PREVIOUS NEWSLETTERS:

RSGB CONTESTS FOR NOVEMBER 2013 (by Quin G3WRR & John G3XDY)

RSGB CONTESTS FOR DECEMBER 2013 (by Quin G3WRR & John G3XDY)

Please note that there are no 50MHz or SHF UKAC events in December.

Further details including rules are available for HF contests and VHF contests.

The provisional 2014 RSGB contest calendars are now available for HF and VHF.

OTHER UK CONTESTS IN NOVEMBER (by John G3XDY)

The UK Microwave Group runs a 1.3/2.3/3.4GHz Contest on Sunday 24th November, from 1000 - 1400 UTC. Rules are at: UK Microwave Group Contest Rules

OTHER EUROPEAN VHF/UHF CONTESTS IN NOVEMBER (by John G3XDY)

Details of French events (English translation may be available from your browser)

Details of German events (English translation may be available from your browser)

The NAC Contests in Scandinavia

Czech Activity Contest

RECENT RESULTS (by Quin G3WRR & John G3XDY)

The following results have been published or updated since the previous Newsletter:

50MHz UKAC
144MHz UKAC
432MHz UKAC
1.3GHz UKAC
SHF UKAC
Overall UKAC

144MHz Backpackers Championship
70MHz Cumulatives
IARU Region 1 50MHz

80m Club Sprint (CW)
80m Club Sprint (SSB)

RoPoCo 2 -- CW
RSGB IOTA Contest (provisional)

CONTEST FORUM (by Quin G3WRR)

A comment made by quite a number of people at the RSGB Convention was that they were disappointed at the absence of a Contest Forum this year. Its non-inclusion was not a positive decision, and the CC will request the inclusion of one in next year’s programme.

CONTEST TROPHIES (by Quin G3WRR)

The following HF & VHF trophies for 2012 and 2013 have been awarded and the majority were presented at the RSGB Convention:

ITEMS FROM RECENT CONTEST COMMITTEE MEETING (by Quin G3WRR)

The CC held one of its biannual face to face meetings recently and a number of agreements made which may be of interest to readers are noted below:

New trophy – The CC has gratefully accepted a kind offer by Harwell ARS to donate a trophy in memory of the late G4DEZ: the CC chair will discuss with the donor what it is to be called and for what it is to be awarded.

Hall of Fame – an on line Hall of Fame, showing all contest trophies awarded year on year, is to be created. Historical information will also be included, based on the RSGB’s extensive records.

CW National Field Day 2014 – Following proposals to make further minor changes to the rules for next year’s NFD, it was agreed that no rule changes would be made for 2014, in order to allow a period of stability. However small changes to the FAQs may be made to improve clarity (eg. to define what is meant by a beam).

Distance requirement for Local clubs in 80m CCs and Sprints 2014 – no change to the distance involved will be made. However in future the distances will be referenced to a “Centre of Activity” nominated by clubs and defined by an NGR or locator. The intention is to make allowance for geographical anomalies in some (eg. coastal) areas. Clubs wishing to nominate a Centre of Activity may do so at any time between now and Jan 1st 2014 to afs.query@rsgbcc.org, and that location will then be fixed for the calendar year.  Otherwise the CC will continue to use the meeting place location currently held in its records.

Distance requirement in the six HF and VHF AFS contests 2014 - there will be no change to the 50 mile rule, except that it will be expressed as 80 km. The same “Centre of Activity” will be used as mentioned above.

Encouragement of weekend contest activity – in order to encourage entrants who have hitherto only taken part in midweek contests (eg. UKACs & 80m CCs) to take part in weekend events, it was agreed that for certain HF & VHF contests an additional tabulation will be included. These tables will show entrants' scores combined with those of other members of their club to provide a “club total”. Some details remain to be agreed.

Multiple trophies – At present it is possible for entrants to win multiple trophies for a single entry in certain contests. Without wishing to denigrate the efforts of those who do so, the committee thought that this can act as a disincentive to other entrants. A method of achieving a more even distribution is therefore being developed.

Adjudication penalties - a standard list of adjudication penalties will be produced and published on the CC website.

Contest Code of Practice – the existing CoP will be updated, and will include best practice for transmitter and receiver performance, along with guidance on behaviour expected when making or responding to poor signal reports.

UPDATE ON SPECIAL CONTEST CALLS (SCC) (by Ian G0FCT)

All currently issued SCCs (individual and club) expire on 31st December 2013. All SCC holders need to re-apply if they wish to continue using their currently assigned call signs after the expiry date. The good news is that as from 1st January 2014 OFCOM have relaxed the restrictions on contests in which these call signs may be used (where the use of such call signs is permitted by the contest organisers).

The qualification standard to obtain a SCC will be the same as it is currently. Below is an extract from the new application form:

“Individual licensees (or the licence-holder in the case of club licensees) must be able to supply evidence of having entered at least five contests from a list of qualification contests within the last three years and of having achieved at least one third of the number of contacts as the leader. If the licensee (or licence-holder) achieved more than one half of the number of contacts achieved by the leader, the contest will count as two contests towards this requirement.”

Note: In this context, the “leader” is the leading UK station in the appropriate section.

The new form has been published on this page of the OFCOM web site. Applications can be made using the form which is part of the PDF on that web page. Applications made using this form will (if approved by OFCOM) qualify for the new SCC Notice of Variation, valid from the date of issue. All new SCCs will expire on 31st December 2016.

This is a list of qualification contests:

• ARRL DX (CW, SSB).
• ARRL 1.8MHz (CW).
• ARRL 28MHz (CW, SSB).
• ARRL RTTY Roundup.
• CQ WPX (CW, RTTY, SSB).
• CQ World Wide (CW, RTTY, SSB).
• CQ World Wide 160 (CW, SSB).
• IARU Championship (CW, SSB).
• RSGB IOTA (CW, SSB).
• WAE DX (CW, RTTY, SSB).   
• BARTG RTTY contests.
• Russian DX (CW, SSB).
• IARU 50MHz Trophy (Multi-mode).
• IARU 144MHz Trophy (Multi-mode).
• IARU 432MHz - 248GHz (Multi-mode).
• March 144 / 432MHz Contest (Multi-mode).
• May 432MHz - 248GHz Contest (Multi-mode).
• November Marconi Memorial 144MHz Contest (CW).

Please read the new application form carefully before completing it. If you have any questions, please email the contest committee chairman. Finally, please remember to submit your SCC application to OFCOM. Applications submitted directly to the RSGB Contest Committee or RSGB HQ cannot be processed.

THE CLUB CALLS CONTEST – WHEN 160m COMES ALIVE! (by Ed GW3SQX)

We have little information as to when the various incarnations of the Club Calls Contest began - if you can remember exactly how things developed, please let the Contest Committee know.  There was a Magazine Club Contest on 1.8 MHz, promoted by Short Wave Magazine, which ran every Autumn from around 50 years ago.  Some time after this ended, the RSGB version began, with a similar format.

The contest has always been popular, and is one where there is a wide variety of entrants.  There are beginners struggling to get out the right words to make contacts and then log them, assisted by old timers from their clubs.  Then there are hardened contesters, who try hard to make 100 QSOs an hour as they normally do, but it's not that sort of contest.  Still, everyone has a good time in a friendly atmosphere, and that tradition continues today.

One of the quirky aspects of this contest is that an RSGB HQ station will operate on the band, using a special callsign.  Entrants score extra points for contacting GB3HQ, which is operated by a non-entrant with an NoV specially obtained for the purpose.  This year, GB3HQ will be operated by Steve Bunting, M0BPQ, from Gilwell Park Scout Activity Centre in North London.

It's not always easy to produce a good signal on 160m, but it's not impossible, even with the restricted gardens that most of us have.  Anyone who has an 80m dipole, and a bit of spare wire, can probably get something working for the event.  Simply extend each end of the dipole using whatever space is available -- even if the additional wire has a very dog-legged appearance.  You'll be surprised at the results. And even if you can’t manage that, it’s worth noting that one CC member has made 30 contacts – a useful contribution to your club’s score - in Club Calls Contest using an inverted L with a 50ft top only 20ft up.

There has been additional interest since the contest became part of the AFS Super League, which is more and more popular with Clubs each year, and which now has its own trophy.  So mark the 9th November in your diary, and check that you know the rules.  If you enjoyed the contest, leave your aerial up for the following weekend and the 2nd 1.8 MHz contest, where other European countries will join in the fun.  Good luck, and we'll see you on Top Band!

AND FINALLY

It was good to meet so many of you at the RSGB Convention, mostly at the CC stand – an excellent opportunity to put quite a few faces to callsigns which I have only met before on the air or by e-mail! Some encounters on the stand were just a friendly chat, while others raised significant issues. The latter have been noted by the CC and will be taken into consideration.

A little snippet which is probably only of interest to myself is that Horwood House was where I joined the (then) GPO in September 1969 when it was a GPO (later Post Office and later still BT) training school.

That’s it for another month - good contesting to you all.

73, Quin G3WRR

For RSGB Contest Committee