DATE: APRIL 2015 |
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PREVIOUS NEWSLETTERS:
2014 -- January, February, March, April, April special, May, May special, June, July, August, September, October, October special, November, December, December upissue. 2015 --
January,
February,
March,
March special.
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| Sunday | 5th April 2015 | 1st 70MHz Contest | 0900 - 1200 UTC |
| Sunday | 5th April 2015 | ROPOCO Contest (SSB - 3.5MHz) | 1900 - 2030 UTC |
| Monday | 6th April 2015 | 80m Club Championship Contest (CW) | 1900 - 2030 UTC |
| Tuesday | 7th April 2015 | 144MHz UK Activity Contest | 1900 - 2130 UTC |
| Sunday | 12th April 2015 | 1st 50MHz Contest | 0900 - 1200 UTC |
| Tuesday | 14th April 2015 | 432MHz UK Activity Contest | 1900 - 2130 UTC |
| Wednesday | 15th April 2015 | 80m Club Championship Contest (SSB) | 1900 - 2030 UTC |
| Tuesday | 21st April 2015 | 1.3GHz UK Activity Contest | 1900 - 2130 UTC |
| Thursday | 23rd April 2015 | 80m Club Championship Contest (data) | 1900 - 2030 UTC |
| Tuesday | 28th April 2015 | 50MHz UK Activity Contest | 1900 - 2130 UTC |
| Tuesday | 28th April 2015 | SHF UK Activity Contest | 1900 - 2130 UTC except 2.3GHz 1930 - 2130 UTC |
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| Saturday-Sunday | 2nd-3rd May 2015 | May 432MHz - 248GHz Contest | 1400 - 1400 UTC |
| Saturday | 2nd May 2015 | 432MHz Trophy Contest | 1400 - 2200 UTC |
| Saturday | 2nd May 2015 | 10GHz Trophy Contest | 1400 - 2200 UTC |
| Monday | 4th May 2015 | 80m Club Championship Contest (SSB) | 1900 - 2030 UTC |
| Tuesday | 5th May 2015 | 144MHz UK Activity Contest | 1900 - 2130 UTC |
| Sunday | 10th May 2015 | 70MHz CW Contest | 0900 - 1200 UTC |
| Tuesday | 12th May 2015 | 432MHz UK Activity Contest | 1900 - 2130 UTC |
| Wednesday | 13th May 2015 | 80m Club Championship Contest (data) | 1900 - 2030 UTC |
| Saturday-Sunday | 16th-17th May 2015 | May 144MHz Contest | 1400 - 1400 UTC |
| Sunday | 17th May 2015 | 1st 144MHZ Backpackers Contest | 1100 - 1500 UTC |
| Tuesday | 19th May 2015 | 1.3GHz UK Activity Contest | 1900 - 2130 UTC |
| Thursday | 21st May 2015 | 80m Club Championship Contest (CW) | 1900 - 2030 UTC |
| Sunday | 24th May 2015 | 70MHz Cumulative Contest #3 | 1400 - 1600 UTC |
| Tuesday | 26th May 2015 | 50MHz UK Activity Contest | 1900 - 2130 UTC |
| Tuesday | 26th May 2015 | SHF UK Activity Contest | 1900 - 2130 UTC except 2.3GHz 2030 - 2230 UTC |
The full 2015 RSGB contest calendars and rules for the above contests are available
here (HF)
and here (VHF).
OTHER UK VHF/UHF CONTESTS IN APRIL 2015 (by John G3XDY)
The UK Microwave Group 1.3/2.3/3.4 GHz Contest will take place on Sunday 19th April from 1000 - 1600 UTC. The rules are
available here.
OTHER EUROPEAN VHF/UHF CONTESTS IN APRIL 2015 (by John G3XDY)
A number of readers have commented on the recent absence of a link from the Newsletter to a coordinated IARU R1 VHF contest calendar
for 2015. In the current absence of such a calendar, the following links point to the individual organisations' calendars:
France
Germany
Netherlands
Belgium
Denmark
Czech Republic
Sweden
Switzerland
Spain
AGCW.
OTHER HF CONTESTS IN APRIL 2015 (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
144MHz UKAC
432MHz UKAC
1.3GHz UKAC
SHF UKAC
Overall UKAC
70MHz Cumulatives #1
432MHz AFS
80m Club Championship (data)
80m Club Championship (CW)
HF AFS (CW)
AFS Superleague 2014/15 Series complete
CLOCK CHANGE (by Quin G3WRR)
By the time you read this, the clocks will have either have gone forward, or will be about to do so. The consequence of this for the contest calendar is that, for series based events (eg. UKACs and 80m CCs), the time in UTC will be an hour earlier than for January - March. This ensures that the events continue to occur at the same clock time thus (hopefully!) minimising potential confusion.
PSK FREQUENCY ALLOCATION IN THE 80m CC DATA EVENTS (by Quin G3WRR)
Following reports of congestion in the PSK frequency allocation during the early 2015 80m CC data events, the March Newsletter contained an item requesting readers' views on its possible expansion. 61 inputs were received, and following these the CC has agreed that as from THE NEXT data event (on 23 April 2015), 3580 - 3590kHz is to be used for PSK, and 3590 - 3620kHz for RTTY. This information will also be promulgated on the UK HF CONTEST reflector, and the rules published on the CC webite updated, in the near future.
CONTEST COMMITTEE MEETING (by Quin G3WRR)
The Contest Committee held one of its twice yearly face to face meetings on 22nd March. The main focus of the meeting was an analysis of suggestions in the responses to the 2014 White Paper and suggestions sent directly to the CC by contesters since September 2014. The draft timeline is that the "2015 for 2016" White Paper will be made available for comment end April/early May, with a cutoff for comments during August, allowing analysis of the comments received and preparation of necessary rule changes by the end of the 2015 calendar year. Further information will be provided in due course.
REGISTRATION FOR HF (CW) NFD (by Quin G3WRR)
Registration for HF NFD is now open. One entrant has already registered (alright, I admit it - my own group). From this year, registration will
be performed on line, as has been the case for VHF NFD for a number of years. The on line registration form is available via the NFD rules
web page or here. It will be necessary this year for intending participants to
enter all the necessary information even if it is the same as in previous years. However it is hoped that in future years a "same as last year"
option will be available as previously possible with the manual system. Registration remains open until 10th May, but why not do so now while
it's in your mind? All regulars, previous entrants and first timers welcome!
ECLIPSE QSO PARTY (by Quin G3WRR)
Well, the eclipse has been and gone - hopefully you had a better view of it than I did here in South London where it was heavily overcast
throughout and all that was really experienced was a considerable darkening of the sky: at least there was nothing visual to keep me
out of the shack! I just hope that two of my in-laws (who went to Iceland specially to see it) had better luck....
So far 33 logs have been submitted to the robot, several of which were from overseas stations - including a W1! Initial feedback is that a very
significant increase in signal strength on MW AM signals was apparent, and that this was also noticeable on LF band signals. When all
the data is in and has been analysed, a more detailed report will be included in a future Newsletter issue.
SPONSORSHIP OF RSGB CONTEST AWARDS (by Quin G3WRR)
Although most of the RSGB contest awards consist of trophies / cups / plaques that are awarded annually and passed from one year's
holder to the next (or retained by HQ), there are a number of annual awards (eg. for IOTA and BERU) consisting of plaques that are retained by the winner.
The CC is looking for new sponsors for existing awards of this type. Anyone interested in such sponsorship please contact the Trophy
Administrator at trophies@rsgbcc.org.
AND FINALLY
That's all for this month - good contesting to you all!
73, Quin G3WRR
For RSGB Contest Committee