HOLYLAND
CONTEST – 2001
Hot
on the heels of the publishing the results of the year 2000Holyland
contest, our hard-working contest manager has supplied us with the rules
of the new contest.So get ready
to roll onSaturday April the
21st at 1800 UTC and keep going for 24 hours to Sunday April
22nd at 1800 UTC.
Please
note the new operating categories: Single
Operator SSB Only and Single Operator CW Only.The
other categories remain:Single
Operator Mixed, Multi operator (mixed) - single transmitter
- all bands,and Short
Wave Listeners.
Bands:1.8
, 3.5 , 7, 14, 21, 28 Mhz.Please
use frequencies as the IARU recommendations: 3.50-3.56, 3.60-3.65, 3.70-3.80,
14.00-14.06, 14.125-14.300, 21.00-21.08, 21.20-21.40, 28.00-28.10, 28.50-28.80
Mhz.
Exchange:
Worldwide stations send RS(T) + QSO number starting with 001. Israeli stations
give RS(T) and 'Area'.
Valid
Contacts:The
same station may be contacted both in CW and SSB on each band. It is thus
possible to make up to 12 valid QSO's with the same station if worked on
CW and SSB on each band.Neither
Cross-Mode nor Cross- Band contacts are not permitted.
QSOPoints:2
points for each QSO, on 1.8 - 3.5 - 7 Mhz, 1 point for each
QSO on 14 - 21 - 28 Mhz.
Multipliers:
One multiplier for each 'Area' worked once per band.
Scoring:
Multiply total number of QSO points by number ofmultipliers.
Logsheets:
Separate pages for each band and mode, Each entry shall report: Time, call
sign, RS(T),
QSO
number sent, RS(T), 'Area' received and points.SWL's
shall report Israeli stations heard only.
A
summary sheet shall list number of multipliers and points from each band
worked, total of multiplier
and
points plus the computation of total score.Include
a declaration of compliance with contest and licence regulations.
Entries
must be postmarked not later than May 31 2001 and
sent
to: Contest Manager, Israel Amateur Radio Club, Box 17600, Tel Aviv61176.
Awards:A
trophy for the overall winner in each
category.(MIX;SSB;CW;SWL).
A
plaque
for each continental winner in each category.(MIX mode only).
Certificates
will be awarded to the top scorers in each country,state
provided
a minimum of 50 valid QSO's points have been reached.
In
one of the newsletters of 1998‘Personal
Database Applications’ for the Logic5 program we found a profile on Eli
Stern and with his permission we take some extracts from this article:
Born
in Germany in 1946 Stern immigrated with his parents when he was 3 years
old.Always a voracious reader,
he came across some books on Ham Radio.
“I
put all my pocket money building transistor radios”, Stern recalls “Since
I didn’t find any hams I tried to do it all by myself.I
succeeded in building the radios but did not continue to get a hamradio
license.I still have those books
today.”
In
1964 Stern went into the army, serving in a unit the equivalent of the
marines. Once out of the army, he started law school.
“After
the Six Day War in 1967, I put away all interest in amateur radio. It came
alive again in 1993, when I was fighting with IARC over the interests of
the Israeli PC User’s Group.”
Eli
Stern is the Stern in Haberman, Dovev & Stern Law Office.Advocates
and Notaries.Based in Tel-Aviv,
this distinguished law firm is the legal advisor to the Likud party.Haberman,
Dovev & Stern has also established a software house, which developed
a complete law office management package.It
is the leading software package in its field in Israel today.Stern
is an expert in computer law.
In
1993 Stern founded, and was President of the Israel PC Users Group. He
started on an ambitious project to connect PCs via modem and radio.“The
concept was to connect PCs to BBS systems via radio like packet radio.
It was supposed to give the PC users a way to connect to BBS system without
the use of telephone lines.Since
commercial frequencies are very expensive, he wanted to use the same frequencies
hams did, without any need for a license.It
did not work out.”
Something
good came out of this fight between PC users and hams.He
started studying for the license in 1993.In
1994 he passed the theory exam.In
1995 he passed CW and got his class ‘B’ license.
“By
that time I helped the IARC with my legal knowledge.”In
1997, he was elected president (chairman) of the IARC.He
kept this office for three years running.
Modern
day Israel, which just celebrated its 50th anniversary, is roughly
the size of New Jersey (about 8000 square miles) and has a population close
to 6 million.There are 1500 hams
holding Israeli licenses.Of these,
800 are members of the Israel Amateur Radio Club.
As
a highly populated country, Israel has out of necessity, stringent tower
laws.Towers are considered buildings,
and must comply with building regulations. One must obtain a permit to
build a Tower than get certification that the antenna radiation is within
international standards.The iciness to use an antenna is included in the
ham’s license to operate a radio station. Class ‘B’ licensees are allowed
to transmitb150 watt.Class ‘A’ licensees
can use up to 1.5 kw.(Israel also
issues a ‘no code’ and ‘C’ license.)
“We
have constitutional laws about freedom of occupation and from time to time
you need to fight with local authorities who do not like to see towers
on roofs!” The IARC works with the Telecommunications Ministry to provide
emergency communication services, offers various awards, and nurtures public
interest in amateur radio.
Small
but powerful, the IARC has found creative ways to make readily accessible
today.It convinced the open university
to place a class on amateur radio in its regular curriculum.
The
Open University system is the continuing education branch of the Tel-Aviv
University.Its classes, which are
held all over the country, are open to the general public, not just university
students. Classes range from photography to law to amateur radio.
The
amateur radio classcurriculum was
prepared by the IARC.The main teacher
is a ham.It meets once a month
for six months. At the end of the class, everyone who passes the test gets
the ‘no code’ license.There is a
$50 fee to attend the classes.
Formerly
the test could only administered by the Telecommunications Ministry.Stern
requested and got permission for hams to administer the tests themselves.
Two
years, the IARC received a $15,000 grant to conduct free ham radio classes
for underprivileged children.Due
to the program’s success it was expanded last year to computer communication
and packet communication.Last year
it is being funded by a $60,000 grant by the Telecommunications Ministry.
Eli
Stern married his wife, Hanna, in 1967.They
have three children.Daughter Mirit
is an architect.Son Asaf is in law
school. Son Ido is currently in the army.
“None
of them is a ham yet.I am covering
for it by taking the office of president of IARC.”Stern
is also the driving force behind Israel’s LOGic5 User’s Group.
So
what aspect of ham radio does this computer expert, legal eagle find to
be most enjoyable?
“The
type of hamming I like best is the single contact with another ham, in
which information, not just reports, are exchanged.”
So,
that’s it for this month!Take good
care into the new year (thought by many to be REALLY the first year of
the new millenium) and see you next month!
73
de Ahron and Ron