Introduction

Contests can be an exciting part of your amateur radio experience. They sharpen your operating skills while giving you the satisfaction of competing and knowing how your station and you as operator perform. Clubs often run multi - operator stations for some contests and joining in those activities is a good way to get the hang of this interesting aspect of amateur radio.

Contesting is a world wide part of the hobby and in Australia there are a wide range of local regional and national contests. The WIA provides several challenging contests. The rules for these are published on the WIA website, and in the Amateur radio magazine one or two months in advice of the contest.. Results are published through the same media as soon as they are assessed..

Contests are listed in the WIA Callbook, the WIA Website and in the magazine Amateur Radio The most popular contests based on Australia include the following selection:

• Remembrance Day held to commemorate Australian Amateurs who died in World War 11. This contest is held on the weekend nearest to 15 August each year and is open to operators in both HF and VHF bands.

• John Moyle Field day held on the third full weekend in March and is open to operators in HF VHF and UHF bands.

• Ross Hull Memorial VHF UHF contest held approximately 3 weeks from Boxing day and covers VHF, UHF, and Microwave bands and includes digital modes.

• Oceania DX held on the first and second full weekends in October using phone and CW in HF bands. The contest involves categories from all Oceania countries and the rest of the world. Certificates are awarded to the winning station in each entry category, for each country and continent.