How do I answer a conyest station..?

[2E0MUA]

Hello to all, my question is this, whilst i scan through the bands of an evening there are many staions calling contest. As a listening station with no attachment to a contest station or setup can i call back to this station, if so how do i call back (RST...?)etc, i have heard the serial number being exchanged but don't understand this. The 59001 bit i understand but what if any serial do i give back as i hear stations exchange call sign 59023 reply call sign 59056, i guess these are two contest stations calling and answering to each other but like i say, I'm not a contest station so should i even consider calling back. Thanks for any help on this subject.

[ei7gnb]

Hello to all, my question is this, whilst i scan through the bands of an evening there are many staions calling contest. As a listening station with no attachment to a contest station or setup can i call back to this station, if so how do i call back (RST...?)etc, i have heard the serial number being exchanged but don't understand this. The 59001 bit i understand but what if any serial do i give back as i hear stations exchange call sign 59023 reply call sign 59056, i guess these are two contest stations calling and answering to each other but like i say, I'm not a contest station so should i even consider calling back. Thanks for any help on this subject.

Hi,

Contests are open to anyone - if you want to make 3000 contacts you're quite at liberty to do so, or if you just want a couple them that's fine too.

Each contest's exchange requirements are different, but most require an RST (usually just 59) and an increasing incremental serial number, so if I called you, and you had made 57 QSOs including me then you'd give me a "59057" and if you were my first contact in that particular contest, I'd give you "59001". Some require post codes/CQ Zones/ ITU Zones/IOTA References/Age/locator etc.

So a typical call might be:

• CQ Contest CQ Contest 2E0MUA 2E0MUA Contest
  EI7GNB
  EI7GNB 59036
  QSL 59036, you are 59002
  Thanks, QRZ 2E0MUA Contest

[M0TZO]

So a typical call might be:

• CQ Contest CQ Contest 2E0MUA 2E0MUA Contest
  EI7GNB
  EI7GNB 59036
  QSL 59036, you are 59002
  Thanks, QRZ 2E0MUA Contest

Sorry, can I mention (just in case) the calls are usually given in Phonetics as well, ie Echo India Seven Golf November Bravo.

[m0lsx]

I HATE contesting, but having said that I often give a few points away.
For the contact number I just think of a number, so my first contact may well be, "you are 5 & 9 your number is 127". Followed by 357, followed by 004. But then I'm only giving them a number to keep them happy, not for my contest log.
But if you want to have fun, you can really knock their ego's, by giving them a high number minutes after the contest has started :lol: So say contact number is 069 an hour after the contest has started & you can hear the tone change :twisted: :twisted:
If you want to work a fun contest then do a Worked All Britain contest, their contest days are great, very friendly & often you even get a quick QSO with someone during a contest :shock: :shock: In fact why not get yourself a WAB pack & start a form of contesting yourself :?: I do it & I hate contesting.
The great thing with WAB is that it is contesting for both contesters & non-contesters.
http://www.worked-all-britain.co.uk/

So as I said your signal is 5 & 9 now could you repeat your callsign seven times please as I can't hear it :roll: :roll: :roll:

[2E0MUA]

Thanks for the replies.

But I'm not active as a contest station as such unless me answering another station under contest conditions makes me a contest station if that makes sense.

If so to whom if anyone do i submit my contacts too...?

I can understand a club rotating club members over a period of time but It's just me sat in the shack on my own wanting to answer contact calls. What difference to the other station does me answering the station gain for them. If i change frequency and answer another different station do i give them the same RST serial number or do i increment them as 59002 being the second contact of the evening. I have a logging program on the PC to keep a record but where if anywhere should i submit this too or do i have to register to the competition organiser's first to enter a competition's..?

Does it matter for variables like low power 5W max etc or does this not come into it.

Thanks for your comments, James.

[M0TTB]

It's always worth keeping a check on what contest/s are about at the weekend via the internet, the rules for contest exchanges will always be on the web.
Usually it's simply an ascending number for each contest exchange, starting at 001 for the first contest qso... but you get others, such as this weekend's all asia ssb contest, where you simply give your age instead of a serial number eg 5/9 43

Sometimes it's output power, eg 5/9 100
Sometimes ITU Zone eg 5/9 27
Your locator is a popular one, eg 5/9 IO91TQ
And some of the above also include an ascending serial number... which can make it sound like an exchange of telephone numbers

You can often pick up, from listening to a few exchanges, what is wanted, but it is best to look up on the web what the contest involves...as if it entails for example Europeans working non-Europeans for points, you don't really want to be calling another European, as there will be no points in it for the other station and he may not appreciate your call. And try not to work the same station twice on the same band in the contest

Like it or not, contests are just a part of weekend life on the bands... you can always escape to the warc bands to get away from them, and most contests are quite small affairs, so you can happily share the same band with them without it being a problem.

[2E0MUA]

Hello M0TTB.

Yes I heard the all asia ssb call going out a few times, so assuming that i made a reply to say 10 stations and incremented the serial to 010 and gave them all a 5/9, where if anywhere do i give my station log to if at all i do give it to someone. I'm assuming that i could look the contest rules up on the web the day after and submit my stations results there yes..? so they could verify the contest results etc Or could i just keep them in my log for reference sake for personal records. What i don't want to do is answer a call to a contest station and mess it up for them giving the wrong serial/age/square etc... As you say this info is on the web for the correct detail of the comp. Bottem line is if I answer a contest call just out of the blue whilst flicking through the frequencies will it help them or will it hinder them. Thanks for your comments. James.

[M0TZO]

Hello M0TTB.

Yes I heard the all asia ssb call going out a few times, so assuming that i made a reply to say 10 stations and incremented the serial to 010 and gave them all a 5/9, where if anywhere do i give my station log to if at all i do give it to someone. I'm assuming that i could look the contest rules up on the web the day after and submit my stations results there yes..? so they could verify the contest results etc Or could i just keep them in my log for reference sake for personal records. What i don't want to do is answer a call to a contest station and mess it up for them giving the wrong serial/age/square etc... As you say this info is on the web for the correct detail of the comp. Bottem line is if I answer a contest call just out of the blue whilst flicking through the frequencies will it help them or will it hinder them. Thanks for your comments. James.

A good source of contest dates & info is http://www.sk3bg.se/contest which has links and info about most contests, including how to & where to submit your logs. Also check out the ARRL Contest pages http://www.arrl.org/contests as another source of info.

[M0TTB]

Hello M0TTB.

Yes I heard the all asia ssb call going out a few times, so assuming that i made a reply to say 10 stations and incremented the serial to 010 and gave them all a 5/9, where if anywhere do i give my station log to if at all i do give it to someone. I'm assuming that i could look the contest rules up on the web the day after and submit my stations results there yes..? so they could verify the contest results etc Or could i just keep them in my log for reference sake for personal records. What i don't want to do is answer a call to a contest station and mess it up for them giving the wrong serial/age/square etc... As you say this info is on the web for the correct detail of the comp. Bottem line is if I answer a contest call just out of the blue whilst flicking through the frequencies will it help them or will it hinder them. Thanks for your comments. James.

In that example, as I mentioned, the all asia doesn't involve any serial numbers, just the age of the operators is exchanged. You have a choice, either actually entering the competition by sending off your logs of the contest qso's to the appropriate organisers, and your points tally would then be added up and you would get a score in the contest. Usually you'd be aware of your points total before sending off your logs and points claim.

Or, you can simply do as many do, and simply work the stations in the contest, and they will get points for the qso made with you. So if you are worth a point or two (or 3) to the other station, they will be very keen to work you... and contest stations seem to hear better when there's points at stake You don't need to show your logs to anyone for the other station to get their points, although there are some random checking methods.

Most contests are designed so that any qso (other than repeats on the same band) is worth at least a point...so no matter who you work, it is worth a point to them, and they will be happy to work you. But there are odd exceptions such as this weekend's all asia, when an EU station in the contest gets no points from another EU station... so you would be wasting their time.


Like many, I had a dabble for the fun of it on saturday... more about the 'thrill of the chase' factor in some of the EU to JA/BY/HL pile-ups than anything. I also enjoyed a brief foray on 2m ssb with the field day contest as well over the weekend, (5 countries with a vertical

Cheers,
Andy

[K7KBN]

http://www.dxzone.com/cgi-bin/dir/jump2.cgi?ID=238

Save this website (and others, such as the one M0TZO posted). Good info for most worldwide contests and virtually all of the stateside ones.

[m0lsx]

Thanks for the replies.

But I'm not active as a contest station as such unless me answering another station under contest conditions makes me a contest station if that makes sense.

If so to whom if anyone do i submit my contacts too...?

I'm not a contester either & neither do I have an especially good opinion of many contesters, far too many ignore band plans & display a high level of unacceptable operating conduct for my liking.
You don't enter your contacts with the contest organisers or anyone else unless taking part, hence why I just make up contact numbers.

[MM3XXW]

Thanks for the replies.

But I'm not active as a contest station as such unless me answering another station under contest conditions makes me a contest station if that makes sense.

If so to whom if anyone do i submit my contacts too...?

I can understand a club rotating club members over a period of time but It's just me sat in the shack on my own wanting to answer contact calls. What difference to the other station does me answering the station gain for them. If i change frequency and answer another different station do i give them the same RST serial number or do i increment them as 59002 being the second contact of the evening. I have a logging program on the PC to keep a record but where if anywhere should i submit this too or do i have to register to the competition organiser's first to enter a competition's..?

Does it matter for variables like low power 5W max etc or does this not come into it.

Thanks for your comments, James.

I won't go over all the good advice you've been given already James but what I will say is you're on the right track with what's been posted previously.
Contesting is not everyone's cup of tea it's simply another facet to the many aspects of this hobby we all love.
Have a look at a couple of the links you've been given already and have a good read over the rules, they look a bit daunting but mostly they're really quite simple and taking part is a real buzz - try it once then tell me I'm wrong :ninja:
At the end of this month, 24th & 25th, we'll have the CQWW (CQ World-Wide) to look forward to which is an excellent platform for anyone wishing to dip their toes into the 'contesting' world!
There are many categories of entrance which include power (QRP, LOW, HIGH etc) and the serial is simple 001 :arrow: upwards and try to get as many peeps logged as poss :lol:
In the short time I've been on the air I've had a few small successes including;
2nd place (category) in the PACC 2007 (Dutch contest)
1st place (category) in the ARRL contest 2007
1st place (World) in the 2008 UBA contest
1st place (category) in the IARU HF Championship 2007
1st place (category) 2008 PACC (Dutch contest)

so if I can do it with my meagre set-up anyone can and what an adrenalin rush :lol:

Have a look through the info on this page, give it a try and if you like it onwards & upwards :mrgreen: :ninja: :mrgreen: if not ..... well on to something else we go

[M0TZO]

There are many categories of entrance which include power (QRP, LOW, HIGH etc) and the serial is simple 001 :arrow: upwards and try to get as many peeps logged as poss :lol:

In CQWW the exchange is RS(T) & CQ Zone number, ie 59/14, not serial numbers.

Yes, if you like contesting, CQWW is one where you will get contacts as one of the, if not The Biggest Contest.

[MM3XXW]

Many thanks Paul I stand corrected :oops: :oops: - for CQWW contest indeed it is the zone required so the appropriate exchange would, of course, be 59/14

[R1155A]

Contests are a source of severe anal irritation. I wouldn't mind them so much, if they kept them off 160 metres and 80 metres.

I'll fetch me coat!