CONTESTING

Plus: European Region 1 Field Days; ARRL June VHF Contest; JARL All-Asian DX CW Contest; Tips for WPX and Other Contests

Many contesters will enjoy a beer (or two) and some pizza with like-minded operators at the “Contest Super Suite” at the Dayton Hamvention® before the WPX CW contest at the end of this month. This socializing suite — actually, a large conference room to accommodate the several hundred who show up at peak times — is at the downtown Dayton Crowne Plaza Hotel. This is the same hotel where the Contest University (CTU), Top Band Dinner, and Contest Dinner also are held, and where many contesters bunk. See our March column for a complete summary of Dayton events of particular interest to contesters. Links with the latest information are at <https://tinyurl.com/y2h2sdap>.

This also is a good time to thank Tim Duffy, K3LR, for making a lot of the contest-related activities happen every year. For those competitors who do not make it to Dayton, Tim, with backing from ICOM, has posted some very good instructive videos on contest topicspresented at the CTU. There is no charge for viewing them. They are posted at <https://tinyurl.com/yxbx3o29>. Tim also makes available copies of presentations at the Hamvention® antenna forum that he moderates. Many interesting topics are included in the years of presentations located at <www.k3lr.com/Dayton>.

Reminder: The IARU Region 1 Youth Contesters Program (YCP) has young contesters participating at two superstations during May, so find their stations on the air during the contests and give them a call. In both contests, “the world works the world” in multiple modes, so your QSO will be appreciated.