The first major event of the year always attracts interesting weather and tends
to deter portable activity. This year's event saw a welcome upturn in portable
activity though this was mainly limited to the 6-hour sections. The weather
was not kind to entrants with cold and windy conditions with snow in the north
and one entrant concerned about frostbite.
Conditions were summed up by phrases such as "terrible", "abysmal" and "mediocre".
However, analysis of the logs shows that there were a number of stations worked
at significant distances. Static rain was a problem for a number of stations.
Activity levels were low across the UK though this was offset by good activity
on the continent, particularly in France
Congratulations go to:
All other band winners and runners up who together with stations marked (*) will receive certificates.
Roger Dixon G4BVY
Section M Pos Call Locator QSOs Total ODX Loc Kms Power Ant 1* G5B IO92WS 402 154298 DL1ARJ/PJO60AR 867 400 6 * 12 ele 2* G0VHF/P JO01GN 314 94123 DG3FK JN59OP 782 400 2 * 15 ele 3* G3XNO/P IO93DV 181 15043 F6CQY/P JN28QJ 785 25 9 ele + colinear 4* G3YNN JO00EU 30 8063 DL0PVD JN49BO 568 25 9 ele Section SF Pos Call Locator QSOs Total ODX Loc Kms Power Ant 1* G4DEZ JO03AE 238 88735 DJ0QZ JN48LM 812 400 2 * 12 ele 2* G3MEH IO91QS 197 52913 F6FHP IN94TR 783 400 2 * 10 ele 3 M5FUN JO00DX 78 17623 DL0SAW JO52QR 785 100 12 ele 4* 2E0NEY IO81VK 29 7986 DL0ES JO31PG 660 50 9 ele 5* M5ADF IO91TO 39 5706 DK0BN JN39VX 601 25 9 ele 6* G3FIJ JO01KV 17 3885 DK0BN JN39VX 529 20 10 ele 7 GW4HBK IO81KP 16 2557 F6APE IN97QI 510 150 9 ele Section SO Pos Call Locator QSOs Total ODX Loc Kms Power Ant 1* G6HOU/P IO91OG 69 12357 F4CQY/P JN28QJ 545 50 17 ele 2* M0BPQ/P IO91WP 24 6173 DK0BN JN39VX 586 20 5 ele Section 6S Pos Call Locator QSOs Total ODX Loc Kms Power Ant 1* MW1MFY IO81FL 45 14299 F1ERG/P JN27JJ 754 300 17 ele 2* G8ZRE IO83NE 51 7526 F6KIF/P JN19XH 641 25 8 ele XY 3 G8SRL JO01ED 33 5930 DJ1CW JO42AH 543 100 9 ele 4 G1KHX IO81MI 29 4758 ON7RY JO20CK 513 150 9 ele 5* G3JJZ JO01AJ 13 2357 F5SGT/P IN87KW 447 25 8 ele 6 G4XPE IO92GU 8 967 G0VHF/P JO01GN 198 25 10 ele Section 6O Pos Call Locator QSOs Total ODX Loc Kms Power Ant 1* G0KYS/P IO80AQ 43 11989 F4CQY/P JN28QJ 719 25 10 ele 2* G0POT/P IO91HH 34 5150 DJ1CW JO42AH 656 2.5 3 ele 3 M0BAO/P IO80LV 29 3909 G4DEZ JO03AE 331 80 8 ele 4 G2HDF/P IO82UK 7 1673 ON4WY JO11LC 390 10 HB9CV
Section M Pos Call Locator QSOs Total ODX Loc Kms Power Ant 1* G5B IO92WS 138 47012 DF0XG JO51KW 752 400 6 * 28 ele 2* G0VHF/P JO01GN 143 39668 DL3LAB JO44XS 721 400 2 * 21 ele Section SF Pos Call Locator QSOs Total ODX Loc Kms Power Ant 1* G3MEH IO91QS 54 8473 DF2VJ JN39LI 599 250 2 * 23 ele 2* G4DEZ JO03AE 18 5170 DF2VJ JN39LI 642 400 2 * 28 ele 3* 2E0NEY IO81VK 7 2356 OT4D JO30AM 586 50 21 ele 4 GW4HBK IO81KP 4 700 G0VHF/P JO01GN 253 60 19 ele 5* M5ADF IO91TO 9 649 PA6NL JO21BX 312 20 21 ele 6 G3FIJ JO01KV 1 0 0 20 23 ele Section SO Pos Call Locator QSOs Total ODX Loc Kms Power Ant 1* M0BPQ/P IO91WP 6 715 PA6NL JO21BX 294 20 48 ele 2* G6HOU/P IO91OG 1 48 G1JDM/P IO90SV 48 4 Vertical Section 6S Pos Call Locator QSOs Total ODX Loc Kms Power Ant 1* G3XDY JO02OB 36 16647 SK7MW JO65MJ 861 250 28 ele 2* G1KHX IO81MI 11 2362 OT4D JO30AM 637 120 19 ele 3 G8SRL JO01ED 14 1703 DH5HV JO31AS 399 150 21 ele 4* G3JJZ JO01AJ 5 296 G5B IO92WS 153 10 19 ele Section 6O Pos Call Locator QSOs Total ODX Loc Kms Power Ant 1* G0OIW/P IO91IH 5 318 G5B IO92WS 181 5 HB9CV 2* G0POT/P IO91HH 1 73 G3MEH IO91QS 73 2.5 3 ele
Section M Pos Call 144 MHz 432 MHz Total Group 1* G5B 1000 1000 2000 Five Bells 2* G0VHF/P 610 844 1454 3 G3XNO/P 97 0 97 Otley Amateur Radio Society 4 G3YNN 52 0 52 Herstmonceux Megacycles Section SF Pos Call 144 MHz 432 MHz Total 1* G4DEZ 1000 610 1610 2* G3MEH 596 1000 1596 3 M5FUN 199 0 199 4 2E0NEY 90 278 368 5 M5ADF 64 77 141 6 G3FIJ 44 0 44 7 GW4HBK 29 83 111 Section SO Pos Call 144 MHz 432 MHz Total 1* M0BPQ/P 500 1000 1500 2* G6HOU/P 1000 67 1067 Section 6S Pos Call 144 MHz 432 MHz Total 1=* MW1MFY 1000 0 1000 1=* G3XDY 0 1000 1000 3 G8ZRE 526 0 526 4 G8SRL 415 102 517 5 G1KHX 333 142 475 6 G3JJZ 165 18 183 7 G4XPE 68 0 68 Section 6O Pos Call 144 MHz 432 MHz Total 1=* G0KYS/P 1000 0 1000 1=* G0OIW/P 0 1000 1000 3 G0POT/P 430 230 659 4 M0BAO/P 326 0 326 5 G2HDF/P 140 0 140
2E0NEY 144MHz: Great fun, nice to work some dx on 2m, 70cm was not so good. 432MHz Not many stations heard G0KYS 144MHz Propagation nothing special. G activity very low. Continental activity good.
Weather good, for once! G0OIW/P 432MHz Very little activity on 432 :0( My first 432 contest, results not bad for a
humble set-up! G0POT/P 144MHz My first contest and all a little confusing! Managed a couple of contacts on
70cm but did not realise at first that separate serial numbers should be used, my thanks to G3MEH for guidance during the contest. Paper log keeping was difficult because at the start of the contest my hands were shaking from the exertion of climbing Beacon Hill...and at the end they were shaking from cold. Wx was OK with just one squall about two hours into operation which had my fishing pole mast bent over at a rather alarming angle. Many hill walkers stopped for a chat to see what on earth I was up to so I got to raise the profile of Amateur Radio a little. The full moon and clear skies looked beautiful and made my descent from the hill a little easier. Great first contesting experience. 432MHz Tried a couple of QSOs on 70cm but had not come prepared for this band. Did not realise separate serial numbers were required for each band at first (thanks to G3MEH for helping me out on this point). Later in the contest when 2m became quiet my hands were too cold to swap aerials so I did not persue the band further. Next time though... G0VHF/P 144MHz Cold, Noisy. But some good DX 432MHz Pretty Good Show, considering..... G1KHX 144MHz Deep QSB 432MHz Fair to good G2HDF/P 144MHz Only worked for a short while in the contest. We were intending to work mainly on 70cms but the band seemed very quiet, so we decided to give a few points away on 2m using QRP with quite a mediocre station. Still managed to work some nice DX despite our basic setup though!!! G3JJZ 144MHz Mediocre. 432MHz Mediocre. G3MEH 144MHz Flat conditions made it rather hard going at times. Good French activity but poor from northern UK - 1 QSO IO93, no IO84 or IO94. 432MHz Poor conditions with most QSO's by QSY from 144MHz. G3XDY 432MHz Some good DX despite limited activity. G3XNO/P 144MHz Very poor conditions with very heavy QSB on DX. Lack of contest stations very noticeable in UK on SSB, therefore we operated on FM to make contacts, with the problem of FM operators not knowing locators. Cold, wet and snowy (!) weather, along with wind during the night made for an expedition type stopover, but we thoroughly enjoyed the vent, even though M0XLT was thinking of frostbite (!) during the night. G3YNN 144MHz Good fun, shame about the rugby on the tele. Lots of QRM from portable station close by. See you in the next one G4DEZ 144MHz Terrible conditions but some nice DX G4XPE 144MHz Abysmal conditions. At best flat, with deep qsb. G5B 144MHz High levels of static rain at times (S7-S9) and some QSB made life very difficult at times. 432MHz As 2m High levels of noise on the band & deep QSB making life rather difficult at times. G6HOU/P 144MHz Deep, slow QSB. Lots of continental activity. Disappointingly small number of UK stations. 432MHz Restricted to FM. Managed to make contact with the only person heard calling CQ on FM! Hopefully I'll do better next time. G8SRL Conditions were not very good. 70 cms was very quiet. This was my first time at a multiband contest so I've a bit to learn about tactics. G8ZRE 144MHz Long periods of no stations then conditions improved for best DX. No activity from GM/GI/GD or GD. GW4HBK Not a lot heard. First time on 70 for 20years M0BAO/P Poor conditions but good contest overall M0BPQ/P 144MHz Drifed in and outr of this contest. Calling CQ resulted in fairly few QSOs, but some careful tuning revealed some reasonable contacts considering my antenna and power "restrictions". I was pleased to find that the DL's could read c.w. When I find a good site around here and can run my full antenna system then I look forward to making many more QSOs. 432MHz No replies to CQs only moving people from 2m. I suspect that the FT847 is not so good on this band as I often struggle to hear stations who are running more power than me. I heard a couple of DLs but they were cwnr on CW. Please can we have more casual activity! M5ADF 144MHz Very up and down, lots of French stations 432MHz Enjoyable contest - more 432 activity would be helpful M5FUN 144MHz Good contest but what a struggle for the DX. Suffered a lot from heavy splatter in the last 6 hours.