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February 2016
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T
he 80m Club Championships,
where every QSO counts,
were introduced into the
contest calendar over a decade ago
and became in instant hit.
The very first session was CW, in January
2004, and attracted 80 entrants, with the
highest scoring station – GM3POI – making
103 QSOs. Over the course of the inaugural
series, the CW participation rose, peaking at
over 100, and averaging about 90. SSB was
initially slightly less well supported, with 77
entrants to the first session, but it shot up
to 115 in the second session and remained
well over 100 for the remainder of the series.
Datamodes (RTTU and PSK) were included
in the series right from the start.
January propagation
It took no time at all for people to realise
that propagation on 80m within the UK
at 8pm could be difficult in the winter. In
January in particular there can be high angle
absorption, which can make it impossible
to work the kind of distances that people
wanted to work in the Club Championships.
Those who lived at one end of the UK or
the other (Northern Scotland and Devon/
Cornwall) found they could work each other
alright, but working stations in the Midlands
and Northern England was another matter.
Meanwhile, stations in the Midlands and
Northern England found they could work
more people by groundwave than those at
either end of the UK, by virtue of population
density, but their skywave signals were either
absorbed or returned to Earth in places like
central Europe. Not good.
Although still in the winter, by February
propagation has changed and intra-UK
conditions are much better. In 2006 the
series was re-timed to start in February.
Growth
The 80m Club Championships has continued
to grow. Participation has more than doubled,
with the top CW and SSB stations now often
making around 200 QSOs in each session.
There was always a league table of clubs,
but from 2012 it was split in two, based on
member’s distance from the meeting place.
Local Clubs (all members within 35km of
the club’s nominated meeting place) are
now listed separate to General Clubs (where
members can be all over the UK).
A sister series
The 80m Club
C h a m p i o n s h i p s
series runs for six
months (February-
July). In 2007
it was joined by
a 4-month sister
series of 80m Club
Sprints. The Sprints
have never been as
popular and in the
Contest Committee’s
2015 White Paper
C o n s u l t a t i o n
respondents said it
should be ended,
but it turned out that most of the people
who wanted to end the Sprints weren’t
participants and the CC relented, hence it is
in the calendar this year.
Tips
If you haven’t taken part in the 80m Club
Championships before, the first thing you
should do – and this applies to all contests
– is read the rules! Now, here are just a few
operating tips.
CW
. If you want to call CQ, finding a gap
shouldn’t be difficult. Most activity is at 25-
30 words per minute, but if you’re not that
proficient there is a ‘QRS Corral’ for slower
stations around 3555kHz. Call CQ and
people will reply. There’s nothing in the rules
to say you shouldn’t use a Morse reader, if
your Morse isn’t particularly good.
SSB
. Don’t expect to find a completely
quiet frequency, or if you do, don’t expect
it to remain completely quiet. The SSB
sessions are busy and crowded. To alleviate
overcrowding, please don’t waffle. Don’t use
ten words (example “Good evening Steve.
Thanks for calling. Your report is 59001”)
when one will do, ie “59001”. If you’re not
familiar with contest operating, try listening
to one of the stations who is running a
frequency before you have a go, making
a note of any abbreviations or shortcuts
you hear used. When you call people who
are running, just give your callsign once,
phonetically. There’s no need to send the
other station’s callsign when you call, only
on the subsequent transmission when you
send the contest exchange, which in this
series is a signal report and serial number.
Datamodes
. These days all PSK operation
is on PSK63. RTTY is at 45.45 bauds.
Feeding audio from your computer into your
radio isn’t difficult, but make sure the level is
low and you don’t drive your radio into ALC.
Audio compression
must
be switched off, or
you will radiate a wide signal. Settings are
less critical on RTTY. To maximise your score,
try to work approximately the same number
of stations on each mode.
Logging
Pretty-much everyone uses computer logging
and programs such as N1MM+ will produce
a file that you can use to make your entry. If
you log on paper you can still enter, but you’ll
need to type your entry into the online logger
on the Contest Committee website. When
you submit an entry a robot will check it and
immediately tell you if anything is wrong.
It will also e-mail you. If the robot reports
an error, just correct your log and upload it
again. You have seven days from the end of
each session to submit your log.
Your team
If you think your local club might like to
take part for the first time, why not offer to
coordinate the effort? Contesting is a brilliant
way of honing operating skills, which can be
useful in other aspects of the hobby.
For individual RSGB Members who are
‘looking for a home’, the recently introduced
RSGB Contest Club can give the opportunity
to join a team and make your efforts count
for something. Details can be found on the
Contest Committee website. It’s free to join.
Feature
80m
Steve White, G3ZVW
steve.g3zvw@gmail.comClub
Championships
Brian Gale, G3UJE was the top individual operator in the Local Clubs
category in 80m Club Championships 2015. He is a member of the Tall
Trees Contest Group, based in Cheshire.