For once the mid-July weather throughout the UK&CD and Europe favoured portable operation provided one took plenty of water and sunscreen! However with heatwave conditions in many places causing wildfires we hope that all operators were, and continue to be, safe.

Propagation was reported by many to be rather poor although the SFI was still elevated after the recent maxima and the A and K indices were low over the weekend. For a second year running 20m QSOs were possible between UK stations and with our near European neighbours, a useful bonus. There were some DX QSOs with the USA, Canada and Asiatic Russia in the logs on 20m. The YOTA contest was running at the same time and many took advantage of this to boost their scores, mainly on 20m. The operator's age was the exchange required in YOTA and it was encouraging to note that although most were 60+ there were several under 21s with the youngest being just 11 and all competent CW ops. One comment I received from a non-UK entrant was a suggestion that the CQ call includes 'RSGB' or 'LP' as replies from YOTA stations caused initial confusion due to the different exchange required.

Entrant numbers were down a little on last year with the most noticeable drop in non-UK entries, understandable maybe with the downside in Europe being the well supported YOTA contest by higher power stations. There were a further 57 low power stations in the logs, some making a significant number of QSOs but not submitting an entry.

For the second year voluntary pre-registration of stations taking part was available, some did take advantage of this but I noted that there were a couple of no-show portable stations. Did the very hot sunny weather put them off?

Thanks to all the non-UK stations that participated, propagation into Europe and Ireland can be very variable in the summer so making a decent score is not guaranteed. With a few more entrants, both UK and non-UK, this contest can be a really enjoyable day for portable and fixed stations alike so can we encourage other low power enthusiasts we know to submit a log next year?

Congratulations to all the Trophy and Certificate winners, note that although entrants can be Assisted or Unassisted, the trophies are only awarded to Unassisted entries.

John G4CZB