AmateurRadio.com

I never really thought I would be saying this but I have entered, or rather plan to, enter a contest. Sports radio as it is sometimes called always seems like a bear garden on HF with just about every station barking out ‘CQ Contest’ to claim a few more points. To me it doesn’t sound like a sport unless you’re keen on drowning out the competition.

I have mostly avoided contests as to me it has the perception of something where ‘He who has the largest bank account wins’ and the is little room for tiddlers. So to challenge this perception I shall be entering into something that I think / hope will be a bit more relaxed. The UKSMG Summer Es contest might be the highlight of the 50Mhz calendar but for I shall be operating at the most for 6 hours. The likelihood it will be around 3 hours at best as a tiddler station.

I will be operating at best 100W from my IC7000 into my homebrew 50Mhz vertical which so far has escaped the operation in anger mode it needs. Part of the reason for this is to see if I actually enjoy it. The other part is to do something different.

I’ve always had a bit of a soft spot for 6m but have no idea why as my QTH precludes much in the way of ‘proper’ antennas and so far I have only made a few contacts on the magic band. Most of these contacts were a few years ago when I could put a beam up in the garden for a few weeks. This needs to change in my opinion and this weekend is the best opportunity for me for a while.

So if you happen to be on the magic band, listen out for the tiddler that is my station (operating as GM7KSE as it happens). The contest starts on the 2nd June at 1300Z