Welcome to week one hundred and sixty seven of NARC’s contest news.

Results:-

On VHF

The results of the 432MHz UKAC of 12th November were released on 24th November. Our team of 6 managed a 5th place in this one and we remain in 4th overall in this series. Thanks again to all who contine to participate for us. Link to results here. 

NARC is running 10th at the moment in this year's VHF championships out of 84 clubs. Link here 

In the overall UKAC we are still running 4th out of 57 in the General clubs section. Link to this here 

On HF

I couldn't spot any new HF results of note, but if anyone is aware of anything I've missed please let me know.

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

Unfortunately our only SHF competitor is recovering from surgery at present. I wish Graham well for a speedy recovery.

On HF

On Saturday 23rd of November for 48h the CQ WW CW contest ran. Local interest was in the form of M0RYB's team of 4 operators running from his site north of Diss. The team consisted of Peter M0RYB, Chris G0TZZ, Kim G4WUG and myself. We ran a Multi Two station on all bands with 100 Watts to an A3S on 20m,15m and 10m and dipoles for Top Band, 80m and 40m. Rigs were a pair of Elecraft K4. Both stations were active for the full 48h apart from 20minutes when the very high wind gusts managed to severely damage another beam on the tower making it dangerous and requiring removal of the remaining elements. Activity was good and apart from tiredness the team had an excellent time making over 4000 QSOs. See below for score table. 35 CQ zones were contacted.

I have spotted logs received from other club members. Link to logs received here. 

The last test of this year's 80m Autumn series ran on Thursday 28th November. This was CW. The band was in reasonable shape and activity was quite good. This test has only just finished as I write this. It looks like there were at least 13 stations active for us and it was good to see a double scoring log entered by Marie-Louise, M7YRU. We now await the final result! Link to logs received here. 

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.

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Roger, G3LDI had written in about some new contest software he has been successfully trying out recently. See below:-

SDC stands for Software Defined Connectors. It is a series of programs written by Yuri, UT7LW, and is designed to run with an SDR type radio . The Flex 6600 is what I use and several other UK stations too. It is not easy to set up but help is always around. Yuri himself is nearly always on hand to solve any problems and there is an IO group set up for assistance if needed. It is a different concept to N1MM+ with an extremely complex SKimmer and Spotlist which once set up is of great help for assisted stations. It is not suitable for older radios. If you have a Flex radio have a look at this tutorial: - Link here.

I use SDC for CW and RTTY/PSK contesting. It is not suitable for SSB. For Data tests it really is superb. The spotlist does not discriminate between RTTY and PSK so jumping from one mode to the other is instantaneous. The decoders are excellent and copy is usually 100%, depending on QRM/QRN etc. It also puts PS in the Cabrillo log for you. It can be run much like a computer game inasmuch it depends on your use of the Spotlist. Having mastered that black art, this is why Martin G4ENZ attains such high scoring. He does NOT have a linear, he does NOT have a massive antenna, he is just very adept at using that Spotlist.

Don't think that you will master it's use the day after you install it. I have been using it for some time now and still have not achieved full control! It does help keep the brain cells working however. Before you say "It's just like using FT8", no it is not. Try it for yourself and see.

Yuri has now enabled the program for Onlinescoring and Onlinelogchecking. I have not looked into that as yet but will have to download the latest version and take a look at it.

You will need an SDR radio however.

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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 3rd Dec. 2000-2230 144MHz UKAC
* Wed 4th Dec. 1700-2100 144MHz FT8 AC 2h and 4h sections
* Sun 8th Dec. 1000-1400 144MHz AFS (AFS Super League) - Link to rules here 
* Tue 10th Dec. 2000-2230 432MHz UKAC
* Wed 11th Dec. 1700-2100 432MHz FT8 AC 2h and 4h sections
* Thu 12th Dec. 2000-2230 50MHz UKAC

Also 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

* Mon 2nd Dec. 1630-1729 OK1WC memorial CW contest 80 and 40m - Link to rules here. 
* Tue 3rd Dec. 0100-0159 Worldwide SSB Activity contest. Link to rules here. 
* Fri 6th Dec. 2200 to Sun 8th Dec. 1600 ARRL 160m Contest CW - Link to rules here 
* Sat 7th Dec. 0000 to Sun 8th Dec. 2359 Kalbar Contest SSB - Link to rules here 
* Sat 7th Dec. 1200 to Sun 8th Dec 1159 PRO CW contest - Link to rules here 
* Sat 7th Dec. 1400 to Sun 8th Dec. 1359 INORC Contest CW (Italy based) - Link to rules here 
* Sat 7th Dec. 1800 to Sun 8th Dec 2359 FT Challenge FT8/4 - Link to rules here 
* Sun 8th Dec. 2000-2300 QRP ARCI Holiday Spirits Sprint CW - Link to Rules here 

See 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 

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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 whatsover 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!
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73 until next week,

Phil G4LPP