144MHz Trophy 2015

In general the weather was kind to entrants though some reported wind and rain at times. While some entrants rated Saturday as the better day, the majority thought that conditions were better on the Sunday. Though at best the conditions were rated as average with some entrants rating them as poor.  Many stations, particularly in urban environments suffered with high noise levels. The numbers of entrants rose again this year, from 71 to 82, mainly in the six hour sections, continuing the healthy trend over the last four years.

In total nineteen countries appeared in the logs in one hundred and seven locator squares which included thirty one UK squares. There were 101contacts greater than 800kms of which 14 were greater than 900kms and only one exceeded 1000kms. Of these 101 DX QSOs, 62 were made from JO01, 13 from IO93, 7 from IO90 and 6 from JO00. These longer distances were worked into DL (42), EA (7), F (21), HB9 (1), OE (5), OK (15), OZ (5) and SP (3). There were two other interesting contacts between JO01 and IO89 and between IO86 and JO10 demonstrating another open path. The best contact was between G3M (JO01) and SN7L (JO70) at 1010kms. Many entrants commented on the lack of UK stations, particularly on the Saturday. However it is interesting to note that of the 1214 active stations, there were 417 UK stations, 378 DLs and 215 Fs.

For the third year European entry logs were used as part of the adjudication process. These comprised the following logs: DL(354), F(153), PA(25) and ON(4).  Interestingly a number of leading stations will note that a high proportion of their errors were identified from these logs! Logging standards showed a slight decline with 5.8% of all QSOs being disallowed. A number of leading stations lost less than 4% of their scores with a number losing less than 2%. The errors were spread across all elements of the exchange: callsigns 26%; received RS(T) 30%; received serial number 17%; locators 22%; and 5% not-in-logs. Simple checks prior to log submission would improve accuracy. UK stations with claimed scores of over 1000kms are a give away and usually caused by errors such as IO01 rather than JO01. Locators and countries not matching is another common error. Perhaps the most worrying error is the mis-copying of callsigns and the failure to log /P. Don't forget that you can access your UBN reports via the links in your log received email, the results email or viahttp://www.rsgbcc.org/ubn.shtml. Using these reports you will be able to see "the error of your ways" and improve your scores and positions in the future!

Congratulations go to:

• The Parallel Lines, G8P, who won the open section for the tenth year running to retain the Mitchell-Milling Trophy.
• Erik, G8XVJ/P, for winning the single operator (others) section and, as the highest scoring single operator, is awarded the Thorogood Trophy.
• Roger, G3MEH, who won the single operator (fixed) section for the third year running.
• Nigel, GW0IRW/P, who won the six-hour (others) section.
• Bob G1ZJP, operating as M1MHZ, who won the six-hour single operator fixed section.

These stations together with those identified in the results tables will receive certificates.

Roger - G4BVY