RAC Canada Day Contest 1997 - Results by Dave Goodwin VE2ZP/VE9CB RAC HF Contest Manager and Chris Allingham VE3FU/VO2AC After four years of impressive growth, activity and scores levelled off somewhat this year. While four new records were set, the number of entrants fell slightly, and the high-scoring logs were somewhat thinner this year. One thing that was not short supply, however, was fun and reasonably good conditions. Four New Records Peter VE6NAO helped bring back the QRP category with a bang. His score tripled the old mark set in 1993. Gary VE7NTT, one of the most accomplished contesters in this country, finally decided to give this contest a try. Gary not only grasped many of the essential quirks of the RAC contest, but he set a new 20m record that may stand for very many years. Bob VE1CZ, a very regular participant in the low-power category, took aim at the 10m record. He not only surpassed it, he set a new record three-and-one-half times the old. For a so-called dead band, canny Bob was able to find quite a bit of life. Carleton VE3BY, entering his first contest ever, set a new record on 80m. Carleton may be someone to watch, should he decide contesting is his thing. Single Op High Power This should sound familiar to most of you - Robby VY2SS led this category, although he enjoyed a mere 35k margin above second place Bruce N6NT operating at VY1RAC. Bruce's multiplier total was the highest among the single-ops. Third and fourth places were earned by two friends from the south of the border, Ken N6RO and Bill K4LTA. The top ten scores in this category went from coast to coast, and down into the US. Single Op Low Power Once again, Sam VE5SF took the low-power category, more than doubling the impressive score of his nearest competition, Gus VE6GUS. Second through seventh places were all quite close scores, with entrants from Ontario through British Columbia. This was the most popular category in the contest, attracting 58 entrants. QRP Revived And what a revival! Cancelled three years ago for lack of interest, the QRP category returned with more entrants than in all previous RAC Contest combined. The top-scoring station, Peter VE6NAO more than tripled the old record, and led the 11-strong QRP contingent. Single op single band We saw logs for entrants on every band save 15m and 160m this year. 14MHz was the most popular single band, attracting 44 entrants. As mentioned above, Gary VE7NTT led the pack with the highest QSO total ever made by any single op in any category. Frank VE7AV followed Gary with the only other single-band score over 100k. There were other strong performances by another Garry, VE3XN, Bev VE7VFM, who borrowed the excellent station of his brother, Dale VE7SV and Ray VE6SF. In sixth place, Gerald K9BG turned in the best foreign single-band score. Eighty metres attracted 12 competitors, with Carleton VE3BY the runaway leader and holder of the new record on that band. Similarly, on 40m the hands-down winner was Zoran VA3GW. At the higher end of the spectrum, Bob VE1CZ made the most of what propagation 10m offered to set a record that will require many sunspots to break. Ken VE3FIT let the contingent of 6m operators, and Trevor VE3TLT. Multi-op Among the 22 multi-op entrants, two managed scores over one million points. Perennial winners VE6JY suggested that slightly lower activity kept their score down to a still-huge 1.5Meg. The Prince George Contest Club VE7ZZZ were the other members of the million-point society. We saw very strong scores from three other well-established clubs: the Sask-Alta Radio Club near Lloydminster (VE5RI) operated as VE5RAC to place third, the Hamilton ARC's VE3DC came fourth, and Saint John's Loyalist City ARC VE9LC took fifth place. The multi-op category lends itself well to introducing newcomers to contesting. VE6RAC operated by members of the Peace Country ARC (VE6ARC) did just that, and had a lot of fun in the process. Participation In total, RAC received 195 logs (down from 227 in 1996) with at least 300 operators involved. The number of Canadians involved was slightly higher. If you include the operators at multi-ops, 288 Canadians were involved in a log entry, up from 278 last year. As Gary VE7NTT observed (see comments below), there was plenty of activity at most times, save for the wee small hours. There is an ongoing problem of relatively little CW activity, and far too many people who disingenuously claim "I can't find my key." Foreign participation fell somewhat. We received logs from 47 Amateurs in 15 countries. This decline may in part be due to a drop in US entries - QST published the wrong address for entries, and many US logs were returned by the post office. The fact that our national holiday is not a holiday for other folks remains an inhibition to some foreign entrants, but a change is not in the offing. Awards Robby Robertson VY2SS again wins the Atlantic Ham Radio trophy for the top-scoring Single Op All Bands entrant. Sam Ferris VE5SF wins the Single Op Low Power trophy sponsored by Durham Radio Sales and Service. Gary Caldwell VE7NTT wins the Single Op Single Band trophy for his record-setting 20m score. This trophy is sponsored by H.C. MacFarlane Electronics. The top-scoring foreign entrant was Ken Keeler N6RO. Ken wins the Jorge Bozzo LU8DQ memorial trophy sponsored by Alan Goodacre VE3HX/VE2AEJ. As well, 99 entrants won certificates for their efforts, and should have them by the time this appears in print. All entrants will receive a copy of these results and copies of the suggested forms for the Canada Winter Contest. Thanks I would like to offer thanks to Chris Allingham VE3FU/VO2AC who helped with log-checking and compiling the results. Chris did a very through job of checking logs, and took more than half of the load on this occasion. I would also like to thank the many supporters and participants in this contest. Over the last five years, the Canada Day Contest has gone from strength to strength. This is now a "can't-miss" event for many Canadian Amateurs, and for several abroad as well. This will be the last Canada Day contest with me as manager. With next year's contest, John Vogrinetz VE6FR takes the helm. I have one RAC contest left to manage: the Canada Winter Contest on 28 December. Please circle that date, and be sure to take part. Multiplier Leaders Call Cat Tot 160 80 40 20 15 10 6 2 VE6JY M 106 7 18 22 23 20 8 4 4 VE7ZZZ M 91 8 15 19 24 11 10 2 2 VE3DC M 86 4 15 22 23 10 4 6 2 VE5RAC M 78 4 11 16 24 9 6 4 4 VY1RAC A 78 7 10 14 22 13 8 2 2 VE5SF L 74 5 13 18 22 9 5 0 2 Record Scores Call Cat QSO Mul Score Year VY2SS A 1163 77 615,230 1996 VA3RAC L 815 93 643,188 1996 (op. VE3KZ) VE6NAO Q 211 52 100,776 1997 VE6BEQ 144 59 2 1,220 1996 VE3FIT 50 27 4 1,048 1994 VE1CZ 28 183 9 7,128 1997 DF6VE 21 --- -- 3,015 1980 VE7NTT 14 1521 24 194,016 1997 VE6JO 7 353 20 61,320 1996 VE3BY 3.5 447 15 64,800 1997 VE3DO 1.8 82 18 11,412 1996 VC6RAC M 2857 99 1,837,440 1996 Full Results Single Op All Bands (High Power) Call Cat QSO Mul Score VY2SS A 1175 66 507,540 * VY1RAC A 1096 78 472,368 * (N6NT Op.) N6RO A 593 70 389,340 * K4LTA A 625 65 348,010 * VE5MX A 457 50 167,600 * VO1XE A 395 43 145,770 * VE7RAC A 412 41 138,416 * (op. VE7DK) VY2LI A 401 38 122,892 * VE2ABE A 492 30 116,280 * VE5CPU A 219 44 93,192 VE7NS A 262 32 79,360 VE2VTS A 168 47 74,542 VE3ESE A 204 30 58,800 * VE7HRC A 173 32 50,406 VE3OVU A 189 27 47,250 VE1VEI A 331 18 42,624 * VE4RP A 181 21 36,036 * VE7XO A 110 27 33,210 K4EF A 109 26 30,940 VE3XL A 86 20 15,920 N6HR A 105 16 15,040 K4BAI A 103 17 13,158 VE3BR A 37 19 6,916 G4LQI A 30 19 5,738 * EA3ALV A 29 11 1,782 * N0MSB A 15 8 1,040 * VE6IC A 18 6 708 * JA9XBW A 8 6 480 * Single Op All Bands (Low Power) VE5SF L 880 74 513,708* VE6GUS L 472 59 222,902* VA3NR L 401 64 198,912* VE4YU L 387 62 195,796* VE3WIB L 385 56 186,680* VA3RAC L 394 51 164,730 (op. VE3BDB) VE7NF L 401 50 149,700* VE5ZG L 240 51 127,194* VE1LV Q 292 47 125,678* VE2AWR L 407 48 125,568* VE2JCW L 389 39 108,810 VA3SWG L 305 42 108,192 VO1UL L 223 46 106,996 VE7TLK L 266 34 93,772 VO1GO L 206 49 87,612 VE3LNS L 214 48 85,632 VA3KAI L 270 35 84,700 VE4RON L 350 24 71,952 VE2TTN L 415 25 69,950 VE3SRE L 175 43 68,972 VO1IMB L 196 36 67,032 VE7IO L 205 33 65,604 VE9DXR L 293 22 59,400* VE2AEJ/3L 132 42 51,996 VE3TLC L 114 36 49,752 VE3AAS L 134 31 41,954 W4YE L 115 31 37,696* VE7CA L 180 29 37,178 VE3KZ L 130 28 34,888 WA3HAE L 114 33 34,650* VO1UO L 221 21 34,230 K8GT L 102 35 33,355* VE3WZ L 144 30 31,080 VE7EYF L 112 24 25,584 VE3GRQ L 100 23 25,070 VE3WOR L 76 32 24,000 VE3GNU L 97 25 24,150 VY2RB L 307 9 21,654* VA3TEE L 102 27 21,330 VE3YQY L 101 22 20,636 VE7DXF L 123 19 20,102 VE2GWL L 111 19 18,202 VE6JKZ L 81 22 15,796 W2EZ L 69 20 12,840* W3SOH/1 L 49 22 12,100* VE3TTV L 47 24 11,424 VE7AGT L 58 15 9,810 VE3OIL L 50 17 7,616 VE3TEP L 41 17 6,664 W7YS L 33 15 5,550* VE3ESN L 31 11 3,256 VE3IW L 37 11 2,706 VE1TX L 52 6 1,872 K0LWV L 30 7 1,610* VE2RO L 20 7 1,484 JA6UBK L 21 7 980* DL3ZAI L 16 3 168* HB9AON L 8 0 0* Single Op All Bands (QRP) VE6NAO Q 211 52 100,776* VE3JC Q 71 29 20,184* VE5RC Q 60 21 13,356* VE9GM Q 48 14 5,432* K3WWP Q 34 12 3,552* K8UCL Q 33 10 3,500* VE7EKS Q 22 8 1,824* VE9VIC Q 17 9 1,464 VE3REP Q 14 7 938 VE3FMC Q 27 4 608 N2NO Q 9 5 460* Single Op Single Band (MHz) VE2SHW 144 42 1 430* VE3TLT 144 10 1 84* VE3FIT 50 34 4 976* VE7CYT 50 20 2 288* VE2PIJ 50 11 2 124* VE1CZ 28 183 9 7,128* VE3HX 28 25 4 488* LW7EGO 28 5 2 52* VE7NTT 14 1521 24 194,016* VE7AV 14 759 23 131,928* VE3XN 14 402 23 78,798* VE7SV 14 658 21 77,238 (VE7VFM Op.) VE6SF 14 446 22 65,692* K9BG 14 385 22 63,712* VE5GC 14 345 20 47,280* VE3KXU 14 158 21 32,500 VE3LPE 14 208 21 30,576 VA3JPM 14 155 19 25,346 VE2BWJ 14 115 22 22,880* VO2LJ 14 274 11 22,198* VE3HLW 14 69 22 14,542 VE3KLM 14 96 18 13,176 VE1AYY 14 234 10 12,760* VE9VAR 14 237 10 12,620* VE7ONX 14 78 17 11,968 VE3CWE 14 49 20 10,320 VO1WIZ 14 109 10 10,100 N4MM 14 45 18 8,172* K5LH 14 91 11 8,074* N6JM 14 47 14 7,028* VE2GMI 14 29 18 5,868 VE2GK 14 38 14 5,180 N5XG 14 28 11 3,520 VE3YM 14 34 10 3,300 VY1USI 14 75 8 3,280* (op. NL7TB) K4UK/W2/m 14 29 12 3,240* SP6GYB 14 46 12 3,168* K4UK/VE3/m 14 30 12 2,856 YU7KM 14 49 98 2,400* SP8BAB 14 28 10 2,300 XE1HKR 14 24 8 1,952* VA3ECH 14 16 10 1,740 VE3NQK 14 17 10 1,720 WB0RJJ 14 20 8 1,680* DL2TG 14 24 8 1,344* DJ9DZ 14 33 6 1,022 JA7BEW 14 14 6 1,020* VA2CS 14 11 6 672 (op. Lindsay Spence) TA3J 14 28 3 288* US1I 14 26 2 220* LA7IJ 14 3 3 90* JA0HYU 14 4 2 80 VA3GW 7 211 20 50,360* VE3SSV 7 138 15 19,770* VE5BF 7 63 8 5,088* VK1FF 7 9 5 500* UR5ZOS 7 22 5 460* IK5TSS 7 8 3 168* N8TI 7 7 3 138* N8LIQ 7 4 3 96 VE3BY 3.5 447 15 64,800* VE2WPZ 3.5 195 10 19,440* VE9ML 3.5 141 12 16,896* VE7STC 3.5 172 7 11,816* VE7VDX 3.5 104 7 7,266 VE3KPP 3.5 136 5 6,010* VE5BCS 3.5 45 6 2,880* VE7GFT 3.5 44 5 2,320 VE2BIA 3.5 35 6 2,184 VE7RFL 3.5 33 4 1,368 W7DRA 3.5 19 3 630* VE2LCM 3.5 31 8 320 Multi-Operator VE6JY M 2763 106 1,589,576* VE7ZZZ M 1517 91 1,013,922* VE5RAC M 1263 78 742,716* VE3DC M 972 86 690,924* VE9LC M 841 63 436,464* VE1TRH M 296 49 134,652* VE7TUK M 332 44 125,928 VA2RAC M 326 44 125,576* VE6RAC M 338 30 101,500* (at VE6ARC) VE5NN M 314 33 97,482 VE7RCN M 299 34 83,200 VE5WF M 237 36 81,936 VE7NA M 243 33 75,504 VA3HL M 193 41 73,718 VE6GR M 247 34 71,468 VE3BMR M 296 23 63,572 VE2BP M 214 32 59,264 VE7QCA M 163 27 43,470 VE3IGM M 140 32 41,972 VE3EFE M 52 12 6,648 VE3ZY M 17 8 1,312 VE7DB M 22 6 1,308 Check Logs: DJ0SH N2JTX VE2ZP VE3GSC (op. VE3PYG) Operators at multi-ops: VA2RAC: VE2ALE VE2ED VA3HL: VA3EZ VA3HL VE1TRH: VE1TRH VE1AGE VE2BP: VE2BP VE2PLH VE3BMR: VE3SYT VE3JYF VE3TUQ VE3TVD VE3VDW VA3CCI VA3AYG VA3SQU VE3TVN VE3TVX VE3NPL VE3SVG Jim Morely VE3DC: VE3AHQ VE3SS VE3OCY VE3NYX VE3OZY VE3NVY VE3YOC VE3STT VE3VFR VE3FBO VE3JAI VE3OZO VE3VMO VE3EFE: VE3EFE VE3PMI VE3IGM: VE3IGM VE3OJN VE3ZY: VE3FFK VE3ZTU VE5NN: VE5CMA, VE5SJA, VE5JWP VE5RAC: VE5JCR VE5FD VE5FN VE5WI VE6EZ VE6RDM VE6GR: VE6QQ VE6MZ VE6ANL VE6LL VE6BVZ VE6KC VE6EDY VE6JY: VE6BF VE6JO VE6FR VE6JY VE6SLV VE6LDX VE6JTM VE6DXX VE6WQ VE6RIT VE6MK VE6YIK VE6RAC: VE6TUR VE6BLK VE6CI VE6LND VE6GFZ Terry VE7DB: VE7MF VE7KNO VE7CQF Robin Smith VE7QCA: VE7EOP VE7RXB VE7TLL VE7LOL VE7RCN: VE3DYW VE7EYY VE7FEB VE7XWN VE7TUK: Members from the North Okanagan Radio Amateur Club VE7ZZZ: VE7CV VE7DBS VE7EME VE7PTT VE7RBL VE7SK VE7VX VE9LC: VE9JW VE9WH VE9MY VE9DX VE9CKR VE1ASJ -- CQ-Contest on WWW: http://www.contesting.com/_cq-contest/ Administrative requests: cq-contest-REQUEST@contesting.com