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5B4AIT Useful contesting info 2012-08-30 09:37	Admin Registered: 16 years ago Posts: 1,061

FAQ for Contesting on HamSphere Q: The contest starts at 2012-09-01 09:00 UTC. But what does UTC mean and how do I know what time that is in my time zone? A: The HamSphere Cluster and Log book are in UTC. Use that time to check your own time. In example. Right now the UTC on the Cluster shows 09.30, I am in Cyprus and my local time is UTC+3H = 12.30 Q: The suggested time for this contest will benefit the Europeans as most of the American continent will be asleep when it starts. Will it not? A: The contest times have been chosen so that all continents can at least work 6 hours without interfering with sleep. Q: Is it with in the rules after I make contact on 80m to ask the contact person to change to 160m and we can make contact there too, to get another point? Would this be ok to do? A: That is not the the way a contest should work, but I have seen cases where it happens. It does benefit both stations, but contesting stations usually stay on one established working frequency and are reluctant to leave that frequency until it fades out, so it might be difficult to arrange such a QSY. Q: The qsl number if I understand it right is... 4/12. Would that be my 4th contact and his 12th contact.... Or it would be his 12th and my 4th if he called me? If I called him I have to keep track of that 12 number he gave me and typeit in the logbook! A: In "contesting mode" (Requires that you Join the contest physically), the LOG book will suggest your QSO number in the next log entry. Here is a well working procedure when you do contesting in HamSphere: 1. Make sure you have an established frequency as well as mic settings OK. 2. Enter the Log book. 3. Call "CQ Contest CQ Contest 'your callsign' CQ Contest" and leave a gap. 4. When a station is calling you. Type quickly in their callsign in log field and hit "LOG Qso" The system will not log the QSO but rather fill out the rest of the info and instead of QTH in Comment fields you get your QSO number, say #4. 5. Say Station callsign, 59 and your QSO number. Don't log the QSO just yet. 6. Get his QSO sequence number i.e. #12 and put that in the comment field after your number like # 4/ 12 8. Hit LOG Qso. DONE! Good luck in the contest 73 Kelly 5B4AIT
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