RSGB CONTEST COMMITTEE NEWSLETTER
ISSUE 23
DATE: NOVEMBER 2014
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| Saturday - Sunday | 1st - 2nd November 2014 | 144MHz Marconi Contest | 1400 - 1400 UTC |
| Tuesday | 4th November 2014 | 144MHz UK Activity Contest | 2000 - 2230 UTC |
| Saturday | 8th November 2014 | Club Calls Contest (1.8MHz AFS) (SSB) | 2000 - 2300 UTC |
| Tuesday | 11th November 2014 | 432MHz UK Activity Contest | 2000 - 2230 UTC |
| Wednesday | 12th November 2014 | 80m Club Sprint Contest (SSB) | 2000 - 2100 UTC |
| Saturday - Sunday | 15th - 16th November 2014 | 2nd 1.8MHz Contest (CW) | 2100 - 0100 UTC |
| Tuesday | 18th November 2014 | 1.3GHz UK Activity Contest | 2000 - 2230 UTC |
| Tuesday | 25th November 2014 | 50MHz UK Activity Contest | 2000 - 2230 UTC |
| Tuesday | 25th November 2014 | SHF UK Activity Contest | 2000 - 2230 UTC |
| Thursday | 27th November 2014 | 80m Club Sprint Contest (CW) | 2000 - 2100 UTC |
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| Tuesday | 2nd December 2014 | 144MHz UK Activity Contest | 2000 - 2230 UTC |
| Sunday | 7th December 2014 | 144MHz AFS Contest | 1000 - 1600 UTC |
| Tuesday | 9th December 2014 | 432MHz UK Activity Contest | 2000 - 2230 UTC |
| Tuesday | 16th December 2014 | 1.3GHz UK Activity Contest | 2000 - 2230 UTC |
| Friday - Monday | 26th - 29th December 2014 | 50/70/144/432 MHz Christmas Cumulatives Contest | 1400 - 1600 UTC |
| Tuesday | 30th December 2014 | 70MHz UK Activity Contest | 2000 - 2230 UTC |
The full 2014 contest calendars and rules for the above contests are available from here (HF) and here (VHF).
OTHER UK VHF/UHF CONTESTS IN NOVEMBER 2014 (by John G3XDY)
| Sunday | 23rd November 2014 | UK Microwave Group 1.3/2.3/3.4 GHz Contest | 1000 - 1600 UTC |
Rules are here.
OTHER EUROPEAN VHF/UHF CONTESTS IN NOVEMBER 2014 (by John G3XDY)
OTHER HF CONTESTS IN NOVEMBER 2014 (by Quin G3WRR)
For more data on a wide range HF contests, the SM3CER website is a very useful source of information.
Another useful source of HF contest information is at http://www.hb9dhg.ch , which can be reached by clicking
here, and clicking on "Contest Calendar".
RECENT RESULTS (by Quin G3WRR & John G3XDY)
The following results have been published or updated since
the previous Newsletter:
50MHz UKAC
70MHz UKAC
1.3GHz UKAC
SHF UKAC
Overall UKAC
5th 70MHz Cumulative Final results
5th 144MHz Backpackers
2nd 70MHz
IARU Region 1 50MHz
IOTA (Provisional results)
Low Power
80m Club Sprint (SSB)
HF Championship
144MHz Backpackers Championship
CLUB CALLS CONTEST (160m AFS) (by Quin G3WRR)
The first of the contests which form part of the 2014-2015 AFS Super League (50MHz AFS) took place a week or so ago. The next in the series is the Club Calls Contest (a.k.a. 160m AFS) which takes place on Saturday 8th November from 2000 - 2300 UTC. Stations intending to enter (either as club stations or club members) are reminded that the rules require them to send a 4 digit code indicating their club as part of the contest exchange. You can check whether your club already has the appropriate code from this URL: http://www.rsgbcc.org/cgi-bin/afs.pl If your club is not on the list, do not worry - the Contest Committee can be contacted via the e-mail address shown on that page to obtain one. (It may also be worth noting that some clubs have not yet notified the CC of a Virtual Meeting Place - needed in some club related contests to determine whether stations representing the club meet distance requirements - so this might be a good opportunity to check!).
Entrants should remember to look out for the RSGB HQ station (GB3HQ), as contacts with it are worth double points (as compared with other club stations). And even if you're not representing a club (in which case you don't need a 4 digit code), why not come on and join the fun? Club entrants will be pleased to work you, and you might be surprised at what you can work on 160m even if you have the proverbial postage stamp garden sized antenna!
NOTES FROM CONTEST FORUM (by Ian G0FCT and Steve G3ZVW)
G4RRA: Regarding M5 to M7 change (UKAC multiplier system); will there be two multipliers for working an F in JO00?
Contest Committee (CC) answer: No, only for a G in JO00.
G4PIQ: Thanks for doing consultation. Regarding more time for weekend contests, too many events causes dilution. What is the definition of success for a contest?
GM4ZUK: What is the definition of successful? The 70MHz CW contest is not well supported, but it is enjoyed by those who partake. CC answer: This is the problem the CC wrestles with. For example, the 2m Backpackers doesn't attract many entries but are enjoyed by those who participate.
GW8ASD: If you take the 70cm Trophy Contest (Saturday), Sunday is easier for me. Are there any figures to suggest there are more short section entrants on Sunday? CC answer: Interesting question! CC post forum comment: No, there is no information available to answer this question.
G4FAL: What initiatives are there for marketing and getting new participants? CC answer: We're waiting for a volunteer to assist with this!
GM3POI: Why is there not more automatic adjudication? CC answer: The personal touch. The CC always tries to identify who is at fault rather than automatically assuming the receiving station is always at fault.
G4RRA: Try to encourage activity at weekends by including club elements. CC answer: Already debated by the CC. The problem is that if we add a club element to weekend contests it could create disharmony by putting too much strain on some clubs. It might actually have a negative effect.
GW8ASD: Regarding the 4m UKAC, the Scandinavians' 4m and 6m UKAC equivalent is on Thursdays. More SHF activity may happen if our contests did not clash. CC answer: This was proposed two years ago and turned down by the Contest Forum at the RSGB Convention ("Tuesday night is contest night"). The response to an e-mail to the UK contesting reflector was also negative. This could be re-proposed in next year's White Paper.
MJ0ASP: Regarding 160m contests. Will the 160m non-UK to non-UK rule change apply to the UKACs? CC answer: No.
G8XVJ: Regarding equipment list requirement. What needs to be included? CC answer: There will be brief guidance notes on the submission page and there will be sufficient text space to include what is needed.
G8NVI: What is the e-mail address for suggestions? CC answer: chairman@rsgbcc.org
G1ZJP: Thanks to the CC for hard work and adjudication [round of applause]
G4DVE: Faster adjudication was an eye opener when I came back into contesting. It has really increased my enjoyment. Shorter log submission deadlines may mean that entrants who do not log on PC may struggle to submit their entry.
GW8ASD: I want enough time to submit. One week is enough. [A debate ensued about contest entry submission times. The meeting seemed happy for submission times to be reduced].
GM3POI: It was mentioned that audio recordings could be fabricated. As the former head of New Scotland Yard's audio recording department, this is not correct. CC post forum comment: With the resources available to New Scotland Yard it might be impossible for someone to undetectably forge an audio recording. However, with the resources available to the CC, such a forgery might well be undetectable!
G3RIR: We should be submitting logs much more quickly. CC answer: If we want real-time entry and instant results, it excludes those who log on paper and have to type up the log after the contest.
G4FSU: Also, /P stations cannot always immediately upload at the end of a contest.
G8TIC: When someone submits a log, why does it not show up in claimed scores? Also, submitted logs should be viewable to all. CC post forum comment: : The VHF claimed scores are not a mandatory part of the log upload process and in fact a claimed score can be posted without uploading a log. The scores that are posted are not checked and the CC does not guarantee that they are correct. The ability to post actual claimed scores, as calculated by the adjudication software, is not currently a committee priority as this would delay the posting of the actual results. A proposal to publish all received logs will be considered for inclusion in the 2015 White Paper.
G4FSU: The IARU Region 1 recommendations are not rules. CC post forum comment: IARU Region 1 member societies are expected to follow the band plan recommendations.
PHOTOS FROM TROPHY PRESENTATION (by Quin G3WRR)
A set of photographs, almost all from the contest trophy presentation, is available at http://www.mikes-photos.com/RSGB/Convention-Presentations-2014/ or by clicking here.
It was good to meet so many of you at the RSGB Convention at Kents Hill - in fact in at least 3 cases I was able to put the face to the callsign for the first time! Many of the CC members were involved up front or behind the scenes in the activities there - and this perhaps accounts for this copy of the Newsletter being a little thinner than usual.
Just a reminder that if you are having any problems with formatting of the Newsletter (there have been a couple of queries about this in the past year or so, including one from last month that I haven't managed to look into yet) please let me know about them at editor@rsgbcc.org. These are often caused by different browsers reacting differently to minor variations in the HTML code and can be fixed quite easily - but if we don't know about the problems, we can't fix them!
That's all for this month - good contesting to you all!
73, Quin G3WRR
For RSGB Contest Committee