Thursday, October 16, 2014

RaDAR Contest November 1st 2014

Are you ready for a exciting amateur radio challenge? Deploy as a portable station make five contacts walk one kilometre deploy again and make five contacts. Continue for the four hour period. You could do the same moving three kilometres via car, motorcycle, bicycle or other vehicle. Mix transportation modes if you like. You have entered the world of Rapid Deployment Amateur Radio aka RaDAR. You will enjoy making tradeoffs in radio, antennas, and choice of operating frequencies. The four hour period puts you under a little stress to manage all the factors in real time. Hams worldwide practice RaDAR any time they can but there is the four hour RaDAR contest the first Saturday of April and November. The next RaDAR Contest is Nov 1st 2014 1400 UTC to 1800 UTC.

In addition to on foot and vehicle categories, there are also portable and at home categories. Each category has a multiplier. Power is your choice QRP and up with multipliers. All amateur bands, besides the WARC bands, are allowed including cross band contacts via amateur radio satellites. Modes – CW, SSB, AM, FM or any digital mode. QSOs via terrestrial repeaters will NOT be allowed. Call sign, Name, RS(T) Report, QTH and grid locator at least 6 characters and 10 preferred. There is a bonus for your first satellite or digital mode QSO. Also there is a bonus for your first RaDAR to RaDAR intercontinental QSO.

There are two contest managers:
Eddie Leighton ZS6BNE for IARU 1 see http://zs6bne.wordpress.com/2014/03/04/radar-the-new-contest-april-2014/
and Marcus Kessler NX5MK for RaDAR America http://radar-america.blogspot.com/2014/02/radar-america-contest-april-2014.html You will find the contest details at those links.

RaDAR originated in South Africa headed up by Eddie ZS6BNE. It has spread to the Americas with the efforts of Marcus NX5MK. There is a growing worldwide participation with the RaDAR Community on Google+ See https://plus.google.com/u/0/communities/109283065808971118728