Once again, we'd like to thank you all for taking the time to respond to the consultation on next year's rules. As a result of your answers, we're planning to make the following changes to the RSGB VHF Contest rules in 2026. Some of this year's alterations reverse changes made in 2025 which haven't been successful, and we'll monitor carefully the effects of this year's changes to determine if they will continue into 2027.

• During VHF NFD we are going to revert to allowing the full contest length operation on 70cm and 23cm for the Restricted, Low-Power and Multi-Single sections.
• We're going to move the May 2m contest (and the associated Backpacker's contest) back to its old slot on the 3^rdweekend and re-instate the option to operate for the full 24 hours. This will remove the additional congestion from the first weekend and provide a longer event to make major portable efforts worthwhile.
• We're going to move most of the Backpackers contests to start an hour earlier and finish at the same time as their associated major contests. The traditional extra hour on a quiet band has become un-productive, this being the wishes of the majority of the regular entrants and the broader population.
• In line with a change made last year in RSGB HF Contests, we are going to allow self-spotting on the DX Cluster in the majority of RSGB VHF contests. It will not be allowed in the Low Power and Backpackers contests (which do not allow cluster / ON4KST use at all) and also not in any of the IARU co-ordinated contests. We had a long discussion as a committee on this rule, in-part because the IARU do not currently allow self-spotting. So, any UK entrant who wants to enter the IARU event would automatically be at a disadvantage to everyone else if they refrained from self-spotting. For that reason, we've kept the IARU co-ordinated events out of the list, but will be lobbying IARU for a rule change.
• We are going to continue our migration from multipliers to bonuses. This is not expected to significantly alter the individual results, but will prevent winners having run-away scores and allow all club members to contribute to their club's Championship score more effectively.
• We're going to try moving the 10 GHz Trophy to be aligned with the May UK Microwave Group Contest (last Sunday in May). We hope this will increase the activity base for both contests and make it more interesting for all.