ELEVENTH WA VHF/UHF/SHF FIELD DAY

 

                       Sunday, 30 April 2006.

 

1. The contest is open to all individual licensed amateurs. All bands above 50 MHz, and all licensed modes including digital modes, may be used.

 

2. Points are scored for two way contacts between pairs of stations, at least one of which must be in the VK6 call area. (Contacts via electronic relays other than Amateur satellites do not count towards the score, but may be used for liaison purposes.) For the purposes of the contest, a portable station is one which is being operated away from the usual station address and which is not powered from the AC mains. Mobile stations (including permanently mobile) count as portable.

 

3. CONTEST TIME: 1030-1500 WST (0230Z-0700Z) on Sunday, 30th April 2006.

The contest is divided into 2 intervals of 2 hours each, 1030-1230 WST

and 1300-1500 WST. These are separated by a half hour (1230-1300 WST) for lunch. Two stations may work each other for a scoring contact once on each band in each 2 hour interval.

 

4. The contest exchange will consist of a signal report, 3 digit serial number starting from 001, and the station location. 

 

5. Each scoring monoband contact is worth 1 point times the following multipliers:

 

DISTANCE MULTIPLIER:  

One point for each 25km or part thereof, up to a maximum of 15 points.

 

Up to (km)

25

50

75

100

125

150

175

200

225

250

275

300

325

350

350+

Multiplier

 1

 2

 3

  4

  5

  6 

  7

  8

  9

 10

 11

 12 

 13

 14

 15

 

BAND MULTIPLIER:

 

Nom. Freq. MHz

50

144

432

1296

2400

3400

5760

10368

24000

47000 & up

Multiplier

 3

  2

  3

   5

   8

   8 

   8     

    8

   12

   16

 

FIXED STATION TO FIXED STATION MULTIPLIER: 1                         

PORTABLE TO METROPOLITAN FIXED STATION MULTIPLIER: 2

PORTABLE TO COUNTRY FIXED STATION MULTIPLIER: 4

PORTABLE TO PORTABLE MULTIPLIER: 4

 

That is, contacts count double if one of the stations is portable, and quadruple if both stations are portable, or if one is portable and the other is a country fixed station.

A country station is one which is at least 100km from GPO Perth.

 

FOUNDATION LICENCE MULTIPLIER: 4

Contacts in which one or both stations is a Foundation Licence station count quadruple. The other multipliers still apply.

 

6. SECTIONS: There are four separate sections in the contest:

1. Portable; 

2. Fixed; 

3. Foundation Licence Portable;

     4. Foundation Licence Fixed.

 

7. GROUP OPERATION: There is no section for club stations, but contacts with club stations count towards the scores of individual amateurs entering sections 1 to 4. Groups of up to 3 licensed amateurs may pool their equipment, and operate from a single portable site under their own individual call signs. (An exception is made for VK6WH, which is allowed multiple operators, and can enter the portable section even if operated from Wireless Hill.)

The use of multiple call signs by a single individual is not allowed.

 

8. CROSSBAND CONTACTS are permitted, but only score in special circumstances. If two stations work crossband from band A to some other band (B, say), but do not have a two way contact on band A in the relevant 2 hour time period, then once, and only once, in that period, each may claim towards their score half the points that would have resulted from a band A contact. This means that if they do not have a two way contact on band B in the time period, they may also claim (once only) half the points that would have resulted from a band B contact.

 

9. SATELLITE CONTACTS. In addition to terrestrial contacts, each pair of stations is allowed one contact per satellite per 2 hour period, provided that both stations are in the VK6 call area, and that all uplink and downlink frequencies used are in the VHF/UHF/SHF Amateur bands. Scoring is based on the terrestrial distance between the stations, and the transmitting and receiving bands actually used by the station claiming the points. If these are bands A and B, then the station may claim half the points that would result from a band A contact, plus half the points that would result from a band B contact.

 

10. LOGS should be sent to:

 

    CONTEST MANAGER, WEST AUSTRALIAN VHF GROUP (INC),

    PO BOX 189 APPLECROSS, W.A. 6953

 

or by email, to field_day@vhf.wirelessplanet.com.au

 

Logs must arrive by 3pm, Monday, 22 May 2006 (May Meeting night).

The Contest Manager's decisions and interpretation of the rules are final.

 


11. Band & Distance Points Multiplier Matrix:

 

 

Distance (up to ___ km)

Band

25

50

75

100

125

150

175

200

225

250

275

300

325

350

350+

50 MHz

3

6

9

12

15

18

21

24

27

30

33

36

39

42

45

144 MHz

2

4

6

8

10

12

14

16

18

20

22

24

26

28

30

430 MHz

3

6

9

12

15

18

21

24

27

30

33

36

39

42

45

1296 MHz

5

10

15

20

25

30

35

40

45

50

55

60

65

70

75

2-11 GHz

8

16

24

32

40

48

56

64

72

80

88

96

104

112

120

24 GHz

12

24

36

48

60

72

84

96

108

120

132

144

156

168

180

47 GHz &

higher

16

32

48

64

80

96

112

128

144

160

176

192

208

224

240

 

REMEMBER: Contacts with portable stations count more, as do country fixed stations if you are portable. Contacts involving Foundation licensees count quadruple.

 

For example, a contact on 2m over a path length of 130km, is worth 12 points.  However, if one station was portable, and the other was a country fixed station, then there would be a 4x multiplier (ie, bringing the contact up to 48 points);  if one of those stations was also a Foundation class license, then a further 4x multiplier would apply, making the contact worth a massive 192 points!  (See section 5 for multiplier details).



 

P.S  If things get a bit quiet, some suggested frequencies to try are:

 

6m:         50.175 USB    52.525 FM

2m:       144.120 USB  146.500 FM

70cm:     432.120 USB  439.000 FM

23cm:     1296.120 USB  1296.300 FM

 

Liaison: 144.175 USB, 432.175 USB, 145.375 FM