contest cw

NARC Contest News 181 Friday 7th March 2025

Philip Holt

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

Results:-

On VHF

The results of the 50MHz UKAC of 13th February arrived in my inbox just too late for publication last week. Our 9 member team did exceptionally well coming 3rd overall and moving us up to 4th place in this series overall. Highest scorer was Steve, M5BFL with 866 points so congratulations to him. I hope we can keep up this effort and secure more results like this or better! Link to results here

In the overall UKAC we are running 5th in section out of 41 clubs so far. Link to this here.

On HF

The results of the 80m CW CC of 27th February have already been released. NARC managed an excellent turnout of 20 members for this one and once again won by a huge margin over second placed Newbury with 9,715 points vs. 4,490. Bristol remain in overall second place and the current series position is NARC with 26,566 points to Bristol with 12,283. Top scorer for us was Stewart, G4AFF with 879 points closely followed by Malcolm, G3PDH with 874 points. 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:-

OnVHF

The March 144/432 contest ran over the weekend of 1st and 2nd March. Several NARC members went to help run the Trimingham contest team, M6R and it looks like they are likely to come 3rd in the open section on 2m. Here I concentrated on the 6H single section and look to be aiming for 3rd in that section and as an afterthought entered on 432 6S. Conditions were reasonably good but seemed better in the south of the country where a couple of the big teams were located. Best DX at M6R was OK2O and here was DR7C. On 70cm my best DX was DK0FY. Link to claimed scores here

The 144MHz UKAC ran on Tuesday 4th March. There was a good turnout with 211 logs received at RSGB. 8 NARC stations have entered logs. Once again Stewart, G4AFF worked the most stations with 147 QSOs. Conditions were quite good with Stewart’s best DX being SM7EYW and mine being EI3KD. For the first 40 minutes there was a constant pile-up of DL, PA and OZ stations which was good fun. Link to claimed scores here

On Wednesday 5th March the 2m FT8AC 2h and 4h ran. NARC interest was provided as usual by Roger, EI8KN and Terry, G0BIX. Link to claimed scores 2h here

On HF

On Monday 3rd March the 80m CC DATA contest ran. 164 logs were received at RSGB with 19 from NARC members. Top scorer for NARC was Ray G3G with a claimed score of 129 closely followed by Andy, M0NKR with 124. Conditions seemed good and activity was good particularly on RTTY. There was a particularly high turnout from foreign operators, many of whom entered logs. Link to logs received here

I’ve not had any reports of other activity although there were, once again, 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 Mar. 2000-2230 432MHz UKAC
* Wed 12th Mar. 1700-2100 432MHz FT8 AC 2h and 4h sections
* Thu 13th Mar. 2000-2230 50MHz UKAC
* Sat 15th Mar 1400-1500 144MHz and 1700-1800 432MHz AGCW VHF/UHF contest, CW - Link to rules here 
* Tue 18th Mar. 2000-2230 1.3GHz UKAC
* Thu 20th Mar. 2000-2230 70MHz 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

Firstly I’d like to mention the upcoming 1 Watt challenge, this is a fun contest which also can surprise with good distances worked on 1 watt or less, see below:-

THE 1 WATT GAME 2025 – PART1.
I. OBJECTIVE: A short QRPP CW game on the 20 meter band. All radio amateurs and SWL’s are cordially invited.
II. DATE: Sunday 23 March 2025 from 0900 to 1200 UTC.
III. BAND: 20 meter band only. 14.060 MHz +- 10 kHz.
IV. POWER: maximum 1 watt.
V. OPERATION: Only CW (A1A).

  1. CALL: CQ 1W
  2. EXCHANGE: RST / POWER / LOCATOR
    ie. 559/1w/ JO21LA. Additional info like power, RTX, antenna,… is welcome.
    VI. SCORING:
    First calculate the distance of each QSO.
    QSO points = distance divided by the power of the other station (in watts).
    Power less than 1 watt is equal to 1 watt in the points calculation.
    Eg. your counter station is 2000 km away and uses 5 watt. Then the point count for this qso is: 2000/5 = 400 points.
    Eg. your counter station is 3000 km away and uses 1 watt. Then the point count for this qso is: 3000/1 = 3000 points.
    Eg. your counter station is 3000 km away and uses 300 milliwatt. Then the point count for this qso is: 3000/1 = 3000 points.
    TOTAL SCORE: Sum of all QSO points.
    VII. LOG SUBMISSION:
    Email your score to on6kz@hotmail.com ( ! NEW EMAIL ADDRESS ! )
    Add the text: Me, (your call) , I declare that I managed a total of XXX QSOs, my total result is XXX points.
    Please add your best DX (call and locator)station-info: locator, power, RTX, antenna. Pictures of your set-up are appreciated.
    VIII. GAME REFEREE: Peter Kempenaers (ON6KZ/OO7Z). The Game Referee has the right to request full log in case of any doubt.
    IX. LOG DEADLINE: 15 April 2025.
    X: Nominees: award for the winner, the best DX, funniest location (if outdoor), original home brew, lowest power.

NB:- Note the RSGB has changed several of the rules for HF contests in 2025 – Link here to changes.

* Sat 8th Mar. 1000 for 24h Commonwealth Contest, part of RSGB HF - Link to rules here. 
* Sat 8th Mar. 1200 for 36h SKCC Weekend Sprintathon CW - Link to rules here 
* Sat 8th Mar. 1200 for 24h EA PSK63 Contest - Link to rules here 
* Sat *th Mar. 1400-2000 AGCW QRP Contest - Link to rules here 
* Sat 8th Mar. 1500 for 24h Stew Perry Top Band CW contest - Link to rules here 
* Sat 8th Mar. 1800 to Sun 9th Mar. 0559 TESLA Memorial HF CW Contest - Link to rules here 
* Sunday 9th Mar.1000-2159 YOTA Contest CW and SSB - Link to rules here 
* Wed 12th Mar. 2000-2130 80m CC CW
* Sat 15th Mar. 0000-2359 PODXS 070 Club St. Patricks day contest PSK31 - Link to rules here 
* Sat 15th Mar. 0200 to Mon 17th Mar. 0159 BARTG HF RTTY Contest - Link to rules here     
* Sat 15th Mar. 1200 for 24h F9AA Cup SSB - Link to rules here     
* Sun 16th Mar. 2000-2159 Feld Hell Sprint - Link to rules here 
* Sun 16th Mar. 0700-1100 UBA Spring Contest SSB - Link to rules here 
* Sun 16th Mar. 2300 for 2hours Run for the Bacon QRP Contest CW - Link to rules here 
* Mon 17th Mar. 2000-2200 RSGB FT4 contest

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 CW OPs 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