2011 AM Transmitter Rally proposed date and duration - PLEASE COMMENT!

[steve_qix]

Last year, the AMTR was held on 6-Feb, and it seemed to work out well.  We are still in the long propagation mode of winter, and it doesn't conflict with any other major events. 

This year the weekend of Feb 5, 2011 looks good.

The following weekend would be bad and the one after that, too.  Is this enough time for promotion?  A month should be enough, but who knows!  I think that's what we had last year for notice.

Duration:  Last year's event started at 6:00AM on Saturday and went to 2:00AM Sunday morning.  Several folks have proposed making this a 2 day event.  Should we do that?  It could run from 6:00AM Saturday to some time on Sunday, say 2:00PM or 6:00PM or 11:59PM or whatever.

Thoughts? Comments? We don't want to dilute the event either.  We had unbelievable participation last year, that's for sure.  There were so many special event calls issued, that the League actually called me on the phone and asked what the heck was going on!!!!  Now, THAT'S really something!

I'm assuming AMFONE would like to be listed as the sponser, along with Radio Engineering Associates, but I actually don't know whom to ask 


Please comment on the date, duration or anything else!

[wa2dtw]

Would favor a 2-day event (Sat and Sun) if possible.
73
Steve WA2DTW

[K5UJ]

One problem last year was that the date was set so soon that ER did not have a chance to publish an announcement.  If we don't care if ER mentions it then it is a moot point.  But Ray has a monthly closing date and in addition, there's a few weeks in there for the USPS to completely distribute the magazine.  I think the closing date for Feb. is probably very near, but even if the announcement got in there, most subscribers would not rx their issue untl after Feb. 5.

I am not criticising -- it is easy to stand by and complain and I applaud you Steve for getting the ball rolling.   I know tabulating the results is a time consuming job and you probably had other things like building a rig that you would have rather been doing so I appreciate your work and initiative.   BTW, If anyone wants to get a special call sign like last year, I don't know how much time they need to file an application and get a 1X1 call before the event. 

Rob

[KB2WIG]

Two days in Feb, Sat and Sun would be fine.....

 I need more than 2 weeks to get the time off at work ........


klc

[w8khk]

I also favor a two day event.  Feb 5/6 would be fine, or any other weekend in Feb EXCEPT Feb 12/13, which would conflict with the Orlando Hamcation.

[W9GT]

Yes, I'm also in favor of a two day event.  Let's face it, any date/time that you pick will conflict with something or someone's schedule.  It would be good to have more than a month to prepare and get the word out, but ya gotta start somewhere and just move ahead.

73,  Jack, W9GT  alias W9T

[K9PNP]

I agree with the 2-day event.  I work 24-hour shifts [0800-0800], so kind of cuts into the operating time.  Not particular on dates.  Will probably be working 1 of 2 days.  Of course I could get lucky and it could be in the 4 day off period. 

[W1RKW]

I'm all for a 2 day event.  But this time I'm not logging the number contacts but rather chat instead. I'll keep a log but won't submit it for scoring.  I'd like to see this be more informal than formal ie. contest style and I think that is the intent anyway so that's my approach this year. So anyone who just wants to just chit-chat I'll be on the air.

[Steve - K4HX]

Or we could have a two-weekend event, like Sweepstakes!

[WA1GFZ]

Steve make sure Marlboro is not that weekend

[KF1Z]

Or we could have a two-weekend event, like Sweepstakes!

Why not just dub February as "AM Month".

Make those logs look REALLY interesting.

[steve_qix]

I'm all for a 2 day event.  But this time I'm not logging the number contacts but rather chat instead. I'll keep a log but won't submit it for scoring.  I'd like to see this be more informal than formal ie. contest style and I think that is the intent anyway so that's my approach this year. So anyone who just wants to just chit-chat I'll be on the air.

I actually didn't submit a log myself, but probably I should have.  Not to "win", but to support the statistics.  The fact that we had 440+ different stations logged by only 30 log submissions says (at least to me) a LOT about the number of stations on AM.

Imaging if 100 people had submitted logs!  I wonder if we would have topped 1000 stations (ON AM) worked during that 20 hour period!

This year, I am going to create a web form for logging as an alternative to submitting a file, in case someone wants to use it.  Just type it in and click submit.  The log is all done!!  Might write a java script applet or may just use a simple form - depends on how much time I have.

[W2VW]

My comment is any women (or girls) participating should be required to use a negative pitch shifter to make things fair.


Waaaaaah.

[KD0HUX]

 GREAT IDEAL A 2 DAY EVENT  THERE SHOULD BE ENOUGH TIME SO ELECTRIC RADIO CAN  PUBLISH THE INFORMATION. EVERY ONE SHOULD SPAM THE AIRWAYS ABOUT THE EVENT.

[W2PFY]

Duration:  Last year's event started at 6:00AM on Saturday and went to 2:00AM Sunday morning.  Several folks have proposed making this a 2 day event.  Should we do that?  It could run from 6:00AM Saturday to some time on Sunday, say 2:00PM or 6:00PM or 11:59PM or whatever.

Yes, I think it should be a two day event but I think it would also be great if a multiplier would be put in there for the most contacts made by anyone over 65 years of age. If your on Geritol one point would be deducted for the same time period. We can't have doped up seniors taking over these contests

[W1UJR]

I like! Count me in on the old Collins 30K, affectionally known as "Bessie".

2 days are good for me, ideal in fact, reminds me of the old "AMI AM Discovery Weekend" event...now that might wake up a few brain cells.

If you can write up the PR, I'll see that it gets out via the Antique Wireless Association channels.

[Opcom]

On the chance I finish the ant., please avoid the third full SAT-SUN combination of any month (i.e. jan 15-16, feb 19-20..) as I have military duty each month.

I been pestering the guys to help me get the last deadman in and just put up the top section with the spar and pulley, and just run up the dipole for now.

I got nothing as nice as a Collins 30K but I can throw a little 100-200W carrier out. Geritol used to have a lot more alcohol IIRC. Can gin be substituted?

[KL7OF]

2 days in Feb is just right......I like the idea of a standard on-line logging form...and a printable logging form for those of us that prefer to use a pencil....My phone line internet connection won't stay hooked up when the transmitters or on... 

[steve_qix]

2 days in Feb is just right......I like the idea of a standard on-line logging form...and a printable logging form for those of us that prefer to use a pencil....My phone line internet connection won't stay hooked up when the transmitters or on... 

I'm actually writing a stand-alone logging application (a very small windows program) that will facilitate logging - then you just click "upload log" when you're done, and the program uploads your log to the AMTR server - just like that - all formatted and ready to go !  The app will run on Windows 98 and later versions.  A 32 bit app, so this will also run on Windows 7 64 bit, since that OS can run 32 bit native apps.

The only time an Internet connection is required is when you're uploading.  Otherwise, it's completely stand-alone.

Question: can the new version of the Mac O/S (OS/X) run native, simple Windows programs?  I don't have the Mac developers stuff available, and it has been a long time since I've written a Mac application, although I'm sure it would take only a short time to figure it out again.  I was going to write the app in Java, but that has its own complications (like, a lot of people don't have Java on their machines) and some other stuff.

[Pete, WA2CWA]

The contest schedule (ARRL and non ARRL) for February 2011 has now be posted on the ARRL web site:
http://www.arrl.org/files/file/Contest%20Corral/2011-02.pdf

[steve_qix]

The contest schedule (ARRL and non ARRL) for February 2011 has now be posted on the ARRL web site:
http://www.arrl.org/files/file/Contest%20Corral/2011-02.pdf

Thanks for the info!  Looking at the proposed date of Feb 5th and 6th, there are some QSO parties (there seem to be QSO parties every weekend!) but I didn't see anything that would conflict with our event.

The following weekend is the Classic Exchange - would that conflict?  We could have it on the 12th-13th.  Either looks good from here, although the 5th-6th is consistant with last year.

Please comment - we need to freeze the date SOON.

[Pete, WA2CWA]

Mac, WQ8U, is editor CX Newsletter Exchange for the Classic Exchange. He's listed as the contact. See what he thinks.
http://www.classicexchange.org/jan11/jan11ann.html

It might be cool to run them at the same time and get a big exposure for both.

[w8khk]

We could have it on the 12th-13th.  Either looks good from here, although the 5th-6th is consistant with last year.

Please comment - we need to freeze the date SOON

As stated earlier, the Orlando Hamcation  (Biggest annual fest in the south) is scheduled for Feb 11-13.  So most of the folks from FL, GA, AL, etc, would have to choose between the AM rally or the fest.  Thus my vote is for Feb 5th - 6th.  

I would also like to suggest nailing down a date for the third annual 2012 AM Rally well in advance, so that it could be announced in ER, CQ, QST, etc.

For those that do not wish to keep a formal log, I would encourage all to at least submit a list of calls contacted; this data could be included in future announcements to further the interest in AM.  Just my $ .02 worth....

73, Rick W8KHK   alias W8K

[Steve - K4HX]

Short answer, no. Macs can dual Boot (Boot Camp) or run Windows in a VM.

Since there are already tons of loggin programs out there, you may consider processing there output(s). The most common are ADIF and Cabrillo. Many will also output CSV or other formatted ASCII.

jlog is a pretty nice logging program that runs on Windows, Mac and Linux.

2 days in Feb is just right......I like the idea of a standard on-line logging form...and a printable logging form for those of us that prefer to use a pencil....My phone line internet connection won't stay hooked up when the transmitters or on...  

I'm actually writing a stand-alone logging application (a very small windows program) that will facilitate logging - then you just click "upload log" when you're done, and the program uploads your log to the AMTR server - just like that - all formatted and ready to go !  The app will run on Windows 98 and later versions.  A 32 bit app, so this will also run on Windows 7 64 bit, since that OS can run 32 bit native apps.

The only time an Internet connection is required is when you're uploading.  Otherwise, it's completely stand-alone.

Question: can the new version of the Mac O/S (OS/X) run native, simple Windows programs?  I don't have the Mac developers stuff available, and it has been a long time since I've written a Mac application, although I'm sure it would take only a short time to figure it out again.  I was going to write the app in Java, but that has its own complications (like, a lot of people don't have Java on their machines) and some other stuff.

[KC2TAU]

That date looks fine to me,I'd love to hear be able to hear so many AM stations on the air. The sideband folks will certainly wonder what's up...