Contesting, something for everyone ...

Foundations of Amateur Radio

Previously I've discussed different aspects of contesting in relation to Amateur Radio. If you're unfamiliar with the concept, contesting is an activity where you test your station and skill against other amateurs. Unlike other contests where you're all in the same physical location, say a stadium, or an online playing field, amateur radio contesting is most commonly done from the comfort of your own shack.

Of course, as is true for everything in life, there are exceptions to this. There are contests where you're not in your own environment, say on a field day, at a contest station, or some other place, but I'll ignore these for the moment.

In most organised sports, and amateur radio is no exception, there are rules for participating. It should go without saying that you're expected to abide by the rules. Disqualification, bans, even life-time exclusions and revision of results can and have happened.

Contests are planned by different people and groups and vary greatly across the globe. Amateur Radio is a global pursuit, and contesting is a global activity. It can start as simple as making a contact every day, through to staying awake for 48 hours and making as many contacts as possible across as many countries as possible as fast as possible, and everything in between.

If you think about that for a moment, you'll soon realise that with so many different people organising contests, there is likely going to be one that tickles your fancy. There are several contests every weekend and often one every day.

People participate in contests for different reasons, to try their new station, to win, to get another country on their DX list, to achieve a distance record, to test their skill, to learn how to hear callsigns in noisy environments, to spend time on-air, to laugh with friends and to contribute to the hobby of amateur radio.

If you're new to our community, then contesting might be a scary proposition. You might not know what to do, or how to even start. You should know that your doubts were true for everyone you hear on air. We still haven't mastered the art of growing an amateur in utero, though I should confess that some act as if they are.

So where do you start?

The best way to do this is to set-up your station and to tune around the bands and to listen to what is going on. It will be confusing at first, but if you find a station that is making contacts that are different from normal ones, you know the one where you both exchange callsigns and a signal report, you'll begin to hear other parts of the contact. It's possible that the station is exchanging a serial number, or some other special token.

You can also go online and find many different amateur contest calendars which each will give you a way to find out what global activity is currently taking place, so you can look up the contest online and read the rules.

If all that's too hard, talk to your fellow amateur friends and go to their station and see what they do to participate in a contest.

I'm Onno VK6FLAB

This and other episodes of Foundations of Amateur Radio can be heard via podcast or download at podcasts.itmaze.com.au.