RSGB AFS 80m/40m Contests

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RSGB AFS 80m & 40m Contests

There are four HF AFS Contests annually - the Rules below apply to the AFS CW, SSB and Datamodes contests on 80m & 40m .
Click here for background information about these HF AFS Contests.
See separate Rules for AFS 160, and the three VHF/UHF AFS contests. If you have any queries about these rules, please email afs.query@rsgbcc.org

Changes for 2018:

(i) Local and General Club definition now the same in AFS, 80m CCs and Autumn Series

(ii) Remote operation clarified

(iii) Position certificates available

(iv) Multiple log uploads may be analysed for changes

1. Objective

To work as many stations as quickly and accurately as possible on two bands, preferably as part of a club team.

2. Date & Time

AFS CW - Sunday 7th January 2018, 1400-1800 UTC
AFS SSB - Saturday 13th January 2018, 1400-1800 UTC
AFS Datamodes - Saturday 20th January 2018, 1400-1800 UTC

3. Frequencies and Power

CW: 3510-3565 kHz - any speed, 3565-3570 kHz - 15wpm maximum speed.
7000-7040kHz
SSB: 3600-3775kHz, 7060-7200kHz
PSK63: 3580-3590 kHz; 7040-7045 kHz
RTTY: 3590-3620 kHz; 7045-7060 kHz

There are 3 Power sections:

(i) 400W (Datamodes - 100W max PSK63, 400W max RTTY)

(ii) 100W

(iii) 10W

A station may be contacted once for points on each mode, on each band. Only one signal may be transmitted at any one time.

4. Entrants and Sections

(a) Clubs entering these contests must be affiliated to the RSGB. A club may be represented by any number of stations, all of whom must be within the UK&CD. Teams consist of up to four stations. The adjudication process allocates the four highest-scoring stations for a club to "Team A", then the next four highest-scoring stations to "Team B", and so on.

RSGB Affiliated Societies must enter either the Local Category or the General Category for the whole of this contest series:

(i) Local Category. Entrants representing a Local Society must operate within a circle having an 80km radius - the centre being the Society's Virtual Meeting Place (VMP). Exceptionally, those whose home QTH is within the circle may operate from an alternative or temporary location elsewhere.

One of the officers of the Society must notify the adjudicators of the chosen VMP - specified by the UK&CD Postcode or 6-digit QTH locator, by email to afs.query@rsgbcc.org before any of the Society members enter an event of the series. In the notification email, Societies that have not already registered a VMP must state their chosen VMP, the Society's RSGB membership number and the Society's call sign. This VMP will be used in all HF and VHF contests in which the Society enters the Local Category. Entrants must state the UK&CD Postcode or 6-digit QTH locator of their location or home QTH, for each event when submitting their entry to the contest Robot.

(ii) General Category. Societies whose members' home QTHs cannot fit within an 80km radius circle, those that do not notify their entry category and those who prefer not to enter the Local Category, will be placed in the General Category.

(b) The operators in teams representing an Affiliated Society must be members of that Society, but need not be RSGB members themselves. RSGB members and Non-UK stations may enter as individuals.

(c) Where an Affiliated Society has Branches, it may define a separate VMP and enter a separate team, with a different name for each Branch.

(d) A list of Affiliated Societies that enter RSGB contests showing those that have registered a VMP and giving details of each Society's selection of Local or General categories for all relevant contest series, can be found here. Society selections of Local or General Categories will be carried over to future years, but not to other contest series, so please check the list for your society and use the notification email address to request any changes.

(e) If a Society finds it necessary to change their VMP, they should also use the notification email address for this. The new information will apply to contests that take place after the change. Please allow a week for a change to be implemented. Each Society is responsible for checking that a change does not exclude their members from representing the Society.

(f) Stations may be single or multi-operator. Multi-Operator entries by RSGB members may include non-member operators whose highest class of licence is Foundation or Intermediate. Special Contest Callsigns or Club Callsigns may be used. All stations are classified as Assisted.

(g) Operation must be from a single Station location where all transmitters, receivers, and antennas are located within a circle of a radius no greater than 500m. Remote receivers outside the Station location are not permitted.

(h) Remote operation of a station is allowed where the operator is situated within the same country on the DXCC list. Additionally an operator's home station, as shown in the licensee's licence documents, may be remotely operated from a location in another country. A remotely operated station must obey all station licence, operator licence, and category conditions. The callsign used must be one issued or permitted by the Regulatory Authority of the remote station location. The location of the Station must also comply with the requirements above.

The address of the operator must be included in the 'Address of Operator when operating Remote from Station Address' box on the Station Information Page and the address of the remote station must be included in the Cabrillo header 'ADDRESS:' box. The RSGB HF Contest Committee may place remotely operated stations in a separate results table.

(i) Members of the RSGB Contest Club who are not members of another participating Affiliated Society may enter any of the relevant contest series as representatives of the RSGB Contest Club - in the General Category. To join the RSGB Contest Club, you do not need any previous experience of contesting and you will not be obliged to enter any of the Affiliated Society events on behalf of the club. If you wish to join, or need more information, please register with the Club by sending your name, callsign and RSGB membership number by email to ContestClub@rsgbcc.org.

5. Exchange

RS(T) plus Serial Number starting at 001 and incrementing by 1, irrespective of band. Logging software may interleave serial numbers, but the same serial number must not be sent to two different stations.
If you are not sent a serial number, log a zero.

6. Scoring

1 point per valid QSO. Individual and team winners will be those with the highest total number of points irrespective of band splits.

In the Datamodes event, the same station may be worked once on PSK63 and once on RTTY on each band. The score in Datamodes events is the sum of the score on PSK63 and the score on RTTY.

7. Log Submission
and Adjudication

Submit in Cabrillo format here by 23:59:59 UTC on the day after the contest finishes. View the correct Cabrillo format for this contest.

Before submission, check that you have used the correct Cabrillo Mode Codes:
RTTY = RY, PSK63 = PS, SSB = PH, CW = CW.

Logs must be uploaded individually, using the appropriate AFS Club Name chosen from the list on the contest entry robot. If the robot finds format errors, it will reject the log and ask for resubmission of a corrected logfile. Second and subsequent log uploads may be subject to analysis of any changes that have been made.

If you have difficulties preparing or uploading your Cabrillo logfile, please contact the contest adjudicator to ask for assistance, before the submission deadline.

Adjudicated results will be online and will include online logfiles for all entrants.

Errors will incur penalties as outlined in the RSGB HF Adjudication Principles This penalty will be the loss of an additional 1 QSO point. The use of CAT control to log the correct frequency and mode is highly recommended - you will lose QSO points for frequency and mode errors.

8. Results and Awards

Three separate tables (400W, 100W, 10W) of entrants' individual results will be published. Team scores will be published for each Affiliated Society in separate tables for the Local and General category. Non UK&CD entries will be incorporated in the individual results table.

Awards for RSGB HF Contests are shown here. The trophies for this series of contests are for UK&CD entrants.

Certificates will be awarded to the leading team with four, three, two and one entrant.

A certificate may also be downloaded by all entrants showing their position in their entry section.

For single operator UK&CD entrants their scores from these three contests contribute to the RSGB HF Championship.

The highest scoring Team for each Local Club will have its normalised score entered into the AFS Super League - this combines scores for Local Clubs from seven AFS contests on HF, VHF and UHF.

9. Supplementary Rules

(a)		Any infringement considered to be outside the spirit of the contest may result in QSOs being disallowed, the entry being reclassified as a Checklog, or the entry being disqualified.
(b)		Self-spotting or asking to be spotted is not permitted.
(c)		Call signs logged must be the same as those exchanged over the air by the entrants during the QSO. Correction of logged call signs and exchanges after the contest, by use of any database, recordings, email or other methods, is not allowed.
(d)		All requests for contacts, responses to calls, and copying of call signs and contest exchanges must be accomplished during the contest period using the mode and frequencies of the contest.
(e)		You must send your callsign at least every 3rd QSO and no less often than once a minute .
(f)		Proof of contact e.g. an MP3 audio recording, may be required as part of the adjudication process.

10. Declaration

By entering any RSGB HF Contest you declare that:

(a)		Your station was operated strictly in accordance with the rules and spirit of the contest, within the conditions of your licence, and that the power output from your transmitter was no greater than that permitted in the section of the contest that you are entering.
(b)		You agree that decisions of the RSGB HF Contest Committee will be final in cases of dispute.
(c)		By submitting a log entry, entrants give the RSGB permission to score, amend, publish, republish, print, and otherwise distribute that entry by any means.

11. Adjudicator

CW: Iain M0PCB
SSB: Iain M0PCB
DATA: Simone M0BOX

Updated 28th April 2018