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    RSGB CONTEST COMMITTEE NEWSLETTER


    ISSUE 31

    DATE: AUGUST 2015


    CONTENTS:

    RSGB Contests in August 2015
    RSGB Contests in September 2015
    Other UK VHF/UHF Contests in August 2015
    Other European VHF/UHF Contests in August 2015
    Other HF Contests in August 2015
    Recent Results
    Notes of CC meeting
    Output from Presidential Review of Contesting
    Return of trophies
    Closing date for comments on 2015 White Paper
    Request for Field Day pictures
    VHF frequencies to avoid
    "And Finally" from the Newsletter Editor


    PREVIOUS NEWSLETTERS:


    2013 -- January, February, March, April, May, June, July, August, September, October, November, December.

    2014 -- January, February, March, April, April special, May, May special, June, July, August, September, October, October special, November, December, December upissue.

    2015 -- January, February, March, March special, April, May, June, July.




    RSGB CONTESTS IN AUGUST 2015 (by Quin G3WRR & John G3XDY)


    Saturday 1st August 2015 144MHz Low Power Contest 1400 - 2000 UTC
    Saturday 1st August 2015 4th 144MHZ Backpackers Contest 1300 - 1700 UTC
    Sunday 2nd August 2015 ROPOCO CW (3.5MHz) 0700 - 0830 UTC
    Sunday 2nd August 2015 432MHz Low Power Contest 0800 - 1200 UTC
    Tuesday 4th August 2015 144MHz UK Activity Contest 1900 - 2130 UTC
    Sunday 9th August 2015 70MHz Cumulative Contest #5 1400 - 1600 UTC
    Tuesday 11th August 2015 432MHz UK Activity Contest 1900 - 2130 UTC
    Wednesday 12th August 2015 80m Club Sprint Contest (CW) 1900 - 2000 UTC
    Wednesday 18th August 2015 1.3GHz UK Activity Contest 1900 - 2130 UTC
    Tuesday 25th August 2015 50MHz UK Activity Contest 1900 - 2130 UTC
    Tuesday 25th August 2015 SHF UK Activity Contest 1900 - 2130 UTC
    except 2.3GHz 1930 - 2130 UTC
    Thursday 27th August 2015 80m Club Sprint Contest (SSB) 1900 - 2000 UTC


       


    RSGB CONTESTS IN SEPTEMBER 2015 (by Quin G3WRR & John G3XDY)

    Tuesday 1st September 2015 144MHz UK Activity Contest 1900 - 2130 UTC
    Saturday-Sunday 5th-6th September 2015 SSB Field Day (SSB, 3.5/7/14/21/28 MHz) 1300 - 1300 UTC
    Saturday-Sunday 5th-6th September 2015 144MHz Trophy Contest 1400 - 1400 UTC
    Sunday 6th September 2015 5th 144MHZ Backpackers Contest 1100 - 1500 UTC
    Tuesday 8th September 2015 432MHz UK Activity Contest 1900 - 2130 UTC
    Wednesday 9th September 2015 80m Club Sprint Contest (SSB) 1900 - 2000 UTC
    Tuesday 15th September 2015 1.3GHz UK Activity Contest 1900 - 2130 UTC
    Sunday 20th September 2015 2nd 70MHz Contest 0900 - 1200 UTC
    Tuesday 22nd September 2015 50MHz UK Activity Contest 1900 - 2130 UTC
    Tuesday 22nd September 2015 SHF UK Activity Contest 1900 - 2130 UTC
    except 2.3GHz 1930 - 2130 UTC
    Thursday 24th September 2015 80m Club Sprint Contest (CW) 1900 - 2000 UTC
    Tuesday 29th September 2015 70MHz UK Activity Contest 1900 - 2130 UTC

    The full 2015 RSGB contest calendars and rules for the above contests are available here (HF) and here (VHF).

    Provisional HF and VHF calendars for 2016 are available here (HF) and here (VHF).





    OTHER UK VHF/UHF CONTESTS IN AUGUST 2015 (by John G3XDY & Dave G7RAU)


    The following UK Microwave Group contests take place this August:

    Sunday 16th August 2015 UK Microwave Group 24/47GHz Contest 0900 - 1700 UTC
    Sunday 30th August 2015 UK Microwave Group 5.7/10 GHz Contest0600 - 1800 UTC


    Also, for those who enjoy drinking at the Last Chance Saloon, don't forget that your final opportunity to participate in the UKSMG 2015 Summer Marathon is rapidly approaching, as the Marathon finishes on the first Sunday (2nd) August at 2359 UTC! The rules can be found here.



    OTHER EUROPEAN VHF/UHF CONTESTS IN AUGUST 2015 (by John G3XDY & Quin G3WRR)

    A co-ordinated calendar of IARU Region 1 VHF Contests for 2015 is available here.


    With thanks to Leon ON5WL, the rules of the 2015 ON Contest are given below:

    Rules for non-ON stations.

    The Mechelen (MCL) Club of the UBA invites all amateurs to take part in the ON Contest 2015.

    Dates and times : some times have changed:-
    * 27 September 2015: 7 to 10 UTC : 6 m Fone and CW
    * 4 October 2015: 6 to 10 UTC :80 m SSB
    * 11 October 2015: 6 to 9 UTC :80 m CW
    * 18 October 2015: 6 to 10 UTC : 2 m Phone and CW.

    Rules:
    * Only contacts with ON stations are permitted
    * Exchange : RS(T) + serialnumber starting at 001
    * ON stations also give their club code. e.g. 59001 MCL
    * Each QSO with ON counts 3 points
    * Each club worked gives one multiplier
    * In each part of the contest the winners from each country receive an award, if they made at least 25 valid QSOs
    * Cabrillo logs preferred
    * Send your logs not later than 3 weeks after the contest to:
    Welters Leon ON5WL
    Borgstraat 80
    B 2580 Beerzel
    Belgium.
    e-mail : ubaon@uba.be


    OTHER HF CONTESTS IN AUGUST 2015 (by Quin G3WRR)

    For more data on a wide range HF contests, the SM3CER website is a very useful source of information.

    Another useful source of HF contest information is at http://www.hb9dhg.ch , which can be reached by clicking here, and clicking on "Contest Calendar".


    RECENT RESULTS (by Quin G3WRR & John G3XDY)

    The following results have been published or updated since the previous Newsletter:

    50MHz UKAC
    144MHz UKAC
    432MHz UKAC
    1.3GHz UKAC
    SHF UKAC
    Overall UKAC

    70MHz CW
    May 144MHz
    70MHz Cumulatives #3
    50MHz CW
    70MHz Cumulatives #4

    80m CC (CW)
    80m CC (SSB)
    80m CC (data)

    VHF Championship
    VHF CW Championship



    MINUTES OF CC MEETINGS (by Quin G3WRR)

    Readers may wish to note that the minutes of the most recent CC meeting are now available, along with minutes of previous meetings, on the CC website here.


    OUTPUT FROM PRESIDENTIAL REVIEW OF CONTESTING (by Quin G3WRR)

    The formal output from the Presidential Review is now available on the RSGB website here.

    As expected, comments on the Review output are now appearing on the UK HF and VHF Contest reflectors (and perhaps elsewhere). Readers are reminded that, as explained in the May 2015 Newsletter, these reflectors are independent of the CC, and therefore if there is a matter you wish to raise for which you would like a CC reply, it should be raised with the CC direct - either with the appropriate CC member or by default with the CC Chairman at chairman@rsgbcc.org. This will become increasingly important because the CC workload will be significantly increased as we work through the Review recommmendations, and less time will be available for scanning external organs such as the reflectors.

    The CC intends, as part of the process of documenting and publishing the outcome of the Review follow-up work, to provide a commentary on the rationale behind the decisions made and to publish a second White Paper for consultation on the elements of the Review that directly affect the rules for 2016.


    RETURN OF TROPHIES (by Jacqui G6XSY)

    Please could anyone who has not yet returned their trophy to HQ please do so immediately to the address below:

    RSGB F.A.O. Joy Burrells
    3 Abbey Court, Priory Business Park
    Fraser Road
    BEDFORD
    MK44 3WH

    Many thanks, Jacqui G6XSY, RSGBCC Trophy Administrator (trophies@rsgbcc.org).


    CLOSING DATE FOR COMMENTS ON 2015 WHITE PAPER (by Ian G0FCT)

    Readers are reminded that the closing date for comments on the 2015 White Paper which will determine the changes to be incorporated in the rules for 2016 RSGB contests (7th August) is rapidly approaching! If you have any comments to make, please make them by then! The White Paper, which includes the e-mail address to which comments should be returned, is available here.


    REQUEST FOR FIELD DAY PICTURES (by Quin G3WRR)

    John G8IYS, the author of the VHF NFD article for RadCom, is requesting entrants' pictures from the event for potential inclusion in the article to accompany his words. Anyone with suitable pictures is asked to e-mail them to him at g8iys@rsgbcc.org.

    And I'll be opportunistic and thank those who have already sent me pictures from their HF NFD stations in June, but add that further pictures are always welcome to provide as broad a spread of candidate pictures as possible for inclusion in the HF NFD Radcom article. In the case of HF NFD of course, there is the added carrot that the more pictures are included in the article, the less of my prose you will have to read.... Pictures to g3wrr@rsgbcc.org please.


    VHF FREQUENCIES TO AVOID (by Quin G3WRR)

    This topic has been raised in a couple of recent issues of the Newsletter. This month's item updates previous threads and adds some new information:

    * VHF General Rule 1(b) has now been updated to refer to "centres of activity" as well as "calling channels"

    * following recent e-mail exchanges between adjudicators and entrants regarding the 6m DX window, it appears that there may be some misinterpretation of the term "intercontinental", perhaps due to uncertainty over the meaning of the prefixes "intra-" and "inter-": the former means "within" and the latter "between". Thus a contact between a G and an F would be an international contact but not an intercontinental one, as both G and F are within Europe: conversely, a contact between DL and EA8 (in Europe and Africa respectively) would be both an international and intercontinental one

    * John G8IYS, who is overall coordinator for the VHF NFD entry for North East Surrey Contest Group (NESCG), was keen to ensure that the group did not transgress the rules regarding frequencies that must be avoided. Accordingly he provided each of their stations with an information sheet reminding entrants of VHF General Rule 1(b), but went a step further by including an explicit list of frequencies to be avoided. The text of this information sheet is given below:

    "For those who do not take the RSGB Contest Committee (CC) Newsletter, I draw to your attention the following clip from the July issue:

    It is important that particular attention is paid to VHF General Rule 1(b) relating to the need to respect band plans. For convenience, the current wording of this rule is given here: "Entrants must abide by their licence conditions and observe the RSGB/IARU band plans. On bands where the RSGB band plan specifies a calling frequency, this frequency, +/- 5 kHz, must not be used for contest QSOs or any other contest related communications. GB2RS and GB2CW frequencies (+/- 5 kHz) must not be used during the period of a scheduled transmission from these stations. On 50MHz, entrants must not call CQ within the DX window (50.100 to 50.130MHz) unless they only conduct QSOs with stations located in other continents (i.e. inter-continental QSOs only)". However, as noted in the May Newsletter, this rule should have read "....calling frequency or centre of activity...." rather than "....calling frequency..." and entrants should act accordingly.

    End of quote.

    To spell this out:

    50 MHz. Avoid:
    * 50.100 to 50.130, unless making intercontinental QSOs and very definitely avoid 50.110 +/- 5kHz (Intercontinental Centre of Activity)
    * 50.150 +/- 5kHz (International C of A)
    * 50.305 +/- 5 kHz (PSK C of A).

    70 MHz. Avoid:
    * 70.200 +/- 5 kHz (CW/SSB C of A)
    * 70.260 +/- 5 kHz (AM/FM Calling)
    * 70.270 +/- 5 kHZ (MGM C of A)

    144 MHz. Avoid:
    * 144.050 +/- 5 kHz (CW C of A) * 144.138 +/- 5 kHz (PSK31 C of A)
    * 144.250 +/- 5 kHz (if occupied by a GB2CW practise session or a Sunday morning GB2RS transmission in the locality)
    * 144.300 +/- 5 kHz (SSB C of A)
    * 144.370 +/- 5 kHz (MGM C of A)

    432 MHz. Avoid:
    * 432.050 +/- 5 KHz (CW C of A)
    * 432.088 +/- 5 kHz (PSK C of A)
    * 432.200 +/- 5 kHz (SSB C of A)
    * 432.700 +/- 5 kHz (FSK44 C o A)

    There are others, but likely to be outside where you would want to look and call for contacts anyway.

    Sorry to be tedious, but not everyone loves contests and RSGB/IARU has (rightly, IMO) agreed this warning."


    This seems like a good idea which other groups might wish to consider, modified as necessary to reflect their local situation (eg. the above realtes to the bands used by NESCG) particularly in a Field Day environment where things have a habit of going awry, and non-VHF operators may be manning the station! And, depending on how familiar with the frequencies in question you are, it might even be worth putting up a copy in the shack!



    AND FINALLY (by Quin G3WRR)

    That's all for this month - good contesting to you all!


    73, Quin G3WRR


    For RSGB Contest Committee