Radio Society of Great Britain. Official HF. Contest Results.

Results - SSB Field Day 2005.

Checklogs:
Individual checklogs gratefully received from: 2E0OVL, EA5GMA, EI7GY, F/G3MXH/P, GM0ADX, IZ6ASI, KA2BXH, K3ZO, M0GJH, M0RIA, ON/G3VQO/P
Field day logs from other Region 1 countries received thanks to Manfred, DK2OY.

* Certificates awarded

SSB Field Day 2005

On the first weekend in September each year hundreds of radio clubs all over Europe set up temporary HF stations for the IARU Region 1 contest. In the UK this takes the form of RSGB SSB Field Day. Although each country has its own organisation they all share roughly the same rules and timing. All stations taking part are portable and use no mains electricity. One of the fascinating aspects of the contest is the great variety of equipment that clubs choose to run. For example this year we had M0SCG/P who prided themselves on using all home constructed equipment in true Field Day style, and others used low power and a simple wire antenna. We even had one station set up in Cardiff Fruit Market. At the other end of the spectrum some stations were using beams at up to 100’, linear amplifiers and hefty generators. The RSGB contest has two sections in order to even the “playing field” for similar stations – the Restricted Section for single antennas and low power, and the Open Section for high power and no antenna restrictions.

SSB Field Day weekend in 2005 was warm and sunny throughout the UK. In fact some said it was “almost too hot”. The weather certainly helped keep spirits high, as it certainly wasn’t propagation putting a smile on people’s faces. The logs show that the HF bands were well below par with 10 metres hardly showing any activity. Murphy’s Law was working well as usual, with generators taking the most blame.

There was an increase in the number of entries again, up to 49 this year from 45 last. There was also an increase in the number of operators with over 265 listed, including many who are new to HF contesting. A few clubs were making their first entry for some years and many were taking the opportunity to train new operators. But some of the familiar calls from previous years were missing, as East Notts CG, G3TBK/P, noticed… “Missed several regulars like Lichfield”. In fact Lichfield’s call, G3WAS/P, did show up in several logs giving out some high serial numbers so someone clearly had a sense of humour. Also missing were G3GRS/P and G3IZD/P who both won certificates last year.

Results
Overall scores were slightly down this year with the poor conditions. However the Manx Kippers, GD0EMG/P,
managed to make 1474 QSOs with leading scores on the 80m and 20m bands. They take the Martlesham Trophy for winning the Open section. Their total of 194 multipliers is amazing under these conditions. Last year’s winners Bristol CG, G6YB/P, came close behind with 1359 QSOs, but they had fewer multipliers and take second place. They also made the top score on 40m. East Notts CG, G3TBK/P was the only other team to top the 1000 QSOs mark coming in third place. Addiscombe ARC, G4ALE/P, top the list on the 15m band. And finally Granta CG, M0CAM/P, made the best of the somewhat dead 10m band.

In the Restricted section Cray Valley RS, G3RCV/P, had a convincing win to take the G3PSH Memorial Trophy. In the process they took the top spot on the 80m, 40m and 10m bands. Basingstoke ARC, G3TCR/P, was in second place with a good score and a very low error rate. And it was that error rate that clinched it in their tussle with Hadley Wood CG, G4STV/P, who were close on their heels in third placed while winning the 20m and 15m bands in the Restricted section.

Band Conditions
Let’s hope that propagation improves over the next few years, but at the moment this contest depends on getting as much as possible out of the lower bands and picking off multipliers on the HF bands if and when they are open. But even with these poor conditions there was some DX to be found. Amazingly V55O/P in Namibia made over 1000 QSOs in the Region 1 Field Day including 55 QSOs with UK Field Day stations. They appeared in our logs on all bands from 80m through 10m.

One good indicator of DX conditions is the path to JA. Some years literally hundreds of JAs have been worked, as Field Day coincides with the All Asia contest. This year only 25 JA QSOs were made, all on 20m. But some other interesting DX was around on 20m with these appearing in a few logs: 3DA0TM, 7Q7, 9V1, A45, A61, A71, BG, BV, FR1AN, J44LAR, V51, VR2, VU2, YB4 and ZS. However no VKs and only one ZL were worked on 20m. Just a few exotic calls were logged on 15m, mostly from the south including: 5R, 9K2, FR1, VK8, VU, ZS5.

Some ZLs appeared on 40m, but most of the other DX was from the west in the shape of J44LAR, PY2, YV4, ZP. Several teams reported that 80m was noisy. So only a few QSOs with North America were made except at G6YB/P where their delta loop and beverage antennas pulled out 19 W and VE QSOs.

Logs
The quality of logs was good again this year. It seems that most clubs are now used to producing Cabrillo logs, possibly as a result of the success of the Club Championships. As in previous years I had access to over 200 check logs from other Region 1 Field Day contestants by swapping logs with DARC - thanks to Manfred, DK2OY. So adjudication could be more thorough than with just G logs. In fact 42% of the QSOs could be checked directly.

So what happens during the adjudication process ? Well, before anything can be done all the logs all have to be converted into the same format. This can be a lengthy process, so adjudicators are thankful when logs arrive in the prescribed Cabrillo format. All the QSOs can then be loaded into a database for checking. Where only one station has logged a particular call (usually called “uniques”) this is often found to be a miscopied or “broken” call. The correct call is usually obvious from similar calls in other people’s logs, or it can be found directly from the log of the station that was really worked. Sometimes a QSO does not cross-check with the other person’s log (termed “not in log” or NIL). Serial numbers are also cross-checked wherever possible. Where an error occurs credit for the QSO is lost, which can also lose a multiplier. If any team wants to see the list of errors they made, I will send it by email on request to the original submitter of the log.

Error rates varied a lot between logs. This may be due to the relative inexperience of some operators, or possibly local noise levels. As usual, the most common error is to miss the /P, but there was a new source of errors this year with the issue of short calls in Germany. This caused a lot of confusion with unfamiliar prefixes such as DA, DM, DN, DP, DQ, and DR appearing for the first time in this contest.

Many thanks to those who included soapbox comments and photos with their log. Details of equipment and antennas should be included in the “Soapbox” lines of the Cabrillo header. If you use the SD logging software, you will be prompted for this and the program will add lines to the Cabrillo file along with a band summary and claimed score.

Soapbox
One of the “delights” of Field Day contests is the challenge of the unexpected. As this comment from GM3BSQ/P shows, even the best laid plans can go horribly wrong… “We were prepared for the failure of our lighting generator as we had a second one on reserve. We were prepared for the failure of the 132' doublet with 450-ohm feeders - we had a G5RV on reserve. We were even prepared for the failure of the ATU as we had a spare. Nothing, however, could have prepared us for the invasion of thousands of crane files which picked this weekend to hatch out of the grass and share the tent with us!”.

Generator problems were all too common. M0CAM/P reports “The combined load of all the equipment and the linear almost stalled the generator at times, the brown-outs resetting rigs and PC's. We used the linear very sparingly, only using it to complete an occasional difficult QSO. We ended up running most of the time with 100W in the Open Section! … Apologies if you were on the end of a half-completed QSO!” And from G4HRC/P: “genny failed with 20 to go so decided to call it a day” while at G4FBS/P “Our generator drinks oil!”

However some were delighted with their set up, including G4NOK/P where: “All the equipment worked 199% with no breakdowns” - clearly a case of doubling up on everything. It looks like G4STV/P was less lucky “WX really kind. However the luffing rope on the tower broke and buried the beam. So had to change sections. Otherwise a very nice outing in the sun.”

The great weather and poor band conditions figured highly in soapbox comments, especially from the Restricted section stations who found it very difficult on the HF bands. An example from G3GWB/P: “Slow start, but with the nice weather - good fun! Where were the US stations? Didn't hear a single one. “ Well there were approx 720 QSOs with North American stations, which is well down on previous years, but the vast majority of these contacts were made by Open section stations with beams.

Some Open Section stations were wondering how to compete with the leading stations. M0CAM/P: “The problem was that we just weren't loud enough with 100W to run successfully. It's still hard to imagine how a working linear would see us treble our Q total and compete with the likes of GD0EMG/P & G6YB/P”. GW4CC/P: Very impressed with GD0EMG & G6YB QSO numbers. They must have some super antenna systems!.“ My feeling is that it is the combination of high antennas and location that makes the difference.

Many thanks to everyone who took part and made the contest such a success. Judging by the comments it seems that many people had a great weekend.