HF conditions for this contest were generally considered poor, with wind and rain not improving matters. But for many entrants in both Sections there were interesting multipliers available, such as those in Japan, Australia and the Americas.
In the Open Section, Bristol Contest Group again took the the Northumbria Trophy, with reduced QSO points compared to last year - no surprise given the state of the ionosphere -- but their QSO rate was still about one per minute. They maintained a multiplier rate of just under eight per hour, and this element is clearly a factor in their success. East Notts Contest Group took second place again, with Camb-Hams third.
The Restricted Section was more popular, with Brimham Contest Group taking first place. Unfortunately, they did not register their QTH as required by the rules, so cannot win any awards. This is a pity, because their last appearance in this contest was in 2012, and they pulled out all the stops with this year's effort. The G3PSH Memorial Trophy therefore goes to the second-placed entry, from Reading & District Amateur Radio Club. Worthing were not too far behind, both clubs having made the same number of QSOs. In cases like these, searching for portable stations and multipliers can make all the difference, as it does in many other contests. Windmill Contest group were in fourth place, and receive a certificate along with Reading and Worthing.
For adjudication purposes, we receive logs from other European societies whose members are also entering their various SSB field days. This helps greatly in tracing the source of log errors. One such error which seemed to be more prevalent this year was not correctly recording band changes. With computer logging and rig control having been available for around 30 years, this should no longer be an issue. And if one side of a QSO provides simply provides the band used (14000, for example), and the other has clearly used rig control software and shows 7123, the latter will generally be taken as correct.
Even with the bad weather and poor conditions, everyone seems to enjoy the three RSGB Field Days. As a tradition stretching back for 80 years, long may that continue!
73, Ed Taylor, G3SQX
Adjudicator , SSB Field Day 2016
;
Northumbria Trophy (First Place)',0,250)"> 1
11 ele Optibeam, 40m rotary dipole, 80m vert and dipole @ 90 ft',0,250)">
FT1000 / TL922',0,250)">
An enjoyable weekend in spite of the awful propagation and weather conditions! Only a short spell of Sproradic E on 10m and an opening on 15m Sunday morning. Static rain brought a sudden halt to a good run to the USA on 20m on Saturday evening. We found some good DX Sunday morning on 40m with South America and VK/ZL in the log.',0,500)">
G6YB/P 1st',0,250)">
Second Place',0,250)"> 2
TH7, Dipoles, Bobtail, Sloper @ 66 ft',0,250)">
FT1000MP',0,250)">
G3TBK/P 2nd',0,250)">
Third Place',0,250)"> 3
Tri-bander + dipoles @ 12m',0,250)">
K3 + KPA-500',0,250)">
G3PYE/P 3rd',0,250)">
Fan Dipole and SteppIR @ 15m',0,250)">
IC-756 Pro3',0,250)">
Torrential rain and thunderstorms locally overnight',0,250)">
G6GRG/P 4th',0,250)">
C3 beam, 5B vert @ 20m',0,250)">
K3, Expert Linear',0,250)">
G5LO/P 5th',0,250)">
4eleStepIr / Butternut @ 12m',0,250)">
IC7800 / expert 1.0',0,250)">
FUN operating and not a serious contest from our part. Winds nearly broke the StepIr stub mast and the tent.',0,250)">
G3WIR/P 6th',0,250)">
TH5 Tri-band - 40/80m Delta Loop - 40/80m colinear @ All at 20m AGL',0,250)">
TS590 - Linear Amp UK Ranger',0,250)">
Generator broke down. Had to go and pick up a spare one from home. Not enough power to drive the linear as well as the rest of the equipment, so could only manage 100w o/p for most of the contest. Condx poor.',0,500)">
G4EKT/P 7th',0,250)">
DOUBLET @ 10M',0,250)">
ICOM 746',0,250)">
Token entry this year due to not having enough people \ to put on a full station. So doublet at 30ft and 150watts. \ Enjoyed it apart from getting wet putting the \ station together. Hope to see you all in 2017.',0,500)">
G4FUH/P 8th',0,250)">
6BTV, rotary dipole, doublets @ 60',0,250)">
K3',0,250)">
Clash with All Asia test but not too bad for a 6 hour operation.',0,250)">
G3GIZ/P 9th',0,250)">
Two Ele Yagi @ 10m',0,250)">
IC-746',0,250)">
G3MDG/P 10th',0,250)">
tripped di pole @ 10m',0,250)">
MP1000',0,250)">
Last minute deal as work may have stopped play. So rush on Sat morning to set up in the rain',0,250)">
G6MC/P 1st',0,250)">
G3PSH Memorial Trophy (Winning Station)',0,250)"> 2
Fan dipole @ 14m',0,250)">
FT1000MP',0,250)">
HF conditions were poor over the weekend especially on Saturday. Even 20m was a struggle. New antenna worked very well. We had a mostly dry set-up and tear-down and rain on Sat evening wasnt too bad. We managed to get more participation from club members this year so hope this more interest in participating in contests next year.',0,500)">
G3ULT/P 2nd',0,250)">
Second Place',0,250)"> 3
Doublet @ 15m',0,250)">
K3',0,250)">
G3WOR/P 3rd',0,250)">
Third Place',0,250)"> 4
40 meter Loop @ 50 ft',0,250)">
Elecraft K3',0,250)">
G0FBB/P 4th',0,250)">
Fan dipole for 80, 40, 20 15 & 10m @ 35 feet at apex',0,250)">
FT950',0,250)">
This year due to the kindness of one of our new unlicenced members we operated from the comfort of a warm caravan .. many thanks Ian Beales! Saturday started off very poorly with only a couple of dozen stations worked in the first hour and we looked like being in trouble. Our fan dipole which had worked flawlessly in the IOTA Contest needed some adjustments and we suspected its performance on 20m as we could hear some very strong Far Eastern stations but they could not hear us! However things changed overnight and on Sunday as the downpours of Saturday gave way to drier yet windier weather for the last 12 hours. In fact we ended up with more Qs and mults than we have ever had over the three years we have been an HF field day station. We were quite disturbed at the apparent lack of UK participants in this contest.',0,500)">
G5TO/P 5th',0,250)">
dipole @ 10m',0,250)">
ft1000mp',0,250)">
GS4AAF/P 6th',0,250)">
Carolina Windom 160 @ 11Mtrs',0,250)">
TS690 TS570',0,250)">
Conditions were poor. During the early hours only 80M was open',0,250)">
G8FC/P 7th',0,250)">
G5RV as Inverted-V @ 10m',0,250)">
IC-7100',0,250)">
This was Cambridge & DARCs first major HF field event in several years. Very pleased with how it went, apart from problems caused by the storm on Sat evening, which were described as character building.',0,500)">
G2XV/P 8th',0,250)">
120ft Doublet @ 10m',0,250)">
Icom IC-7300',0,250)">
G5BK/P 9th',0,250)">
Fan-Dipole @ 10M',0,250)">
TS-590S',0,250)">
At least the torrential rain on Saturday afternoon tested out the operating tent!',0,250)">
G0IVR/P 10th',0,250)">
OCF dipole @ 10 Metres',0,250)">
Elecraft K2',0,250)">
It was wet...!',0,250)">
G7SAC/P 11th',0,250)">
Fan of Dipoles @ 12m',0,250)">
Icom IC-7600',0,250)">
1st try with fan of dipoles deemed successful. Opportunity taken to train new ops. Band condx not brilliant - nothing on 10m, found a few on 15. Stopped for a couple of hours sleep in the night only.',0,250)">
G3UES/P 12th',0,250)">
Doublet @ 12m',0,250)">
IC756',0,250)">
G3WKS/P 13th',0,250)">
g5rv @ 10m',0,250)">
Kenwood TS2000',0,250)">
Conditions very poor. Main bands 40m and 20m.Very few G stations heard due to long skip to Europe.',0,250)">
G4ATH/P 14th',0,250)">
End connected off centre fed dipole @ 12m',0,250)">
ICOM 746, LDG AT-200 Pro II',0,250)">
Another fun SSBFD for Ripon and District ARS. We used a very lightweight setup this year with fibreglass poles an End Connected Off Centre Fed Dipole and the Icom 746 with an LDG matching unit which behaved very well. WX was thankfully kind during setup and takedown which is more than can be said for the rest of the event where it hammered it down. Band conditions were pretty lousy with deep QSB on 15m. This did however mean that there were less AA contest participants to annoy as we simply couldnt hear them!',0,500)">
G4SJM/P 15th',0,250)">
80/40/20 Fan Dipole @ 12m',0,250)">
Elecraft K2/100',0,250)">
A great opportunity to get some of our more recent (and some less recent!) licensees their first taste of contest operating with computer logging!',0,250)">
G2DX/P 16th',0,250)">
Multiband Vertical @ 2m AGL',0,250)">
Yaesu FT1000MP MKV Field',0,250)">
Poor band conditions but great fun. Thanks to all for the contacts.',0,250)">
GU3HFN/P 17th',0,250)">
Doublet @ 10m',0,250)">
Icom 7300',0,250)">
A very casual attempt in very poor condx with wet string!',0,250)">
G2BQY/P 18th',0,250)">
40m Long Doublet @ 10m',0,250)">
Kenwood TS-2000',0,250)">
Our first time on SSB Field Day was very enjoyable. Very wet on Saturday made setting up quite a challenge but we had glorious sunshine on Sunday afternoon. Radio conditions were very poor with deep QSB on all bands. Dirty generator fuel cost us an hour or two cleaning filters etc. Hopefully we can drum up a bit more support within our club for next year.',0,500)">
G3ZTT/P 19th',0,250)">
G5RV @ 9 Mtr',0,250)">
kenwood TS 870s',0,250)">
G6OI/P 20th',0,250)">
Fan Dipole @ 13m',0,250)">
Yaesu FT-840',0,250)">
M0NDA/P 21st',0,250)">
G5RV @ 10M',0,250)">
FT857',0,250)">
Abandoned Saturday due to torrential rain at setup time but got a few hours in on Sunday.',0,250)">
G8AOE/P 22nd',0,250)">