How to get started in a contest

Foundations of Amateur Radio

There are times when you'll find yourself being encouraged to participate in a contest. You might receive an email, a Facebook encouragement, or even hear an item on the local news about a contest.

Where do you start if that's what you're interested in?

Well, first things first. You need to find out when this contest is exactly. The reason this is important is because you might go though all the preparation, only to find yourself sitting at a family BBQ listening to your favourite family member sharing the story about the dog and the lake, rather than being in the contest.

Once you've determined that you are in fact able to participate in the contest, put it in your diary. This seems obvious, but I can guarantee you that there will come a day when you're happily sitting in the sun having lunch when that sinking feeling appears and you realise that the contest you were going to play in started 8 hours ago.

Now that you've got the basics out of the way, what's next?

Find the contest website, most contests have one, in fact I can't think of one that doesn't, and look at what the aims and objectives of the contest are. Download a copy of the rules and see if there are things that exclude you from operating. The contest might be on bands you're not allowed on, or modes you're not licensed for, so make sure that you're actually allowed to participate.

Then read the rules of the contest for understanding. Most contests define who is allowed to contact whom at what time, on what frequency and how often. The rules will outline how points are calculated and how the log needs to be submitted. Other things you'll find are the deadline for log submission, the exclusions, power requirements, bonus points for low power operation, things like operating more than one radio, or having more than one operator.

Terms you'll come across are SO2R, or Single Operator Two Radios. Or Multi-Multi which means Multiple Operators with Multiple Radios, or Multi-Single, meaning Multiple Operators, One Radio and all manner of special classes as defined by the contest manager.

Previously I've talked about getting logging software together, setting up your station and testing it, but those things all need to be covered off. Make sure your computer doesn't need a Windows Update in the middle of the contest, get enough sleep before the festivities and plan for some recovery time after the contest.

This of course doesn't cover all of what you need, but it's a really good start.

Get on air and make some noise.

I'm Onno VK6FLAB