Contest Sections 2010

SO (Single Op Others)
. Single Operators not located at a fixed station address as defined in the SF section.
Stations entering in this section must use the /P, /A or /M callsign suffix as appropriate.

SF (Single Op Fixed)
. Stations must operate from permanent and substantial buildings located at the main station address as shown on the licence validation document. The spirit of the contest will be paramount.

R (Restricted Section of VHF NFD)
.
(i) The power output of any band must not exceed 100W PEP at the transmitter, except on 4m where output power is restrcited to 40W


(ii) The height of any part of the antenna's driven element must not exceed 10 metres above ground level.

(iii) Only one antenna per band may be used (i.e. no stacked, bayed or colinear arrays or switching between two or more antennas). A slot fed Yagi or Quad antenna is permitted. Dish or Backfire antennas must not exceed 2m diameter.

(iv) Operate on up to 4 bands from the following list:

50MHz (6m) 1400 to 2200 Saturday (all mode)

70MHz (4m) 0800 to 1400 Sunday (all mode)

144MHz (2m) 1400 Saturday to 1400 Sunday (all mode)

432MHz (70cm) 1400 Saturday to 1400 Sunday (all mode)

1.3GHz (23cm) 1400 Saturday to 1400 Sunday (all mode)

Stations entering in this section must use the /P callsign suffix.

Open (Open section of VHF NFD)
.
(i) Maximum output power as permitted by standard licence conditions.

(ii) General rules apply

(iii) Operate on any bands from the following list, but only the best 4 normalised scores will count to the final total:

50MHz (6m) 1400 to 2200 Saturday (all mode)

70MHz (4m) 0800 to 1400 Sunday (all mode)

144MHz (2m) 1400 Saturday to 1400 Sunday (all mode)

432MHz (70cm) 1400 Saturday to 1400 Sunday (all mode)

1.3GHz (23cm) 1400 Saturday to 1400 Sunday (all mode)

Stations entering in this section must use the /P callsign suffix.

O (Open)
. This section is for portable stations and multi-operator fixed stations.
Stations not operating from permanent and substantial buildings located at the main station address as shown on the licence validation document must use the /P, /A or /M suffix as appropriate.
Entrants may omit the suffix if using a Special Contest Callsign (e.g. G8P) where such callsigns are allowed in a particular contest by the Licence NOV.

M (Mix and Match Section of VHF NFD)
.
7.4 Mix and Match (M)

(i) A group can elect to place different bands into Restricted, Low-Power or Open sections. E.g. 4m in Restricted, 2m and 70cm in Open, and 23cm in Low Power. This decision must be made at registration time. At least one station must be in a different section to the other stations (e.g. 6m, 4m and 2m in the Open section, 70cm in the Restricted section)

(ii) Individual band entry will be tabulated in the appropriate main section, and a normalised score for the band produced on this basis.

(iii) The sum of the normalised scores will appear in a separate Mix and Match section table.

(iv) Operate on up to 4 bands from the following list:

50MHz (6m) 1400 to 2200 Saturday (all mode)

70MHz (4m) 0800 to 1400 Sunday (all mode)

144MHz (2m) 1400 Saturday to 1400 Sunday (all mode)

432MHz (70cm) 1400 Saturday to 1400 Sunday (all mode)

1.3GHz (23cm) 1400 Saturday to 1400 Sunday (all mode)

(v) Note that 2m, 70cm or 23cm stations entered in the Low Power section may be operated for no more than 16 hours during the contest period. Each rest period must last at least 1 hour.

Stations entering in this section must use the /P callsign suffix.

LP (Single Operator, Fixed, 25W - Single Antenna)
.
This section is open to single operator fixed stations using 25W or less output and a single antenna.
When applied to the VHF Championship, if a station enters some contests with high power or extra antennas, and some with low power and a single antenna, only the low power, single antenna scores will count towards the championship.

L (Low Power Section of VHF NFD)
.
(i) The power output on any band must not exceed 25W PEP at the transmitter, except on 4m where ther power must be restricted to 10W.

(ii) The height of any part of the antenna's driven element must not exceed 10 metres above ground level.

(iii) Only one antenna per band may be used (i.e. no stacked, bayed or colinear arrays or switching between two or more antennas). A slot fed Yagi or Quad antenna is permitted. Dish or Backfire antennas must not exceed 2m diameter.

(iv) Operate on up to 3 bands from the following list:

50MHz (6m) 1400 to 2200 Saturday (all mode)

70MHz (4m) 0800 to 1400 Sunday (all mode)

144MHz (2m) 1400 Saturday to 1400 Sunday (all mode)

432MHz (70cm) 1400 Saturday to 1400 Sunday (all mode)

1.3GHz (23cm) 1400 Saturday to 1400 Sunday (all mode)

(v) Each band may be operated for no more than 16 hours (except for 6m and 4m: see 7.3 (iv) above) during the contest period. Each rest period must last at least 1 hour.

Stations entering in this section must use the /P callsign suffix.

FSR (Fixed Station Sweepers Restricted)
.
(i) Open to fixed stations only. (See Section 3 of general rules for definition)

(ii) Scoring is 1 point per kilometre for each QSO.

(iii) The final score on each band will be the number of points multiplied by the number of QSOs made with stations in the list of "VHF NFD Registrations" on that band.
The list of registered stations can be found at http://www.rsgbcc.org/cgi-bin/vhfposted.pl?Contest=VHF%20NFD%20Registration

(iv) QSOs can only be established by replying to a station calling
"CQ" (Search and Pounce).

(v) The power output on any band must not exceed 100W PEP at the transmitter, except on 4m where output is restricted to 40W. Only one antenna per band may be used (i.e. no stacked, bayed or colinear arrays or switching between two or more antennas). A slot fed Yagi or Quad antenna is permitted. Dish or Backfire antennas must not exceed 2m diameter.

(vi) Operate on up to 5 bands from the following list.

50MHz (6m) 1400 to 2200 Saturday (all mode)

70MHz (4m) 0800 to 1400 Sunday (all mode)

144MHz (2m) 1400 Saturday to 1400 Sunday (all mode)

432MHz (70cm) 1400 Saturday to 1400 Sunday (all mode)

1.3GHz (23cm) 1400 Saturday to 1400 Sunday (all mode)

(vi) An award will be made to the leading Sweeper on each band and additionally bronze, silver and gold awards for contacting 50, 75 and 90% of registered NFD stations.

FSO (Fixed Station Sweepers Open )
.
(i) Open to fixed stations only. (See Section 3 of general rules for definition)

(ii) Scoring is 1 point per kilometre for each QSO.

(iii) The final score on each band will be the number of points multiplied by the number of QSOs made with stations in the list of "VHF NFD Registrations" on that band.
The list of registered stations can be found at http://www.rsgbcc.org/cgi-bin/vhfposted.pl?Contest=VHF%20NFD%20Registration

(iv) QSOs can only be established by replying to a station calling
"CQ" (Search and Pounce).

(v) Maximum output power as permitted by standard licence conditions. No antenna restrictions.

(vi) Operate on up to 5 bands from the following list.

50MHz (6m) 1400 to 2200 Saturday (all mode)

70MHz (4m) 0800 to 1400 Sunday (all mode)

144MHz (2m) 1400 Saturday to 1400 Sunday (all mode)

432MHz (70cm) 1400 Saturday to 1400 Sunday (all mode)

1.3GHz (23cm) 1400 Saturday to 1400 Sunday (all mode)

(vi) An award will be made to the leading Sweeper on each band and additionally bronze, silver and gold awards for contacting 50, 75 and 90% of registered NFD stations.

AR (UKAC Restricted)
.
The power output must not exceed 100W PEP at the transmitter, except on 4m where output power is restricted to 40W.
Only one antenna may be used (i.e. no stacked, bayed or colinear arrays or switching between two or more antennas). A slot fed Yagi or Quad antenna is permitted. Dish or Backfire antennas must not exceed 2m diameter.

AO (UKAC Open )
.
Maximum output power as permitted by standard licence conditions.
No antenna restrictions.

A (All)
. This contest has a single section for all stations, single or multi-operator, fixed or portable in any combination. Stations not operating from permanent and substantial buildings located at the main station address as shown on the licence validation document must use the /P, /A or /M suffix as appropriate. Entrants may omit the suffix if using a Special Contest Callsign (e.g. G8P) where such callsigns are allowed in a particular contest by the Licence NOV.

6S (6 hours Single Op Fixed)
. Rules as per section "SF" except stations may only operate for a maximum of 6 hours. Entrants may choose between any continuous 6 hour period in which to operate (e.g. 1500-2100, or 1917-0117) or alternatively split the 6 hour period into two segments separated by at least 1 hour off time.
If entering this section operation of the same station by the same operator(s) is not allowed outside the chosen 6 hour period.
Serial numbers must start at 001 for this 6 hour period, and you cannot enter both this section and the full contest.
In multi-band contests the same single 6 hour period must be used on all bands.

6O (6 hours others)
. Rules as per section "O" except stations may only operate for a maximum of 6 hours. Entrants may choose between any continuous 6 hour period in which to operate (e.g. 1500-2100, or 1917-0117) or alternatively split the 6 hour period into two segments separated by at least 1 hour off time.
If entering this section operation of the same station by the same operator(s) is not allowed outside the chosen 6 hour period.
Serial numbers must start at 001 for this 6 hour period, and you cannot enter both this section and the full contest.
In multi-band contests the same single 6 hour period must be used on all bands.

3B (3W Backpacker)
.
a) Duration: 4 hours.
b) Mode: All Mode
c) 3W maximum output from the transmitter
d) Single antenna with no more than 20 half-wave elements (or equivalent)
e) Antenna height: Driven element no more than 4m above the ground
f) No operation from a motor vehicle. The vehicle supply must not be used to power any equipment used during the contest or to recharge batteries for the equipment.
g) All equipment used during the contest must be battery, wind or solar powered.
h) Equipment must be carried and operated at least 100m from the transportation vehicle.
i) Stations entering in this section must use the /P callsign suffix

10H (10W Hill Toppers)
.
a) Duration: 4 hours.
b) Mode: All Mode
c) 10W maximum output from the transmitter.
d) One or more antennas with no more than 20 half-wave elements (or equivalent) in total.
e) Antenna height: Driven element no more than 6m above the ground
f) Operation from a motor vehicle permitted.
g) All equipment used during the contest must be battery, wind or solar powered. If equipment is powered from a vehicle supply, the engine must be switched off for the duration of the contest.
h) Stations entering in this section must use the /P callsign suffix.