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After a three week respite for the Dayton Hamvention and the CQ WPX CW Contest, the weekly Thursday night half hour North American contest known as "NS Ladder" is back this week, with a series of intriguing matchups ahead.
The leaders right now in the various sub-competitions include:
Six of the weekly contests are in the books, with fourteen weeks in all on the schedule.
"Thursday Night Madness" as the NCCC folks sometimes refer to it now has a three week run before the ARRL Field Day. This NS Ladder wraps up on August 7.
"Note that a station can join NSL on June 5th and compete in 6 out of the remainingg 8 sessions to fully compete in the Newcomer's division, for which six of the last ten scores are counted," says organizer Bill Haddon N6ZFO.
That Newcomer division has an interesting story this year, as the leader K9MMS has his grandson Cal Darula K0DXC not far in third place.
"The NCCC Sprint Ladder competition has become a Thursday night 'Event" in contesting along with its companion Slow NS (SNS) that's offered to help folks train for the NS Ladder competition and for sprinting in general," added Haddon.
The thirty minute modified Sprint has attracted a devoted following in the past three years - the "only ladder competition in ham radio" as backers like to call it.
NS Ladder awards are based on the best nine scores from the 14 weeks of competition, so it doesn't matter if you are gone for a summer vacation with the XYL or kids.
"There’s considerable demand for a 2nd 2009 ladder competition that will include 160 meters, thus giving our fans a chance to prepare for the winter low-band events," Haddon told radio-sport.net.
You can find out about the standings for the 2009 NS Ladder, plus background on the special rules and more at the NCCC web site.
They will debut first in the June VHF QSO Party, set for June 13-15.
"These changes take effect immediately," said ARRL Contest Manager Sean Kutzko KX9X on his ARRL Contest Blog.
"Stations planning to enter as Limited Rover in the 2009 ARRL June VHF QSO Party should take note," said Kutzko.
The changes are simple, as they restrict Limited Rovers to use only the four lowest bands.
"For January, June and September, this means 6 Meters, 2 Meters, 220 MHz and 432 MHz," said Kutzko. "For the August UHF Contest, this means 220 MHz, 432 MHz, 902 MHz and 1.2 GHz."
The other change is that Club Competition will now be allowed in the August UHF Contest run by the ARRL.
The changes - along with some other rover-related arguments - spurred a heated back and forth on the VHF Contesting reflector, as list administrator Gene Zimmerman W3ZZ put the arguments on hold last Friday.
"You can discuss rovers in any other way but complaining about VUAC actions, ARRL actions and any mention of N6NB and his friends is NOT welcome at this time," said Zimmerman.
One other change for the June VHF QSO Party is that the plaques will no longer be sent out for 1st-10th place finishes.
"We decided the plaque program needed to be based on Division, just like every other plaque program that the ARRL offers, not position in the standings," said Kutzko.
