The Friendship on the Air Award is designed to celebrate the friendship of amateur radio over the airwaves. The main purpose is to contact other people in a friendly and non-competitive way, connecting with them rather than simply making a quick QSO and moving on.
This new award is an ongoing monthly and annual activity for both individuals and clubs which we hope will continue to support the radio amateur community as the pandemic restrictions lift gradually over the coming months.
How do I gain the award?
You will score points for each QSO where you each exchange the four-letter identifier of your club, South Bristol ARC’s identifier is SOBR. If you’re not a club member but are a member of the RSGB, you can use the RSGB identifier “RSGB“.
Your scores will accumulate each month until the end of that calendar year.
There will be monthly/annual awards for every individual with more than 25/220 points, the club with the highest number of points and the highest-scoring club in each region. The points system is simply an encouragement to get on the air, represent your club and have a chat with radio amateurs across the airwaves.
What modes can I use?
Modes are limited to: CW and Phone, including digital voice, DMR, IRLP and EchoLink modes. At present Network Radio and data modes are not included.
Whichever mode you choose must be capable of exchanging the four-letter club identifier, which for South Bristol ARC is SOBR.
How do I take part?
- Take a look at the award guidance (3-page/199KB PDF) and find out how to upload your logs;
- Represent your club by activating the club call signs as much as possible; and
- Get on the air and start contacting radio amateurs!
Get on the air to care
This award is part of the RSGB and NHS ‘Get on the air to care‘ campaign which was created at the start of the pandemic in 2020. Its aim has been to support radio amateurs living in social isolation, promote mental wellbeing and raise the profile of amateur radio in the mainstream media to help people looking for something to do during lockdown.
RSGB Friendship on the Air Award
If you enter this award you must comply fully with all the local Covid-19 restrictions and advice in the area where you are operating. This includes, but is not limited to, social distancing, meeting people outside your household and travelling. Any enclosed operating space (e.g. a car) will be considered an indoor location.
This ongoing monthly and annual activity is for individuals and clubs. It is facilitated by the software and systems of the RSGB Contest Committee but it is not run as a contest. If you have any questions, please contact the Operating Awards Manager: awards@rsgb.org.uk.
| Item | Heading | Details |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Objective | To have QSOs with other club stations across the UK.
You will score points for each QSO where you each exchange the four-letter identifier of your club, The identifier for South Bristol ARC is SOBR. If you’re not a club member but are a member of the RSGB, you can use the RSGB identifier “RSGB“. Your scores will accumulate each month until the end of that calendar year. Represent your club by activating the club call signs as much as possible. Please note that only those members of South Bristol ARC with a full licence may use the South Bristol ARC callsign GX4WAW. If other members of the South Bristol ARC wish to use the South Bristol ARC callsign GX4WAW they will need to be supervised by the Secretary of the South Bristol ARC (who is the holder of the Club licence) or another South Bristol ARC member who is a full licence holder identified by the South Bristol ARC Secretary. Any use of the South Bristol ARC callsign must be sanctioned by the South Bristol ARC Secretary. |
| 2 | Start date | It begins on 2 April 2021 with points accumulating each calendar month through to the end of that calendar year. |
| 3 | Frequencies, modes and power | All UK allocated bands can be used in accordance with the official bandplans as published in RadCom or on the RSGB website: www.rsgb.org/bandplans
Output power should be consistent with the terms of your licence. Modes are limited to: CW and Phone, including digital voice, DMR, IRLP and EchoLink modes. At present Network Radio and data modes are not included. Whichever mode you choose must be capable of exchanging the four-letter club identifier, which for the South Bristol ARC is SOBR. |
| 4 | Entrants | All UK and non-UK licensed amateurs may enter and submit logs. Points will only be scored for contacts with local or national UK stations quoting the four-letter identifier for a UK amateur radio club or society. The four letter identifier for South Bristol ARC is SOBR. |
| 5 | Exchange | You need to exchange your call sign, signal report and your club identifier (a four-letter code). Club identifiers are defined by the Contest Committee: www.rsgbcc.org/cgi-bin/afs.pl
Capture the club identifiers in the Comments or Notes field of your logging program, in order for them to appear in the “Comment” or “Note” field in the exported ADI file. No other data should be present in this field so, if necessary, please edit the exported ADI file to remove all but the club identifier. If you are a member of more than one club, you are not allowed to give multiple club identifiers in a single QSO, so just give the South Bristol ARC identifier SOBR. |
| 6 | Award criteria | You will receive one point per QSO with a station giving a club identifier. You will only receive points for one contact per day with the same station i.e. if you contact the same station twice in a day using different modes or bands, it will only count as one valid contact for that day.
Upload your logs at the end of each calendar month. Your point scores will be confirmed, and this score will show whether or not you are eligible for the monthly award. All the logs you upload will be accumulated at the end of the calendar year and your points scores will be combined. This will show if you are eligible for the annual award. |
| 7 | Log submission and Adjudication | Go to awards.rsgbcc.org/ and submit your log in ADIF format. You must do this within seven days of the end of the calendar month. Logs must be uploaded individually, using the entry robot. If the robot finds format errors, it will reject the log and ask for resubmission of a corrected logfile. For each contact, the submitted ADIF logfile must contain a minimum of the following fields:
“n” = number of characters in the field. The AIDF specification format will give you further information: www.adif.org/ If any of these fields are missing, the log is likely to be rejected by the robot. You can submit one log that contains QSOs that have been held over a number of days. However, if you choose to upload daily logs, you will only be able to submit one log per day per call sign. If you upload a second log between 0000 and 2359 for the same call sign, the second log will overwrite the original log. Note: you select the identifier (four-letter code) for the club you are representing from the pull-down list when you upload your log to the entry robot, for those representing the South Bristol ARC this will be SOBR. If you have difficulties preparing or uploading your logfile, please contact the adjudicator to ask for assistance, before the monthly or annual submission deadline. |
| 8 | Results and Awards | We will process all uploaded logs and calculate points scores by matching logged QSOs. You will only score points for your QSOs if another entrant has submitted the same QSO in their log.
Awards will be issued as follows: Monthly Award:
Annual award:
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| 9 | Supplementary rules |
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| 10 | Declaration | You declare that:
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| 11 | Adjudicator | An appointed member of the Contest Support Committee |
| 12 | Administrator | Operating Awards Manager |
