Location

Introduction

South Bristol ARC operated the Club Station G4WAW/P from our regular location on Dundry Hill, the site is approximately 210m AOD (Above Ordnance Datum – Mean Sea Level at Newlyn in Cornwall), with a clear take off for signals to all points of the compass.

Great Views and a Superb Take Off in all Directions

Photograph from Dundry HillPhotograph from Dundry HillPhotograph from Dundry Hill

 

Weather for the weekend was fine, dry and warm with some members reporting cases of sun burn and liberal use of after sun lotion.

Interested Onlookers and Lazing on a Sunday Afternoon (well Sunday Morning Actually)

Cattle - The usual residents of the FieldField Day Supporters

 

Even the aircraft operating to and from the nearby Bristol Airport weren't as frequent as in previous years although a number did make their presence felt at inopportune times, resulting in the need to ask for a repeat of details despite a 59 signal report both ways!

Final Approach to Bristol Airport – Right Over our Operating Location

Photograph from Dundry Hill

 

This year saw us mount two stations in the Low Power class, one on 2m and the other on 70cm. 70cms made a welcome return this year with our last outing on that band being in 1998.

Operating Accommodation – 2m in the awning on the left, 70cm in the tent on the right

Field Day 2011

 

The Station

This year we had to assemble our equipment from a variety of sources. For 2m we operated:

2m 14 Element Beam

2m 14 Element Beam

  • Club Yaesu FT736
  • 2m Pre Amp on receive
  • 8m tilt over tripod tower
  • Rotator and controller of unknown origin and vintage and limited directional control
  • 14 element 2m beam
  • Dell Inspiron laptop running SDV

On 70cm a similar set up comprised:

The 70cms Team in Action

The 70cms Team in Action

  • Members Yaesu FT736
  • 7m telescopic mast
  • "Nick" the rotator who had much better directional control than the 2m rotator
  • 13 element 70cm beam
  • Laptop with external monitor running SDV

 

Both stations were powered from a single generator.

All equipment arrived on site by 10:00 BST and was set up with the assistance of several club members in time for the commencement of operations at 15:00 BST.

QSOs Recorded

The operating rules for this class of the contest require that the station is only operated for 16 out of the 24 hours available, and that the shut down periods must total 8 hours and each shut down must not be less than 1 hour. This year we elected to shut the station down from 23:00 UTC to 07:00 UTC.

Against the patterns that we have experienced in previous years the low QSO rate between 21:00 UTC and 22:00 UTC did not continue into the 22:00 UTC – 23:00 UTC hour. In fact we found ourselves almost the centre of a mini pile up during this period, causing us to rethink our plans of going QRT around 22:00 UTC ready for an early start on the following Sunday morning.

Tables 1 and 2 set out the number of contacts made at various times in the contest on 2m and 70cm respectively. Overall 193 contacts were logged on 2m and 23 on 70cm, however it is known that for the 2m QSOs; 2 of these were duplicates and 1 occurred during our shut down period so the number of 2m QSOs claimed by the club is actually 190. This figure of 190 on 2m and 23 on 70cm is subject to adjudication and confirmation through check logs.

Table 1 – 2m QSOs Recorded
Hour Number Hour Starting (UTC) QSOs Recorded Percentage of Total QSO Cumulative QSO Recorded Cumulative Percentage of Total QSO Cumulative QSO/Hr Deviation from Average QSO/Hour
1 14:00 14 7% 14 7% 14.00 +23.96%
2 15:00 13 7% 27 14% 13.50 +15.10%
3 16:00 9 5% 36 19% 12.00 -20.31%
4 17:00 5 3% 41 21% 10.25 -55.73%
5 18:00 8 4% 49 25% 9.80 -29.17%
6 19:00 8 4% 57 30% 9.50 -29.17%
7 20:00 7 4% 64 33% 9.14 -38.02%
8 21:00 4 2% 68 35% 8.50 -64.58%
9 22:00 18 9% 86 45% 9.56 59.38%
  23:00 1 1% 87 45% 8.70 -91.15%
10 07:00 13 7% 99 51% 9.00 +15.10%
11 08:00 9 5% 108 56% 9.00 -20.31%
12 09:00 15 8% 123 64% 9.46 +32.81%
13 10:00 10 5% 133 69% 9.50 -11.46%
14 11:00 21 11% 154 80% 10.27 +85.94%
15 12:00 12 6% 166 86% 10.38 +6.25%
16 13:00 26 13% 192 99% 11.29 +130.21%
Total   193 100%        
Table 2 – 70cm QSOs Recorded
Hour Number Hour Starting (UTC) QSOs Recorded Percentage of Total QSO Cumulative QSO Recorded Cumulative Percentage of Total QSO Cumulative QSO/Hr Deviation from Average QSO/Hour
1 14:00 2 9% 2 9% 2.00 +39.13%
2 15:00 2 9% 4 17% 2.00 +39.13%
3 16:00 4 17% 8 35% 2.67 +178.26%
4 17:00 2 9% 10 43% 2.50 +39.13%
5 18:00 1 4% 11 48% 2.20 -30.43%
6 19:00 2 9% 13 57% 2.17 +39.13%
7 20:00 0 0% 13 57% 1.86 -100.00%
8 21:00 0 0% 13 57% 1.63 -100.00%
9 22:00 0 0% 13 57% 1.44 -100.00%
10 07:00 1 4% 14 61% 1.40 -30.43%
11 08:00 2 9% 16 70% 1.45 +39.13%
12 09:00 1 4% 17 74% 1.42 -30.43%
13 10:00 1 4% 18 78% 1.42 -30.43%
14 11:00 2 9% 20 87% 1.43 +39.13%
15 12:00 3 13% 23 100% 1.53 +108.70%
16 13:00 0 0% 23 100% 1.44 -100.00%
Total   23 100%        

In previous years we have lost around 12% of the claimed QSOs through errors in the log either made by ourselves or by the other station in the QSO. These errors lead to the claimed QSO being discounted. If a similar level of error is experienced this year then the actual number of QSOs awarded is likely to be in the region of 170 on 2m and 20 on 70cm. This figure is higher, on 2m, than the number of QSOs awarded last year when we submitted 158 QSOs and were awarded 139. There are no records that permit a comparison on 70cm.

Overall a QSO rate of 11.29 QSO/hour was obtained on 2m, this equates to about 1 QSO every 5 minutes. In the case of the 2m QSO rate this is slightly up on the overall rate achieved in 2010. Although the opening couple of hours saw good QSO rates, the highest occurred late on Saturday evening, breakfast time on Sunday and in the closing hours of the contest, a very different pattern from previous years. The best hour was the last hour of the contest as stations scrambled for those last points. During this time we managed 26 QSO or 1 every 2 minutes although the actual activity was more concentrated than that.

Lowest QSO rates were recorded at 17:00 on Saturday and again at 21:00 on Saturday. In fact the slow down between 21:00 – 22:00 almost had us shut down the station in preparation for an early start the following morning which had paid dividends in previous years. Thankfully we persevered into 22:00 – 23:00 and were rewarded by the busiest hour of the first day.

Points Scored

Overall we have claimed a score of 36,353 (36,627 – 274) points on 2m and 3,627 on 70cm. Based on 190 QSOs this represents an average score of 191 points per QSO remarkably close to our estimated 192 points per QSO recorded last year. On 70cm the average points per QSO is 158 which is felt to be surprisingly high.

Tables 3 and 4 below shows the points scoring profile on each band:

Table 3 – 2m Points Scored
Hour Number Hour Starting (UTC) Points Scored Average Points/QSO Percentage of Total Points Cumulative Points Scored Cumulative Percentage of Total Points Deviation From Average Points/QSO
1 14:00 1,426 101.86 4% 1,426 4% -46.33%
2 15:00 2,657 127.46 5% 3,083 8% -32.84%
3 16:00 1,381 153.44 4% 4,464 12% -19.14%
4 17:00 1,786 357.20 5% 6,250 17% +88.22%
5 18:00 1,274 159.25 3% 7,524 21% -16.09%
6 19:00 2,461 307.63 7% 9,985 27% +62.10%
7 20:00 1,502 214.57 4% 11,487 31% +13.06%
8 21:00 931 232.75 3% 12,418 34% +22.64%
9 22:00 4,341 241.17 12% 16,759 46% +27.08%
  23:00 274 274.00 1% 17,033 47% +44.38%
10 07:00 3,152 242.46 9% 19,911 54% +27.76%
11 08:00 1,126 125.11 3% 21,037 57% -34.07%
12 09:00 2,522 168.13 7% 23,559 64% +11.40%
13 10:00 1,931 193.10 5% 25,490 70% +1.75%
14 11:00 3,415 162.62 9% 28,905 79% -14.31%
15 12:00 1,836 153.00 5% 30,741 84% -19.38%
16 13:00 5,612 215.85 15% 36,353 99% +13.74%
Total   36,627 189.78 100%     0.00%
Table 4 – 70cm Points Scored
Hour Number Hour Starting (UTC) Points Scored Average Points/QSO Percentage of Total Points Cumulative Points Scored Cumulative Percentage of Total Points Deviation From Average Points/QSO
1 14:00 171 85.50 5% 171 5% -45.78%
2 15:00 341 170.50 9% 512 14% +8.12%
3 16:00 843 210.75 23% 1,355 37% +33.64%
4 17:00 228 114.00 6% 1,583 44% -27.71%
5 18:00 470 470.00 13% 2,053 57% +198.04%
6 19:00 498 249.00 14% 2,551 70% +57.90%
7 20:00 0 0.00 0% 2,551 70% -100.00%
8 21:00 0 0.00 0% 2,551 70% -100.00%
9 22:00 0 0.00 0% 2,551 70% -100.0%
10 07:00 389 389.00 11% 2,940 81% +146.68%
11 08:00 81 40.50 2% 3,021 83% -74.32%
12 09:00 7 7.00 0% 3,028 83% -95.56%
13 10:00 73 73.00 2% 3,101 85% -53.71%
14 11:00 368 184.00 10% 3,469 96% +16.68%
15 12:00 158 52.67 4% 3,627 100% -66.60%
16 13:00 0 0.00 0% 3,627 100% -100.00%
Total   3,627 157.70 100%     0.00%

On 2m, the best points scoring occurred last thing on Saturday, early on Sunday and in the closing stages of the contest.

Patterns are less easy to discern on 70cm due to the relatively low numbers of contacts. Especially good contacts skew the results and mask underlying trends.

Countries Worked

Tables 5 and 6 below shows the breakdown of stations worked by country on each band:

On 2m, the best DX was recorded into Spain at 948km. Sadly this represented our one and only opening this far south. The Spanish station asked if we were QRV on 70cm and attempted to contact our 70cm station after completing our 2m QSO. Sadly although the 70cm team could hear something it was not possible to complete what would have been a truly amazing 70cm QSO.

After Spain the distances dropped sharply, the next crop of distant stations were all in the 600km – 700km bracket and included a Scottish station and three German stations in descending order of distance.

On 70cm, we consider that some really good DX was worked for a band that few of us had any real knowledge of or expectations for. Best DX was 470km into The Netherlands, followed by 3 stations between 300km – 400km in Scotland, North England and Ireland respectively.

On 2m, 89% of all contacts were inter-G, that is within the United Kingdom. Only 11% were with other European countries.

As might be expected on 70cm there was a higher proportion of inter-G contacts, although only marginally. In this case 91% were inter-G and 9% were with other European Countries.

Table 5 – Countries Worked on 2m
Country Callsign Number Worked Percentage of all Stations
Isle of Man GD, 2D, MD 12 6.2%
Northern Ireland GI, 2I, MI 3 1.6%
Jersey GJ, 2J, MJ 0 0.0%
Scotland GM, 2M, MM 6 3.1%
Gurnsey GU, 2U, MU 2 1.0%
Wales GW, 2W, MW 11 5.7%
Club Stations GX, 2X, MX 3 1.6%
England G, 2E, M 135 69.9%
Germany D 3 1.6%
Spain EA 1 0.5%
Eire EI 5 2.6%
France F 11 5.7%
Belgium ON 1 0.5%
Netherlands PA 0 0.0%
Total   193 100%
Table 6 – Countries Worked on 70cm
Country Callsign Number Worked Percentage of all Stations
Isle of Man GD, 2D, MD 0 0.0%
Northern Ireland GI, 2I, MI 0 0.0%
Jersey GJ, 2J, MJ 0 0.0%
Scotland GM, 2M, MM 1 4.3%
Gurnsey GU, 2U, MU 0 0.0%
Wales GW, 2W, MW 3 13.0%
Club Stations GX, 2X, MX 0 0.0%
England G, 2E, M 17 73.9%
Germany D 0 0.0%
Spain EA 0 0.0%
Eire EI 1 4.3%
France F 0 0.0%
Belgium ON 0 0.0%
Netherlands PA 1 4.3%
Total   23 100%

Tables 7 and 8 below show the spread of distances worked on each band:

Table 7 – QSO Distances Worked on 2m
Distance (km) Number of Stations Worked Percentage of Total Stations Worked
dist <= 2km 3 2%
2km < dist <= 5km 0 0%
5km < dist <= 10km 6 3%
10km < dist <= 20km 13 7%
20km < dist <= 50km 10 5%
50km < dist <= 100km 32 17%
100km < dist <= 200km 52 27%
200km < dist <= 350km 50 26%
350km < dist <= 500km 20 10%
500km < dist <= 750km 6 3%
750km < dist <= 1000km 1 1%
1000km < dist 0 0%
Total 193 100%

The bulk of the contacts made (69%) were between 50km and 350km. The number of local contacts (i.e. those less than 10km) were surprisingly low at only 5% of the total QSOs made, very few club members were worked over the weekend which contributes to this low figure.

The average QSO distance was 190km, compared with 197km last year.

Table 8 – QSO Distances Worked on 70cm
Distance (km) Number of Stations Worked Percentage of Total Stations Worked
dist <= 2km 0 0%
2km < dist <= 5km 0 0%
5km < dist <= 10km 2 9%
10km < dist <= 20km 1 13%
20km < dist <= 50km 1 4%
50km < dist <= 100km 3 13%
100km < dist <= 200km 6 26%
200km < dist <= 350km 5 22%
350km < dist <= 500km 3 13%
500km < dist <= 750km 0 0%
750km < dist <= 1000km 0 0%
1000km < dist 0 0%
Total 23 100%

The bulk of the contacts made (61%) were between 50km and 350km. The number of local contacts (i.e. those less than 10km) were low at only 9% of the total QSOs made, very few club members were worked over the weekend which contributes to this low figure.

The average QSO distance was 158km, which compares well with the 2m average and was something of a surprise to many.

Submitted 2m (144MHz) Log

Date (UTC) Time (UTC) Station Worked Sent Received IARU Locator Distance
(km)
Notes Adjudication Points
Serial No. RST Serial No. RST
02/07/11 14:10 F6KHM 1 59 2 59 IN78RJ 361     361
02/07/11 14:11 G7FBD 2 59 1 59 IO81SK 12     12
02/07/11 14:12 GW3TKH/P 3 59 2 57 IO81IO 52     52
02/07/11 14:13 M0NDE 4 59 3 59 IO81MF 30     30
02/07/11 14:15 G0LGS 5 59 2 59 IO81WV 65     65
02/07/11 14:28 EI9E/P 6 59 20 59 IO62OM 312     312
02/07/11 14:32 G3ZME/P 7 59 20 57 IO82NN 131     131
02/07/11 14:36 G4JBH/P 8 59 29 59 IO80LV 63     63
02/07/11 14:38 G3VER/P 9 59 30 59 IO91RU 153     153
02/07/11 14:43 G8CMU 10 59 4 59 IO81RW 61     61
02/07/11 14:49 2E0FLP/M 11 59 1 58 IO81XW 72   Correct Call 2E0FLP/P 0
02/07/11 14:54 G4OID 12 59 12 59 IO81XM 43   Correct Call G0OID 0
02/07/11 14:56 GX4ABC/P 13 59 4 59 IO81RO 24     24
02/07/11 14:58 M6MMS 14 59 3 51 IO91AI 47     47
02/07/11 15:04 G4WBV 15 59 7 59 IO81QL 9     9
02/07/11 15:05 G4FZN/P 16 59 21 59 IO94MJ 352     352
02/07/11 15:09 G3VLG/P 17 59 8 59 IO92GD 116     116
02/07/11 15:12 M0WAF 18 59 18 57 IO92VN 210     210
02/07/11 15:14 G8CKK 19 59 1 59 IO81RK 7     7
02/07/11 15:16 M0LHS 20 59 1 59 IO81RL 11     11
02/07/11 15:22 G8SRC/P 21 59 20 59 IO91DM 65     65
02/07/11 15:25 GW2OP/P 22 59 59 57 IO71OP 152     152
02/07/11 15:28 G4RFR/P 23 59 59 59 IO80ST 66     66
02/07/11 15:31 M0BUL 24 59 8 59 IO82NG 99     99
02/07/11 15:33 G8PZT/P 25 59 22 59 IO82QJ 111     111
02/07/11 15:42 G0ROC/P 26 59 48 57 IO83VQ 256     256
02/07/11 15:51 G3RCV/P 27 59 48 59 JO01DH 203     203
02/07/11 16:05 2E0VXX/P 28 59 27 59 IO70XQ 127     127
02/07/11 16:25 G3CKR/P 29 59 77 59 IO93AD 200     200
02/07/11 16:25 M0HZT/P 30 59 12 59 IO81RF 19     19
02/07/11 16:29 GI4GTY/P 31 59 56 59 IO74AI 398     398
02/07/11 16:32 G4YQQ 32 59 1 59 IO81RM 15     15
02/07/11 16:35 EI7T/P 33 59 13 59 IO62JI 332     332
02/07/11 16:38 M1BOB 34 59 1 59 IO81QJ 1     1
02/07/11 16:41 G4CXQ/P 35 59 2 59 IO81PH 11     11
02/07/11 16:44 F1CBC 36 59 25 59 JN09BO 278     278
02/07/11 17:03 G3PYE/P 37 59 83 55 JO02ED 223     223
02/07/11 17:09 G0VHF/P 38 59 119 59 JO01PU 275     275
02/07/11 17:16 G3ZTT/P 39 59 96 56 IO83QE 199     199
02/07/11 17:27 DF0MU 40 59 210 59 JO32PC 687     687
02/07/11 17:35 GM3HAM/P 41 59 92 56 IO74WV 402     402
02/07/11 18:26 G4WAC/P 42 59 63 59 IO92BJ 123     123
02/07/11 18:38 G0SYI 43 59 2 59 IO81RK 7     7
02/07/11 18:41 G6FRS/P 44 59 81 57 IO91PF 135     135
02/07/11 18:45 GI1CET/P 45 59 82 57 IO74DT 432     432
02/07/11 18:52 G3WM/P 46 59 90 59 JO01OC 269     269
02/07/11 18:54 G4FKA 47 59 11 59 IO81SM 18     18
02/07/11 18:57 G0IUE 48 59 7 59 IO81WJ 35     35
02/07/11 18:59 G6BSE/P 49 59 40 56 JO02KD 255   Correct Received Serial 43 0
02/07/11 19:12 M0MDG/P 50 59 58 59 JO00EW 215     215
02/07/11 19:21 G5FZ/P 51 59 154 57 IO93RH 256     256
02/07/11 19:30 DR1D 52 59 344 59 JO30IK 662     662
02/07/11 19:32 G3WIM/P 53 59 128 59 IO91XG 180     180
02/07/11 19:37 G0FBB/P 54 59 144 59 JO01LD 251     251
02/07/11 19:44 MM0CPS 55 59 160 59 IO84BT 389   Correct Call MM0CPS/P 0
02/07/11 19:52 G3NFC/P 56 59 86 59 IO93BA 188     188
02/07/11 19:57 G6IPU/P 57 59 109 59 JO02QV 320     320
02/07/11 20:06 G0TLA/P 58 59 47 59 IO93HL 247     247
02/07/11 20:24 G4CTU 59 59 9 55 IO82UJ 114   Correct Received RST 59 0
02/07/11 20:33 F5SUL/P 60 59 38 59 IN97KL 449     449
02/07/11 20:36 G4DHK 61 59 11 59 IO81QL 9     9
02/07/11 20:42 F1BJD/P 62 59 36 59 IN98WE 399     399
02/07/11 20:44 GU3TUX 63 59 36 59 IN89VR 188     188
02/07/11 20:47 M6ZOO 64 57 9 58 IO90GW 96     96
02/07/11 21:11 G4ICP/P 65 59 22 59 JO01IU 236     236
02/07/11 21:30 M0MPM/P 66 59 10 59 IO91GI 81     81
02/07/11 21:37 F2OK1CZ/P 67 57 13 59 IN99OI 262   Correct Call F/OK1CZ/P – Ajudicated Invalid 0
02/07/11 21:42 F4EJW 68 59 31 59 IN78VJ 352     352
02/07/11 22:09 GI4SNA 69 59 24 59 IO64XM 416     416
02/07/11 22:13 G4BTS/P 70 59 69 59 IO93IM 253     253
02/07/11 22:15 2W0ZJA 71 59 14 59 IO81HW 79     79
02/07/11 22:16 M0PNN 72 59 40 59 IO82TS 154     154
02/07/11 22:17 G4ENZ 73 59 12 59 IO81VV 63     63
02/07/11 22:19 G0FAJ/M 74 59 1 59 IO81OB 39     39
02/07/11 22:20 M0COP 75 59 7 59 IO82OM 126     126
02/07/11 22:21 G4CIB 76 59 7 59 IO81VX 71     71
02/07/11 22:23 EI3GE 77 59 21 59 IO63XD 303     303
02/07/11 22:28 GM0FRC/P 78 59 32 57 IO86EE 537   Correct Received RST 59
Correct Received Serial 82
0
02/07/11 22:31 EI4JY 79 59 12 59 IO63XD 303     303
02/07/11 22:33 GU6EFB 80 59 24 57 IN89RK 218     218
02/07/11 22:35 G4XZK/P 81 59 28 59 IO82AW 194     194
02/07/11 22:36 EI0W/P 82 59 64 59 IO63RS 374     374
02/07/11 22:39 G0NMY 83 59 28 59 IO83VA 183     183
02/07/11 22:40 G8BNE 84 59 25 59 IO94GA 302     302
02/07/11 22:42 G8PWX 85 59 12 53 IO95GA 411     411
02/07/11 22:58 G4YTV 86 59 7 59 IO93UU 315     315
02/07/11 23:18 G4ATH/P 87 59 71 59 IO83NU 274     274
03/07/11 07:13 G0OLE/P 88 59 67 59 IO93PX 315     315
03/07/11 07:14 M0BKV 89 59 9 59 IO70RR 153     153
03/07/11 07:16 G0FCA/P 90 59 1 59 IO83VS 266     266
03/07/11 07:17 G8OFA 91 59 26 59 IO91CB 69     69
03/07/11 07:18 G4SCY 92 59 13 59 IO83WA 184     184
03/07/11 07:19 G7IGC 93 59 5 59 IO92EO 151     151
03/07/11 07:23 G4VPD 94 59 39 59 IO92BJ 123     123
03/07/11 07:25 G3IOE 95 59 19 56 IO94DX 403     403
03/07/11 07:28 GW4ZAR 96 59 31 59 IO83KF 207     207
03/07/11 07:39 G5CT 97 59 15 59 JN08KI 421   Correct Call F5CT 0
03/07/11 07:42 F1FPL 98 59 12 59 JN09LE 354     354
03/07/11 07:43 G4APJ 99 59 12 57 IO83UP 251     251
03/07/11 07:49 G0UAZ 100 59 39 59 IO83PQ 255     255
03/07/11 08:24 G4NKT 101 59 2 59 IO81SK 12     12
03/07/11 08:25 M6EAN 102 59 1 59 IO81RK 7     7
03/07/11 08:26 G0AXC 103 59 12 59 IO80JQ 89     89
03/07/11 08:27 G1SEW 104 59 1 59 IO81OL 15     15
03/07/11 08:45 G0KDV/P 105 59 51 59 JO01BJ 191     191
03/07/11 08:51 G0VFW 106 57 31 57 IO91RR 149   Correct Received RST 55 0
03/07/11 08:51 M1MHZ 107 59 56 59 IO92WV 239     239
03/07/11 08:53 G0TAR 108 59 21 57 JO01GI 220     220
03/07/11 08:57 G4HTC/P 109 57 60 59 JO01DP 204   Correct Call G4HRC/P 0
03/07/11 09:04 GW3SRT 110 59 76 59 IO82LQ 146   Correct Call GW3SRT/P 0
03/07/11 09:11 2E0FLP/P 111 59 0 58 0     0
03/07/11 09:15 2E0TGL/P 112 59 4 56 IO70UM 152     152
03/07/11 09:15 M6WAK 113 59 6 56 IO70UM 152     152
03/07/11 09:17 M6ZAE 114 59 2 56 IO70UM 152     152
03/07/11 09:26 G2OA/P 115 59 79 58 IO83MN 242     242
03/07/11 09:29 MM0CEZ 116 59 8 55 IO75XV 509   Correct Locator IO75XU 0
03/07/11 09:31 GW8SFT/P 117 59 23 54 IO82CJ 137     137
03/07/11 09:33 G8NT 118 59 6 59 IO81SG 18     18
03/07/11 09:33 G3XNO 119 59 12 59 IO93DW 289     289
03/07/11 09:37 MW6OXO/P 120 59 22 59 IO82ET 172     172
03/07/11 09:42 M5DUO 121 59 6 55 IO92BH 114     114
03/07/11 09:43 M0SMM 122 59 3 55 IO81VH 30     30
03/07/11 09:47 M0HJO 123 59 12 58 IO70OP 173     173
03/07/11 09:51 2E0MAS 124 59 13 59 IO83QM 236     236
03/07/11 10:32 G3ZVW 125 59 28 59 IO80MS 73     73
03/07/11 10:37 M0PAR 126 59 14 57 IO82UC 82     82
03/07/11 10:38 G3ZKN 127 59 4 59 IO81VV 63     63
03/07/11 10:40 G3RFX 128 59 1 59 IO81QK 5     5
03/07/11 10:42 2E0IOS/M 129 59 12 55 IO70XL 142     142
03/07/11 10:45 EA1BLA/P 130 59 57 59 IN53XQ 948 Best DX   948
03/07/11 10:50 G8NDN 131 59 28 59 IO91GF 83     83
03/07/11 10:54 G3NPB 132 59 11 59 IO70GE 240     240
03/07/11 10:56 G8TIC 133 59 29 59 IO82VF 97     97
03/07/11 10:58 G4MWS/P 134 59 69 59 IO83WD 198     198
03/07/11 11:01 F/DL2ECK 135 59 10 59 IN88TP 306   Correct Call F/DL2ECL 0
03/07/11 11:05 G4JLG 136 59 18 54 IO83TM 237     237
03/07/11 11:11 M0HDJ 137 59 1 59 IO81RL 11     11
03/07/11 11:11 2E1NJC 138 59 6 59 IO71VE 113     113
03/07/11 11:15 GW0RMX/P 139 59 6 59 IO81NV 58     58
03/07/11 11:20 G0VNI 140 59 13 59 IO90FV 94     94
03/07/11 11:21 M6NJB 141 59 2 56 IO81RE 24     24
03/07/11 11:23 GW8ZRE/P 142 59 8 59 IO83JA 185     185
03/07/11 11:27 F1DBE/P 143 59 40 59 JN19BC 423     423
03/07/11 11:31 G3NYY/P 144 59 19 59 IO91BX 83     83
03/07/11 11:32 F1TZE/P 145 59 32 59 JN09WJ 389     389
03/07/11 11:33 G5RV/P 146 59 102 59 IO90WV 183     183
03/07/11 11:34 2E0REG/P 147 59 7 59 IO90TV 167   Correct Call 2E0REG 0
03/07/11 11:35 GX0XOI 148 59 2 59 IO81RN 19   Correct Call GX0WOI 0
03/07/11 11:38 G0OVA/P 149 59 12 55 IO91QI 139     139
03/07/11 11:45 G3SDC/P 150 59 19 59 IO92NP 183     183
03/07/11 11:47 G4ARI/P 151 59 28 59 IO92IQ 170     170
03/07/11 11:49 G4LMW/P 152 59 15 59 IO91IK 93   Correct Call G4LMW 0
03/07/11 11:51 2E0BXD 153 59 12 59 IO70OJ 188     188
03/07/11 11:53 G4JKZ 154 59 1 59 IO80KX 58     58
03/07/11 11:57 G0LWU 155 59 10 51 IO84NA 292     292
03/07/11 12:01 G4RRA 156 59 23 59 IO80BS 112     112
03/07/11 12:06 G4DEZ 157 59 14 59 JO03AE 269     269
03/07/11 12:10 G1ARU/P 158 59 28 59 JO02HT 272     272
03/07/11 12:17 G4VRC/P 159 59 17 59 IO90OW 138     138
03/07/11 12:24 G4HQX 160 59 2 59 IO81SQ 34     34
03/07/11 12:37 F4EGA 161 59 88 59 JO10QK 434     434
03/07/11 12:38 G4XZL/P 162 59 25 59 IO90MX 125     125
03/07/11 12:43 G0BWV/A 163 59 12 59 IO90OR 148     148
03/07/11 12:55 G4SHF 164 59 42 55 IO92IN 159     159
03/07/11 12:56 M3WDS 165 59 17 59 IO81WV 65     65
03/07/11 12:57 G4EJH 166 59 4 59 IO81OL 15     15
03/07/11 12:59 G4ERR 167 59 25 55 IO81WV 65   Correct Locator IO81WU 0
03/07/11 13:03 G0IXZ 168 59 31 55 IO93IF 223     223
03/07/11 13:07 G4XZL/P 169 59 0 59 0     0
03/07/11 13:11 2E0FRY 170 59 15 59 IO82XO 140     140
03/07/11 13:16 2E0JWJ 171 59 7 59 IO81VG 32     32
03/07/11 13:17 G3BPK/P 172 59 32 59 IO83PN 241     241
03/07/11 13:20 GM3PMB 173 59 18 54 IO75QJ 464     464
03/07/11 13:23 G8LIH 174 59 9 57 IO93GH 227     227
03/07/11 13:25 GM4JOJ 175 59 26 59 IO97AN 687     687
03/07/11 13:28 GW4RWR/P 176 59 69 55 IO82HV 174     174
03/07/11 13:30 M0BAO/P 177 59 37 59 IO80PT 65     65
03/07/11 13:36 G4JGH 178 55 22 52 IO92BK 127     127
03/07/11 13:39 M0AKT 179 59 4 57 IO91BN 55     55
03/07/11 13:44 G6TTL 180 59 21 53 JO03BB 263     263
03/07/11 13:46 GW0MNP 181 59 2 59 IO81EM 71     71
03/07/11 13:48 2E0PRJ 182 59 6 59 IO81SL 15     15
03/07/11 13:48 DK5WO 183 59 127 59 JO30AS 609     609
03/07/11 13:49 G5LK/P 184 59 481 59 JO01ND 262     262
03/07/11 13:51 M0DEP 185 59 25 59 IO90CR 94     94
03/07/11 13:52 G3BNE 186 59 52 59 JO01BJ 191     191
03/07/11 13:53 G1MZD 187 59 36 59 IO92OB 146     146
03/07/11 13:54 ON7ARQ 188 59 5 55 JO10VX 449     449
03/07/11 13:55 G3ZGC 189 59 19 59 IO91HJ 87     87
03/07/11 13:56 G7APD/P 190 59 120 53 IO92KG 142     142
03/07/11 13:57 M5ABH/P 191 59 38 59 IO93IE 219     219
03/07/11 13:58 GX0GBB/P 192 59 25 58 IO93QP 284   Correct Call MX0GBB/P 0
03/07/11 13:59 G8HXE/P 193 58 28 58 IO94WC 345     345
TOTAL Before Ajudication 191 After Ajudication 173   36627   32592

Submitted 70cm (430MHz) Log

Date (UTC) Time (UTC) Station Worked Sent Received IARU Locator Distance
(km)
Notes Adjudication Points
Serial No. RST Serial No. RST
02/07/11 14:19 GW2OP/P 1 57 7 55 IO71OP 152     152
02/07/11 14:24 G2BQY/P 2 59 12 59 IO81RF 19     19
02/07/11 15:24 G4BRA/P 3 54 8 59 IO80ST 66     66
02/07/11 15:42 G0VHF/P 4 57 43 57 JO01PU 275     275
02/07/11 16:11 EI9E/P 5 58 52 55 IO62OM 312   Correct Received Serial 53 0
02/07/11 16:19 G8OHM/P 6 55 14 59 IO82XJ 118     118
02/07/11 16:40 G5LK/P 7 54 42 53 JO01ND 262     262
02/07/11 16:52 G4ALY/P 8 53 3 55 IO70VL 151   Correct Call G4ALY 0
02/07/11 17:33 G3PYE/P 9 55 47 57 JO02ED 223   Correct Received RST 59 0
02/07/11 17:39 G4WBV/P 10 57 13 59 IO81QI 5     5
02/07/11 18:40 PA6NL/P 11 55 131 57 JO21BX 470 Best DX (Before Ajudication) Correct Call PA6NL 0
02/07/11 19:16 G0EXB/P 12 56 40 54 IO94MJ 352   Correct Call G0EHV/P, Correct Received RST 52 0
02/07/11 19:57 GW8DIR/P 13 56 43 55 IO82LQ 146     146
03/07/11 07:19 MM0CPS/P 14 52 68 53 IO84BT 389 Best DX (After Ajudication)   389
03/07/11 08:03 G4FKA/P 15 58 38 55 IO81SM 18   Correct Call G4FKA 0
03/07/11 08:47 M3VBH/P 16 57 24 59 IO80LV 63   Correct Received RST 58 0
03/07/11 09:03 G8CKK/P 17 59 4 59 IO81RK 7   Correct Call G8CKK 0
03/07/11 10:32 G3ZVW/P 18 55 16 57 IO80MS 73   Correct Call G3ZVW 0
03/07/11 11:47 M0MDG/P 19 55 109 53 JO00EW 215   Correct Received RST 52 0
03/07/11 11:56 G3VER/P 20 55 96 59 IO91RU 153     153
03/07/11 12:19 GW8CAK/P 21 52 6 54 IO82LH 106     106
03/07/11 12:20 G8NT 22 53 13 59 IO81SG 18     18
03/07/11 12:26 G4HQX 23 51 2 55 IO81SQ 34     34
TOTALS Before Ajudication 23 After Ajudication 13   3627   1743

Final Results

The VHF Contest Committee have published the results of this years NFD. We put in our usual credible performance. Looking first at the overall Low Power class we were placed 6th overall out of 13 stations. This might not, on first inspection, be considered a particularly special result in the light of past years performance. However, it should be considered that the overall position considers the performance on all of the bands entered as one. All of the stations bar one that finished above us submitted a 3 band entry and the only 2 band station to place higher than us used a combination of 6m and 2m as opposed to our 2m and 70cm. To more accurately reflect our performance it is important to examine our scores on the individual bands.

We were awarded 3rd place in the 2m Low Power Section and 9th place on 70cm.

On 2m we claimed 193 QSO and a total points haul of 36,627. Our adjudicated performance was judged to be 173 QSO and 32,668. We lost 20 QSO (10.3%) and 3,959 points (10.8%), our best DX into Spain was confirmed.

The reduction in points was similar to that occurring over the last two years and the resulting average points per QSO becomes 188.8 compared to our initial estimate of 189.8. The limited change in points per QSO indicates a more or less random distribution of errors throughout the log.

This year the VHF Contest Committee have released the errors from individual station logs to give an indication of where improvements can be made. Looking at our adjudication log for 2m there are 18 errors listed so the bulk of our loss came from our own performance and not from errors at the other end of the QSO.

The list below summarises the error list, as follows:

  • 1 instance of recording /m when the station was /p;
  • 1 instance of recording a 4 in a callsign instead of a 0;
  • 2 instances of recording a callsign without /p;
  • 1 instance of recording F2 when the callsign was actually F/ indicating a reciprocal licence;
  • 1 instance of recording G5 when the call was F5. Given that the locator was correctly recorded as JN08ki this should have been spotted;
  • 1 instance of recording a T in a callsign instead of a R;
  • 1 instance of recording a K in a callsign instead of a L;
  • 2 instances of recording /p when the station actually wasn't /p;
  • 1 instance of recording a X in a callsign instead of a W;
  • 1 instance of recording GX when the callsign was MX;
  • 3 instances of recording the wrong incoming RST;
  • 2 instances of recording the wrong incoming serial number;
  • 3 instances of incorrect locators

Many of these errors seem to be random, there is little if any pattern that can be discerned. The locators bear the simplest analysis since in 2 out of the 3 cases we recorded a V when the correct character was U. This is undoubtedly the result of poor handwriting and logging being undertaken from notes rather than by listening to the QSO. To avoid this in future we should always strive to have 2 operators: 1 to operate the rig and 1 to log in real time.

The 4th place entry scored 27,897 so we finished comfortably in 3rd place. The 2 stations above us scored 55,522 and 59,181 points respectively. It is clear that even with no errors we would not have got within striking distance of these operators.

The points per QSO ranged from 152 to 332 with an average of 206. Our confirmed average of 188.8 was just over 8% below the average which is consistent with previous years and an improvement on last year when we were 13% below the average points per QSO for the class.

Best DX distances ranged from 375km to 1006km with an average of 706km. Our recorded 949km is 35% above this average continuing and improving on the trend shown in 2010.

The number of recorded QSOs ranged from 18 to 257 with an average of 109. Our recorded 173 is 59% above this average continuing and improving on the trend shown in 2010.

The total points scored ranged from 4,340 to 59,181 with an average of 22,971. Our recorded 32,668 is 42% above this average continuing and improving on the trend shown in 2010.

On 70cm we claimed 23 QSO and a total points haul of 3,627. Our adjudicated performance was judged to be 11 QSO and 1,578. We lost 12 QSO (52.2%) and 2,049 points (56.5%), our best DX into the Netherlands was not confirmed, being replaced with a contact in Scotland at 389km.

The resulting average points per QSO becomes 143.5 compared to our initial estimate of 157.7. As with the 2m log the limited change in points per QSO indicates a more or less random distribution of errors throughout the log.

Looking at our adjudication log for 70cm there are 10 errors listed so the bulk of our loss came from our own performance and not from errors at the other end of the QSO.

There are some very definite patterns emerging from this error list, as follows:

  • 5 instances of recording /p when the station wasn't /p;
  • 1 instance of recording XB in a callsign instead of HV;
  • 4 instances of recording the wrong received RST;
  • 1 instance of an incorrectly logged incoming serial number

The callsign errors are the most common. There was perhaps an expectation that all stations would be /p which was not borne out in practice. Beyond that the errors are typical mistakes that happen in the heat of a contest and only additional exposure to the contest environment will allow the individual accuracy to improve.

The points per QSO ranged from 114 to 354 with an average of 214. Our confirmed average of 143.5 was nearly 47% below the average.

Best DX distances ranged from 342km to 892km with an average of 559km. Our recorded 389km is 30% below this average.

The number of recorded QSOs ranged from 11 to 63 with an average of 34. Our recorded 11 is 67% below this average.

The total points scored ranged from 1,578 to 15,196 with an average of 7,581. Our recorded 1,578 is 79% below this average.

Summary

Our 2m operation continues to be a successful and solid entry. Attention to logging could improve our performance but is unlikely to drastically improve our overall position. On 70cm there is some work required to familiarise operators with the logging program and possibly the addition of something like a mast head pre-amp to assist with weak signals.