Christmas Cumulatives 2014

Activity increased by 22 entrants this year (up 18 entries to 72 in single op fixed section and up 4 entries to 14 in the open section) and activity was pretty constant this year although it did tail off on 2m on the last day where last year in general the levels of activity increased. The weather was not fantastic for rewarding entrants with big tropo hauls but at least there were times where some enhancement was noted albeit brief.

Hopefully this will increase year on year as this is a really enjoyable set of contests and a real challenge. For many it is also an excuse to grab some shack time over the Christmas period.

Logging was variable but maybe some of the errors could be blamed on the sherry trifle etc. Common mistakes were O instead of zero and I instead of 1s. Also quite a few serial number errors where band swapping made keeping track of the band serials a real battle. I think the serial numbers really add to the amusement of this contest and numerous delays happened as stations had to pick the bones out of their logs.

The open section - Last year’s winners managing to retain the top slots again:

1st place were G3PIA/P – Ann and Mike (G8NVI in 2013). Winning 3 out of 4 bands increased their lead over 2nd place from last year.

2nd place were G8NEY – David and Pete. 50MHz and 70MHz were a struggle which hindered catching 1st place this year.

The single operator fixed section - A new top placed station:

1st place was G4ASR – David. Winning 2 of the 4 bands created an unbeatable margin this year.

2nd place was GW8ASD – Tony. The position was retained from last year but close on Tony’s heels were G4ZTR – John and G0XDI – Matt making it an extra challenge.

6m

Poor tropo and a lack of winter sporadic e meant a hard slog on all 4 days. G4ASR David managed to make the most of the bad conditions and on day 4 even worked into ON at over 500km.

4m

Again very poor tropo affected 4m and QSOs were hard to make with deep QSB noted by many. Considering the conditions GM to G and G to PA were worked at over 400km so not all doom and gloom for some.

2m

As usual 2m was very well supported and although tropo was flat a number of stations were able to bag QSO’s at over the 600km mark. G0BBB – Uri dominated the band and made numerous QSO’s over 600km showing what can be done on a flat band. 11 entries made over 50 QSO’s in a session showing the activity levels were good.

70cm

“QSB, QSB and then more QSB” was one of the comments I received and I totally agreed with this! Many stations found that QSYing from 2m was the best chance of bagging a few QSOs but those who were willing to CQ a while were rewarded with continental DX from DG1KJG – Juergen, DF2VJ – Luthar and PE1EWR – Frank to name a few.

The following stations also receive certificates:

Leading Foundation Station SF Section – M6HLR Lauren

Leading Foundation Station Open Section – M6EKA/P Graham

Leading Intermediate station SF Section – 2E0BMO Roger

Leading Overseas Station SF Section – PE1EWR Frank

Leading Overseas Station Open Section – F1BHL/P Jacques

Leading Fixed Station running 25W or less to a single antenna – G8LZE David

73 de G7RAU - Dave Edwards - g7rau@rsgbcc.org