VHF and Above Contests

A number of popular VHF, UHF, SHF and EHF contests are run every year.

Below are the rules applied to those contests, and you can find the dates for upcoming VHF and up contests in the NZART Contest Calendar

Results from previous years contests are under the link to the right, or by clicking here.

VHF-UHF-SHF-EHF Contest Rules

These are the rules for VHF-UHF-SHF-EHF Contests, as administered by the Auckland VHF Group; on behalf of all VHF groups, including all New Zealand radio amateurs and supported by NZART.

All contest logs should be sent, to arrive within two weeks, to: vhfcontest@nzart.org.nz

VHF-UHF-SHF-EHF Contest Rules
- With Effect from January 2016

CLAUSE 1. Contest dates, and bands

( For specific Dates see: NZART Contest Calendar )

DX Weekend Contest

All bands 6 m and up. Second Saturday in February, and the following day.

Operating periods are 5 pm to 11 pm on the Saturday, and 7 am to 1 pm on the Sunday, NZ local time.

Low Band Contest

All bands 6 m up to and including 70 cm. First Saturday in April, and the following day. Delayed one week if it clashes with VHF Convention, or Easter.

Operating periods are 5 pm to 11 pm on the Saturday, and 7 am to 1 pm on the Sunday, NZ local time.

Microwave Contest

All bands 32 cm and up. First Saturday in October, and the following day.

Operating periods are 5 pm to 11 pm on the Saturday, and 7 am to 1 pm on the Sunday, NZ local time.

Field Day Contest

All bands 6 m and up. First Saturday in December, and the following day.

Operating periods are 5 pm to 11 pm on the Saturday, and 7 am to 1 pm on the Sunday, NZ local time.

CLAUSE 2. Definitions

QRP shall mean a transmitter operating at an output power of 5W or less.

A Field Station is one where all equipment, including power sources, antenna systems and operating shelters are taken to the site, and no other facilities are used.

Light. Electronic signal generation, modulation and detection, shall be used on all bands, including between 400 THz and 750 THz (light).

CLAUSE 3. Repeater, satellite, EME or crossband contacts

Repeater, satellite, EME or crossband contacts are not permitted.

CLAUSE 4. Time

All contest periods begin and end on the hour. Use time signals from a reliable source.

CLAUSE 5. Operation site

Two, or more, stations in close proximity may only participate if the stations are erected and operated entirely independently throughout the Contest.

CLAUSE 6. Teams

Team operation is advisable on field sites, for safety. No member of a team that has set up and operated a station may earn points for that station by making contact with that station.

CLAUSE 7. Call-signs

Only one call-sign may be used by a station for the duration of the Contest.

CLAUSE 8. Repeat contacts

No station may be worked twice in a period on the same band, nor may consecutive contacts be made on that band to the same station, bridging a period change, unless the other station has worked a third station, if available, in the interim. There shall be a period of, at least, 5 minutes between contacts, if a third station is not available.

CLAUSE 9. Contact Serial Numbers

Contacts must be fully two-way. Serial numbers must be correctly exchanged and acknowledged, before points may be claimed. The serial number is made up of RS(T) plus a three digit number.

CLAUSE 10. Station location

Location details of contesting stations must be exchanged on first contact with each new station, especially if mobile, and entered into the log. Stations shall give their location as latitude and longitude, using the NZGD2000/WGS84, to within five minutes resolution or full Maidenhead Locator. As the full Maidenhead is only accurate to 7 km, station location shall be given to within 30 seconds resolution, approximately 0.9 km for contacts above 2.4 GHz. "Christchurch" or "Home station" is an insufficient description. The station giving the insufficient description will be penalised.

CLAUSE 11. Logs

Contest logs must reach the VHF Contest Manager, within two weeks of the contest, and must contain:

1. A certificate signed by the chief operator, stating that the station was operated in accordance with the Radio Regulations and these contest rules.
2. A list of all operators and call-signs.
3. The station call-sign and operating site, accurately described. Please include an email address for correspondence and a postal address for certificates.
4. Power of each transmitter used.
5. Optional supplementary information on conditions and/or equipment used, for publication. This is of value to other contestants, and to the contest organisers.
6. Separate log sheets for each contest section, in each band, single-sided, showing the following:
   • Heading, showing Section, Band, Contest, Date.
   • Time and (other) station call-sign, for each contact.
   • Serial numbers exchanged.
   • Other station location (first contact).
   • Distance in kilometres to other station.
   • Claimed score for each contact.
   • Running score per sheet, total for band, with any bonus points. Each section, on each band, is a mini-contest, please log them that way.
   • An email address for results, if you don't want to wait until the results are published in Break-In, HQ InfoLine, Q-Bit and Spectrum.
   • Check logs are welcome.

CLAUSE 12. Scoring

You must score your own log, as detailed below.

For ease of scoring, the use of a map with a scale of one to one million, such as InfoMap 265, or similar, is suggested. At this scale 1 mm = 1 km.

Table 1 - Basic scores

• 32 cm 0.3 points per kilometre
• 23 cm 0.2 points per kilometre
• 13 cm 0.5 points per kilometre
• Above 3 GHz, one point per kilometre
• Round the points per contact to the nearest integer:
• Less than 0.5 rounds down; 0.5 and above rounds up.

CLAUSE 13. Bonus Multipliers (in order of application)

There are no multipliers for “manual” modes such as: CW, AM, SSB, FM and digital voice, etc.

Multiply the basic score by 1.5 for “machine” modes such as: RTTY, ASCII, AMTOR, Packet, SSTV, ATV, WSJT etc.

QRP. Multiply previous score by 1.5. Stations may use QRP on some modes, and/or bands, and high powers on others, with multipliers calculated on a contact by contact basis. The establishing of a contact on high power, then reducing the power for scoring purposes, is not permitted.

Field Station, as defined in Section 2 of these Rules - multiply previous score by 1.2.

CLAUSE 15. 6 metre band operation:

No contest operation is allowed below 50.150 MHz.

CLAUSE 16. Discussion

The ruling of the Contest Committee is final, and no discussion will be entered into.

All contest logs should be sent, via email to arrive within two weeks: vhfcontest@nzart.org.nz