Object

Make as many contacts as possible.

Date

Sunday March 6th, 2022 — 10:00 – 14:00 local time (4 hours). The contest is divied into two watches. 10:00 -12:00 and 12:00 – 14:00.

Operation

1. Participants may operate from a fixed home or mobile station (Landlubber) or within sight of the harbour (Coastal) which includes Sydney Harbour, Middle Harbour, Lane Cove River or Parramatta River. Preferably on or near the foreshore.
2. Coastal operation is restricted to hand-held devices (see definition below) in the VHF/UHF bands. Any mode may be used (FM, digital) either simplex or duplex. Operators should abide by their licence conditions.General
3. The contest is aimed at individual operators and teams are not permitted although operators may have one or more assistants to help with logging, rations, logistics etc.
4. Second or multiple contacts between operators is only permitted in a subsequent “watch” period.
5. CQ call: CQ Ferry

Points

Landlubbers – 1 point repeater contact : 2 points simplex

Coastal – 2 points repeater contact : 4 points simplex

5 points for any station logging the contest base station VK2W (Admiralty) on any mode – only one contact with VK2W permitted per Watch (ie maximum 2).

Logs

Hand written or electronic logs must be submitted showing:

1. Time (local) in 24-hour format
2. Contact callsign
3. Mode: Simplex, Repeater (no differentiation between FM, digital or other modulation)
4. Sent serial
5. Sent location (H for home or C for coastal)
6. Received serial
7. Received location
8. Comment (optional)

Logging options:

• The preference is for logs to be submitted in electronic format as a comma delimited text file with the fields in the same order. This is to be returned to the Contest Manager for incorporation into a master log which will be used for scoring purposes.
• The downloadable A4 paper log may also be submitted, but it is preferred that your data is entered into a file and emailed.
• The deadline for log submission is Friday 18th March 2022.

Exchange

Exchange consists of a sequential 3 digit number starting from 001 followed by location (H or C).

An example log would look like this:

Time	Contact	Mode	Sent Serial	Sent Location	Received Serial	Received Location	Comment
10:17	VK2XRH	S	001	H	001	C	Rob
10:18	VK2GZ	R	002	H	003	C	Laurie
10:15	VK2RM	R	003	H	006	H	Andy
10:45	VK2BV	S	004	C	027	H	Club
11:03	VK2XRH	S	005	C	031	C	Rob
11:15	VK2ABC	R	006	C	017	C

It is strongly preferred that contest logs are submitted electronically. Whilst this does provide some reduction in workload for the contest managers more importantly it avoids the difficulties encountered in interpreting handwriting as well as any delays in transmission. If you are not able to submit electronically then hand written logs will be accepted on the official logsheet.

The deadline for log submission is Friday 18th March 2022.

Paper logs

Operators may choose to make use of the paper log during the contest and then enter the details electronically for submission. For those who wish to submit paper logs they should be sent to:

Ferry Contest
Waverley Amateur Radio Society
PO Box 634
Rose Bay NSW 2029

or scanned and submitted to the ferry contest email address (ferrycontest@gmail.com).

Electronic logs

An example Excel spreadsheet is included which can be used to produce the required comma delimited file (VK2Ferry.xlsx).

The combination of your contact email address and callsign from the log file will be used to uniquely identify you. Other identifying details are not necessary.

The body of the email may contain whatever commentary you wish, however, as the logging system will be largely automated, if you would like to provide feedback regarding the contest then a separate email directed to one or all of the contest managers on their email addresses published on the main contest page would be preferable – and appreciated!

The log file should be a comma delimited file with your callsign (VK2FERI.csv) containing the following columns

1. Time (local)
2. Contact callsign
3. Mode: Simplex, Repeater
4. Exchange Sent Serial
5. Exchange Sent Location
6. Exchange Received Serial
7. Exchange Received Location
8. Comment

All electronic logs should be emailed to ferrycontest@gmail.com.

Declaration

Contestants submitting logs will be deemed to have operated in accordance with the rules and in the spirit of the contest and within the conditions of their licence. In the event of a dispute or adjudication, the Contest Manager’s decision will be final.

Definition

For the purposes of this contest, a handheld is defined as a single unit radio which has an integral antenna mounted on the transceiver and which is easily and comfortably held in its entirety in one hand. The radio must be able to be operated without the addition of any accessories which means that the power supply, microphone, speaker and all controls must be contained within the unit. External microphones/earphones/headsets etc and additional batteries are permitted. External antennas  are not permitted. In the event of a dispute, contestants agree that the radio classification decision of the organizing committee is final. To assist contestants, we suggest the primary reference point should be the manufacturer’s description of the device in question. If the manufacturer classifies the device as anything other than handheld or HT, the device is ineligible. For home brew and other devices we suggest getting a classification determination from the organizing committee prior to the contest.

Ferry Contest Main Page