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David Honey

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Jun 8, 2026, 8:30:45 AM (yesterday) Jun 8

to Reading and District Amateur Radio Group

Firstly, a big thank you to all members that helped with setup, operated, supported, and helped with tear down. It would be much harder doing these contests without your support.

Setup on Saturday was drier than forecast, with only a few occasional light showers. It was cold and breezy throughout Saturday. We had an issue with Rael's SCAM 12 mast - the legs required some light engineering (drill, angle grinder, big hammer), but was made serviceable in plenty of time for the contest. It will need some TLC for use in VHF field day next month.

Station consisted of my (M0DHO) Elecraft K4 (RF power set at 5W) with external monitor and K-POD for the spotter position, 2 laptops, Winkey, headphone switching boxes, Jim G0LHZ's smart switched dipole, and Rael's SCAM 12 mast. The antenna was up about 13m. Operators were Geoff G4AAO, Jim G0LHZ, Dave G4RGK, Michael M0MPM, Nick M0NPK, and me, David M0DHO. Conditions were flat on Saturday, with 15m barely open, and nothing on 10m. During the day, 20m was short skip and the workhorse band. During hours of darkness, 80m was the main band. Lower levels of QRN from thunderstorms this year. Disappointingly, although we tried multiple times, activity on 160m was low and our QSOs on that band were much lower than in previous years - only 11 compared with 56 last year. The club's diesel heater kept the tent comfortable over night. Conditions improved on Sunday. 15m was open, and then, for a time, 10m with some sporadic E. 20m remained the workhorse band, foillowed by 40m.

Here is the raw summary:

Start date : 2026-06-06
Contest : RSGB CW Field Day
Callsign used : G3ULT/P
Mode : CW
Category : Unassisted Portable
Station : Portable
Class : QRP
Gridsquare : IO91NL
Club/Team : Reading and District ARC
Software : DXLog.net 2.6.30
Operating time : 23h 57m

BAND QSO DUP DXCC POINTS AVG
-----------------------------
160 11 0 4 44 4.0
80 148 4 20 451 3.1
40 201 1 27 585 2.9
20 240 10 33 658 2.7
15 99 2 26 275 2.8
10 16 0 9 45 2.8
-----------------------------
TOTAL 715 17 119 2058 2.9
=============================
FINAL SCORE: 244 902

The last 2 years adjudicated results for us were:

Year QSOs Score
2024 629 263,398
2025 630 243,638

So, about 13% more QSOs, but this year's raw score about 7% down on 2024, and close to last year's.

Considering the flat conditions, and fewer German portable stations to work, I think it's an impressive result.
Well done team!