Welcome to week two hundred and twenty three of NARC’s contest news.
Here once again is the announcement for contesters with changed callsigns:- Link here to RSGB site
Results:-
On VHF
The results of the 70MHz UKAC of 18th December, the last 4m one of 2025, were released on 3rd January. We managed 5th place in this one but overall ended the year on 4m in 5th place. Considering our low number of entrants on this band and equipment levels I feel this is a good result! Thanks to all who entered on 4m in 2025. This year (2026) I hope we can get some more interest going for this band. (If anyone is interested I have a 10W transverter and 4 element beam I can lend / sell. The beam also has 3 elements on 6m.) Link to 2025 4m results here
In the overall UKAC, with just the 23cm UKAC December results to come, we are now 5th in section out of 69 clubs so far. Of note, we have managed to leapfrog Gower/GwyrCC! Link to this here.
Now in the overall AFS which includes HF and VHF sections the scores are at this link here We remain in 4th place but by a good margin.
On HF
No new results of note of which I am aware this week.
This year’s HF championship results to date are at this link 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 first 2m UKAC of the year ran on Tuesday 6th January. So far 147 logs have been received at RSGB with 5 from NARC. This is a far cry from a couple of years ago when we often had 10 plus entries! Of note we now have Roger, EI8KN batting for us so a big welcome to him! Conditions seemed reasonably good with QSOs from here to SM, DL, F and OZ. Link to claimed scores here
On Wednesday 7th January the 2m FT8 AC ran, the first of this year. I could see G0ODR and EI8KN in the 2h section. Link to 2h claimed scores here
On Thursday, 8th January, the first 6m UKAC of the year ran. Conditions were really dire with weak signals generally and few portables about due to the storm. Antenna here at 24ft with the wind gusts. Joined by 4 others from NARC so several logs to go in. Not one to remember! Link to claimed scores here
On HF
The RSGB 80/40m CW AFS ran on Saturday 3rd January. Conditions were faily good and NARC members were out in good numbers. 187 logs were received at RSGB with 10 logs for NARC which means we should have 2 full teams and one part team. Top scorer for us on qso numbers was Stewart G4AFF. 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.
Roger, G3LDI took part in the SARTG RTTY contest on New Year’s day. Below is his reportalso mentioning the CWT that day:-
Hi Phil.
I took part in the SARTG RTTY contest on New Year’s Day. I managed to get on in time after also doing the CWT at 0700, but only for 30 mins so I had time to get another cuppa on the desk before starting the RTTY test.
I tried an experiment in the CWT. As it is not really a contest, it is an “activity” period, I decided to say Hi to each one personally and wish them a HNY for 2026, personal greetings in other words.; It was interesting to see who responded in kind and those that did not bother at all. No names no pack drills but I received responses from several I did not expect to and did NOT receive a response from some of those I would have expected to respond! Hey ho, only interested in macros I guess.
The RTTY test was disappointing on 80m with no US stations and very few EU stations either so a change to 40m was sooner than I expected. Again no US stations, with propagation not brilliant despite a 2 el beam. I finished with 114 Qs which did not compete with GW0A – John – who finished with 145 Qs. Oh well, next year might be better.
Roger G3LDI
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 13th Jan. 2000-2230 432MHz UKAC
% Wed 14th Jan. 1700-2100 432MHz FT8 AC 2h and 4h sections
% Thu 15th Jan. 2000-2230 70MHz UKAC
% Tue 20th Jen. 2000-2230 1.3GHz 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
% Sat 10th Jan. 0000-2359 YB DX Contest SSB – link here to rules
% Sat 10th Jan. 1200 for 36h SKCC Weekend Sprintathon CW – link to rules here
% Sat 10th Jan. 1200 for 24h UBA PSK63 Prefix Contest – link to rules here
% Sun 11th Jan. 0900-1059 DARC 10m contest CW and SSB – link here to rules
% Sun 11th Jan. 1300-1700 RSGB 80m-40m AFS DATA – part of HF championship and AFS superleague – link here to rules
% Sat 17th Jan. 1300-1700 RSGB 80m-40m AFS PHONE – part of HF championship and AFS superleague – link here to rules
% Sat 17th Jan. 1200 to Sun 18th Jan. 1159 Hungarian DX contest – link here to rules
% Sat 17th Jan. 1200 to Sun 18th Jan. 1159 PRO Digi Contest RTTY BPSK63 and FT4 – link to rules here
% Sat 17th Jan. 2000-Sun 18th Jan. 0559 Feld Hell sprint – link here to rules
% Sun 18th Jan. 2300 for 2h Run for the bacon QRP contest CW – link to rules here
% Mon 19th Jan. 2000-2200 RSGB FT4 contest – link to rules here
See Link to WA7BNM for other contests not mentioned above. There are several to choose from!
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 CW OPS 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
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. I particularly need any contest related photographs, you may be prepared to share, to head the news each week.
73 until next week,
Phil G4LPP