RadCom April 2024, Vol. 100, No. 4

April 2024 55 Regulars How popular is contesting? In the UK and Crown Dependencies (UK & CD) we have an estimated population of several thousand contesters. For some this is not a high-priority radio interest, but for others it is their main or exclusive focus. Here are a few examples where we can precisely quantify participation… Arguably the busiest annual HF band contest is the CQ World Wide DX SSB Contest, held over 48 hours on the last full weekend in October each year. In October 2023 there were 408 entries from UK & CD stations of which many were multi-operator entries – that is around 500 individuals taking part in a single weekend event. In the 80m Club Championships, one of the RSGB’s weekday evening contest series, run during 2023 on HF, 379 participants entered at least one of 18 events in the six-month programme. At VHF/UHF, 651 individuals made an appearance in at least one VHF/UHF UK Activity Contest, in a series which ran for 12 months on several evenings each month. Fancy entering a Grand Prix? One exciting aspect of our radio contests is that they are open to all-comers. Using a motoring analogy, a driver with a simple low-powered car can compete directly with a Formula 1 driver on the same track. In the big contests, large numbers of UK & CD amateurs make QSOs with the very biggest (big gun) amateur stations. Contests typically have multiple sections allowing entrants to compete with similar stations. Many love to compete with other QRP stations, for example, or choose to make a single-band entry to compete with those who are exclusively on the same band. Those UK & CD amateurs who do not have a suitable QTH to put out a competitive signal are often prepared to go out portable or mobile at all times of year, particularly on VHF and UHF. This is a great way to enjoy the hobby away from urban noise and for those with limited time available. Initially the goal is to understand what is going on and to learn how to prepare a log that can be submitted. Improvement soon becomes a target. While we are introducing contesting, it might be useful to answer a few comments that we seem to hear regularly… Why do contesters send meaningless 59 reports? At HF, where the expectation of an entrant may be that at least 1000 QSOs will be made in 24 hours, a (supposedly) accurate signal report is of little benefit. A 59 or 5NN signal report becomes a useful label in a very fast QSO – the information following the report must be copied accurately, be it a serial number, a two character state/province identity or a zone number. In effect, the HF signal report is digital. If a QSO is made, it receives a 59(9) report. If not, it hasn’t been completed. It certainly isn’t meaningless. At VHF/UHF, contest signal reports may be slightly more scientific; here signal reports are of use as they help entrants know how propagation is behaving in the event. Nick Totterdell, G4FAL​ ContestClub@rsgbcc.org Why are there contests filling the bands at weekends? Generally, contests follow an annual cycle, with the same contest appearing on the same weekend each year. Many national radio societies, like the RSGB, sponsor weekend contests. On some weekends there is an extremely popular contest and bandwidth for any other QSOs during the contest is less available on the contest bands (160, 80, 40, 20, 15 and 10m). This only applies on a very few weekends. On other weekends there are more parochial, smaller contests – sometimes several coexist. There is generally quite a lot of unused spectrum on the contest bands at these times. There has been a move in recent years to restrict the number of multi-mode HF contests so in the event of a popular contest there is likely to be more bandwidth for alternative modes for non-contesters. My experience with our ‘flagship’ multimode contest ‘IOTA’ has been that clear frequencies have been relatively easy to find when changing bands – so the contest does not appear to occupy the entirety of any of the bands despite having over 2000 participants. What good is contesting for our hobby? If we don’t use it, we will lose it. Contests fill the bands that are often quiet. With the exodus we are seeing from SSB to FT8, an SSB contest weekend is refreshing, bringing vibrant life to empty bandwidth. • Contesting improves an operator’s skills, whether that be in handling pile-ups (many people calling on top of each other), knowing where to search for QSO partners, or in improving CW reading skills. • Contesting drives development of techniques and technology. • Contests allow analysis of 24-hour propagation. Contests are one of the few times when we can guarantee that openings in propagation will be met by QSOs being achieved, simply because there are stations active on all bands from all locations for 24 hours. A case in point is in our own Commonwealth Contest where Long Path QSOs are often made on the 20 or 15m bands between the UK and VK/ZL stations in the darkest hours of the night – how would we know otherwise? Next month we will look at the history of contesting. Although this series will provide a useful introduction to contesting, if you can’t wait to get started, please search for ‘Beginner’s Guide to HF Contesting’ on the RSGB website. Contests of the month We have two contrasting HF contests to recommend for April: FT4 International Activity Day: The RSGB runs an FT4 International Activity Day, which this year is for 24 hours, starting at 1200UTC on Saturday 6 April. Your task is to make as many QSOs as you can using FT4 on the six bands: 160, 80, 40, 20, 15 and 10m. QSOs with your own continent are worth 1 point and those with other continents are worth 3 points. Your QSO points will be multiplied by the number of DXCC countries you work on each band, to give your total score. Full descriptions, rules and some FT4 tips and hints can be found by following the links on the RSGB HF Contest Calendar [3] . UKEI DX CW Contest: The RSGB has entered a partnership with the organisers of the two UK/EI DX Contests (CW and SSB) and have incorporated these contests in the RSGB HF Contest Calendar. The CW contest runs for 24 hours from 1200UTC on Saturday 27 April. References [1] RadCom Contesting : https://rsgb.org/main/radio-sport/ [2] K3LR CQWW CW 2024: http://www.k3lr.com/2023/CQ23CW/ [3] RSGB HF Contest Calendar: https://www.rsgbcc.org/hf/ PHOTO 3: K3LR typical operating position in CQWW DX CW 2023.