Nights are getting longer, days are getting shorter, it's time for the shack!
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The CWOPS short one-hour activity periods are quite popular with some local stations. There are sometimes seven of us on, and at just one hour, with speeds up to 36wpm, it really is quite an exciting hour! The one period that is difficult to fill with all of us is the 0300 Thursday slot!
Taking part can be G3LDI, G3YLA, G4DYC, G4LPP, M0RYB, G4LPP and G8VPE.
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More news from the Eastern shores of Filby Broad:
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Malcolm G3PDH has arranged a Contest Meeting for Wednesday 30th October 2019 to be held at the NARC meeting.
The purpose being to discuss NARC plans and strategy for 2020 vis a vis which contests to participate in on a club basis to include HF and V/UHF. If you have preferences or any other input please attend the meeting or email Malcolm with your input if you cannot attend.
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Top news this week, the results of the 144MHz Trophy Contest (7+8th September) have finally been published.
NARC were placed 9th out of 11 UK teams. Rod G0CBO should be pleased now that the results are out, but these large contests do take some time to sort out, just over 4 weeks after entries closed is not bad at all - you often wait 3 months or more for BARTG contest results.
We're still waiting for results for RSGB SSB Field Day held on the same weekend.
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144MHz UK Activity Contest:
Results are published for the 2m UKAC on Tuesday 01/10/19.
NARC has moved up the listings from 44th to 38th out of 69 clubs, mostly due to our top score from Paul G3SEM, but every small log also adds to the final total.
If we keep this up for the next two events we certainly should rise higher up the tabulations.
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Phil G4LPP, our top 2m scorer in September has returned from Canada so hopefully he'll be ready for the next bash on Tuesday 5th November 2019 which ought to create a few sparks!
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We could do with a few more competing on 2m in the UKACs, use your 'white stick' vertical and at least give the locals a few points.
Every entered log even for one or two contacts means more points to the NARC total - or don't you support your club?
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Anyone who says they haven't got an aerial for 2m will have to send in a 'sick note' from their parent or guardian!
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More opportunities for 144MHz UKAC:
Tuesday 5th November 2000 to 2230 Local
Tuesday 3rd December 2000 to 2230 Local
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Sunday 6th October was the RSGB DX Contest on 80m to 10m. This event is another contributing contest to the overall RSGB HF Championship which is always hotly contested near the top of the table. Peter M0RYB/P has a very high number of Qs in the QRP listings (187 Qs), my effort of 29 Qs for a very part time entry will hopefully gain a few points. Entries have now closed, so we'll wait for final results to see who the new leader is in the HF Championship, G3TBK appears not to have uploaded a score.
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6m UKAC Thursday 10th September :
Phil G4LPP struggled to score 22Qs, conditions did seem to be very difficult but it's a challenge. I couldn't hear anyone else other than Phil, even on CW not a mouse was stirring. However, logs entered since last week's news show that Mike G4DYC and Paul G3SEM also made a few contacts - another good boost to NARC, we might move higher than 28th out of 36 clubs in the General Section. Entries are open until midnight 17/10/19 so it is too early to make predictions.
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Next opportunities for UKAC fun on 6m:
Thursday November 14th 2000-2230 Local time.
Thursday December 12th 2000-2230 Local time.
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Let's see a few more on 6m, the Magic Band in Autumn without the Es is much more of a challenge.
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Monday 14th October was the Autumn Series CW event 2000 to 2130 Local time (1900 to 2030 utc) on 80m.
NARC competitors decided to forego their regular CW natter net on 80m and join in with the Autumn contest en-masse.
We managed to upload 14 logs this time which equals our previous best at the end of 2018.
Entries do not close until Thursday night so no raw score predictions yet. Well done to all taking part and let's hope for a magic result this time.( Chris G4CCX made a PB in this one with 72 Qs. This was helped by the fact that he tried running for the first time! He says he will do that every time now! - G3LDI )
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Still with the Autumn Series, we are waiting for results of the DATA contest held on 26th September which was 3 weeks ago.
Trying to predict from the raw results, NARC are probably in 2nd place for this contest and might just slide into 2nd place overall, hoping that we don't have to wait too much longer to find out for certain.
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Future dates for the Autumn Series:
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Wednesday 23rd October 2019 DATA. (Formal G4SWX-coax).
Thursday 31st October 2019 SSB.
Monday 11th November 2019 DATA. (PSK63 and RTTY only).
Wednesday 20th November 2019 SSB. (Formal - pending).
Thursday 28th November 2019 CW. (Last Gasp!)
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I hope we can continue to put in a good effort for as many of the above events as possible, fitting in around club nights and CW tuition nights where needed.
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Contests to keep you occupied this weekend:
RSGB ROLO Contest:
This Sunday evening 20/10/19 , 90 minutes in CW on 80m, it's time for the slightly unusual RSGB Rotating Locator (RoLo) contest.
1900 to 2030utc on Sunday 20th October, RST plus your own 6 figure locator for only your first contact, then on your next QSO send RST plus exactly whatever code you were sent from that previous contact. Do not send your own locator more than once.
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Peter M0RYB(/P) would welcome as many contacts as possible, since points go towards the HF Championship where he is well placed for a high position.
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RSGB 50MHz AFS Contest:
0900 to 1300utc on Sunday 20/10/19 mostly SSB and/or CW. In addition to specific 6m AFS rules the
General Rules for all RSGB VHF/UHF/SHF contests can be found here
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All the usual VHF AFS rules apply, RS(T), Serial Number (starting at 001) and a 6 character (e.g. IO92TP) locator and UK&CD stations send the first 2 letters of their Postcode (e.g. NR).
Hint for N1MM+ users, the module VHF_M3RTTY.udc (part of VHFRSGB.zip) takes care of the countries, postcodes and locator squares as well as calculating points at 1 point per km.
N1MM+ help with loading UDCs is usually available on the NARC Contest Net on Friday evenings at 2000 Local time on 145.250MHz.
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JARTS WW RTTY runs this weekend from 0000utc on Sat. 19th October to 2400utc on Sun. 20th October (48 hours).
Exchange is RST + age of operator. 80m to 10m except WARC bands.
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STEW PERRY TOPBAND CHALLENGE 1500utc on 19th Oct to 1500utc on 20th Oct. CW only on 160m.
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Links to HF contest rules and other contests may be found on WA7BMN's Contest Calendar.
https://www.contestcalendar.com/weeklycont.php#9632
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See you soon in one or more episodes of QRM....
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73 John G8VPE
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