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Welcome to week one hundred and seventy seven of NARC’s contest news.
Results:-
On VHF
The results of the 1.3GHz UKAC of 21st January came out on 4th February. 4 of us entered this one bringing NARC in in 6th place overall. We desperately need more stations to participate in these contests. Any score is worthwhile and it’s not necessary to do the full 2.5h if that’s too much. G4AFF was 8th in the Open section with best DX GM4JTJ, G4LPP was 7th in the Restricted section with best DX DK1PZ, G4DYC was 47th in the Low power section with best DX G4ODA and G3YLA was 48th in the Low power section with best DX G4ODA. Link to results here.
On HF
No new HF results of which I am aware.
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 432MHz AFS ran on Sunday 2nd February. We managed the 4 stations we needed for 1 full team. Once again, conditions were not too bad with best DX here DH3NAN at 727Km. This contest is part of the AFS series of club HF and VHF contests and we could do with more entries. Link to claimed scores here.
The 144MHz FT8 AC (2h and 4h) ran on 5th February. NARC members who were spotted entering were Colin, G0ODR and Terry, G0BIX. Link to claimed scores 2h here.
The 144MHz UKAC ran on Tuesday 4th February. I was away for this one. Thanks to the 7 NARC members who did turn out with some good scores. It looks like conditions were reasonable, Stewart, G4AFF claimed best DX SM7EYW at 854Km, Steve, M5BFL claimed best DX OZ1BEF at 656Km.
Link to claimed scores here.
On HF
The first of this year’s 80m CC series ran on Monday 3rd February. Conditions were pretty good and activity was moderately high. 201 logs have been received at RSGB with 16 from NARC members. It looks like we should have won our section so congratulations to all who participated. Scores were good with 7 over 100. Most seemed to have worked the bonus station G6XX. Link to logs received here.
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 11th Feb. 2000-2230 432MHz UKAC
* Wed 12th Feb. 1700-2100 432MHz FT8 AC 2h and 4h sections
* Thu 13th Feb. 2000-2230 50MHz UKAC
* Tue 18th Feb. 2000-2230 1.3GHz UKAC
* Thu 20th Feb. 2000-2230 70MHz UKACAlso 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.
* Sat 8th Feb. 2000-2300 1st 1.8MHz Contest RSGB (HF Championship) - Link to rules here
* Sat 8th Feb. 0000 to Sun 8th Feb. 2359 CQ WW WPX RTTY contest - Link to rules here
* Sat 8th Feb. 0000-2359 FISTS Saturday sprint - Link to rules here
* Sat 8th Feb. 1100-1300 Asia-Pacific Spring Sprint, CW 40m and 20m - Link to rules here
* Sat 8th Feb. 1200 for 36h SKCC Weekend Sprintathon CW - Link to rules here
* Sat 8th Feb. 1200 for 24h KCJ Top-band Contest CW (Japan based) - Link to rules here
* Sat 8th Feb. 1200 for 24h Dutch PACC Contest CW - Link to rules here
* Sat 8th Feb. 1200 for 24h F9AA Cup CW - Link to rules here
* Sat 8th Feb. 1900-2359 WAB 1.8MHz Phone contest - Link to rules here
* Sun 9th Feb. 1300-1700 Balkan HF contest CW and SSB - Link to rules here
* Tue 11th Feb. 0100-0159 Worldwide Sideband Activity Contest SSB - Link to rules here
* Wed 12th Feb. 2000-2130 80m CC DATA
* Sat 15th Feb. 0000 for 48h ARRL International DX CW contest. - Link to rules here.
* Sat 15th Feb. 0000 to Sun 16th Feb. 2359 YLRL YL-OM Contest CW, Digital, SSB. - Link to rules here.
* Sat 15th Feb. 1900-2059 Feld Hell Sprint. - Link to rules here.
* Sun 16th Feb. 0000-2359 FISTS Sunday Sprint, CW - Link to rules here.
* Sun 16th Feb. 2300 to Mon 17th Feb. 0100 Run for the Bacon QRP CW contest. - 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
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!
Submissions or comments for this news to thedoctorphil@gmail.com
73 until next week,
Phil G4LPP