March 144/432 MHz 2010

Unusually there were few comments about the weather for this event this year. Freezing conditions overnight made life unpleasant for the portable stations.

Conditions on 144MHz were varied with some people reporting good conditions and DX contacts while others reported poor conditions with significant QSB. On 432 MHz everyone one was in agreement that conditions were poor to very poor, again with deep QSB. In amongst these conditions, a number of QSOs in excess on 600 kms were made; 100 on 144MHz and 25 on 432 MHz. Many of the 432MHz QSOs were achieved by QSYing after successful 144MHz QSOs. Numerous comments were made about the low activity levels, particularly in the UK. Stations in Northern England and Scotland found it particularly hard going with stations further south predominantly beaming east.

The numbers of QSOs made by the leading stations are generally down on those made in 2009. The numbers of entries increased slightly, interestingly particularly on 432 MHz. Again the six hour sessions proved popular and only a small number of groups now assemble large scale open entries.

A number of groups suffered problems this year with breakthrough between their two stations. Microphones seemed to be the weakest link in this event. Some failed while others caused poor signal reports but generally these were sorted out at the time.

The standard of logging was generally high with a number of stations losing less than two percent of their claimed scores. However, the poor conditions and QSB caused problems for some. Entrants are reminded that all elements of the exchange are checked, so if unsure - ask for a repeat.

Congratulations go to:

The Five Bells, G5B, who returned after a two year gap to win the open section;
Matthew, G0XDI, who ended G4DEZ's six year winning run to win the single operator fixed section;
The Bolton Wireless Club, G1ONE/P, who were the winners in the single operator others section;
The Trowbridge & District ARC, G8NEY, who won the six-hour open section;
Richard, GD8EXI, who won the six-hour single operator fixed section;
All other band winners and runners up, who together with stations marked (*), will receive certificates.

A check log from G8SRS was gratefully received.

Roger Dixon, G4BVY

144 MHz
Section O
Pos		Callsign	Locator	QSOs	Total	ODX Call	ODX Kms	Power	Ant	Group
1	*	G5B	IO92	287	96,225	DR1H	862	400	4 * 12 ele	Five Bells Group
2	*	M0MDG/P	JO00	230	72,275	DK1VI	875	400	2 * 17 ele
3		G0VHF/P	JO02	180	55,119	DR1H	754	400	17 ele	Colchester CG of Colchester RA
4		G7HOA/P	IO93	129	24,450	DP4D	716	100	9 ele	Widnes & Runcorn ARC
Section SF
Pos		Callsign	Locator	QSOs	Total	ODX Call	ODX Kms	Power	Ant	Group
1	*	G4DEZ	JO03	238	81,369	DR1H	868	400	4 * 12 ele
2	*	G0XDI	IO91	126	29,019	DK0IZ	723	400	17 ele + 2 * 19 ele	Blacksheep CG
3		G1TST	IO81	67	10,620	MM0GPZ/P	474	50	10 ele	Trowbridge & DARC
4		G0JJG	JO02	28	7,538	DL6IAK	653	300	11 ele
5		G3BNE	JO01	41	7,456	F6HJO/P	545	30	9 ele	Cray Valley RS
6		G3CKR	IO83	27	4,152	M0MDG/P	335	20	11 ele	Warrington CG
7		G3UFY	IO91	28	3,974	MM0GPZ/P	517	50	9 ele	Addiscombe ARC
8		G0EJQ	IO93	31	3,946	F6EAS	479	100	9 ele
9		G0LGS	IO81	39	3,939	ON7RY	471	100	9 ele	Govt Comm ARC
10		G8ONK	IO83	23	3,916	M0MDG/P	385	100	9 ele
11		G3SPJ	JO01	23	3,608	MM0GPZ/P	517	100	11 ele
12		M1FUR	IO91	34	3,451	DF0MU	519	100	7 ele
13		G3YJR	IO93	18	3,179	PI4GN	548	25	9 ele
14		G0KSC	JO01	5	2,158	DL6IAK	646	100	11 ele
15		G1MZD	IO92	8	661	M0MDG/P	149	25	5 ele	MKARS
16		G7JJZ	IO93	1	101	G5B	101	1.5	Colinear
Section SO
Pos		Callsign	Locator	QSOs	Total	ODX Call	ODX Kms	Power	Ant	Group
1	*	G1ONE/P	IO83	101	18,897	DF0MU	681	80	7 ele	Bolton Wireless Club
2	*	MW0DSZ/P	IO83	3	435	G5B	209	2	Moxon
3		G0EHV/P	IO84	2	170	MM0GPZ/P	141	25	5/8 Whip
Section 6O
Pos		Callsign	Locator	QSOs	Total	ODX Call	ODX Kms	Power	Ant	Group
1	*	MM0GPZ/P	IO85	73	23,869	G6HIE	565	400	12 ele	Mid Lanark ARS Contest Group
2	*	G8NEY	IO81	69	15,436	DF0MU	658	100	17 ele	Trowbridge & District ARC
3		M0BAO/P	IO80	68	14,787	PA5MS	577	180	13 ele
4		G0PKT	JO01	63	11,354	GI4SNA	560	180	9 ele	Martello Tower Group
5		M9T	IO80	38	10,461	DK4K	738	50	10 ele	Moors Contest Group
6		G3PIA	IO91	47	9,604	DF0MU	593	100	12 ele	Harwell ARS
7		G0RAF	IO93	42	7,978	DK5EZ	560	100	9 ele	RAF Waddington ARC
8		G0UWS/P	IO91	30	3,095	G4DEZ	228	40	5 ele
Section 6S
Pos		Callsign	Locator	QSOs	Total	ODX Call	ODX Kms	Power	Ant	Group
1	*	G0BBB	IO91	104	26,846	DD1OP	682	400	17 ele
2	*	G8HGN	JO01	48	15,861	DR1H	789	50	2 * 15 ele
3	*	2E0NEY	IO81	60	11,853	DF0MU	658	50	17 ele	Trowbridge & District ARC
4		GD8EXI	IO74	36	11,039	M0MDG/P	493	400	18 ele
5		G6NHU	JO01	45	10,789	GI4SNA	567	100	9 ele
6		M0DJW	JO02	47	10,549	DP4D	550	250	11 ele	Hadleywood Contest Group
7		G4FOH	JO02	60	9,098	MM0GPZ/P	466	75	8 ele
8		GM4JR	IO85	21	6,187	M0MDG/P	529	100	12 ele
9		G8ZRE	IO83	43	6,139	F9ZG/P	487	80	8 ele	Bolton Wireless Club
10		G3UUT	JO02	22	5,421	DR2010O	504	100	9 ele
11	*	G8LZE	IO91	26	4,489	DK4K	487	23	9 ele
12		G4GTH	IO90	13	3,211	PA0WMX	549	95	9 ele	Christchurch ARS
13	*	M6XBF	JO01	19	2,514	PA0WMX	371	10	12 ele
14		G4XPE	IO92	16	2,206	PA5MS	488	25	10 ele
15		G6UBM	JO01	16	2,018	GW8ASD	305	100	13 ele
16		GW3ATZ	IO83	17	1,940	G0VHF/P	310	50	6 ele
17		G3TTC	IO92	6	1,224	GD8EXI	294	100	5 ele	Stratford-upon-avon & DRS
18		G4RYV	IO91	7	995	G1ONE/P	277	10	9 ele
19		G0GWI	IO83	8	644	MM0GPZ/P	252	40	5 ele
20		M0CNP	JO02	3	271	G5B	97	80	Log Periodic
21		GM4DIJ	IO85	2	109	MM0GPZ/P	70	50	9 ele
22		2E0TYC	IO93	6	107	G5B	55	45	Halo

432 MHz
Section O
Pos		Callsign	Locator	QSOs	Total	ODX Call	ODX Kms	Power	Ant	Group
1	*	G0VHF/P	JO02	116	39,143	DK2GR	746	400	2 * 21 ele	Colchester CG of Colchester RA
2	*	G5B	IO92	120	34,921	DL0EE	709	400	6 * 28 ele	Five Bells Group
3		M0MDG/P	JO00	61	17,380	DL5YBZ	653	400	2 * 21 ele
Section SF
Pos		Callsign	Locator	QSOs	Total	ODX Call	ODX Kms	Power	Ant	Group
1	*	G0XDI	IO91	78	17,301	DR3M	721	150	2 * 19 ele	Blacksheep CG
2	*	G8VHI	IO92	43	9,098	DK5EZ	605	100	4 * 23 ele
3		G0JJG	JO02	31	9,047	DK0IZ	607	300	17 ele
4		G4DEZ	JO03	28	5,951	DK2MN	488	400	4 * 28 ele
5		G3SPJ	JO01	24	4,924	GI6ATZ	521	30	21 ele
6		G3CKR	IO83	16	2,341	PA6NL	471	15	21 ele	Warrington CG
7		G3YJR	IO93	9	1,223	PA6NL	414	25	19 ele
8		G3BNE	JO01	10	1,114	PA6NL	284	30	9 ele	Cray Valley RS
9		G0LGS	IO81	7	690	G4DEZ	206	75	9 ele	Govt Comm ARC
10		G8ONK	IO83	3	603	G0XDI	280	50	19 ele
11		G3UFY	IO91	3	355	PA6NL	301	5W	19 ele	Addiscombe ARC
12		G0EJQ	IO93	6	350	G8VHI	101	100	19 ele
13		M1FUR	IO91	11	345	G5B	163	50	7 ele	Coulsdon ATS 'A'
14		G1MZD	IO92	1	91	G5B	91	5	12 ele	MKARS
Section 6O
Pos		Callsign	Locator	QSOs	Total	ODX Call	ODX Kms	Power	Ant	Group
1	*	G8NEY	IO81	39	10,770	DF0MU	658	400	21 ele	Trowbridge & District ARC
2	*	G0EHV/P	IO84	25	6,503	PA6NL	516	120	21 ele
3		MM0GPZ/P	IO85	23	5,324	G7RAU	553	90	28ele	Mid Lanark ARS Contest Group
4		G3PIA	IO91	15	4,096	DF0MU	593	100	12 ele
5		G0RAF	IO93	23	3,038	GI6ATZ	379	50	29 ele	RAF Waddington ARC
6		M9T	IO80	9	2,675	PA6NL	580	20	21 ele	Moors Contest Group
7		M0MAT/P	IO81	6	1,124	PA6NL	450	30	13 ele
Section 6S
Pos		Callsign	Locator	QSOs	Total	ODX Call	ODX Kms	Power	Ant	Group
1	*	G3XDY	JO02	23	8,006	DR3M	594	250	28 ele
2	*	GD8EXI	IO74	28	7,722	PA6NL	636	400	38 ele
3		G8HGN	JO01	15	5,169	DJ6BS	596	50	2 * 21 ele
4		G3YDY	JO01	16	3,667	DD0PX	528	100	19 ele
5		GM4JR	IO85	12	3,365	G3SPJ	468	100	21 ele
6	*	M6XBF	JO01	14	2,628	DF0MU	462	10	19 ele
7		G4APJ	IO83	13	2,627	PA6NL	470	25	19 ele
8	*	2E0NEY	IO81	11	2,579	DF0MU	658	50	21 ele	Trowbridge & District ARC
9		GW3ATZ	IO83	12	1,087	G0VHF/P	310	50	12 ele
10		G6UBM	JO01	6	1,047	GW8ASD	305	75	18 ele
11		GM4DIJ	IO85	8	812	GI4SNA	235	50	21 ele
12		G8LZE	IO91	6	637	PA6NL	318	22	9 ele
13		G4XPE	IO92	2	94	G8SRS	56	25	Colinear
14		M0CNP	JO02	1	90	G4DEZ	90	80	Log Periodic

Overall
Section O
Pos		Callsign	144	432	Total	Group
1	*	G5B	1,000	892	1,892	Five Bells Group
2	*	G0VHF/P	573	1,000	1,573	Colchester CG of Colchester RA
3		M0MDG/P	751	444	1,195
4		G7HOA/P	254		254	Widnes & Runcorn ARC
Section SF
Pos		Callsign	144	432	Total	Group
1	*	G0XDI	357	1,000	1,357	Blacksheep CG
2	*	G4DEZ	1,000	344	1,344
3		G0JJG	93	523	616
4		G8VHI		526	526
5		G3SPJ	44	285	329
6		G3CKR	51	135	186	Warrington CG
7		G3BNE	92	64	156	Cray Valley RS
8		G1TST	131		131	Trowbridge & DARC
9		G3YJR	39	71	110
10		G0LGS	48	40	88	Govt Comm ARC
11		G3UFY	49	21	70	Addiscombe ARC
12		G0EJQ	48	20	68
13		M1FUR	42	20	62	Coulsdon ATS 'A'
14		G8ONK	48	35	83
15		G0KSC	27		27
16		G1MZD	8	5	13	MKARS
17		G7JJZ	1		1
Section SO
Pos		Callsign	144	432	Total	Group
1	*	G1ONE/P	1,000		1,000	Bolton Wireless Club
2	*	MW0DSZ/P	23		23
3		G0EHV/P	9		9
Section 6O
Pos		Callsign	144	432	Total	Group
1	*	G8NEY	647	1,000	1,647	Trowbridge & District ARC
2	*	MM0GPZ/P	1,000	494	1,494	Mid Lanark ARS Contest Group
3		G3PIA	402	380	782	Harwell ARS
4		M9T	438	248	686	Moors Contest Group
5		M0BAO/P	620		620
6		G0RAF	334	282	616	RAF Waddington ARC
7		G0EHV/P		604	604
8		G0PKT	591		591	Martello Tower Group
9		G0UWS/P	130		130
10		M0MAT/P		104	104
Section 6S
Pos		Callsign	144	432	Total	Group
1	*	GD8EXI	411	965	1,376
2	*	G8HGN	591	646	1,236
3		G3XDY		1,000	1,000
4		G0BBB	1,000		1,000
5		2E0NEY	442	322	764	Trowbridge & District ARC
6		GM4JR	230	420	650
7		G3YDY		458	458
8		M6XBF	94	328	422
9		G6NHU	402		402
10		M0DJW	393		393	Hadleywood Contest Group
11		G4FOH	339		339
12		G4APJ		328	328
13		G8LZE	167	80	247
14		G8ZRE	229		229	Bolton Wireless Club
15		GW3ATZ	72	136	208
16		G6UBM	75	131	206
17		G3UUT	202		202
18		G4GTH	120		120	Christchurch ARS
19		GM4DIJ	4	101	105
20		G4XPE	82	12	94
21		G3TTC	46		46	Stratford-upon-avon & DRS
22		G4RYV	37		37
23		G0GWI	24		24
24		M0CNP	10	11	21
25		2E0TYC	4		4

Comments from the logs:

2E0NEY

144: Good activity and some nice DX 432: Very poor condx

G0BBB

A lot of heavy QSB. Very erratic conditions. Microphone broke, hence only 4 hour contest.

G0EJQ

Cdx Sunday appalling heavy QSB

G0EHV/P

432: Nothing special conditions wise but I suspect low activity and/or not a lot of stations beaming North!

G0GWI

Grim, Only 2 stations worked on Saturday. Sunday not much better. Where was everyone?

G0JJG

Low activity poor condx

G0KSC

Poor cndx Antenna worked well.

G0LGS

Activity low - you would hardly know there was a contest on.

G0RAF

Poor, slow deep QSB.

G0UWS/P

First contest I have done myself in a very long time. Enjoyed it but very bad QSB so some DX stations lost.

G0VHF/P

144: Mni Tnx to IRC for use of shack following the theft of our Heliax. Condx fair to poor. Deep QSB. 2M operation restricted due to swamping interference to 70cms. 432: New site, reduced rig, directly East of the 2M aerial, made for some tense negotiations at times between band ops. Condx fair to poor, deep long-cycle QSB. Perseverance brought rewards.

G0XDI

Conditions pretty flat but a little DX worked here and there. Was very hard work Single op

G1MZD

144: conditions & activity appeared to be poor. 432: poor antenna did not help, but conditions & activity seemed poor as well

G1ONE/P

-3 to start with a wonderful sunrise @ 6.30am good conditions and activity new antenna and coax worked well. Bright and Sunny light breeze.

G1TST

Thanks for the points sorry for the missed QSOs

G3BNE

144: Very variable- quite good at times but deep QSB at others. Hard work but good fun. 432: Extremely patchy and hard work

G3CKR

144: Very low activity particularly on Saturday as most people probably came on Sunday to do 6hr.This contest is in danger of becoming a Sunday only! Signals to SE very weak as most never beamed in this direction as they were working continent. Difficult on 20w but managed to give some points away. 432: Very low activity particularly on Saturday as most people probably came on Sunday to do 6hr.

G3PIA

Great fun for all! Harwell ARS!

G3UUT

A bit up

G3XDY

432: Mostly search and pounce. Low activity and very poor conditions

G3YDY

432: Poor conditions. 2 hours operation on Saturday evening

G3YJR

144: Deep QSB. Just on the edge of an area of lift, so I was tantalisingly out of earshot of most of the continentals. A good number of /P stations. 432: PA6NL has good ears to go with a fine signal.

G3ZVW

Conditions flat and very low activity

G4DEZ

144: Low UK activity 432: Low UK activity again and very poor conditions.

G4FOH

Conditions were very poor - at least from this location. Thanks to all the oms for the contacts and the points.

G4GTH

Better early - Activity disappointing

G4RYV

Very noisy, some good propagation, low activity.

G4XPE

144: Lack of activity poor propagation and sudden deep QSB made it very hard going. 432: Also used Moonraker 7-element ZL special beam (in loft)but fixed due north due to rotator failure.

G5B

144: Flatter than a pancake & activity significantly low Lots of problems after a 2yr lay off and lost several hours operating. 432: As 2m VERY hard going. lots of problems with x band QRM even at QRP levels. kit swapped out many times & antennas up & down like a yo yo still no firm answers!! DX & performance usually Best on this band - NOT THIS YEAR!!!! - but not for lack of trying.

G6NHU

Conditions pretty flat today, did six hours on Sunday with an hour break in the middle for breakfast!

G6UBM

tnx to those who worked me

G7JJZ

A quick play - QRP!

G8HGN

144: Most activity to the east, flat condx. 432: Hard going specially when juggling 2 bands, some DX.

G8LZE

Just 3 hours or so, activity seemed less than usual.

G8NEY

144: Good activity and some nice DX 432: Very poor condx, lots of QSB

G8SRS

144: Linear didn't work WX wasn't good but we didn't give up. A lot of QSB all over the shop 432: cold -7c - interesting contest. Lots Of QSB

G8VHI

Dire activity but I had a half hearted go on a single band between jobs around the home

G8ZRE

Good DX but extremely low activity.

GD8EXI

Low activity in my chosen 6 hrs

GM4DIJ

144: Only heard 2 stations-70cm was better 432: GM4JR only got-away. Conditions slightly up

GM4JR

144: Deep QSB but usual problem of hearing lots who don't beam north! Please beam north folks! Thanks to those who do! 432: Usual problem of people not beaming north! Hear LOTS more than I work. Yell until blue in face.....I could run a kilowatt and some folk simply won't try to hear! DEEP QSB as well

GW3ATZ

144: Just 5 hours. Very quiet. 432: Only 5 hours. Very quiet. Low activity.

M0MAT/P

Just a quick test of a new antenna, which seemed to be working fine.

M0MDG/P

very cold low activity good fun

M1FUR

Activity appeared rather low. Disappointing results

M6XBF

lots of QSB, most of the DX couldn't hear my 10 watts

M9T

144: Late start, poor conditions, only battery power. All in all, could have been better! 432: Low power and low aerial doesn't help! Difficult from this far West

MM0GPZ/P

144: Conditions well down then QSB on top. Low activity but good weather for first /P of the year. 432: Almost all QSO's gained by QSY'ing from 2m. Only 2 or 3 Q's gained by CQ'ing in CW. I need more gain and more receive ability on this band.

MW0DSZ/P

Fingers too cold to continue