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RSGB Contest Results Commonwealth Contest 2025   
v4.158 by G4CLA

The 88th Commonwealth Contest was run under new management with responsibility being no longer solely that of the RSGB but now including representatives from the national societies of Australia (WIA), Canada (RAC), India (ARSI) and New Zealand (NZART).  The management team set up has been named as the 'Evans Committee', this is to honour Trevor Evans VK2NS who was the first winner of the contest in 1931.  There were also some changes in the scoring with a doubling of the points for each contact with a station in a different continent from five points to ten points.  Each different UK entity was counted as a different country for bonus scoring but this only applied to overseas stations, no points were scored for contacts within the seven UK and Crown Dependency regions.  One other feature, which was not exactly a change, was the no self-spotting rule.  Self-spotting is now allowed in all RSGB HF contests but it was agreed not to allow self-spotting in the CC by the Evans Committee.  This did cause some slight confusion and for that reason any cases of self-spotting that came to the attention of the adjudicator were not penalised, but please note this rule for next year.  The committee had the benefit of the views of past and present participants from a survey sent out last year, thanks to all who responded.  One additional feature of interest to UK entrants is that those travelling to different Commonwealth call areas now have their points added to the RSGBCC HF Championship table.

On to a summary of the 2025 contest.  Firstly the total entries were up by almost 20%, mainly from increases in the Low Power (100W) categories compared to the previous comparable Restricted categories and the highest for 30 years, a great starting point for the new regime.  Propagation was not dissimilar to 2024 where a high SFI was somewhat tempered by elevated A and K indices.  The latter were low at the start but were noted to have increased over the duration of the contest.  The following call areas were active but did not submit logs: 4S, 8Q, 9J, 9M2, 9Z, C6, E5, VK9C, ZS1 and ZS6.  As always there is a wealth of information and stories from participants on Bob G3PJT's website.  It is particularly interesting to see how the band conditions were experienced in the different areas of the Commonwealth.

Submitted logs continue to be of a high standard despite many signals being extremely weak or difficult to copy in the higher receiving noise levels on the lower bands.  However, showing how busy the bands were at times with relatively strong signals, it was noticeable that among the 'not in log' errors there were cases where this was due to one station logging a completely different callsign to the station being worked, generally someone running on an adjacent frequency.  This takes a bit of time to unravel and ensure the 'innocent' station doesn't lose the points for a valid QSO.

There were fourteen HQ stations taking part this year, five from the UK, four from Australia, four from Canada and one from New Zealand.  It was great to have ZL6HQ back after a two year absence.  In first place and up from second last year is Dave VE3KG operating VA3RAC, but only marginally ahead of G6XX, in the hands of Nick G4FAL.  This year Ontario fielded two HQ stations with VE3RHQ from the RAC Office HQ in Ottawa.  The final top three position is GW6XX with GW4XUM on the key.  A big thank you to all the HQ stations for providing valuable bonus points, for many on all five bands.

In the team event there were nine entered, one more than last year.  Sadly Cyclone Alfred which hit the east coast of Australia on the Saturday of the contest and other earlier storm damage to antennas caused  a last minute reorganisation of the two Australian teams registered due to non-availability.  (This also prevented the planned VK4WIA HQ station from participating.)  So well done to Australia 1 for achieving a creditable third place.  In first place and up from second last year is World Travellers Plus followed by UK in second place.

The following table is a list of all the awards and trophies for this year.  In some cases, an entrant has qualified for more than one trophy or award, for example a trophy on behalf of the 'Evans Committee' and a local award from their National Society.  Unfortunately the results table is currently unable to show this and for this year the award box will show a 'trophy' symbol where the entrant has received an Evans Committee award and a 'rosette' symbol for a local award.  Note that where 'UK' is mentioned, this means the UK Crown Dependencies of Guernsey, Jersey and the Isle of Man are included, this saves space on the certificates.  Next year there will be downloadable certificates for all the awards and trophies.

EVANS COMMITTEE AWARDS:

Winner HP Single Op Unassisted 12-hour:G4PIQ

Winner HP Single Op Unassisted 24-hour (Senior Rose Bowl):XL3A (VE3AT)

Winner HP Single Op Assisted 12-hour:VE3JM

Winner HP Single Op Assisted 24-hour (Rosebery Shield):VE3EJ

Winner LP Single Op Unassisted 12-hour:VE3TM

Winner LP Single Op Unassisted 24-hour:G4SGX/6Y (G4SGX)

Winner LP Single Op Assisted 12-hour:G0TSM

Winner LP Single Op Assisted 24-hour:VE3KI

Winning HQ Station:VA3RAC (VE3KG)

Winner 5W (Lilliput Cup):G4ZFE

Leading self-sufficient traveller (Commonwealth Traveller Award):8P9YI (G3VYI)

LOCAL AWARDS FOR THE UK ENTRANTS (RSGB):

Leading UK HP Single Op Unassisted 12-hour (Ross Carey Rose Bowl):G4PIQ

Leading UK HP Single Op Unassisted 24-hour (Colonel Thomas Rose Bowl):G4FNL

Leading UK HP Single Op Assisted 12-hour:G4RCG

Leading UK HP Single Op Assisted 24-hour:G3BJ

Leading UK LP Single Op Unassisted 12-hour, using single element aerials only:G4DBW

Leading UK LP Single Op Unassisted 24-hour, using single element aerials only (John Dunnington G3LZQ Trophy):G3LET

Leading UK LP Single Op Assisted 12-hour:G0TSM

Leading UK LP Single Op Assisted 24-hour:G4PVM

Leading UK 5W:G4ZFE

LOCAL AWARDS FOR NEW ZEALAND (all ZL/ZM prefixes) ENTRANTS (NZART):

Leading ZL HP Single Op Unassisted 12-hour:ZL4YY

Leading ZL HP Single Op Unassisted 24-hour:ZL/G4BUO

Leading ZL HP Single Op Assisted 12-hour:ZL2AGY

Leading ZL HP Single Op Assisted 24-hour:ZL4TT

Leading ZL LP Single Op Unassisted 12-hour:ZL3VZ

Leading ZL LP Single Op Assisted 24-hour:ZL1IF

LOCAL AWARDS FOR AUSTRALIA (all VK, VJ, VL prefixes) ENTRANTS (WIA):

Leading VK HP Single Op Unassisted 12-hour:VK2BJ

Leading VK HP Single Op Unassisted 24-hour:VK6T (VK6LW)

Leading VK LP Single Op Unassisted 12-hour:VK4DLP

Leading VK LP Single Op Unassisted 24-hour:VK2IG

Leading VK LP Single Op Assisted 24-hour:VK5GG

LOCAL AWARDS FOR CANADIAN ENTRANTS (RAC):

Leading Canadian HP Single Op Unassisted 12-hour:VE3ZI

Leading Canadian HP Single Op Unassisted 24-hour:XL3A (VE3AT)

Leading Canadian HP Single Op Assisted 12-hour:VE3JM

Leading Canadian HP Single Op Assisted 24-hour:VE3EJ

Leading Canadian LP Single Op Unassisted 12-hour:VE3TM

Leading Canadian LP Single Op Unassisted 24-hour:VE6BBP

Leading Canadian LP Single Op Assisted 12-hour:VE3MGY

Leading Canadian LP Single Op Assisted 24-hour:VE3KI

Leading Canadian 5W:VA2IW

LOCAL AWARDS FOR INDIAN ENTRANTS (ARSI):

Leading Indian HP Single Op Assisted 12-hour:VU2TMP

Leading Indian LP Single Op Unassisted 12-hour:VU2JOS

LOCAL AWARDS FOR ITU REGION 1 OUTSIDE UK:

Leading Region 1 HP Single Op Unassisted 24-hour:5Z4VJ

Leading Region 1 HP Single Op Assisted 24-hour:5B4AMX

Leading Region 1 LP Single Op Unassisted 12-hour:V5/DL5XL

Leading Region 1 LP Single Op Unassisted 24-hour:9H1CG

LOCAL AWARDS FOR ITU REGION 2 OUTSIDE CANADA (RAC):

Leading Region 2 HP Single Op Unassisted 12-hour:VP8CIW (G3WVG)

Leading Region 2 HP Single Op Unassisted 24-hour:ZF2CA (G4CWH)

Leading Region 2 HP Single Op Assisted 24-hour:VP8TXF (G3TXF)

Leading Region 2 LP Single Op Unassisted 24-hour:G4SGX/6Y (G4SGX)

LOCAL AWARDS FOR ITU REGION 3 OUTSIDE AUSTRALIA AND NEW ZEALAND:

Leading Region 3 HP Single Op Assisted 12-hour:9V1PL

Leading Region 3 HP Single Op Assisted 24-hour:5W1SA

Leading Region 3 LP Single Op Unassisted 12-hour:9V1AD

Leading Region 3 LP Single Op Unassisted 24-hour:3D2AG

Note that not all awards available have been allocated as there were no qualifying entrants, an opportunity for next year!

The Commonwealth Contest requires a unique knowledge of propagation and perseverance to achieve a good result so congratulations to all Trophy and Certificate winners.

John G4CZB obo The Evans Committee



This contest is part of the following contest series HF Championship 




1 / 18
VY1KX
As always it was a pleasure to take part in the Commonwealth Contest. Thank you for a great event.
2 / 18
VY0ERC
I had about 2 hours of "okay" operating time during the afternoon of 3 March local time. Other than that, I wasn't heard, nor could I hear many.
3 / 18
ZL/G4BUO
First time in CC from abroad great fun and very grateful to Holger ZL3IO for use of his super station. Took a lot of adjustment to understand the bands from the....
4 / 18
VK6T
After 14 hours I had 485 QSO's. Condx/activity for the remaining 10 hours were not as good for my QTH with less than 100 more QSO's added by the finish.
5 / 18
MM1E
Solar storm killed the fun but some interesting fluttery signals from VE,VK,ZL on all bands. Good fun chasing the DX around and working some stations on all ban....
6 / 18
G4BRK
No 40m ant as usual :-) Nice to work a few unusual DX stations, enjoyed the few hours I spent.
7 / 18
G0W
Went down to the mud hut this year. Trouble straight away. Radio would not transmit. Reboot of radio cured the problem. Started working stations, then found the....
8 / 18
ZF2CA
9 / 18
G3LVP
Only my second entry in BERU, I should have made more effort in the past having being licenced in '57! Due to a trap problem with the TA32 I modified it to ....
10 / 18
G4FNL
I am very grateful to Chris G0DWV for the use of his excellent station.
11 / 18
GI6XX
12 / 18
G0TSM
10M 4 ele Yagi at 14M 15/20M Hexbeam at 17M 40M Inv V Dipole apex at 12M (Rx antenna is HF Hexbeam) 80M Inv V dipole apex at 12M (Rx antenna K9AY)
13 / 18
VA2EBI
14 / 18
8P9YI
Well conditions were mixed, disappointing here on 10m at times.I think there were more active VE stations. A most enjoyable contest again from a beautiful isla....
15 / 18
VP2MMN
It made lots of fun to work the Canadians even if the US boys called me and thought they belong to the commonwealth :)
16 / 18
9V1AD
17 / 18
VE9OA
Recently downsized. Antenna is a screwdriver whip on the balcony,,, better than no antenna!
18 / 18
G4SGX/6Y
Another fun contest, this year using a multi-band antenna so easier to QSY and saved time. Conditions seemed slightly improved on last year, 10M was kicking, as....
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