RSGB FT4 Contest Series

(2) Monday 16th March 2020     20:00 – 21:30 UTC

(3) Monday 27th April 2020     19:00 – 20:30 UTC

(4) Monday 18th May 2020     19:00 – 20.30 UTC

(5) Monday 15th June 2020     19:00 – 20.30 UTC

(6) Monday 27th July 2020     19:00 – 20:30 UTC

(7) Monday 28th September     19:00 – 20:30 UTC

(8) Monday 19th October     19:00 – 20:30 UTC

(9) Monday 16th November     20:00 – 21:30 UTC

All contests in this series will have a ‘Le Mans’ start. This means that entrants must not transmit during the two minutes immediately before the contest start time or use any other method to reserve a frequency.

Stations that transmit during this two minute period will have 5 points deducted from their score

(a) Mode: FT4 NA VHF Contest format will be used as implemented in WSJT-X V2.1.2. The installation packages for this software are available here

(b) Frequency:
(i) The recommended dial frequencies will be 3576, 3579 and 3582 kHz (USB)

(ii) Transmission on multiple frequencies within one audio pass band or in multiple pass bands simultaneously is not permitted 

(iii) Transmitting in both first and second cycles continuously is not permitted

(iv) Entrants are not permitted to operate as a FOX in FOX & HOUND mode

(b) UK&CD entrants must be RSGB members

(c) Multi-Operator entries by RSGB members may include non-member operators whose highest class of licence is Foundation or Intermediate

(d) All entries are classified as Assisted

(e) Operation must be from a single Station location where all transmitters, receivers and antennas are located within a circle of a radius of no greater than 500m. Remote receivers outside of the Station location are not permitted

(f) Remote operation of a station is allowed where the operator is situated within the same country on the DXCC list.  Additionally, an operator’s home station, as shown in the licensee’s licence documents, may be remotely operated from a location in another country. A remotely operated station must obey all station licence, operator licence and category conditions. The callsign used must be one issued or permitted by the Regulatory Authority of the remote station location. The location of the Station must also comply with the requirements above.

(g) The address of the operator must be included in the ‘Address of Operator when operating Remote from Station Address’ box on the Station Information Page and the address of the remote station must be included in the Cabrillo header ‘ADDRESS:’ box. The RSGB HF Contest Committee may place remotely operated stations in a separate results table.

(b) Serial number is NOT required

(c) Signal report is NOT required

(b) A QSO with a station that does not send their four character locator will score 1 point.

(c) Stations that do not send their four character locator as part of their contest exchange will score 1 point per QSO with no multiplier.

(d) QSOs with HQ stations G#6XX and G#3DR will count for 5 points and 1 locator multiplier

(e) Non-UK&CD stations may work other non-UK&CD stations and will score the same points/multipliers as UK&CD stations

(f) Each station may work each other station once for points

(g) Stations operating outside the UK&CD are welcome to participate, and their scores will be listed in separate tables

(h) Scores will be normalised in each section for each contest and added to give a total score for the series per section

(b) If the log submission robot finds format errors, it will reject the log and ask for resubmission of a corrected logfile. (You can correct Cabrillo format errors using any text editor e.g. Notepad)

(c) If you have difficulties preparing or uploading your ADIF or Cabrillo logfile, please contact the contest adjudicator to ask for assistance before the submission deadline

(d) Errors will incur penalties as outlined in the RSGB HF Adjudication Principles. This penalty will be the loss of an additional 50 QSO points.

(e) Adjudicated results will be online and will include online logfiles for all entrants

(f) The use of CAT control to log the correct frequency and mode is recommended

(a) There will be separate tables of Results for each of the four sections

(b) A certificate may also be downloaded by all entrants showing their individual position