Something that seems to surprise the un-initiated is the concept of a radio contest. Essentially it’s just a set time when as many people as possible get on the air and try to make as many contests as possible. Scoring is some variation of the number of contacts and distance.
My first attempt was the RSGB organised VHF UK Activity Contest on 1st April Part of the motivation for entering was the fact that it’s a club contest, so all scores get added together to count towards a club total.
I’m sure the neighbours ware wondering what I was up to as I set up the tripod and antenna in the garden, using the new tripod I’ve got (a temporary antenna isn’t an eyesore when it’s not in use!)
Looking at the claimed scores, my score of 18 (9 contacts, x2 for distance) it looks like I’m 4th from bottom! But considering that everyone below me was using higher power level, and I have a very basic antenna and a fairly low lying location, I’m actually pretty pleased with that!
I’ve got a long way to go to get up to the highest scores – the current claimed leader has 165 contacts, x36 for distance, for a total of 5,940. That’s using 4 highly directional antennas, 400W of power, and probably a radio that’s about 10 times the cost of mine! I don’t want to invest that much time and effort, but a better antenna next time might help! Either that or head out to a hill top somewhere and work from there!