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RSGB HF Contesting Guide.

What are Contests?
Contests for Beginners
80m Club Contests
Field Day Contests
Affiliated Societies Contests
Other RSGB Contests
non-RSGB Contests
Computers
The Internet
Hints and Tips

Introduction

What are contests?
Contests are sporting competitions between amateur stations on specific bands and modes according to published rules. This contest guide specifically refers to HF contests, but many of the guidelines apply equally to contests on VHF/UHF.

Why take part?
Competition is fun and encourages entrants to stretch themselves and their stations to the limit. Contests are all about efficient operation. You can often tell a contest operator on a band because he is the one working DX quickly, or persevering through difficult conditions. He doesn't waffle, or give up entirely when things get difficult. His station is designed to cope well with both strong and weak signals and to be operated comfortably at speed, with controls, writing area and accessories all to hand (many of the best stations around were set up to compete in contests or other competitions - including DXing). Last, but not least, HF contests create and renew friendships among participants. Ask any Commonwealth Contest entrant about that!

How would I enter a contest?
The first step is to read the contest rules online www.rsgbcc.org/hf, QST, CQ Magazine, Practical Wireless etc. If you find a contest is going on but can’t find the rules, listen carefully to other entrants and make a note of the information they are exchanging (usually callsigns, reports and serial numbers). Make contact with entrants and pass them the required information. Carefully log times, callsigns, reports and any other information such as serial numbers sent and received. At the end of the contest, prepare your log entry file and send in your entry!

What are multipliers?
The final score in many contests is made up of the total of QSO points on each band, multiplied by the total number of countries worked on each band. This is an example of a multiplier. So if you work the USA on four bands, that counts as four multipliers.

What happens to my entry?
The adjudicator scrutinises all the entries, looking for details missed or logged incorrectly. They check for unmarked duplicate contacts and mathematical errors, and cross check as many of the contacts as possible against other entries and check-logs. They tabulate the checked scores to identify the overall winners and winners in individual sections, which are published on the rsgbcc web site. 

Adjudication of a major contest can take many hundreds of man-hours so please consider this when submitting your entries.  Remember, RSGB events are all adjudicated by unpaid volunteer members of the Contests Committee, who give up their spare time so that you can enjoy contesting.

Contests for Beginners

Can I enter a contest by myself?
If you want to get stuck in and have a go in a contest from home, there are plenty of events to choose from, probably the best for a newcomer are the 80m Club Championships. The RSGB Contests Committee organises all types of events. You might also care to participate in contests run by overseas societies or magazines. Some contests are restricted to particular types of station, e.g. QRP or Portable, and you may not be allowed to enter these events. Entrants may usually work you for points, however, and the adjudicators always welcome as many entries as possible. Most contests take place at weekends. To find one in progress just keep a listen out for lots of rapid exchanges of reports and serial numbers or other codes. Before you transmit, listen to find out who is working whom and what information is being exchanged (or look up the rules). Then get going! Aim to be clear and precise. Don't give name, QTH and details of the weather, or ask a DX station for QSL information which can usually be obtained from other sources. If you’re on CW, don’t be afraid to ask the other station to QRS (slow down) if you can’t cope. All good operators will respond to such a request.

How do I enter a team contest?
If you want to participate in a group entry, why not go and help your local radio society enter a Field Day or an 80m CC or AFS contest. Clubs are often very grateful to receive enthusiastic assistance with team events. General helpers are just as important as operators, so you will be very welcome to take part even if you do not wish to operate at first. If you aren’t a member of your local club you really don’t know what you’re missing. Contact the Secretary or another official for information - club addresses may be had from the RSGB web site or from the yearbook. Go along, learn how contests work and, most of all, ENJOY YOURSELF.

Why do events sometimes clash?
All the large international contests, by definition, involve amateurs around the world. The largest ones attract thousands of entrants and tens of thousands of participants. Since HF signals are audible world- wide under suitable conditions, this generates a considerable amount of traffic. Contest organisers go to some lengths to ensure that contests do not clash by publicising their proposed dates well in advance, including via the IARU. However, this is a free world and organisers cannot be bound to avoid a certain date simply because another group has arranged an event. In practice, major contests tend to retain the same relative dates from year to year (e.g. HF NFD is on the first weekend in June, and has been for many years) whereas minor contests are sometimes brought forward or postponed to avoid any large ones. Purely national contests are usually scheduled for bands/times when propagation is very limited, and most contests are single-mode. In addition, the WARC bands (10/18/24 MHz) are kept entirely contest-free, as a haven for non-contesters.

80m Club Contests

What are the 80m CC Contests?
These contests were introduced in 2004 and have been a great way of involving as many club members as possible, and getting many newcomers to try their hands at contesting. The events last for 90 minutes and are held on weekday evenings. As each session is short,  there is little of the stress of major events, but all the fun. Some overseas societies run low-key events called "Activity Periods" or "QSO Parties". There are usually awards for the winners, but the emphasis is on the social aspects of contacting other participating stations rather than amassing lots of points - these events are very suitable for novices.

When do they take place?
The 80m CC events start in January and run through to July. They are held on Monday, Wednesday and Thursday evenings - Tuesdays are reserved for the UKAC contests which take place on 6m, 4m, 2m and 70cm. There are two sections, QRP for power up to 10w, and Low Power for power up to 100w. 

What is involved in each session?
During a session contest exchanges are made as usual. Participants exchange report and serial number. Duplicate contacts with a given station in any one session do not count for points, but since each period is a contest in its own right you can claim points for a contact with the same station in each of the sessions. Non- participants, including overseas stations, may not send you all the information (e.g. no serial number) but this is no problem. In RSGB HF contests (unless the rules specifically prohibit it), provided you send all the required information to them and log correctly the callsign, incoming report and any other information which they may send you may still claim points for the contact. If on the other hand the contact was not completed, you cannot claim points simply for having sent information to the other station.

What happens after the contest?
Score each session separately according to the rules, and send your log by email or complete the online log entry page. Make sure your entry is sent within seven days of the contest. If you are a member of an RSGB affiliated society, make sure to give the club's name with your entry. There is no limit on how many club members may send in contest entries to count towards their club's total

How do I start?
As with any contest, the best place to start is to read the rules and be sure you fully understand what is required. If you are not comfortable with computer logging, it is a good idea to prepare log sheets with your serial numbers already written in (starting from 001) to save time once the contest starts. If you use a computer for the contest, make sure you are familiar with how to use the program before the contest starts. Try not to rush your first attempt, but take time to listen to the other contestants’ exchanges and get a feel for how to send the information clearly and efficiently. Speed will come with practice.

HF Field Day Contests

What is a Field Day (FD)?
Field days were originally intended to test the ability of amateur radio groups to operate under emergency conditions, using temporary stations and portable power sources, as might be necessary after a natural disaster. When radio was still at an experimental stage almost all equipment was home made. Nowadays commercial transceivers are the rule but some ancillary equipment, particularly the ATUs used in field day, are often home-brew.

What do Field Days involve?
There are two HF Field Days: National Field Day (160 to 10m CW) and SSB Field Day (80 to 10m). In addition, the Low Power Contest in July has a portable section. They all require RSGB members to operate ‘portable’ stations; permanent structures (buildings) may not be used to house the stations or hold up aerials, so entrants usually operate in tents, cars or caravans in fields, using tubular masts, mobile towers or trees as antenna supports and with power supplied from portable sources (generators, batteries etc., not the mains). Bonus points or multipliers may be scored for contacts with other portable stations or with new country prefixes, depending on the specific rules. There are different sections in each event such as open or restricted entries (restrictions on power or aerials) - details are published with the rules.

When are they?
NFD is held on the first weekend in June, SSB FD on the first weekend in September (the same weekend as the 144MHz Trophy Contest) and the Low Power contest is held in  July. In ‘portable’ contests, stations may only be assembled, aerials erected etc. within 24 hours of the start of the contest. In NFD and SSB FD equipment is often taken to the field late on Friday afternoon, when there may just be time to erect some antennas before dark. Station assembly is completed on the Saturday morning, leaving just enough time for testing before the event starts. The contests proper run for 24 hours. The Low Power Contest is shorter and there are two operating periods with a lunch break between. In addition, of course, there is a lot of preparation to do before each contest - collecting, building and testing rigs, aerials etc., and practising operating techniques.

What happens during the contests?
Most stations are operated under the guidance of a station organiser, according to a rota. Operators may be changed every two hours or so throughout the 24-hour period. During their time off, everyone takes a share of the collective duties, which may be anything from refuelling the generator to cooking, making tea and coffee or keeping cows away. Some groups set up their stations in parks or other public places and then one or two members are usually detailed to deal (politely) with inquisitive members of the public!

How do I get involved?
Your local radio club is probably the best place to find out about entries in your area since Field Days are group contests. Contact the club secretary or contest manager for more information. If your club doesn't enter field day at the moment, ask who is interested at the next meeting and you may find several like-minded people willing to have a go. Further guidance is available from the HFCC if needed.

Affiliated Societies (AFS) Contests

What are AFS Contests?
There are four RSGB AFS contests each winter. They involve ‘teams’ of operators belonging to RSGB-affiliated societies (though not necessarily all RSGB members) who operate on behalf of their group. You may already have entered the 2m or 70cm AFS contests on SSB or FM. Both the HF AFS contests are held on 80m, CW and SSB. Both AFS events usually attract around 250 stations, representing 100 or so affiliated societies, and they are one of the best-supported UK contests. In contrast to the usual multi-operator contests, HF AFS teams usually consist of a number of club members who operate their own stations at home. Their scores are then added together to arrive at the team total.

When are the HF AFS Contests held?
CW HF AFS takes place on the second Sunday in January. It lasts for four hours during the afternoon and, being a national contest, is timed to reduce interference to overseas amateurs. SSB HF AFS takes place on the Saturday afternoon following the CW event.

What sort of station do I need in order to take part?
Anyone can make a useful contribution to AFS - every year entries are received from Novices and other QRP stations sometimes using as little as 1W output power, a direct-conversion receiver and a small wire or vertical antenna. If you don’t make the ‘A’ team, you may be the leading entrant in the ‘B’ team. If you are not a member of a club (perhaps you should consider joining one!!) why not go on and have fun anyway. Send in your log as an independent checklog. You will assist the adjudicators and receive the proper credit in the contest report.

What happens during the contests?
Contest exchanges consist of callsign, signal report and a three-digit serial number starting at 001. An aspect of the CW contest which is of particular interest is the ‘QRS Corral’ around 3580kHz. This is a section of the band which is set aside for the exclusive use of stations sending at comparatively low speeds (12wpm or less) in order to encourage less experienced operators to take part and support their club. Notwithstanding, you can always ask another station to slow down by sending "QRS". Do not be afraid to use this request as mistakes caused by excessive speed can cost points. All good operators should automatically attempt to match their speed to that of the person calling them.

What happens after the contest?
Each operator completes the contest and prepares their own entry individually before passing their log to the person who is responsible for the club entry (perhaps the secretary or contest manager). That person assigns the individual entrants into teams, adds up the claimed team scores and prepares a team summary sheet. They then send all the logs in one package to the adjudicator for marking.

How can I take part?
Get in touch with the contest manager or secretary at your local club to find out if they intend to take part in the next AFS contests. If not, why not organise an entry yourself? Coerce as many people as you can into having a go on behalf of the club and make sure they are all aware of the rules. After the contest ensure all entrants have submitted their logs to the robot and also send an email confirming the  team composition.

Other RSGB HF Contests

IOTA Contest: This is now a major international contest. Based around the RSGB IOTA Awards programme, you may work anyone but score premium points and collect multipliers for contacts with IOTA islands. The contest is at the end of July on 80 to 10m CW and SSB.

Single and dual band contests: A variety of single and multi-operator, CW and SSB contests take place on specific bands - 1.8MHz CW (Feb & Nov) and 21/28MHz (Oct). These events are suited to novice and experienced contesters alike. They are also open to overseas entrants and the 21/28Mhz event includes single and multi operator sections .

Commonwealth Contest (March): This is a contest for DX enthusiasts which involves contacts between stations in the British Commonwealth and is a good opportunity to work stations with rare prefixes on 80 to 10m CW. Signal strengths from the more distant countries are often poor and good, low-angle antenna systems are advantageous. Even so, success can be had with the smallest of stations. This contest, which dates back to 1932, used to be called the "British Empire Radio Union" contest which is why so many entrants call "CQ BERU".

ROPOCO (April and August): ROPOCO stands for ROtating POst COdes. For the first contact you send your own postcode and receive one back; in subsequent contacts you send the postcode you have just received and receive a new one in return, thus passing them on around the participants. These Sunday-morning 80m CW contests require great care in receiving, logging and sending accurately.

Club Calls Contest (November): This topband team contest developed out of the Verulam ARC’s ‘Clubs Contest’ and aims to promote social contact between club members and to activate club callsigns. Clubs, club members or individuals may enter using any mode. Foundation and Intermediate licence-holders are encouraged to operate the club call under the supervision of Full licensees.

Top Band DF Contests (throughout the year): In Direction Finding (DF) contests, entrants attempt to locate hidden transmitters by triangulating bearings taken with special portable DF receivers which have highly directional aerials. The first operator to locate all the transmitters in each session is the winner. The transmitters are often cunningly concealed in open country and their signal strengths may well be deliberately adjusted in order to deceive the hunters as to their distance from the start. Finding them requires not only considerable technical skill but also a degree of physical fitness and acceptance of discomfort. 

Other specialist contests (throughout the year): Other special-interest groups affiliated to the RSGB organise their own events. These include RTTY and SSTV contests, WAB contests and events for members of groups such as RNARS and FOC. The rules and results are generally published by the groups concerned and often appear in summary form in the HF News column of RadCom.

HF Contest Championship (yearly, Jan - Dec): This is not a specific contest in its own right but involves participation in a number of single-operator HF events during the year. The events concerned are listed in the rules. In order to qualify for the championship it is necessary to enter at least two of the events - qualifiers' callsigns are put forward for inclusion automatically. A qualifier’s championship points for each event they enter are calculated on the basis of his score expressed as a function of the score amassed by the event’s winner, multiplied by a ‘difficulty’ factor for each contest. To win the Championship requires consistently good performances and represents a great overall effort.

Non-RSGB International HF Contests

Can I enter non-RSGB contests?
In addition to the RSGB events detailed in this publication, most other national societies and amateur radio organisations have their own HF contests, many of which are open to all comers. In general they take place at weekends and the normal exchange is report and serial number, so casual entrants can usually participate. The exceptions are those events which specify contacts within the same country/ society (contacts with overseas stations or non-members although ‘permitted’ do not count for points - so entrants will avoid you if you call them!). Some contests use special exchanges like WAB locators - to enter these it is necessary to know the correct information to send. If you cannot find a copy of the rules or figure it out from the information being exchanged you can always try asking one of the entrants (don’t pick the station who is working a pile-up! Find someone who is not likely to be one of the winners - you stand a better chance of getting a reply).

What about the rules?
Brief summaries of the rules of most major international contests are published in the HF News section of RadCom but anyone intending to make a serious entry is advised to contact the organisers directly for the full rules. The RSGB awards trophies for the UK winners of some overseas contests and these are presented annually at the HF Convention. There follow brief descriptions of some of the major overseas events:

CQ World-wide (CQWW) & World Prefix (WPX) Contests: CQ Magazine runs these major events annually on both CW and SSB. Each is a full weekend (48hrs) long on each mode and literally thousands of amateurs enter. CQWW usually provides great opportunities to work rare countries, often activated by "DXpeditions" who go there specifically to operate in the contests. In CQWW the contest exchange is signal report and "CQ Zone", which for the UK is ‘14’. DXCC Countries and CQ Zones worked on each band (160 - 10m) count as multipliers. In the WPX contests, scoring is by multipliers for each prefix, rather than country... G3IFB and G4iFB would be counted as different prefixes (multipliers). This contest is unusual in that multipliers may be counted only once, regardless of band. The full rules are published in CQ Magazine, and a comprehensive summary in RadCom.

ARRL DX contests: The Amateur Radio Relay League organises major DX contests on SSB and CW. These events, where the rest of the world works the 48 mainland US states plus Canadian provinces on all six bands 160 to 10m, are as popular as CQWW. US/VE stations send report and State/Province while all other stations send report and power output. The multiplier is the number of states/provinces contacted on all bands. ARRL also run contests on 160m and 10m.

IARU HF Championship: The International Amateur Radio Union runs this major event on all the HF bands in mid July. The RSGB Headquarters station GB5HQ is one of several stations around the world representing a country's national society. All such stations count as additional multipliers.

WAE DX Contests: Europe works the rest of the world. In this contest extra points can be earned by DX stations sending back to EU stations details of their previous QSOs (called QTCs). The rules are very complicated and anyone intending to enter should obtain a copy from the German national society (DARC) who organise the events.

Other Contests: Other societies throughout the world organise all sorts of contests, some of which are very well supported. The certificates and plaques to be won in many of these events are well worth the effort. The rules are almost always available through the HF News column in RadCom. Whenever space permits, advance warning of both RSGB and overseas contests is given in RadCom.

Computers in Contests

Computer logging
These days most amateurs have a computer in the shack, and very many use it to keep the station log. Most dedicated station loggers are not really suitable for anything other than casual contest logging, and it is better to install a dedicated contest logging program. If you are uneasy about logging directly to computer during the contest, most programs have a 'post contest' mode where the contacts can be entered afterwards, however it is worth developing experience in contest logging on a computer in 'real time' and some of the smaller contests such as the RSGB 80m events give an ideal opportunity for practice. 

Several programs are available which keep the log, enter the time of QSO using the computer’s internal clock, update the outgoing serial number automatically, and check for duplicate contacts in milliseconds. Most include both a CW sender which can key the transmitter via an interface, and send the outgoing exchange as well as CQ calls. Similarly for phone contests, the computer's sound card can be used as 'digital voice keyer' which helps greatly in reducing voice fatigue from repeated CQ calls. If you are using software which is programmed with the scoring rules for the contest all you have to do is enter the callsign and exchange. The computer determines whether it is a bonus or multiplier contact, works out the points to be claimed and often updates a running total display on screen. 

For Windows users the most common logging programs are SD by EI5DI, Win-Test, N1MM and Writelog. EI5DI's software has full support and correct scoring for all RSGB contests (with the exception of the Club Calls event), and Win-Test has specific support for many of the Society's contests, including the Commonwealth Contest although the authors, who are French, are not themselves eligible to enter!