Contest News – 28 December 2014

For anyone wanting a good excuse to disappear into the shack, the Christmas Cumulatives are still taking place for 2 hours a day until the 29th. 6m, 4m, 2m and 70cm are in use each day, so band hopping is essential if you want to do well. Operations take place from 1400 to 1600UTC each day and the exchange is signal report, serial number and locator.

The IRTS 80m Counties Contest takes place on New Year’s Day, 1  January, from 1400 to 1700UTC. Modes are SSB only or SSB and CW, there are fixed and portable sections and a section for listeners. See the website at www.irts.ie contests for the contest rules, and note in particular the rule about permitted frequencies for this contest.

The ARRL RTTY Roundup takes place for the full 48 hours of 3 and 4 January. The exchange is a signal report and serial number, but US stations also give their state code and Canadians their province code.

Next come the two sessions of the European 160m CW Party. The first is on the evening of Saturday 3rd between 2000 and 2300UTC and the second is in the early hours of Sunday 4th between 0400 and 0700UTC. What you send your QSO partners depends on whether you are a member of a club that’s affiliated to the association and in the UK that means FOC, FISTS, G-QRP and the Essex CW Club. If you are, send RST + name + club + membership number; otherwise send RST + name + ‘NM’ for non member. You can work the same station in each session.

Tuesday 6 January is the 144MHz UK Activity Contest, running between 2000 and 2230UTC. Using all modes the exchange is signal report, serial number and locator.

On the 11th, it is the CW AFS contest. This runs from 1400 to 1800UTC and the exchange is signal report and serial number.

Category: GB2RS Contest News