even on that "other mode."
SS is a numbers game, folks. Turn in the logs,
win the contest. We consistently score at or near the
top in points per log because we have great operators
in a great region for SS. But there are dozens more
logs, maybe another 100, that we could generate and
did not. Remember, one member represents two
potential logs. The handwriting is on the wall, gang.
In 2001, every member needs to do four things:
1. Recruit a new member and psych him or her up
to KB in SS.
2. Convince a less-active veteran member to KB
in SS.
3. Operate CW SS with all your might and turn in
your log.
4. Operate SSB SS with all your might and turn in
your log.

You can do it. We can do it. The unthinkable
need not happen again. Don't let it happen again.
Repeat after me, "I will help my club regain the SS
gavel. I will go out there and kick butt. I will send in
my log. I will recruit new members to kick butt and to
send in their logs. I will help other members to kick
butt and send in their logs." Say that every day before
you go off to work (or whatever you do) and
immediately after dinner (or whenever you eat). Then
do it.
End of soapbox. Thanks for letting me vent. I
feel better already. But not good enough, yet, eh?
73, Rick, N6XI
Unnerved Prez, NCCC
W1AW/6
July 14-15
About four years ago, while K6AW and I were
winding down from a multi-multi weekend, Steve
suggested, Lets request W1AW/6 for the IARU
contest. With the help of some friends in high places,
we got tentative approval for 2001. Earlier this year,
K1ZZ sent me a copy of the W1AW station license,
and a letter authorizing N6RO, and sub-assigned
stations, to use the ARRL HQ call for 24 hours on July
14-15, the period of the IARU HF World
Championship contest.
So, next month, six stations in NCCC territory
will host W1AW/6, and activate all twelve band-
modes, 160 - 10m, cw and ssb. Within NCCC we have
many capable stations and operators, and selecting the
best combinations of ops and stations was a difficult
process. Although everyone in the club cant
participate as W1AW, all can help the total effort by
contacting W1AW/6 on all possible band-modes. We
are attempting to wrest the HQ stations championship
from last years champs, DA0HQ. To do this we must
have lots of local activity. We will award special
recognition to those working the call on all twelve
band- modes.
The IARU test is a fun, relatively short contest,
and is great 2R practice for serious competitors. More
details, including suggested frequencies to find
W1AW/6, will be on the NCCC reflector and in the
next JUG. Please help us promote this effort by
spreading the word on the air and by email.
73, Ken, N6RO
Page 3
XI-ting
Times
What Makes a Winner?
I think it is environment, knowledge, skill,
experience and determination.
A competitors environment has an impact on
every aspect of his or her efforts. It includes
resources, conditions, competition and other factors.
Picabo Street has natural talent, to be sure, but
growing up on a mountain certainly didnt hinder her
progress as a skier. In contesting, your environment
includes your location, equipment, antennas,
neighbors, band conditions, available time, health,
family, business and more. Some of it you can and
must control. Some of it is uncontrollable, and some
of it you can control only indirectly. You can make
dramatic improvements to your environment. If you
make enough improvements, you can be a winner
and see Determination below for comments on those
factors you cant control or choose not to.
Knowledge is essential to many endeavors, but
particularly important in radiosport. Kasparov showed
the chess world how his extensive knowledge of all the
lines could beat opponents who played lines that they
had prepared just for their encounter with the
champion, in far more depth than Garry had. To win
radio contests, you must know propagation and band
characteristics, time management, operating tactics,
call signs, expedition plans and much more. To gain
that knowledge, read the NCJ and CQ Contest
magazines. Subscribe to and selectively read
CQ-
contest@contesting.com
. Read the JUG and
nccc@contesting.com
. Attend club meetings (NCCC
is the best place for this!) and hamfests and pick the
brains of great contesters. As propagation, geography,
demographics and technology change, contesting
changes. You will never stop learning!
Skill is a combination of talent, practice and
training. To a certain extent, these factors are
interchangeable you can compensate for natural
weaknesses with lots of practice and training. But
even the most gifted competitor like Tiger Woods
knows that he has to practice incessantly in order to
get on top and stay on top. Choose a goal for yourself
in contesting; train for it and practice, practice,
practice. Maybe its winning a section award in SS or
achieving 80% of the highest score in the US West.
Your training should include diet, exercise, sleep
discipline, contest simulators, similar contests, etc.
Your practice should include many runnings of your
target contest plus operation in similar contests. For
example, CQWW is a good way to improve your skills
for WPX and vice versa.
Experience enhances competitiveness in many
ways. It lets us do more, do it better and more
efficiently. Alan Greenspan is a great example. His
vast experience watching financial markets is key to
his ability to analyze, predict and influence a
hopelessly complex set of interacting, nearly
uncontrollable factors. Experience can be another
compensator for natural ability, practice and resources.
In contesting, experience helps us to be in the right
place at the right time, plan our band utilization,
CQ/S&P ratio and time-offs, time our calls, place our
signal and make many other vital, tactical decisions.
Experience may be the easiest of the attributes of
winning for you to control just get on there and
operate as often as you can. But if that is all you do,
you are missing an important factor. To make your
experience really count, debrief your performances
with a buddy who knows more than you do. Learn
what you did ri