These are some of the most popular RSGB Contests in the calendar, supported by radio societies from all over the country. If you thought that the Club Championship contests were fun, you will really like these events.

The oldest of these three contests takes place on 160m. You may think that Top Band is impossible, because of space limitations. But amateurs have been active on 160m for many years using antennas which simply take advantage of all available garden space -- see what you can put up and then join others in the Club Calls Contest!

Some societies use these contests as a way of encouraging new licensees to operate under appropriate supervision. Those who are participating more competitively are asked to be patient with newcomers, who may not be as experienced in contesting. In the 80m CW AFS, there is a "QRS Corral" -- everyone must reduce speed to give slower operators a chance to participate and develop their Morse skills.

Be careful on 160m -- the legal power limit in the contest is 32W. The Contest Committee monitors the band for signals which appear be unreasonably loud.

NOTES:

(a) The frequency limits on 80m have been modified so as to comply with Contest-preferred sub-bands in IARU Band Plans.
(b) On 160m, societies are encouraged to use special club prefixes. It is advantageous to do so, because it attracts callers who can immediately recognise a high-value bonus.
(c) The specification of a club's "Normal (or Usual) Meeting-place" has been replaced by the requirement to define a club's "Virtual Meeting Place".
(d) Rules which relate only to the Club Calls Contest (1.8 MHz AFS) are shown in green

1. Basic Information

(a) The scores of Affiliated Societies in these contests will contribute to the AFS Super League 2013-14 (80m) and 2014-15 (160m).

(b) The RSGB General Rules apply to these contests

(c) Contest Call Signs (SCC) are not permitted in these contests, even for entrants who hold a valid NoV from OFCOM.

(d) Dates:

80m CW: Sunday 12th January 2014. The Sunday of the 2nd full weekend in January each year.
80m SSB: Saturday 18th January 2014. The Saturday of the 3rd full weekend in January each year.
160m SSB: Saturday 8th November 2014. The 2nd Saturday in November each year.

(e) Time: 80m CW and SSB: 1400 - 1800 UTC. 160m SSB: 2000 - 2300 UTC.

(f) Frequencies:

80m CW: 3510-3560 kHz. Entrants must reduce speed around 3555 kHz to accommodate slower CW operators.
80m SSB: 3600-3650 kHz and 3700-3775 kHz
160m SSB: 1870-1990 kHz.

Note: On SSB, the lowest "carrier" (dial) frequency to stay within the sub-bands must be:
       3602 kHz for the sub-band 3600-3650 kHz,
       3702 kHz for the sub-band 3700-3775 kHz,
       1872 kHz for the sub-band 1870-1990 kHz.

(g) Exchange: RS(T) plus serial number. The Club Calls Contest (160m AFS) requires additional information -- see Rule 3

2. Societies and Entrants

(a) Any Society which is affiliated to the RSGB may take part, by entering one or more Teams of up to 4 stations. Teams will be designated (for example) Anytown Radio Society Team A, Anytown Radio Society B, and so on. The adjudication software will allocate the four highest scoring stations to "Team A", the second highest scoring to "Team B", etc.

(b) The operators of each station must be members of the Society they represent. Operators are not required to be members of the RSGB.

(c) Each Society must specify its Virtual Meeting Place -- a point from which distances are measured. The Virtual Meeting Place is simply a reference point chosen by the Society which need not have any actual connection with the club's activities. Clubs must notify the UK Postcode or 6-digit QTH locator of their Virtual Meeting Place by email to afs.query@rsgbcc.org. This notification must be done before the first relevant contest entry of each calendar year (probably one of the 80m AFS contests in January), and the Virtual Meeting Place specified will be used for all contests as necessary for the rest of that year. The previous data for Usual (or Normal) Meeting Place will be used if the notification is not made. The Virtual Meeting Place will be used for all HF and VHF AFS contests, as well as for clubs entering the Local Category of the 80m Club Championship and the 80m Sprint contests. The currently held address information can be viewed and verified during AFS log submission.

(d) Please note that it is not considered to be in the spirit of the contest for a station to make contact principally with members of its own Society.

(d) Where a Society has Branches, e.g. R.N.A.R.S., it may define a separate Virtual Meeting Place for each Branch, and the Team(s) entered by each Branch will be considered to be separate from those entered by other Branches, except in respect of affiliation.

(e) Stations may be single or multioperator. A station may represent only one Society or Branch.

(f) All stations representing a Society must be located within a radius of 80 km of the Society's Virtual Meeting Place, and be within the UK. Stations must state the UK Postcode or 6-digit QTH locator of their location for the contest being entered when submitting their entry to the contest Robot.

4. Logging and Scoring

(a) On 80m CW and SSB the scoring is 10 points per contact, for both UK and non-UK stations. On 160m, the scoring is shown in rule 3(f).

(b) Online entries must be submitted to http://www.rsgbcc.org/cgi-bin/hfenter.pl by the date specified in the RSGB General Rules. Logs must be uploaded individually, using an AFS Club Name chosen from the list on the contest entry robot.

(c) Individual entries for 80m CW and SSB may alternatively be submitted via the QSO entry web page http://www.rsgbcc.org/cgi-bin/hfcover.pl. A post-contest log entry may also be prepared using SD by EI5DI.

(d) Cabrillo log formats for these contests:

Example of 80m AFS CW Contest log.

Example of 80m AFS SSB Contest log.

Example of Club Calls Contest (160m) log.

Further information regarding the Cabrillo Format

5. Results and Awards

A table of entrants' individual results is published, together with a table of Society Team results. The highest scoring Team for each Society will have the results normalised and entered into the AFS Super League.

In the 80m CW AFS, the Edgware Trophy is awarded to the leading team, and the Marconi Trophy is awarded to the operator or operators of the leading individual station.

In the 80m SSB AFS, the Flight Refuelling ARS Trophy is awarded to the leading Team, and the RSGB Lichfield Trophy is awarded to the operator or operators of the leading individual station.

In the Club Calls Contest (1.8 MHz AFS) the David Hill, G4IQM, Memorial Trophy is awarded to the leading Team, and the Ariel Trophy is awarded to the operator or operators of the leading individual station.

Certificates are awarded to the top three stations in the Individual listing, and to the top three Affiliated Societies in the Society Team listing