VHF Field Day – Special 2020 Lockdown Rules

So those who keep an eye on things like the RSGB News headlines will be aware that the VHF Contest Committee have decided that VHF Field Day can go ahead but, and here is the rub, not in a field. At the moment unless government guidance is changed the feeling is that /P, /A operations are not going to be possible.

The full rules can be found here: https://www.rsgbcc.org/vhf/rules/20rules/ldvhfnfd.shtml, and I urge you to read these in full.

In summary the rules this year are:

Lock-down VHF NFD

The contest as described below is a fixed station only contest. If, within 2 weeks of the contest date, there is a change in Governments’ guidance such that single operator portable operation becomes viable across more or less the whole of the UK&CD then VHFCC may revise these rules to allow portable operation. Any such change will be made very clear publicly, with the rules at rsgbcc.org being the master rules. Any questions about these rules should be emailed to vhf.query@rsgbcc.org.

• Introduction
1. This contest is a (hopefully) one off replacement for VHF NFD. It is loosely based around the UKAC and VHF AFS rules.
2. No prior registration is required for this contest.
3. Permitted modes in this contest are SSB, CW, FM, AM, JT6M, ISCAT and FSK441 only
4. The use of UK Contest Callsigns (SCC) is not permitted
5. All stations are single operator fixed station only. The definition of single operator fixed stations is: A station operated by a single person, with no operational assistance of another person or persons during the contest period. It shall be operated from the main station address as shown on the licence validation document, provided that is also the current residence of the operator for the purposes of COVID-19 mobility controls. The spirit of the contest will be paramount.
6. The General Rules for all RSGB VHF/UHF/SHF contests apply except the RSGB membership required is waived for stations entering as part of an RSGB Affiliated Society (Club) team. The General Rules can be found here: https://www.rsgbcc.org/vhf/rules/20rules/General.shtml
• Contest exchanges
1. On each band a report, serial number and a 6 character (e.g. IO91OJ) locator must be exchanged. Serial numbers should normally start at 001 on each band, but we recognise that some stations may choose to make non-scoring contacts particularly with European stations operating outside of the time periods of the RSGB contest, and in these cases we will accept serials not starting at 001 at the beginning of our contest period.
2. All times must be logged in UTC
• Bands
1. You may use 6m, 4m, 2m, 70cm and 23cm in this contest within the allocated time periods.
2. You are not required to operate on all bands to enter this contest, single band entries are permitted as well as multiple band entries.
3. Allocated periods of operation (time in UTC)
1. 6m: 04/07/2020, 14.00 to 16.00 (2 hour duration)
2. 4m: 04/07/2020, 17.00 to 19.00 (2 hour duration)
3. 23cm: 05/07/2020, 05.00 to 07.00 (2 hour duration)
4. 70cm: 05/07/2020, 08.00 to 10.00 (2 hour duration)
5. 2m: 05/07/2020, 11.00 to 14.00 (3 hour duration)
• Sections
1. Stations do not have to enter the same section on every band.
1. Open (AO): Standard licence conditions and no antenna restrictions.
2. Restricted (AR): The power output must be not more than 100W PEP (50W on 4m) at the final output stage or external amplifier connection to the antenna. Only one antenna may be used. Stacked or bayed antennas are not allowed. Backfire or parabolic dish type antennas must not exceed 2 metres in diameter.
3. Low Power (AL): The power output must not exceed 10W PEP at the final output stage or external amplifier connection to the antenna. Only one antenna may be used. Stacked or bayed antenna arrays may not be used. Backfire or parabolic dish type antennas must not exceed 2 metres in diameter.
• Club Entries
1. A club may be represented by any number of stations, all of whom must be located within the UK&CD.
2. Each club team consists of up to four stations on each band. A club may have multiple teams on each band.
3. The adjudication process allocates the four highest-scoring stations for a club on each band to “Team A”, then the next four highest-scoring stations to “Team B”, and so on.
4. Each club member will be allocated to one or more teams in descending order of adjudicated score. For the purpose of calculating the overall club team score on each band, each member of each team will be placed in one of 4 groups, groups A, B, C etc. Note: this is the same system that is used in VHF AFS Contests.
5. The highest placed member of each team on each band will be placed in Group A, the second highest in Section B etc. All stations in each of the groups will have their score normalised against the highest score in that group, with the highest score gaining 1000 points. The final club team score for each band will be the sum of the team members individual normalised scores.
6. The score of highest placed team from each club on each band will be normalised by position:
   Score for each band = ((number of clubs+1)-(position of club)*1000/(number of clubs)
7. Any entries with a zero score will be given a zero normalised score and will not be included in the count of the number of clubs in that band for the purposes of calculating other normalised scores.
8. The best three normalised band scores for each club will be used to determine the overall score for that club. Note: this system is similar to that used in the AFS Super League.
1. There is no maximum distance stipulation for members of club teams i.e. stations are not required to be 80km or less from a club’s nominated meeting place.

73
Hon Sec
for and on behalf of South Bristol ARC
https://www.sbarc.co.uk