GARES Summer 2011 Challenge: Rules
This is a club-sponsored opportunity for you to do a bit of operating on six-metres and to share your experiences with others.
The contest is open to all GARES club members.
Please “have a go” and join the fun.
WHEN: 1st June 2011 to 31st August 2011, both dates inclusive. (Note 1)
WHERE: On the six-metre amateur band.
POWER AND MODES: Restricted only by the terms of your amateur radio licence.
AERIALS: No restriction - use the best available to you.
SCORING: The first contact with each DX country (entity) worked during the challenge period is worth 5 points.
The first contact with each locator square worked during the challenge period is worth 1 point. This is explained in more detail below.
Contacts must be made by you, using your own callsign, from your main station address. (Notes 2, 3, 4 and 5).
REPORTING: Please report progress to G3XMM (contact details on the club notice board). The success of this activity depends on regularly updated information from those taking part. (Note 6)
Note 1: This period should include much of the summer sporadic-E season.
Note 2: Accurate exchange of callsigns and signal reports should be considered the minimum requirement for claiming a valid contact. In addition you will need to exchange the necessary locator information if at all possible.
Note 3: Contacts should be made directly on a one-to-one basis without assistance from others. This precludes the relaying of real-time contact information by repeaters, Internet links, other amateur stations or any other mode of indirect transmission. It also casts doubt on the validity of contacts made when operating as a member of a net. The use of DX spotting sites is acceptable however.
Note 4: Information about DX countries and prefixes is available from G3XMM. and there are several websites containing up-to-date lists. If in doubt regarding a particular prefix please seek advice.
Note 5: If you are the holder of more than one callsign a country or square may be claimed once only for scoring purposes irrespective of the callsign in use.
Note 6: Essential information is your updated number of countries and squares worked together with an updated claimed score. Detailed lists of countries and squares are not required - we hope that you will keep and monitor your own lists and claim only for contacts you are sure to be valid. Additional optional information such as rigs, aerials and choice DX would be of interest to others and if offered will be included together with scores in a regularly updated table on the club notice board.
Locator Squares: The IARU locator system uses six-character “locators” (also known as “Maidenhead Locators”) to pinpoint the position of an amateur station. An example should make things clear.
The locator for G3XMM is IO81vv
IO refers to a large area called a field
81 refers to a smaller area in a field called a square
vv refers to a yet smaller area in a square called a sub-square
For the purposes of this activity the first four characters of the locator are significant i.e. my “square”, and almost certainly yours too, is IO81. The first four characters of locators you receive indicate the “square” of the other station and should be noted for scoring purposes.
If in any doubt about any of this have a word with G3XMM or see f6fvy.free.fr/qthLocator/fullScreen.php to get your locator from a Google map.