UKAC 2011

DURING 2011, THE CLUB HAS TAKEN PART IN THREE OF THE TUESDAY NIGHT UKACS, 432, 1,296 AND 2,320 MHZ.

25 Jan 2012

There are also 70 MHz and 144 MHz events, the 2,320 MHz evening includes all bands to 10,368 MHz, which are tabulated separately. Each of the events lasts two and half hours and activity is usually very good, with the first 2 hours overlapping events in other countries.

Scoring is based distance, so a point per km for each QSO times a multiplier based on the number of locator squares. This year saw the introduction of rule M5, which restricts the multipliers to UK stations, while this has been well received by most of the UK, some stations located near the coast in JO02, and in particular Suffolk, have taken exception, as they mostly have QSOs into continental Europe and have not taken part, perhaps worried that they might not win.

Each of the events has multiple sections, low power, restricted, open and on 432 MHz DXers, the later section is the open plus able to use ON4KST or other such sites to set up contacts. In addition there is a club section, where the scores of any club members are combined. The Bolton Wireless is very active and leads that section.
Of the 12 events, the best 8 count towards a final score. A form of normalised scoring is used based on position within each section. If there are 10 entries the winner gets 1,000 points, second place 900 and so on to the tenth and final place getting 100 points.

432 MHz UKAC (Second Tuesdays)
On 432 MHz the club uses the Henry 2004 amplifier with a 26 element yagi on the tower and a 21 element yagi on the chimney, the later usually pointing towards IO83 to get many of the low power stations the Bolton club musters, avoiding the need to keep turning the main antenna.

The number of QSOs ranged from 67 to 102, with best DX ranging from ON4POO at 474 km in September to DF2VJ at 711 km in February. Unlike the higher bands, 432 MHz did not enjoy any DX openings, but of course conditions were better for the June event with 102 QSOs, when interestingly the best DX was DK6JL at 579 km and for the best scoring event in May, with 91 QSOs and 18 UK multipliers.
On 432 MHz, the club enters the open section, the main competition to the club is from David Millard, M0GHZ, of the Trowbridge Club, he is well sited and being to our South-West enjoys a much higher points per QSO, but with the extra quantity of QSOs we have, we often manage an extra multiplier. It has been a close run contest for all of the year.

The final results have now been published, and SBRS have won the AO section of UKAC.

1,296 MHz UKAC (Third Tuesdays)
On 1,296 MHz the club uses a SSPA running 400w output to 4 x 23 element yagis on the tower.
The number of QSOs ranged from 30 in February to 61 in November, with best DX ranging from GM4LBV at 479 km in June to SM6HYG at 1,067 km in November.
On 1,296 MHz, the club enters the open section, the main competition is from Ray James, GM4CXM, from Scotland, his points per QSO are very high, usually 50 to 70% higher than can be managed from the club, whereas we normally can manage 30-40% more QSOs and up to 4 more multipliers.

The final results have now been published. While we won 4 of the events, Ray has won 7 events and has won the overall competition with SBRS coming second.

2,320 MHz UKAC (Forth Tuesdays)
On 2,320 MHz the club is using a 70w SSPA to a 1.3m grid dish with mast pre-amplifier on the tower. However for the January event the club was using a 67 element yagi.

The number of QSOs ranged from 8 in February and June to 15 in August, with best DX ranging from PA0S at 440 km most months to OZ1FF at 748 km in September.
On 2,320 MHz, the main competition is, like 1,296 MHz, Ray James, GM4CXM, from Scotland. As with the lower band his points per QSO are very high, also Ray enjoys considerable success with aircraft scatter, with routine contacts with OZ1FF.

From the club we have three main problems, limited local activity, our location in relation to flights paths and activity centres and the lack of a suitable broadband connection. For the later we use a broadband dongle, but reception is variable, not helped by the window coatings which act as an RF screen. This limits our access to sites like “flightradar24.com” which displays aircraft positions, updated every 10 seconds or so.

Due to the lack of local activity, we often fail to work our own square, IO92, and the adjacent square, IO82, visible from various windows at Fairfax House; hence our multipliers are lower than would be expected.

The final results have now been published. While we won 3 of the events, Ray has won 7 events and has won the overall competition with SBRS coming second.