50MHz UKAC 2013 - Annual Results

Activity levels have continued to increase this year.  The May and July sessions had sporadic-E openings.  In 2013, 348 stations entered at least one leg of the series, a 35% increase on 2012 and congratulations go to the 27 intrepid entrants who were active for all eleven sessions!  In total 35 of the 45 UK squares were activated.  The club competition retains its popularity with 75 clubs entering.

The club competition sees a new winner with the Travelling Wave CG winning all eleven sessions and managing to get twenty three of their members to contribute.  In second place were Spalding &DARS.

In the AO section GI4SNA won all eleven sessions and scored the maximum of 8000 points. In second place overall was M0WLF with 6328 points.  There were 28 entrants in this section.

The AR section is always closely fought and ten entrants achieved scores greater than 7000.  G3PYE/P won seven sessions to take top place.  M1MHZ won three sessions to claim the runner up spot.  There were 216 entrants in this section.

In the AL section the final result was exceptionally close with the winner and runner up both winning three sessions and in the end only 26 points in 8000 separated them.  The winner is G6WRW/P with G4VPD the runner up.  There were 98 entrants in this section.

In the AX section GM4JR won eight sessions to take first place.  GM4VVX was placed second from his remote location.  There were 6 entrants in this section.

Certificates and congratulations go to the following stations:

•   Club Competition:
  •   Winner:  50MHz Club Championship: Travelling Wave Contest Group
  •   Runner-up:  50MHz Club Championship: Spalding & DARS
•   Section AO
  •   Winner:  David Ross, GI4SNA
  •   Runner-up:  Ian Prater, M0WLF
•   Section AR
  •   Winner:  Camb-Hams, G3PYE/P
  •   Runner-up:  Bob Offer, M1MHZ  
  •   Leading Intermediate Licensee:  Andy Brown, 2E0VPX
•   Section AL
  •   Winner: Carolyn Williamson, G6WRW/P
  •   Runner-up:  Mike Pugh, G4VPD
  •   Leading Intermediate Licensee:  Tony Cater, 2E0UOG
  •   Leading Foundation Licensee:  Phil Willetts, M6SRZ
•   Section AX
  •   Winner:  Andy Anderson, GM4JR
  •   Runner-up:  Clive O'Hennessy, GM4VVX

November

Conditions this month were generally rated as poor and many stations commented on the higher than usual noise levels.  There were 27 UK squares active with GI4SNA (IO64) and M1MHZ (IO92) working 18, and G3ZVW (IO80) and M0VXX/P (IO82) working 17.  The best tropo DX of the event was between GI4SNA and GJ3YHU at 649 kms.

Roger - G4BVY

October

After last months good conditions, entrants rate this months conditions as "dire", "terrible" and "the worst ever".  Thunderstorms caused problems for many with antennas being taken down due to the proximity of the storms, high levels of QRN and static rain.  Congratulations to the portable stations who ventured out - though personal safety must be considered in weather like this.  The weather/conditions and perhaps the proximity of the 50MHz AFS resulted in the lowest number of entries in 2013.  No one topped the 100 QSO mark this month.  There were 27 UK squares active with M1MHZ (IO92) working 18, G4TSW (IO80) and G3PYE/P working 17 and GI4SNA (IO64) working 16.  G6UW and G3PYE/P managed to catch a fleeting sporadic E opening into Italy.  The best tropo DX of the event was between GI4SNA and G7RAU at 530 kms.

September

High pressure dominated this event.  A number of regular entrants were distracted by the excellent conditions on 144 and 432MHz!  Interestingly  the comments on the 6m propagation were varied.  While the majority of entrants noted the enhanced conditions, a number thought that conditions were average or poor.  There were 134 entries with eight entrants topping the 100 QSO mark and G3PYE/P's haul of 137 QSOs is the highest ever in this event in a month without Sporadic-E.  Twenty six UK squares were active with M0GVG/P (IO83) working 22 (another record),  GW4ZAR/P (IO83) and M1DDD/P (IO93) working 21 and G3PYE/P (JO02) and M1MHZ (IO92) working 20.  The appearance of EI9JU and a number of GJ/GU stations contributed to there being 18 QSOs greater than 500km.  The best DX of the event was between EI9JU and G1KAR/P at 706 kms. 

August

After the excitement of the July Sporadic-E, conditions returned to “normal” this month.  However the appearance of MM1MHZ/P in IO75 added to the interest and gave many people their best DX.  Overall, conditions were rated as average with deep QSB and local noise causing problems. Twenty six UK squares were active with G3PYE/P (JO02) and GI4SNA (IO64) working 19 and G3MEH (IO91), M0GVG/P (IO83) and G0LGS/P (IO81) working 18. The best DX of the event was between GI4SNA and G1KAR/P at 601kms and there were a further 13 QSOs over 500kms.

July

Sporadic-E returned with a bang this month.  One hundred non-UK squares were worked with the best DX being into Albania, Bulgaria, Canary Is, Greece, Moldova, Romania, Ukraine and Yugoslavia.  There were 11 entrants who worked EA8 and a total of 64 QSOs greater than 2000kms.  In total there were 942 sporadic-E QSOs with three quarters of these occurring in the first hour.  Entrants had to focus on achieving km points from the DX while making sure that they gained their UK multipliers.  Bizarrely, in spite of the DX, some of the best ever UK multiplier totals were achieved!  Twenty six UK squares were active with G3PYE/P (JO02) working 21, M1MHZ (IO92) working 20 and GI4SNA (IO64), G4TSW (IO80) and M0GVG/P (IO83) working 19.  The best DX of the event was between M0HAZ and EA8DBM at 3097kms.

The points lost during adjudication were much higher than usual.  Unfamiliar locators from the DX caused the most problems - particularly JO -v- JN.  It is worth checking that the locator is actually in the country being worked!   A number of entrants, particularly portable stations, had their evening curtailed by the violent thunderstorms which affected many areas of the country.

June

After the  Sporadic-E in May expectations were high!  However, there was no Sporadic-E during the event.  Thirty UK squares were active, which is the highest ever, and IO65, IO95 and JO00 made their first appearances of the year.  G4OBK (IO94) and M1MHZ (IO92) worked 20 squares and GI4SNA (IO64) worked nineteen.  Reports on the tropo conditions varied from good through average to poor with heavy QSB.  In a sign of the times more stations are reporting difficulties caused by high noise levels .  The best contact was 601 kms between GI4SNA and G1KAR/P.

May

This is the first 50MHz UKAC since July 2011 with any significant Sporadic-E.  Unfortunately the excellent conditions earlier in the evening were fading as the contest started.  Even so 143 Es QSOs were made in the first hour before the conditions died.  Then there was a further bonus as 22 transatlantic QSOs took place between 2032 and 2125.  In all there were 41 non UK squares worked in 27 countries.  Twenty six UK squares were activated with GI4SNA (IO64), M1MHZ (IO92), G4OBK (IO94) and G3PYE/P (JO02)  working 19 of them.  The best contact was 7354 kms between G7RAU and PJ4NX.   Outside of the sporadic E entrants reported that conditions were poor with heavy QSB and this is certainly reflected in the larger than usual number of logging errors.

I have noticed that since a change was made to the UBN system earlier in the year that far less entrants are reading their UBNs.  These reports are an excellent way of understanding your errors and will help you to improve your score.  A description of how to access your UBN is given in the latest RSGBCC newsletter at: http://www.rsgbcc.org/hf/newsletter/2013-06-newsletter.shtml

April

Congratulation to all participants!! - this is the first time that the number of entries has passed 150 (152 this month) and also the highest number of active stations (294) in a month with no Sporadic-E.  Twenty three UK squares were activated with M1MHZ (IO92) working 18, GW8ASD (IO83) and G4TSW (IO80) working 17 and seven stations in IO64, IO81, IO82, IO85, IO93 and JO02 managing 16 squares.  This demonstrates how it is possible to be competitive across the breadth of the UK.  Six stations outside the UK in DL, EI, ON, PA and TF were active.  The best tropo contact was 658 kms between G7RAU and DJ2TX while GM4VVX continues to find interesting stations on meteor scatter - this month working TF3ML.  Conditions were reported as generally down and many stations said the QSB was much worse than usual.  Sources of QRM continue to rise causing problems in urban locations.  Murphy was present this month with the highest number of equipment failures for a long time.

March

The number of entries dropped to 130 this month, probably due to the snow restricting access to a number of portable sites.  Congratulations to the intrepid few who did make it out into the wilds! Twenty six UK squares were activated but bizarrely the poor conditions restricted the number of multipliers worked by the leading stations to the lowest level for sometime.  GI4SNA (IO64), G4TSW (IO80), M0WLF (IO81), G7RAU (IO90), together with G3VCA, G7DWG and G8BUN (all in IO93), all managed to work 14 squares.  GI4SNA (IO64) and G7RAU (IO90) continue to set the best tropo contact at 530 kms and GM4VVX again worked OZ3FYN at 945 kms via meteor scatter.  Dyslexia abounded in the logs this month and many stations will discover their errors made in this manner.  Additionally the poor conditions resulted in a sharp increase in "not in log" errors and stations struggled to work each other.

February

Another huge record breaking number of entries this month, 141 in total.  There were 250 stations active in 22 UK locator squares together with single stations in DL, PA and OZ.    G3PYE/P (JO02) and M1MHZ (IO92) worked 18 squares and GI4SNA (IO64) and M0GVG/P (IO83) worked 17 squares.  The best contact was a meteor scatter contact between GM4VVX and OZ3FYN at 945 kms with GI4SNA (IO64) and G7RAU (IO90) achieving the best tropo contact at 530 kms.  Comments on conditions ranged from poor though average to good!  There was general agreement that activity levels were very high.  Many stations commented on the deep QSB and many were plagued with high noise levels.

January

The 2013 series of 50MHz UKAC certainly kicked off with a bang.  There were an all time record of 128 entrants, the previous best being 120 in March 2012.  There were 214 stations active (including one DL) in 22 UK locator squares.    G3PYE/P (JO02) and M1MHZ (IO92) both worked 15 squares.  The best contact was between GI4SNA (IO64) and G7RAU (IO90) at 530 kms.  The heavy snow and freezing conditions restricted portable activity with a number of sites being inaccessible.  Despite this, eight hardy groups ventured out to portable locations.   Conditions were variously described as terrible, horrible, dreadful and desperate.  High noise levels and deep QSB were reported and a number of entrants noticed that signals peaked at at headings way off the direct path.