Here will be listed contest results, past and present.
Practical Wireless 144MHz QRP contest.
This is one of my favourite contests as it is well supported and the challenge of working on 144MHz with just 3 watts adds to the fun. It also tends to mean the band is nice and clean too.
This contest is scored 1 point per QSO, multiplied by the number of main locator squares (ie IO81).
1990
This was our first PW QRP contest and my first ever contest. We did it from IO82LB which is my current UKAC contest site. We came 17th from 115 entrants.
1992
We seem to have missed the 1991 event but this year we managed 3rd place out of 161 entrants.
Located below Pen-Y-Gadir we had a good take off East and North, poor take off West and mediocre take-off South.
We were the highest scoring station not using 4 antennas.
Full results list (pdf)
1993
Finally we came 1st out of 95 entrants!!
This year we relocated to another Welsh site where we had a good 360° take off. This really helped with our multipliers. We only worked 27 contacts more than 2nd place, but we had half as much again for multipliers, meaning we almost doubled their score! We had planned to use 2x 19 element MET yagis but on the day had an issue with one so were down to one yagi. This was the first time PW was won by one yagi since the first ever PW!
Full results list (pdf)
1995
Missed 1994, probably because in the WAB 144MHz QRP in 1993 the antennas blew down when a guy came loose.
Back in business this year with the 13 element Cushcraft Boomer that was the prize in 1993!
We came 2nd out of 94 entrants this year in a very close run top two. We were beaten by 4 QSOs and 1 multiplier only. Not bad as we used 1×13 element and winners used 4×9 plus 4×18.
Full results list (pdf)
1996
We came 4th out of 81 entrants this year and nearly half the winning score. Antenna wise 1×10 plus 1×13, not an ideal setup. Since this contest I have built a matched pair of 9 element DJ9BV long yagis.
Full result list (pdf)
RSGB VHF Contests
We used to enter pretty much all the 144MHz RSGB contests, and also some 70cm and 6m contests.
We faced some seriously stiff competition with major players like The Northern Lights, 5 Bells CG, and A1 CG, all of whom were using some envy producing set-ups.
1992 May 144MHz Contest
This is a big 24 hour event, using multipliers in the scoring. We were still operating from the side of Pen-Y-Gadair for this, so always on the back foot in multiplier contests.
However, we had an amazing contest!
Typically in a 24 hour contest we never really got many more than 400 or so QSOs. In this contest we worked 1027 contacts and had a real pileup on the Sunday morning with many German and beyond stations calling. I happened to be on the mic when this kicked off and there wasn’t time to pass back to Kevin for a good couple of hours, and I was working over 70 QSOs/hr nearly all overseas.We came 4th in the Open section behind the big players, and actually had a better best DX out of the top four.
Full result list (pdf)
3rd 144MHz Backpackers Contest 1998
This was a one off contest I did with Paul G1YFC at Garway. We did this near the gate at the bottom of Garway Hill. Years ago we could have driven to the top and operated there, but these days vehicular access is only allowed for access to properties and livestock. I’d forgotten we did this event and only found out this year we won our section! Cool.
Full result list (pdf)
For contest results this century see the contests category.
I will list yearly results with a direct link to the contest report (if available) on the post pages below: