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Special Contest Calls.

On 23rd February, Ofcom announced that the scheme was no longer limited to clubs and that individuals could now apply for special contest callsigns. See here for the Ofcom announcement.

THE HOLDER of any UK Full Class A club licence may apply for a special short contest callsign. The callsign consists of 'G' or 'M', a regional locator (if operating outside England), a chosen digit and a single chosen suffix letter, eg G0A, M9B, GM8C, MW7D etc. The contest callsign may only be used during the contests specified in the NoV, and at no other times.

Contest callsigns are valid within a fixed 3 year period at the end of which all clubs will need to apply to renew the SCC if you wish to continue using it. Callsigns issued part way through the current 3 year period will be valid for the remainder of the period only at which point they may be renewed. Callsigns that are not renewed are held over for the following 3 year period during which only the immediate past holder may re-apply for it. At the end of this period the callsign becomes available for any UK club to apply for on a 'first come first served' basis. Should your club wish to change its SCC it can only do this when the callsign comes up for renewal at the end of each 3 year period. The relinquished callsign will be held over for the following 3 year period at which point it will become available to all.

If you hold a club licence and would like to apply for a special short contest callsign, please contact Ofcom via this link http://www.ofcom.org.uk/radiocomms/ifi/licensing/classes/amateur/applications/ofw286.pdf

The list of valid contests is as follows:

• ARRL DX (CW and SSB).
• ARRL 1.8MHz (CW only).
• ARRL 28MHz (Multi-mode).
• ARRL RTTY Roundup.
• CQ WPX (CW, RTTY and SSB).
• CQ World Wide (CW, RTTY and SSB).
• CQ World Wide 160 (CW and SSB).
• IARU Championship (Multi-mode).
• RSGB IOTA (Multi-mode).
• WAE DX (CW, RTTY and SSB).   
• BARTG RTTY.
• Russian DX.
• IARU 50MHz Trophy (Multi-mode).
• IARU 144MHz Trophy (Multi-mode).
• IARU 432MHz - 248GHz (Multi-mode).
• March 144 / 432MHz Contest.
• May 432MHz - 248GHz Contest.
• November Marconi Memorial 144MHz Contest.

Current Special ContestCalls.