RSGB 80m Sprint Contests 2012

Changes for 2012:  These contests have been restored to two per month, with duration reduced to one hour.  Societies choose a Category to enter, with two tables and two sets of awards to win.  All members contributing to club scores must be operating within the UK.

Note: As an exception to the General Rules, the use of GQ, GO and similar prefixes will be permitted for entrants who have received a Notice of Variation allowing their use, for the period during which the NoV is valid.

A series of short Sprint contests to complement the 80m Club Championship events earlier in the year.  These events introduce different contesting skills through the ‘Sprint’ format. This requires stations to QSY often, and not maintain a ‘run' frequency.

1. Basic Information

Rules: The General Rules apply to this contest

Dates: August to November 2012 (see Calendar for Specific Dates)

Time: 19:00-20:00 UTC (August, September and October); 20:00-21:00 UTC (November)

Mode: CW & SSB: see table in the Calendar

Exchange: Other station’s callsign  + Sending station's callsign + Serial Number + Name

Each station may use only one name during each Sprint event.

A UK station is required to be at one or both ends of a QSO for it to be valid.

Non-UK: Stations operating outside the UK are welcome to participate, and their scores will be listed with UK stations in individual tables. These stations can also earn certificates by providing points to UK competitors. Scores from such stations do not contribute to club scores.

Contacts: Note that both stations must repeat both callsigns during their exchanges.

2. Categories for Affiliated Societies

These are weekday contests between Affiliated Societies who are represented by members in each event of the series. There is no limit to the number who can participate on behalf of their club, but all must be bona fide Society members. Entrants do not need to be members of the RSGB.

Societies entering the Sprints must decide to enter in one of two Categories. The Local Category is intended for societies which generally draw their membership from a limited geographical area. The General Category is intended for societies which are national, regional, or more contest-oriented, and which may have a geographically diverse membership. Societies which do not specify the category which they are entering will be placed in the General Category.

(a) Local

In the first contest of each year that a Society enters the Sprints, one of the logs submitted for the Society must specify its "Usual Meeting Place", stating its address and Postcode or Locator. However, Societies that have notified this location in the 80m Club Championships for the current year need not repeat the information.  The Contest Committee considers that the spirit of the contest for this Category can be met only if genuine meetings are held regularly at this location, and will offer a ruling in advance if requested.

Members representing their Society must operate from within a circle of radius 35km from the Usual Meeting Place. However, members whose nearest Affiliated Society has a Usual Meeting Place which is greater than 35km from their home address (as shown on their Ofcom validation document) may nonetheless operate from their home address when representing this Affiliated Society. Members must operate within the UK, and must state the Postcode or Locator of their station for the session being entered when submitting their entry to the contest Robot.

(b) General

Societies that do not meet the requirements of the Local Category must enter in the General Category. Members must operate from within the UK.

LOW:  100W maximum power at the transmitter output;
QRP: 10W maximum power at the transmitter output.

Entrants may change Section from one event to another.
Entrants may represent only one Affiliated Society in a session.
Stations may be single or multi-operator.

4. Frequencies

CW 3.520-3.570 (QRS Corral around 3.560)
SSB 3.600-3.650 & 3.700-3.775

5. Special QSY Rule

Stations soliciting a call, by sending CQ, QRZ?, or otherwise indicating that other stations may call them, are permitted to contact ONLY one station on the same frequency. They must then move at least 2kHz before calling another station or soliciting (CQ, QRZ?, etc.) other contacts.

Exception: If at least 5 minutes has elapsed since a station made a contact, that station may nonetheless call other stations or solicit calls on any frequency allowed in the contest.

6. Scoring

One point per contact.

7. Entries

Each session is a contest in its own right, and log entries must be submitted to http://www.rsgbcc.org/cgi-bin/hfenter.pl within seven days of the contest. So for example, for a contest on the 12th August, the deadline is 23:59:59 on the 19th August. Entries must be in the appropriate Cabrillo format for Sprints.

In order to count towards the total for an Affiliated Society, the Society name must be clearly indicated when the log is submitted to the contest Robot. Societies are advised to appoint a Contest Coordinator, who will check members' entries, to ensure that the correct format is used, that logs contain all required information and are submitted on time, and also that Local Category entries provide the required location information.