Welcome to week one hundred and seventy nine of NARC’s contest news.
Results:-
On VHF
The results of the 144MHz FT8 AC (2h and 4h) 5/2/25 were released on 15th February. NARC member G0BIX featured. In the 2h section Terry, G0BIX came 5th in the restricted section and 6th in the restricted section 4h. Link here to 2h results
The results of the 432MHz AFS contest of 2nd February were released on 20th February. Our team of 4, G4AFF, G4LPP, G4DYC and G8VPE managed 7th place in the local section. Link to results here
This completes the AFS series for 2024/5. NARC have come 5th in this series out of 57 clubs in the Local Clubs section, so congratulations to those who entered. Link to results here
On HF
The results of the first 1.8MHz contest of 8th February were released on 16th February. Several NARC members participated. Top of the NARC heap was Stewart, G4AFF who ended up in 4th place in the UK Assisted section closely followed by Roger, G3LDI in 5th place. Link to results here
The results of the 80m CC DATA contest of 12/2/2025 were released on 20th February. This was another convincing win for NARC. Congratulations to Ray, G3G, for coming top of the 100W Assisted section and gaining 1000 points for the club! We scored 8,323 points compared to second placed Bristol with 4,302 points. This gives us a total after 2 tests in the series of 16,851 points to 2nd placed Bristol with 7,830 points. Congratulations to those who entered on our behalf. Link to results here
If people are entering other contests of whose results I am obviously unaware please e-mail me to let me know the outcome and I’ll mention it here.
Contests:-
On VHF
The 1.3GHz UKAC ran on Tuesday 18th February. Conditions weren’t great! 4 of us entered from NARC. Most QSOs were made for us by Stewart G4AFF. Best DX here was DK1PZ via aeroplane reflection CW. So far 78 logs have been received at RSGB. Link to claimed scores here
The 70MHz UKAC ran on 20th February 2025. Conditions were pretty poor with mainly lowish scores, deep QSB and initially what sounded like a strong Auroral note on signals although no Auroral warning was seen. 5 of us turned out. Best DX here was GI4SNA. Link to claimed scores here
On HF
The ARRL International DX CW contest ran over the weekend of 15th/16th February. NARC interest consisted of myself, Tracey 2E0CEY and Mike G4DYC. (If i’ve missed anyone else from the club who entered, please let me know) I quite enjoyed popping in and out of the test over the weekend as time permitted and managed 350 QSOs on 5 bands. Here’s a short report from Tracey, 2E0CEY about her participation, it’s good to see another keen CW operator in the club! :- >
***********Hi Phil, just put a log in for this weekends ARRL. My first cw contest in 10 years! Struggled at first but wanted to use this weekend to get some practice in for the RSGB CC CW. Done a few hours and happy with 40 qsos. Worked 21 usa states and 2 VE. Onwards and upwards!
Tracey 2E0CEY
***********I’ve not had any reports of other activity although there were several good contests to choose from!
Please let me know if you were on in any other VHF or HF contests and I’ll put a summary in next week’s news.
Upcoming contests in the next 2 weeks (all times in UTC):-
On VHF / UHF / SHF
Before each of the 2m and 70cm UKACs there is an FM leg starting 1 hour before for 55 minutes. I hear almost no activity in this from here but others may have more luck! Rules etc on RSGBCC site.
* Tue 25th Feb. 1930-2230 SHF UKAC
* Sat 1st Mar. 1400 for 24h March 144 432MHz contest (VHF championship) - Link to rules here
* Tue 4th Mar. 2000-2230 144MHz UKAC
* Wed 5th Mar. 1700-2100 144MHz FT8AC 2h and 4h sectionsAlso of interest for some on the vhf / uhf bands are the EU FT8 activity tests – see the following link for more information. These are on the first (144 MHz), second (432MHz) and third (1.3GHz) Wednesdays of each month. 1700-2000 Hrs EU FT8 series website
On HF
NB:- Note the RSGB has changed several of the rules for HF contests in 2025 – Link here to changes.
* Fri 21st Feb. 2200 to Sun 23rd Feb. 2200 CQ 160m SSB contest - Link to rules here.
* Sat 22nd Feb. 0600 for 36h REF SSB Contest (France based) - Link to rules here.
* Sat 22nd Feb. 1300 for 24h UBA DX contest CW (Belgium based) - Link to rules here.
* Sat 22nd Feb. 1800 to Sun 23rd Feb. 0559 North American QSO party RTTY - Link to rules here.
* Sun 23rd Feb. 0000 to 2359 World Wide Patagonia DX Contest CW - Link to rules here.
* Mon 24th Feb. 2000-2200 RSGB FT4 contest
* Thu 27th Feb. 2000-2130 80m CC CW
* Sat 1st Mar. 0000 for 48h ARRL International DX SSB contest - Link to rules here
* Sun 2nd Mar. 0700-1100 UBA Spring Contest CW - link to rules here
* Sun 2nd Mar. 1800-2200 WAB 3.5MHz Phone contest - Link to rules here
* Mon 3rd Mar. 2000-2130 80m CC DATASee Link to WA7BNM for other contests not mentioned above.
Wednesdays throughout the year, CW ops 1 hour mini tests 13:00, 19:00, Thurs 03:00 and 07:00, exchange Name and G if not a member or CWOPS number if you are a member.
See CWOPS website for more details.
Also on Fridays 2000 to 2100 and Mondays 0000 to 0100 each week CWops runs the K1USN slow speed CW contests. Any speed up to 20wpm is acceptable. For rules see :- CW OPs SST page these contests are open to anyone.
All RSGB contest rules and further details plus log submission at RSGB contest site
Look to WA7BNM’s contest calendar for other contests and links to rules etc at WA7BNM weekly contest calendar
A link to John 2E0TWQ’s site’s Narc contest history page – 2E0TWQ’s NARC contest results page
Contesting can be great fun but I know there’s a reluctance to step into unknown waters. It’s a great way of improving many aspects of our hobby including one’s own performance and the quality of your station. If you have any interest whatsoever please call in to the contest net on Friday evening at 9pm on 145.250MHz FM or speak to any of the regular contesters on 450. Or indeed email me!
Submissions or comments for this news to thedoctorphil@gmail.com
73 until next week,
Phil G4LPP