GARES Winter 2013 Challenge: Rules
This is a club-sponsored opportunity for you to do a bit of HF operating and to share your experiences with others.
Although we will “keep score” to give the activity a bit of purpose it is not meant to be excessively competitive. It is more important that as many people as possible join in and add to the fun.
WHEN: 1st October 2013 to 31st May 2014, both dates inclusive.
WHERE: On the UK amateur bands, with the exception of those requiring an NOV, in any combination.
MODE: CW, SSB, RTTY, BPSK, QPSK in any combination.
POWER: Restricted only by the terms of your amateur radio licence. Some indication of the maximum power in use will be noted.
AERIALS: No restriction - use the best available to you.
SCORING:
a) Each DX country (entity) worked, irrespective of the band/mode/power/aerial in use is worth one point. Contacts must be made by you, using your own callsign, from your main station address or an agreed alternative.
b) Each UK district worked, irrespective of the band/mode/power/aerial in use, is worth one point.
Scores may be submitted for a), b), or both and two independent accumulator tables will be maintained.(See notes 1, 2, 3 and 4 and links, below)
REPORTING: Please report progress to G3XMM (contact details on the club notice board). For each country/district claimed please list country name or district code, callsign, band, date/time, mode. (Note 5)
Note 1: If you are licensed to use more than one callsign a country may be claimed once only for scoring purposes irrespective of the callsign in use.
Note 2: Accurate exchange of callsigns and signal reports (plus the UK district code when relevant) should be considered the minimum requirement for claiming a valid contact.
Note 3: Contacts should be made directly on a one-to-one basis without direct assistance from others. This precludes the relaying or repeating 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 such as, for example, DX Summit is acceptable however.
Note 4: Claims from different locations will be listed as separate entries on the ladder.
Note 5: It would help me considerably if claims could be made using a spreadsheet format. Links to suitable templates are given below. Please also give details of PSK modes used, e.g. BPSK63, QPSK31 etc., when claiming for these modes.
Additional information of interest to others e.g. rigs, aerials etc. will be listed separately if offered.
ADDITIONAL INFORMATION
List of country code prefixes (pdf document 73KB)
List of UK districts (rtf/Word document 4KB)
Spreadsheet for DX entries (Excel document 11KB)