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GARES Winter 2019/20 Challenge: Rules

Scores for this contest.

This is a club-sponsored opportunity for you to do some targeted operating and to share your results with others. You are invited to work stations in as many UK & IRISH COUNTIES & ISLANDS (see below) as possible on the HF bands (160m-10m, excluding 30m) during the period of the challenge. There will be HIGH POWER (100W) and LOW POWER (10W) sections. This is to encourage participation from Foundation and Intermediate licensees, and is specifically meant to encourage newcomers to the Challenge

WHEN: 23rd November 2019 to 25th January 2020, both dates inclusive.

WHERE: The HF bands between 160m and 10m excluding 30m (as SSB is not permitted on this band)

MODES: CW OR SSB. Entrants should choose one mode on starting the Challenge.

ENTRIES: Contacts may be made from locations (e.g. main station, alternative, portable, mobile) within the IO81 locator square. (If you wish to operate from another square please seek advice!)

POWER:

  • High Power: 100 Watts or less.
  • Low Power: 10 Watts or less.
  • The power used for each contact should be recorded.

AERIALS: No restrictions.

SCORING:

  • TEN points for the first contact with a station in a particular county in ENGLAND (G, M, etc), WALES (GW, MW, etc), SCOTLAND (GM, MM, etc), NORTHERN IRELAND (GI, MI, etc), and the REPUBLIC OF IRELAND (EI, EJ), irrespective of band.
  • TEN points for the first contact with a station in the ISLE of MAN (GD, MD, etc), JERSEY (GJ, MJ, etc) and GUERNSEY (GU, MU, etc.), irrespective of band.
  • Subsequent contacts with stations in counties or islands already worked will score ONE point, irrespective of band.
  • Contacts with stations in foreign countries (other than the Republic of Ireland) will not count towards scoring for this Challenge.
  • Contacts must be made by you, using your own callsign (with a suffix if appropriate).

REPORTING: County or Island (as defined above), Callsign of station worked, Date (to facilitate entries on the Excel spreadsheet avoiding leading zeros, please use the format YYMMDD), Mode, Power (p.e.p.) at the output of the transmitter, and the aerial in use should be reported for each scoring contact. QRZ.com may be used to determine which county a station is located in if that information has not been given during the QSO. If a station is signing /P, /M, etc, then the county must be determined during the QSO.

A list of UK & IRISH COUNTIES is available here.

It would help considerably if entries could be made using a standard spreadsheet format. A suitable template is available (Excel spreadsheet). Please rename this file as your callsign and the section (HIGH or LOW POWER) e.g. G4IZZ_HIGH when submitting entries. Entries should be sent to G4IZZ who will be collating and reporting the challenge scores.

AWARDS: Awards will be made to the leading stations in each section.

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 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 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. However, the use of DX spotting sites such as, for example, DX Summit is acceptable.

Rules published 15th November 2019

Scores for this contest.

Rules and Scores from previous contests.

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