Contest calendar for 2015

The contest calendar for 2015 can be downloaded from here:  Calendar

You can see that not a week goes by without a contest of some sort. Please feel free to enter as many or as few as you wish. This coming year the Society will once again be aiming to reach the top of the RSGB 80m Club Contest league. In 2014 we finished 3rd in a league of over 90 clubs. We can reach the top if we try harder so please enter as often as you can.  The rules can be found here:

http://www.rsgbcc.org/hf/rules/2015/r80mcc.shtml

and there will be constant reminders and more information posted week by week on the members’ Facebook Hub.

At a meeting in December 2014, the Society contesters decided, to the sheer numbers of contests on the calendar, they would not be taking such an active part the RSGB UKAC VHF to Microwave contests that take place every week of the year. You will find some members still doing the contests on a weekly basis but some others may do a few and maybe restrict the bands they use and try to reach the top on those bands. In 2014 the Society reached 4th place in a league of over 110 clubs… a magnificent effort for a brand new radio club! In 2015 we will try to  do better in the contests in which we didn’t shine during 2014… ie VHF Field day and the several VHF/UHF Trophy Contests.  All these can be found on the contest calendar mentioned above. Please consider entering one or more of these contests on behalf of the Society.

Of course we will continue to enter the various field days at VHF and HF (and this may include the RSGB HF CW Field Day in June). We are also making a strong commitment to the Islands on the Air Contest (IOTA) this coming year! We have booked 15 camping pitches at Seal Shore Campsite on the Isle of Arran for the period 23- 27 July 2015 as well as some rooms in the nearby hotel. We will have sole use of a nice warm and dry operating room that has only been put in at the site in the last couple of years so we will not need generators, etc as we will be operating off the mains, with internet access as well!  The expedition will be a major boost to our contesting and those coming along, including several members of the newly formed 93 Contest Group, will be having a great time. Look out for our club calls GM5TO, GS5TO/P and well as that of the Sheffield HF DX Group, GM2AS/P. These calls will be activated over the days we are on site. The call to be used in the IOTA contest has yet to be decided but it may very well be GM5TO.