PEARS National VHF/UHF Contest

The PEARS National VHF/UHF Contest will take place next weekend. This is a 44 hour dual session contest for both analogue and digital modes.

The first 22 hour session starts at 18:00 SAST on Friday 16 January, and runs until 16:00 SAST on Saturday 17 January. The second session runs from 16:01 SAST on Saturday until 14:00 SAST on Sunday 18 January.

There are categories for fixed station, field station, multi-op/club stations and a limited category for those operators who for any reason cannot operate the whole contest.

Full details of the contest have been posted on the PEARS website, www.zs2pe.co.za, the SARL VHF Forum and the zsvhf mailman list.

We have been informed that a number of field stations are going to be established in the Eastern and Western Cape. Field stations are usually very active over the full period of the contest; it is like combining Amateur Radio and camping resulting in a real fun time for all!

The contest will cover the VHF bands, 50, 70 and 144 MHz as well as 432 and 1 296 MHz on UHF. Both Analogue and Digital transmission modes will be encouraged.

Tropo propagation could provide long distance contacts in the early mornings and also in the late evenings, while Sporadic-E propagation could appear in the mornings and sometimes even in the afternoons. Look for Meteor Scatter contacts an hour or more before and after sunrise.

This is a wonderful time to test your operating skills and the efficiency of your equipment.