Reminder - SP DX
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SM0JHF
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March 26, 2008
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Contest Reminder - SP DX Contest 2008 - April 5-6, 2008
This year's traditional Polish HF contest is dressed up for an anniversary. The sponsors of the contest,
jointly the national Amateur Radio union PZK and the SP DX Club - officially called the Association of
Long-Distance Radio Communication Aficionados, have prepared attractions to adorn the 2008 edition
of SP DX Contest.
The first international radio competition arranged by Polish amateurs took place in December 1933.
This was one of the earliest "contests" in the history of Amateur Radio. Hundreds of participants from
37 countries submitted their reports to the sponsor - The Radio Club of Lwow. Lwow is a town that
after the WW II belongs to Ukraine, and is now known as Lviv. The local club in Lviv will put a "special
event station" on air using the call sign EM75DXC.
There will be a few more "special event stations" active in connection with the 2008 edition of SP DX
Contest. During more than 2 weeks - between March 29th and April 13th, 2008 - seven call signs will
be used to commemorate the 75th anniversary of Polish contests. The last letters of the call signs form
the word CONTEST and they will be as follows: SP75C, SP75O, SP75N, SP75T, SP75E, SP75S, SN75T. The
headquarters stations of the PZK and the SP DX Club will be also active during the same period, they
will use the regular call signs SP0DXC and SP0PZK.
The rules of SPDXContest are posted in at least a dozen languages on http://www.spdxc.info and of
course on Jan-Eric's, SM3CER famous contest reference website http://www.sk3bg.se/contest.
Anyone participating in the contest has a chance to earn a free award called The SP DX
Contest - 75th Anniversary Award. European stations need initially log at least 75 different
stations during the contest while non-Europeans need only 33 of them (since the first contest took
place in '33). The complete and detailed rules are posted also on http://www.spdxc.info and at the
bottom of this story.
I would like to do my share in attracting as many participants from all over the world as possible.
Pictures is my language so I want to show a few faces, and a couple of antennas, of people I have met
in person and whom you can meet on the air if you enter the contest.
Start 15.00 UTC on Saturday and continues for 24 hours on all six bands and both CW and SSB.
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Some of the contest sponsors - center: (in indigo shirt) Piotr, SP2JMR the current president of the PZK
organization, next to him in yellow short-sleeved shirt Tomasz, SP6T the vice-president of the SP DX
Club and in red T-shirt another Tomasz, SP5UAF the current president of the SP DX Club.
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Chris, SP7GIQ - contest call sign SN7Q - got all of his antennas more or less damaged early this year so
he won't be doing full-time all-band effort in the SP DX Contest 2008. Biggest chances of catching him
this time will be on 80 or 160 meters. Here Chris is pictured while visiting his old friend Tom, SP5GH.
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Donata, SP5HNK is scheduled to participate in a High Speed Telegraphy Competition at the end of April
2008 so I presume she will be taking care of CW contacts at her club SP5ZCC - contest call sign SN5Z -
near Warszawa.
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Another club in the same area is SP5PPK located in the capital city on the bank the Vistula river. The
club has many members and some of them will certainly use this antenna setup in the contest.
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Andrzej, SP8BRQ - contest call sign SO8A - has a good antenna farm and will be most likely on all
bands both modes.
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Bogdan, SP5WA lives near Warszawa, the capital city, but is often in West Africa. If he is at home on the
first weekend of April, he will certainly be active in the contest.
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Tom, SP5GH is a dedicated CW-man so look out for him on low-end sub-bands of low frequency
bands.
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Maciek, SQ6MS might be participating in the SP DX Contest from anywhere - his home QTH Wroclaw,
the club SN6Z in Zgorzelec on the Polish-German border, the club SP5ZCC a.k.a. SN5Z or ... from the
UK.
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Jan, SP8FHK - contest call sign SN8F - will have to do some antenna repairs in order to be in full swing
during the contest. Recent winter storms brought some damage to his antenna farm. I hope his
beehives (visible in the background) did not suffer any damage from falling antennas.
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Grzegorz, SP5LMT is relatively new to ham radio but well prepared and equipped for the coming
contest. He lives next to Tom, SP5GH so he will most likely choose high frequency bands during the
contest to avoid interfering each other.
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Przemek, SP7VC likes travelling but might as well stay home for this weekend. He prefers Phone to CW.
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Tomek, SP5UAF - contest call sign SN5M - devotes extremely much time to support Amateur Radio
activities in Poland. Besides being the president of the SP DX Club, he is also the unpaid editor of the
illustrated club newsletter, the author of a contemporary free contesting compendium in Polish, the
chairman of the SP5ZCC club, a member of the SN0HQ team and so on. I hope he will be able to get on
the air during the contest.
This story was actually meant to be a tribute to his efforts and to his devotion to our hobby.
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75th Anniversary of Polish Contests Award
The first international Polish contest took place in December 1933. Its sponsor was LKK (Lwowski Klub
Krotkofalowcow), the leading pre-WWII Amateur Radio club in Poland from the southeastern town of
Lwów. Today this town is in Ukraine and is called Lviv. This first competition lasted for 2 weeks and
attracted hundreds of participants from at least 37 countries. It was one of the earliest episode in the
history of radio contesting. The tradition of an annual international short wave contest was resumed in
1963 in the shape of SP DX Contests sponsored by the national organization of Polish Amateur Radio
Operators - PZK. Currently the event is a joint venture of PZK and the SP DX Club, taking place on the
first weekend of April on all six bands between 1.8 MHz and 28 MHz, simultaneously on CW and SSB (
www.spdxcontest.info )
To commemorate the 75th Anniversary of the first contest, a free award will be issued to
both transmitting and receiving stations (SWL) upon application, for contacts with Polish, and to some
extent with Lviv region stations including special event stations: SP75C, SP75O, SP75N, SP7T, SP75E,
SP75S, SN75T and headquarters stations SP0PZK, SP0DXC, between March 29th and April
13th 2008 only.
Participation in the SP DX Contest on 5-6th April 2008 is mandatory and the log must
be submitted to the Contest Committee. Contacts claimed outside of the SP DX Contest can be
conducted on any Amateur Radio bands and modes, including satellites, but not via terrestial repeaters.
Valid prefixes are SP, SN, SO, SQ, 3Z and HF. The official name of the diploma is SP DX Contest -
75th Anniversary Award.
Applications should be forwarded to the Awards Manager - Marek Niedzielski, SP7DQR - P.O.Box 25,
PL-25-030 Kielce 10, Poland or e-mail - [email protected] - not later than June 1st,
2008. QSL cards for the special event stations and SP0DXC - direct, bureau or e-mail QSL requests -
will be handled by SP7DQR. QSL cards for SP0PZK are handled by SP3IQ.
The requirements for each group of applicatants are different and are as follows:
At least 75 different stations to be logged in the SP DX Contest 2008.
Contacts with all special event stations.
At least one contact with headquarters station or EM75DXC from Lviv.
A sticker will be added for contacts with all 10 special stations.
At least 75 different Polish stations to be logged in the SP DX Contest 2008.
Contacts with Polish or Lviv district stations where the last letters of the call signs spell the word C O N
T E S T.
At least 5 contacts with special event stations, one of the contacts can be with a headquarters station or
EM75DXC.
A sticker will be added for contacts with all 7 special event stations and at least one headquarters
station or EM75DXC.
At least 33 different Polish stations to be logged in the SP DX Contest 2008. (The figure 33 indicating
the year 1933 when the first competition took place.)
Contacts with at least 3 special event stations, one of the contacts can be with a headquarters station or
EM75DXC.
A sticked will be added for contacting 5 special event stations and at least one of the headquarters
stations or EM75DXC.
(translation by SM0JHF so please check the official website to avoid any misunderstandings)
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Reminder - SP DX
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Reply
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by SM0JHF on March 26, 2008
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The number of plaquettes for different categories/continents/areas in SP DX Contest 2008 is steadily growing. Please check for updates on www.spdxcontest.info
All diplomas and plaques for 2007 have been already shipped to recipients according to the latest news.
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Reminder - SP DX
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Reply
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by VK4FW on March 29, 2008
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I participated last year and found it ever difficult to get the SP hams to look for the Pacific on the short path ......... I could hear plenty of them but even with the amp and 4 elements I worked very few.
See u in the contest again this year
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Reminder - SP DX
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Reply
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by SM0JHF on October 27, 2008
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Mail this to a friend!
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The results of this contest are already available on the web - http://www.spdxcontest.info/res/2008/index.php
Good job.
Henryk SM0JHF
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