Alan Shannon VK4SN
vk4sn@wia.org.au
This contest commemorates the Amateurs who died during World War II and is designed to encourage friendly participation and help improve the operating skills of participants. It is held on the weekend closest to the 15th August, the date on which hostilities ceased in the southwest Pacific area. Continue reading
The Contests Champion list recognises those who have participated in multiple WIA contests and submitted log results. Continue reading
Alan Shannon VK4SN
From 2018 this contest is an official WIA Contest and will count towards the Peter Brown Contest Champion Awards. Continue reading
2018 VKSHIRES Summary of Cabrillo Results scores
Call Contest Score Category
——————————————————–
VK5LJ VK SHIRES 30804 VK SINGLE-OP ALL
VK3XV VK SHIRES 18176 VK SINGLE-OP ALL ROVER
VK2AZ VK SHIRES 16950 VK SINGLE-OP ALL
VK2MT VK SHIRES 13886 VK SINGLE-OP ALL
VK3OHM VK SHIRES 10962 VK SINGLE-OP ALL ROVER
VK7QP VK SHIRES 9918 VK SINGLE-OP ALL ROVER
VK3ANL VK SHIRES 8910 VK SINGLE-OP ALL ROVER
VK4QH VKSHIRES 6612 SINGLE-OP
ZL2AYZ VK SHIRES 6375 DX SINGLE-OP ALL
VK5PAS VK SHIRES 6237 VK SINGLE-OP ALL ROVER
VK2BBQ VK SHIRES 5976 VK SINGLE-OP ALL
VK2KDP VK SHIRES 4836 VK SINGLE-OP ALL
VK3GB VK SHIRES 3774 VK SINGLE-OP ALL
VK7JGD VK SHIRES 3120 VK SINGLE-OP ALL
VK2YE VK SHIRES 2914 VK SINGLE-OP ALL
VK2MTM VK SHIRES 2107 VK SINGLE-OP ALL
VK2QN VK SHIRES 2009 VK SINGLE-OP ALL
VK3WMM VK SHIRES 1974 VK SINGLE-OP ALL
VK3ZPF VK SHIRES 1935 VK SINGLE-OP ALL ROVER
VK3GK VK SHIRES 1720 VK SINGLE-OP ALL
VK2KJJ VK SHIRES 1716 VK SINGLE-OP ALL
VK5MK VK SHIRES 1634 VK SINGLE-OP ALL
VK3FXBR VK SHIRES 1404 VK SINGLE-OP ALL
VK2TTL VK SHIRES 1295 VK SINGLE-OP ALL
VK2LEE VK SHIRES 1258 VK SINGLE-OP ALL
VK5FMAZ VK SHIRES 899 VK SINGLE-OP ALL ROVER
VK6MN VK SHIRES 728 VK SINGLE-OP ALL
VK5DT VK SHIRES 675 VK SINGLE-OP ALL
VK6WK VK SHIRES 441 VK SINGLE-OP ALL
ZL2RX VK SHIRES 418 DX SINGLE-OP ALL
VK7KT VK SHIRES 325 VK SINGLE-OP ALL
VK3FLCS VK SHIRES 196 VK SINGLE-OP ALL FOUNDATION
VK8GM VK SHIRES 192 VK SINGLE-OP ALL
VK5SFA VK SHIRES 182 VK SINGLE-OP ALL
VK2BOZ VK SHIRES 169 VK MULTI-TWO ALL
VK2EMU VK SHIRES 150 MULTI-TWO HIGH MIXED
VK3FXMB VK SHIRES 144 VK SINGLE-OP ALL
VK2JDR VK SHIRES 144 VK SINGLE-OP ALL
ZL1TM VK SHIRES 143 DX SINGLE-OP ALL
VK6QM VK SHIRES 132 VK SINGLE-OP ALL
VK2DEK VK SHIRES 110 VK SINGLE-OP ALL
VK5UE VK SHIRES 81 VK SINGLE-OP ALL
VK3FCMA VK SHIRES 81 VK SINGLE-OP ALL FOUNDATION
VK3LTL VK SHIRES 81 SINGLE-OP HIGH MIXED
VK7DW VK SHIRES 64 VK SINGLE-OP ALL
VK6POP VK SHIRES 36 VK SINGLE-OP ALL
VK7CW VK SHIRES 16 VK SINGLE-OP ALL
VK5FSCD VK SHIRES 16 VK SINGLE-OP ALL
VK4QM VK SHIRES 9 VK SINGLE-OP ALL
VK6FGGL VK SHIRES 4 VK SINGLE-OP ALL FOUNDATION
VK6BEK VK SHIRES 1 VK SINGLE-OP ALL
W5TM VK-SHIRES 1 SINGLE-OP
VK6FLAB VK SHIRES 1 VK SINGLE-OP ALL ROVER
VK4GXM VK SHIRES 1 VK SINGLE-OP ALL
This may be old news to many of us, but VE3NEA’s CW Skimmer Server determines how “skeptical” to be about a callsign, based on a file of all expected callsign patterns. This assessment in turn affects how many repetitions of a callsign it must “hear” before issuing a spot. Continue reading
Dr. Kevin Johnston VK4UH & Charlie Strong VK4YZ Continue reading
VKCC QLD members at Kedron-Wavel Services Club
Sad news on the DXer Contesting scene today with the news coming through that Jim Sullivan W7EJ/CN2R has passed away – Many of the CQWW records were set from his Casablanca superstation – he also set records from 9M8R and recently used 5E5E in the WPX – the station website gives an awesome insight into the passion at the top of contesting
Vale Jim
IARU Region 1 Contest Survey (Ian G0FCT – csc.chair@rsgbcc.org)
The newly formed IARU Region 1 C5 Contest Working Group has produced a survey about IARU R1 contests, Below is a message from the Chair of this new committee inviting you to participate in this survey.
Dear contester,
You are invited to take part in the survey about IARU R1 VHF/UHF/Microwave contests, first of its kind in their 61 years long history.
As you may know, the IARU R1 General Conference in Landshut this year formed the “C5 Contest Working Group” with the task to manage the IARU R1 VHF/UHF/Microwave contests. Our goal is to bring contest organisation to a higher level so that the number of participants would increase. Contests are a very important means of using our bands and this is even more so on the microwave bands. We really want to hear your thoughts about VHF & up contesting.
To start the survey, follow this link:
http://www.darc.de/referate/iaru/iaru-survey/
The survey will close on 30th November 2017. Please forward this invitation to all hams that are interested in contest matters.
We are very thankfull to the DARC for their support.
C5 Contest WG Chair
Robert Vihar, S53WW
1.8MHz AFS (Club Calls) Contest (by Nick G4FAL – hfcc.chair@rsgbcc.org)
In this contest, stations are required to indicate if they are a Club HQ station, a member of a club or not a member of a club. On SSB, stations are requested to send “Club HQ”, “Club Member” or “No Club”. On CW, the equivalent abbreviations to be sent are: HQ, CM or NC.
The previous Club Calls Cabrillo format of “CLUB” for a Club HQ station, “MEMBER” for a Club Member station or “NONE” for a non-club station will also be accepted.
If you have any questions about this contest please e-mail hf.query@rsgbcc.org.
Autumn Series (by Nick G4FAL – hfcc.chair@rsgbcc.org)
If you enjoyed the 80m CCs then please support the Autumn Series of introductory Club Contests. The details for the first running of this contest series can be found from the RSGB HF Calendar page at http://www.rsgbcc.org/hf/. Many of the ideas for these contests were suggested by our contesters and then the rules were chosen in a Survey that we held earlier in the year.
The series includes features which are designed to encourage newcomers so please discuss in your radio clubs how you will use this series for mentoring new contesters. You don’t have to be a member of an Affiliated Society in order to participate but if you are an RSGB member and you would like to be a part of a team then you can join the RSGB Contest Club and enter on behalf of this group.
Although the rules are similar to the 80m Club Championships, there are some subtle differences:
To avoid congestion with other contests, the contests start each month on the second Monday with the full schedule shown below:
If you have any questions about this series please e-mail hf.query@rsgbcc.org. If not, we look forward to lots of QSOs in the nine events in the autumn.
Keeping to the Band Plan (by Ian G0FCT – csc.chair@rsgbcc.org)
The high level of activity in the 144 MHz UKAC means that finding a frequency to operate on within the normally used frequency segment for SSB (144.150 MHz to 144.399 MHz) can be very difficult. Entrants are reminded that the RSGB VHF Contest General Rules explicitly require adherence to the RSGB Band Plan. Stations using SSB below 144.150 MHz or between 144.400 MHz and 144.500 MHz during the 144 MHz UKAC are liable to be penalised and the VHFCC reserves the right to penalise both parties in a QSO made outside of the band plan.
However, there is another segment (in the all mode section) of 2m that can be used during the UKAC (144.500 MHz to 144.794 MHz). The VHFCC recognises that this is not normally in use during SSB contests, but if people would like to try calling CQ in a quieter part of the band, why not try between 144.500 MHz and 144.794 MHz, taking care to avoid the designated calling frequencies and centres of activity for other modes such as SSTV, ATV talk back, Digital Voice and Data (see RSGB Band Plans for the latest band plan).
G6XX (by Nick G4FAL – hfcc.chair@rsgbcc.org)
The callsign 6XX was held by the RSGB in the 1920s and was used in transatlantic tests. This was before the prefix “G” was added to callsigns in England, so G-6XX was used.
G6XX is a now held as a club callsign by the RSGB Contest Club.
We believe that this is the first time for many years that the RSGB has held a normal callsign. Ofcom have agreed that the callsign (and any other club callsign) may be used simultaneously in more than one of the UK and Crown Dominion entities so do not be surprised if you come across G6XX and GM6XX, for example, in the same contest.
We are open to ideas for how this callsign can be used by the RSGB to support the development of contesting and to represent the RSGB in international contests.
Membership of the VHFCC
The current membership of the VHFCC is:
Andy G4PIQ (Chair VHFCC)
Ian G0FCT (Chair CSC)
Mike G0GJV
John G3XDY
Stewart G3YSX (Board Liasion Member)
Pete G4CLA
Nick G4FAL (Chair HFCC)
Richard G4HGI
Mike G8TIC
Martin GM8IEM
Richard GD8EXI
Minutes of Contest Committee Meetings
The minutes of contest committee meetings are available here.
RSGB Contests in 2017
The full 2017 RSGB contest calendars and rules for all RSGB contests are available here (HF) and here (VHF)
Other HF Contests in 2017
For more data on a wide range HF contests, the SM3CER and WA7BNM websites are very useful sources of information.
Another useful source of HF contest information is on the website of HB9DHG which can be reached by going to http://www.hb9dhg.ch, and selecting “Contest Calendar”.
That’s all for this edition of the Newsletter
73, Ian Pawson G0FCT
Chair, RSGB Contest Support Committee
(csc.chair@rsgbcc.org)
Counting down the final few weeks!
The 2017 OCDX contest runs from 08:00z on October 7th to 08:00z on the 8th on phone, and on CW at the same times the next weekend (October 14th and 15th). Please read the 2017 rules.
We have just a few short weeks left before the contest to build, erect and check out our DX antennas, sort out computer logging and station ergonomics, and become familiar with HF propagation.
In addition to regular DXing, other contests (such as the CW leg of the Scandinavian Activity Contest on 16-17th September) are a great way to test our stations and practice contesting before OCDX itself, working friends on the far side and fine-tuning our skills.
They may say ‘points make prizes’ but multipliers are the key to winning radio contests. In OCDX contest, Oceania prefixes count as multipliers the first time you work them on each band, where ‘prefix’ includes the number e.g. ZL1, ZM1, ZL2 and ZM2 are four multipliers. Try not to miss the rarer Oceania stations spotted on DXcluster, provided there is propagation to your part of the world at the time.
Don’t forget to tune around searching for multipliers, especially in the phone section where DXcluster is less helpful. Knowing whether to change bands or check the long path in the hope of catching valuable multipliers is part of the skill. There’s more to contesting than just CQing, running and clicking spots!
Talking of rare multipliers, listen out for Tony VK3TZ and Lee VK3GK on Christmas Island for OCDX Phone as VK9XI and the following weekend on Cocos Keeling Island for OCDX CW as VK9CI.
If you intend to enter OCDX contest, please let us know about any special plans, especially if you will be activating rarer entities or entering as a club.
Thanks to our generous sponsors, numerous trophies and plaques are up for grabs again this year, including the new Ken Jewell VK3AKK Memorial Plaque for the leading CW single-operator 15m entrant from Oceania.
In addition, category winners in each continent and country earn winners’ certificates. We are offering participation certificates to encourage everyone to make at least a few QSOs: to qualify, simply enter with as little as one valid contest QSO!
Here are last year’s plaques being mailed to winners:
For clues about what to expect during the contest and who your rivals might be, catch up with results, soapbox comments and records from previous OCDX events on the website. Most importantly, take a moment this month to study the OCDX rules. Have you decided which section to enter yet?
Any questions? Send an email to info@oceaniadxcontest.com .
73 – Oceania DX Contest Committee (ZL2IFB, ZL3GA, VK3GK, VK3MI/ZL1AZE, VK3TZ, VK4FH, VK7GN)