FISTS Down Under Inc
Contests, Awards & Certificates

Contests, Awards & Certificates

Awards

FISTS Down Under Worked most Band Slots 2023

This is a very simple Award…  the member with the highest number of worked slots for the year wins (WARC bands excluded).  Your log must be in Club Log. The winner will receive a certificate.

All Awards require applicants to submit their log, reference Club Log and sign an application that they operated in the spirit of the award and that all contacts were genuine. WARC bands not permitted.

FISTS Down Under QRP Award

This award is modelled on the North American QRP CW Club 1,000 Miles per Watt Award

http://naqcc.info/awards_1000mpwswa.html

FISTS Down Under 1609km per watt award (1,000 miles per watt)

Make 5 QRP CW contacts using 5w or less in which the distance (miles) / power (watts) is greater than 1,000.

For example, the following would qualify for a contact:

  • Perth to Melbourne with 1w –  1,691 miles….  1691/1w = 1,691
  • Perth to Melbourne with 1.5w – 1,691/1.5w = 1,127
  • Melbourne to Sydney 443 miles at 0.4w = 1,107
  • Adelaide to Auckland 2,016 miles at 2w = 1,008
  • Wellington to Sydney 1,383 miles at 1.3w = 1063
  • Melbourne to Brisbane 854 miles at 0.8w = 1,067

The following (whilst a great qso ) would not qualify

  • Melbourne to Sydney 443 miles at 0.5w = 886

So, as you can see there are two levers you can adjust….  your power output and the distance of the station you work (and a third being the band as well).  You can QRV for more distant stations or maybe set up a sked via Discord or email. 

Categories:

None

Equipment:

You need to operate with 5w or less.  Please include a full description of your transceiver and antenna in your award application. Photos are great too.

Antenna: Simple wire antenna – dipole, random wire, EFHW, vertical

The other station can be using any power level and any antenna.

QSOs:

Per NAQRP CW Club, our general rule that the power used to initiate a QSO is the power that counts.  You can’t start a QSO then keep lowering power to get a better MPW figure.

QSOs must be CW and sent using paddle, bug, key, cootie or keyboard

Include your log with five (5) QSOs detailing band, your power out, your antenna, station worked, RST, distance and claimed miles per watt.

If you can provide supporting evidence of the QSOs (eg. Clublog, LoTW, QSL Cards etc) this would help in assessing your application.  However, this is a trust-based award.

Certificate:

A PDF certificate will be issued.  For a fee, a nice plaque can also be provided.

Everyone qualifying for the award will be listed on the FISTS Down Under website and all members and friends will be notified via the Newsletter and Facebook.

Calculating QSO distance:

Here are a couple of useful resources to help you calculate distances.

https://www.distancecalculator.net/

or

http://www.qrz.com.hr/js-html/1000mpw.htm

Please direct any questions to the FDU Committee.