RSGB CENTENARY CONTEST AWARDS, 2013
To celebrate the
centenary of the RSGB in July 2013, two special contesting
awards are available. These require participation in
existing RSGB contests, providing an opportunity to earn a
specially-designed Centenary Commemorative
Certificate. The requirements are not too difficult
for seasoned contesters, but a particular emphasis from
the Contest Committee will be on attracting newcomers and
those who currently enjoy only the weekday evening
contests.
VHF Field Day Centenary Contest Award -- contest rules
The contest
lasts 24 hours, and takes place on the 6th and 7th
July, 1400-1400 UTC -- 3 p.m. Saturday to 3 p.m.
Sunday clock time. The objective of this event
is for groups to set up a station from scratch, using
some or all of these five bands -- 50MHz, 70MHz,
144MHz, 432MHz and 1.3GHz, with accommodation, power
and aerials brought in from outside. Everyone
who can is urged to join in with their local club and
help out in one way or another. Groups which
send in an entry are automatically eligible to earn
the Centenary Award.
Of course, not everyone will be able to
participate in this way, and there are two other
possibilities to earn the Award. Those who can
find a suitable location away from home can set up a
temporary (portable) station and enter. This could
be from a car on a local hill, or perhaps with a group
of friends using a more adventurous station with a tent
or caravan and a small generator. Those who wish
to operate from home can also do so by entering one of
the "Sweeper" Sections of the contest. An extra
rule comes into play here -- entrants in this section
must make all their QSOs by replying to calls from
other stations, so cannot call CQ themselves. In
this way, the essence of the contest -- to allow
genuine portable stations free rein on the bands -- is
preserved. The qualifications for earning the Centenary
Commemorative Certificate are straightforward.
Everyone who enters and submits a log of contest QSOs
will be eligible. Every QSO made scores
Centenary Points as follows: 50 MHz 3
Centenary Points
70 MHz 3 Centenary Points
144 MHz 2 Centenary Points
432 MHz 4 Centenary Points
1296 MHz 5 Centenary Points
Those who operate portable stations
must choose a suitable section, then submit their
entry in the usual way. Entrants do not need to
register unless also competing for VHF Field Day
Awards such as trophies. Fixed stations must
choose one of the FSO or FSR sections. A reminder --
contacts made from fixed stations may only be
established by replying to a station calling CQ, so
the "Search and Pounce" method applies to all QSOs
made in the FSO and FSR sections.
For questions about the contest and the Award, please email vhf.query@rsgbcc.org
RSGB IOTA (Islands on the Air) Contest Centenary Award -- contest rules
The contest lasts 24 hours and takes place on the 27th and 28th July, 1200-1200 UTC -- in the UK that's 1 p.m. Saturday to 1 p.m. Sunday clock time. Five HF bands are used -- 3.5MHz, 7MHz, 14MHz, 21MHz and 28MHz. Both CW and SSB contacts may be made, and each mode counts separately, so a station may be worked twice on each band, once on CW and once on SSB. There are sections for SSB-only and CW-only, either with high power or a 100 watt limit.
The objective of this event is for participants to contact stations around the world, with a particular emphasis on working stations operating from islands. UK participants have the advantage of being on an island, so others will be keen to make contact because of the extra points and potential multiplier available. Stations are also set up from islands specially for the contest, so there is always plenty of activity with opportunities to gain the award even for novice contesters.
The requirements for earning the Centenary Commemorative Certificate are as follows. Everyone who enters and submits a log of contest QSOs will be eligible. To qualify, simply make 100 QSOs along with 20 multipliers. A caveat -- QSOs may be disallowed because of errors in copying QSO information, so be sure to leave a margin, and to gain more than the bare minimum of contacts and multipliers.
For questions about the contest and the Award, please email iotacontest@rsgbcc.org
For those who are have not entered this contest before, there are some helpful hints here. These explain the bands you might choose, together with antennas and operating times that will help to maximise the number of QSOs and multipliers contributing to the Award. Good luck!