PREVIOUS NEWSLETTERS:

2014 -- January, February

RSGB CONTESTS FOR MARCH 2014 (by Quin G3WRR & John G3XDY)

RSGB CONTESTS FOR APRIL 2014 (by Quin G3WRR & John G3XDY)

OTHER UK VHF/UHF CONTESTS IN MARCH (by John G3XDY)

The UK Microwave Group 1.3 / 2.3 / 3.4 GHz contest takes place on Sunday 2nd March from 1000 - 1600 UTC. Rules are here

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

An English translation facility which should work with any browser is available here.

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

Christmas Cumulatives (2013)
Christmas Cumulatives Overall Results (2013)


OUT OF BAND OPERATION ON 160m (by Quin G3WRR)

There have been a couple of reports of (unidentified) UK stations operating below the lower band limit of 1810 kHz during the recent CQ WW 160m CW Contest. While this is not an RSGB contest and as such the CC cannot take any action against the stations in question, readers are reminded that failure to comply with licence conditions may result in the need for uncomfortable explanations to the UK licensing authority....OK, it's difficult (particularly if you've had no sleep for 40+ hours) to remember that of all the HF bands where contests are permitted, 160m alone doesn't start at 000 kHz - but certainly it's something to watch out for!

DATE OF 2nd BACKPACKERS CONTEST (by Quin G3WRR)

Readers may wish to note that the date of the 2nd 144MHz Backpackers Contest has been changed from 8th to 15th June to avoid a clash with HF NFD which takes place on 7/8th June. This change has been included in the VHF calendar on the CC website. This date is the same as that of the Practical Wireless QRP Contest.

CLARIFICATION OF HF NFD RULES (by Quin G3WRR)

As stated in the November Newsletter, there will be no changes to the rules for HF (CW) NFD for 2014. However, a regular entrant has raised a query, in response to which a clarification has been provided in the form of an extra item in the FAQs. He makes the valid point that all real world antennas provide a degree of directivity, and as a result wishes to understand what the CC means by a beam in the rules relating to the Restricted Section, Complex Antenna Category. The requested guidance is that for the purpose of NFD:
* single element antennas, irrespective of configuration, do not count as beams
* multi element antennas using parastic or driven elements as part of their design are regarded as beams.

In addition, those parts of the 2013 FAQs which merely provided an explanation of the 2013 rules changes since 2012 has been removed, although a link to the 2013 FAQs is still available.


REGISTRATION FOR HF NFD (by Quin G3WRR)

And while on the subject of HF NFD, registration is now open...just send an e-mail with the information contained in paragraph 2 of the rules to nfd.notify@rsgbcc.org.

AND FINALLY

It was good to see 10m in good shape again for the CW leg of the ARRL DX contest - let's just hope it holds up for BERU on 8/9 March! That’s all for this month - good contesting.

73, Quin G3WRR

For RSGB Contest Committee