The Club participates in amateur radio contests organised by the RSGB .
HF National Field Day is done from a site local to Bracknell which is very convenient for members. In both 1998 and 1999 we won the low power section of HF National Field Day. In 2000 we won the 160m band NFD certificate and came third place in VHF National Field Day (mix and match section).
For NFD 2002 we entered the low power section using a K2 transceiver. A most enjoyable weekend was had, and we were second place in our section.
NFD 2003 followed on from our experience in 2002 and a report of this event has also been prepared. We were again in second place!
NFD2004 continued this theme and yet again we were second!
NFD2005 (4th/5th June) was again at our Longhill Park site with a similar set-up. A report is now available - we beat our last year's total with 385 QSOs and 1807 points
We were unable to do NFD in 2006, but in 2007 were again at Longhill Park. Read the report here.
VHF contests are either done from a local site (pictured) or from our site near Cerne Abbas in Dorset. VHF NFD is the major contest of the year and takes place at the beginning of July.
VHF NFD 2003 was a combined entry between ourselves and Flight Refuelling ARS. See the reports and pictures here and here. We were 6th. in this contest, see the results.
VHF NFD in 2004 was also a joint effort with Flight Refuelling ARS. The weekend went very well and was thoroughly enjoyed by those who took part. A report has being prepared and can be found on the FRARS website. We were 4th place in the Open Section, see the results.
VHF NFD 2005 continued this theme. We were 5th place in the Open Section, see the results.
For VHF NFD 2006 the club again joined forces with Flight Refuelling from the Cerne Abbas site, with Bracknell providing the 4m and 70cm stations. A short report is available on the FRARS Website. We came 6th place in the Open section, see the results.
The club was down in Dorset on July 7th/8th 2007 for another combined entry with FRAS in VHF NFD. See the report and the results.
Members of the club participate in the Club Championship contests. These are short contests of 2 hour duration on weekday evenings between January and July. In 2004 the club did well in the CW legs, and although being 20th overall in a field of 60 clubs were well up in the QRP CW entries. In 2005 we were 19th out of a field of 73 clubs. In 2006 we were 20th out of a field of 74. In 2008 we fell to 29th out of a field of 66. These contests are an excellent opportunity for those new to contesting to participate. There are sessions for SSB, CW and data modes, the dates of the 2009 contests are as follows:
CW sessions Jan 5th, Feb 19th, March 11th, April 6th, May 21st, June 10th, July
6th, 2000-2130 local.
SSB sessions Jan 14th, Feb 2nd, March 19th, April 15th, May 4th, June 18th, July
15th 2000-2130 local.
Data sessions Jan 22nd, Feb 11th, March 2nd, April 23rd, May 13th, June 1st,
July 23rd, 2000-2130 local.
See the rules and results on the RSGB HF Contest
Committee website.
Dave G3YMC is a keen operator in these and other contests, and is shown here in
his shack during a CQWW WPX contest.
The Club also participates in the AFS (Affiliated Societies) contest in January - CW January 11th, SSB January 17th 2009.
The method of submitting logs changed in 2009 and for the Club Challenge and soon for other RSGB contests you should visit the contest robot and upload your Cabrillo file from there. Alternatively you may use the on line submittal form linked from that page.