Welcome to week two hundred and fourty one of NARC’s contest news – this news is being written one day early due to an earlier than usual deadline. I wish David and Tammy an excellent holiday!
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.
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!
First a bit of not entirely contest news – please see at the end for details of various DXpeditions due to happen.
Results:-
On VHF
The results of the SHF UKAC of 28th April were published today (13th May). I was the only entry for NARC with a disappointing 19th place in the 2.3GHz Restricted section. My poor signal turned out to be due to a 6 to 1 SWR as the CoAx between the PA and the beam (3 feet long) was water-logged. This has been repaired!. Link here to results
The current VHF championship placings are at this link here
In the overall UKAC we are currently 5th, but a long way behind Harwell in 4th. Link here
On HF
The results of the 80m CC DATA contest of 30th April were released this week. Despite a much lower number of entries than usual we still prevailed gaining 6,389 points with Bristol second on 5,153 points. So far our total is 78,745 points with Bristol second on 47,174 points. Our top scorer this time was Ray, G3G (G3XLG), who won the 100W assisted section gaining a full 1000 points. Congratulations Ray! Link here to results
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
On Sunday 10th May the 70MHz CW contest ran. This was part of the RSGB VHF CW championship. Entries by NARC members included G4AFF, G4LPP, EI8KN, G4DYC and G8VPE. Conditions were only middling and there was rather poor activity. Link here to claimed scores
On Tuesday 12th May the 432MHz UKAC ran. We fielded 4 entries in this one with Stewart G4AFF scoring highest for us. There was some good DX available with SM worked here. Link here to claimed scores
On Wednesday 13th May the 432MHz FT8 AC (2h and 4h sections) ran. Unfortunately entries won’t be clear for a day or two as it is only just ending as i write this so I’ll report on this next week.
On HF
On Monday 11th Mat the 80m CC SSB contest ran. Once again there was a relatively low turnout by NARC and it looks like we probably will come second to Bristol this time. Andy M0NKR once again showed his prowess in this mode by scoring what looks to be the second highest number of QSOs, 185 only just trumped by GW9J’s 189. Conditions seemed quite good apart from static noise from storms over central Europe and activity was good. Link here to logs received
Tracey, 2E0CEY is becoming a regular contributor to this column and reports here on her activity in the VOLTA RTTY test of Saturday 9th May:-
Hello, well… I have mixed feelings about this contest.
I started late on Saturday and only operated 8hr 20m in total, due to birthdays and family popping in and out visiting over weekend.
I did quite enjoy Saturday as conditions here were reasonable, and I managed to work several stateside stations and South America which helped increase my overall score.
However, I can only liken conditions on Sunday as, trying to pull out my own teeth with a pair of pliers!
I did persevere until the end, making 206 QSOs.
Tracey 2E0CEY
And from Bob, 2E0OBO :-
Hi Phil,
At last, after a two week frustrating struggle with my comport problem, all has been resolved.
When comports go wrong, they really go wrong! So, the volta rtty contest was a good opportunity for a test. Pleased to say, all went well. Got my usual 50 qso’s and I worked Tracey as well.
Give you a point on Monday….ssb
73
Bob
2E0OBO
Link here to VOLTA test logs received page
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.
Apologies if I have missed any emailed reports, some go to spam and some get lost in the huge quantity of junk mail! I try to be diligent!
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.
% Thu 14th May 1900-2130 50MHz UKAC
% Sat 16th May 1400 for 24h 144MHz May contest. Part of the VHF Championship – link here to rules
% Sun 17th May 1000-1400 1st 144MHz backpackers – link here to rules
% Tue 19th May 1900-2130 1.3GHz UKAC
% Thu 21st May 1900-2130 70MHz UKAC
% Sun 24th May 0800-1400 10GHz trophy Contest (VHF championship) – link to rules here
% Tue 26th May 1830-2130 SHF UKAC
Also of interest for some on the vhf / uhf bands are the EU FT8 activity tests – see the following link 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 16th May 0600-2100 UN DX contest (Kazakhstan based) SSB and CW – link here to rules
% Sat 16th May 0800-1100 NZART Sangster-Shield Contest (New Zealand based) CW – link here to rules
% Sat 16th May 1200 for 24h His Majesty the King of Spain CW contest – link here to rules
% Sat 16th May 1200 for 24h EU PSK DX contest (BPSK63) – link here to rules
% Sat 16th May 2000-2359 Feld Hell Sprint – link here to rules
% Sat 16th May 2100 to Sun 17th May 0200 Baltic contest CW and SSB – link here to rules
% Sun 17th May 2300 for 2h Run for the Bacon QRP contest CW – link here to rules
% Mon 18th May 1900-2100 RSGB FT4 contest
% Wed 20th May 1900-2030 80m CC DATA
% Sun 24th May 1600-2000 Real time contest CW and SSB (live score reporting) – link here to rules
% Mon 25th May 0000-0100 QRP ARCI Hootowl Sprint CW – link here to rules
% Mon 25th May 1300-1400 QCX Challenge CW – link here to rules
% Thu 28th May 1900-2030 80m CC CW
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
Finally possibly a new section as there doesn’t seem to be any other NARC pages dedicated to this; here is a list forwarded by Alan G800 of the DX activity planned courtesy the ARI DX bulletin:-
till 15/05 JG8NQJ/JD1: Minami Torishima (OC-073) 1815
till 15/05 VY0ZOO (VY0BRR): Broughton Island (NA-130) 1825
till 19/05 XT2AW: Burkina Faso 1826
till 22/05 3B9G: Rodrigues Island (AF-017) 1824
till 24/05 VK9BSA and VK9DEE: Cocos (Keeling) Islands (OC-003) 1820
till 25/05 OT26EPIC: special callsign 1824
till 31/05 A60PE: special callsign 1825
till 31/05 II4ROSA: special callsign 1809
till 31/05 LZ100LZ: special callsign 1826
till 31/05 S09S: Western Sahara 1821
till 31/05 SP1920KW: special callsign 1807
till 31/05 SX1FLY: special callsign 1827
till 31/05 SZ40A: special callsign 1818
till 15/06 5Z4/MM0ZBH: Kenya 1825
till 30/06 LZ370TL: special callsign 1809
till June 3X/YB3GIH: Guinea 1810
till June TL8BNW: Central African Republic 1813
till 11/07 CN2NQV: Morocco 1825
till 20/07 FO/F6BCW: Tikehau (OC-066), French Polynesia 1822
till 31/07 C21TS: Nauru (OC-031) 1813
till 31/07 DA200GVN: special callsign 1821
till 31/07 DM50GFS: special callsign 1821
till 06/08 ZL100C: special callsign 1789
till 30/09 9A10SOTA: special callsign 1795
till 30/09 YR100RC: special callsign 1820
till 10/11 PA50JT: special callsign 1803
till 31/12 9A44FF: special callsign 1808
till 31/12 9A69AA: special callsign 1809
till 31/12 CT100REP: special callsign 1810
till 31/12 DA100LH, DL100LH, DK100LH: special callsigns 1808
till 31/12 DA100TV and DL100TV: special callsigns 1808
till 31/12 DB100FT: special callsign 1807
till 31/12 DL25WIKI: special callsign 1807
till 31/12 DQ30GDXF: special callsign 1811
till 31/12 DR170TESLA: special callsign 1826
till 31/12 EM50AR: special callsign 1811
till 31/12 GB50PUNK: special callsign 1809
till 31/12 LU1DMZ/Z and LU1ZA: South Orkney Islands (AN-008) 1818
till 31/12 LZ75HSC: special callsign 1818
till 31/12 OT26B: special callsign 1821
till 31/12 PG75HSC: special callsign 1824
till 31/12 YT170TESLA: special callsign 1814
till 31/12 ZL100AA: special callsign 1823
till December VK0TBC: Casey Station, Antarctica 1812
till ??/?? 9M2/KM9D: Rebak Island (AS-058), West Malaysia 1817
09/05-10/05 KD7WPJ: Santa Cruz Island (NA-144) 1827
09/05-15/05 HK4/PY8WW: Tutumate Islands (SA-093) 1817
10/05-16/05 VB3COPS: special callsign 1827
10/05-19/05 TF/WE9G: Iceland (EU-021) 1826
12/05-22/05 OX3LX: Aasiaat Island (NA-134), Greenland 1827
12/05-31/07 II0NRG: special callsign 1826
13/05-16/05 YB1RQX/p, YB1RET/p, YC1RIK/p: Singkep Island (OC-107) 1827
13/05-21/05 V4/EI7BR, V4/EI8KN, V49B: St. Kitts (NA-104) 1827
13/05-22/05 A31AA: Tongatapu Island (OC-049), Tonga 1826
14/05-26/05 A35RS: Tongatapu (OC-049), Tonga 1827
15/05-16/05 JI3DST/6 and JA4GXS/6: Danjo Islands (AS-056) 1826
17/05-23/05 VB3EMS: special callsign 1827
18/05-22/05 PA/OR5R: Ameland Island (EU-038) 1827
19/05-08/06 3G0Z: Robinson Crusoe Island (SA-005), Juan Fernandez 1827
21/05-23/05 EJ6KP/p: Arranmore Island (EU-121) 1826
22/05-24/05 9M26ISX: special callsign (West Malaysia) 1827
22/05-29/01 2027 8J70JARE: special callsign 1825
23/05-30/05 ZC4RH: UK Sovereign Base Areas on Cyprus 1827
25/05-29/05 ZD8KX: Ascension Island (AF-003) 1827
25/05-03/06 ZL7IO: Chatham Islands (OC-038) 1825
26/05-06/06 CP7DX: Bolivia 1827
27/05-08/06 PJ4CB: Bonaire (SA-006) 1827
May T31TTT: Central Kiribati 1822
May XR0Z: Alejandro Selkirk (SA-101), Juan Fernandez 1827
May-October HF0PAS: South Shetland Islands (AN-010) 1825
01/06-14/06 VJ2L: Lord Howe Island (OC-004) 1827
01/06-30/06 II4PRCE: special callsign 1809
01/06-30/06 SP1373JA: special callsign 1807
01/07-31/07 II4JAFL: special callsign 1809
01/07-31/07 SP1183JO: special callsign 1807
01/07-31/08 LZ67PP: special callsign 1809
04/07-07/07 RI1PC: Chaichiy Island (EU-160) 1823
12/07-16/07 RI0BW: Vize Island (AS-055) 1823
18/07-21/07 RI0BU: Uyedineniya Island (AS-057) 1823
23/07-26/07 RI0BI: Isachenko Island (AS-050) 1823
01/08-31/08 II4KEMP: special callsign 1809
01/08-31/08 SP1905MFK: special callsign 1807
01/09-15/09 RI1FJL: Heiss Island (EU-019), Franz Josef Land 1812
01/09-30/09 II4PAGE: special callsign 1809
01/09-30/09 SP1373AB: special callsign 1807
01/09-31/10 LZ936BA: special callsign 1809
30/09-11/10 9T0MD: Democratic Republic of the Congo 1825
01/10-31/10 II4NTTI: special callsign 1809
01/10-31/10 SP1550SK: special callsign 1807
29/10-13/11 KH8A: Pago Pago (OC-045), American Samoa 1827
01/11-30/11 II4GCLB: special callsign 1809
01/11-30/11 SP1234KK: special callsign 1807
01/11-31/12 LZ911TD: special callsign 1809
10/11-19/11 C8K: Mozambique 1823
November ZK3: Tokelau (OC-048) 1822
01/12-31/12 II4SLRI: special callsign 1809
01/12-31/12 SP1835JK: special callsign 1807
February 2027 3Y0L: Peter I Island (AN-004) 1823
March 2027 VP0SG: South Georgia Island (AN-007) 1827
425 DX NEWS HOME PAGE: And here, once again, are details of Roger EI8KN and his friend EI7BR’s DXpedition which is current:-
From 13 – 21 May 2026, David FitzGerald EI7BR (G4CKS) and Roger Greengrass EI8KN will be QRV from St.Kitts, West Indies using the callsigns V4/EI7BR and V4/EI8KN respectively. Roger, a keen contester, has also been issued with the callsign V49B which he plans to use in any appropriate contests that occur during the stay.
Their QTH will be the fully-equipped holiday home of John, W5JON, in Calypso Bay, located 200 feet from the Caribbean Sea. Activity will be on 160-6 metres (incl. 60m) using SSB and FT8. Equipment is a Yaesu FT3000D and an Elecraft KPA500 Amplifier. Antennas are a Mosley Mini32A 10/15/20m, 33′ Vertical 10-40m, 35′ Top Loaded 80m Vertical, 160m Vertical and 6m 5 element Yagi.
This will be a holiday style DX-pedition with wives/partners there too but the pair hope to get in a decent amount of operating time during the stay!
Activity periods will be advertised on the Cluster.
The QSL policy will be included on QRZ.COM
73 until next week,
Phil G4LPP