Trans-Tasman Low-Band Contest

Trans Tasman Low Band Contest

Contest Manager

Alan Shannon VK4SN

Contest Introduction

Next contest – 20th  JULY 2024 

The Trans-Tasman contest, held on the 3rd weekend in July, aims to encourage Low Band activity between VK and ZL

Only contest bands 160 80 and 40M are allowed with SSB, CW and Digital (RTTY OR PSK)

From 2018 this contest is an official WIA Contest and will count towards the Peter Brown Contest Champion Awards.

Aim Of The Contest

Work as many VK and ZL Prefixes and as many different stations on 160 80 and 40M, in a short 6 hour evening contest.

Last Years Winners

2023 RESULTS – 4/8/2023

Full PDF report and CERTIFICATES at end of page for download.
Statistics / graphs / soapbox comments at vklogchecker.com

Single Operator – High Power
1. VK2PW 6770
2. VK7C (VK7GH) 6080
3. VK4M (VK4SN) 5944
4. VL5L (VK5SFA) 5291
5. ZL4RMF 4627

Single Operator – Low Power
1. VK5LJ 4393
2. VK2VRJ 2533
3. VK7JGD 2304
4. VK3SPX 2004
5. VK2TTL 1840

Single Operator – QRP
1. VK2YW 1587
2. VK2YQ 1185
3. VK4OTZ 770
4. VK1CHW 673
5. VK4ALH 327

Multi-Operator – Single Transmitter
1. VK3KK 3837 (VK3KK VK3MCL)
2. VK2AMW 3661 (VK2FO VK2VIN VK2KQB VK2XIC VK2FDSD VK2KU)
3. VK6N 2671 (VK6LOL VK6NT VK6LIN VK6EH)
4. VK2AWX 994 (VK2KZV VK2FA VK2YCJ)
5. VK2KWJ 878 (VK2KWJ VK2WS)

Multi-Operator – Multi Transmitter
1. VL4R 9447 (VK4DI VK4ZD)
2. VK2AOJ 5692 (VK2OKR VK2OZI VK2EG VK1O VK2AJM)
3. VK4S 3772 (VK4SU VK4XE VK4TS VK4ANS VK4OR)
4. VK2ATZ 2532 (VK2HAO VK2XGB VK2JEH VK2UZB)

The End. See you all this year.

Previous Years Winners

2022 RESULTS – Released 25/7/2022

Full PDF report and CERTIFICATES and Logging Errors at end of page for download.

Single Operator – High Power
1. VJ4K 10204 (VK4TS)
2. VL3E 6703 (VK3TZ)
3. ZL4RMF 5872
4. VK3MH 5209
5. VK4SN 4960

Single Operator – Low Power
1. VK5PAS 7526
2. VK2MT 6351
3. VK5LJ 4940
4. VK7C 4199 (VK7GH)
5. VK3NDG 4036

Single Operator – QRP
1. VK7VH 1940
2. VK3V 828 (VK3JW)
3. VK2IG 676
4. VK2YW 482
5. VK2JA 445

Multi-Operator – Single Transmitter
1. VK3KK 5352 (VK3KK VK3MCL)
2. VK2GGC 4574 (VK2ZG VK2SD VK2PV VK2CQ VK2HFP)
3. ZL3T 2343 (ZL3GQ ZL4LO)
4. VK3III 993 (VK3GP VK3JBM VK3TNU VK3APJ)
5. ZL3AC 797 (ZL3AJT ZL3PIE)

Multi-Operator – Multi Transmitter
1. VL4R 8082 (VK4DI VK4ZD)
2. VK2W 5480 (VK2W IBE ALR RF WS RH EJH HH ICJ NRC HAU)
3. VK2IY 357 (VK2EIK VK2UQ VK2RP)

Check Log: ZL3GA

The End. See you all next year.

2021 RESULTS – 27-7-2021

Full PDF report and CERTIFICATES at end of page for download.

Single Operator – High Power
1. VK2EFM 5144
2. ZL4RMF 3388
3. VK3MH 2396

Single Operator – Low Power
1. VK5LJ 2297
2. VK5PAS 1715
3. VK3NDG 1407

Single Operator – QRP
1. VK7VH 508
2. VK2IO 347
3. VK2IG 290

Multi-Operator – Single Transmitter
1. VK4HH 2972
2. Nil entry
3. Nil entry

Multi-Operator – Multi Transmitter
1. Nil entry
2. Nil entry
3. Nil entry

The End. See you all next year.

Contest History

The Trans Tasman Low Band evolved from a Multi-Mode series of contests that were conducted over several winters evenings.

Upcoming Contest Date & Time

The contest is held on the Saturday night of the third full weekend of July. 20th July 2024

Start Time is 08:00 UTC and finish time is 14:00 UTC

Contest Rules

1. Contest Introduction

This contest is to encourage Low Band Activity in Australia and New Zealand.
The applicable bands are 160, 80 and 40M.

2. Objective

Amateurs in VK and ZL will endeavour to contact other amateurs in VK and ZL.

a. VK and ZL, means any station operating within Australia or New Zealand and their external territories.

b. Points are only awarded for valid contacts between VK and ZL stations.

c. The contest is made up of 3 individual two hour blocks.

d. You are able to work another station once per band and mode in every block.

e. Every different Prefix used by VK or ZL stations is a valid multiplier and credit can be claimed once per band per block.

3. Contest Date & Time

a. The contest is held on the Saturday night of the third full weekend of July.
b. Start Time is 08:00 UTC and finish time is 14:00 UTC

4. Categories
(All band, All Mode)

A. Single Operator – High Power
B. Single Operator – Low Power (100 watts)
C. Single Operator – QRP*
E. Multi-Operator – Single Transmitter
F. Multi-Operator – Multi Transmitter

* QRP stations are limited to 5 Watts average (CW/RTTY/PSK) or PEP (SSB) at the transmitter output.


5. Permitted Bands and modes

a. Bands: 160M 80M 40M
…SSB Voice transmission should be within:
…1843-1875, 3535-3570 and 3600-3700, 7080-7300KHz
…otherwise disqualification or score reduction may result.

b. Modes: SSB, CW and Digital (Digital includes PSK or RTTY only)

NB. PSK and RTTY are the only allowed digital modes and are combined, not counted separately.

6. Multi-operator Stations

A. Multi-operator single transmitter stations
a. are only allowed one transmitted signal on air at any time.
i. If you are using three transceivers to scan the bands, simultaneous transmission will reclassify you as Multi

Transmitter(Category F.) – your responsibility to stop multiple transmitters operating.

B. Multi-operator Multi Transmitter stations
a. Are only allowed maximum one transmitted signal per band,
b. Simultaneous transmissions on different bands are permitted.
c. Multi-operator stations are mixed mode only.

7. Contacts

a.. Suggested Call: “CQ TT”, “CQ Contest”, or “CQ Test”
b. Exchange:
A valid exchange consists of RS(T) followed by a three figure serial number starting at 001 for each band or 001 for all bands.
c. No cross band contacts are allowed.
d. exchange of contact information via satellites, telephones, repeaters, Echolink, IRLP, or the internet is not in the spirit of the contest and is banned.
e. (Operation of SSB Voice stations in the digital section (3570 to 3600) is not in the spirit of the contest and will be disqualified. – rule currently under review)

8. Scoring

a. All contacts are worth one point
b. Add the number of contacts made in the two hour block and multiply by the different prefixes worked on each band in that two hour block.
c. NB external territories count as one prefix – eg VK0 counts as VK0 and not the separate DXCC same as for VK9 e.g. 160 80 40 total contacts 50 X 35 prefixes (total of each band added) = 1750 points.

d. Final Score is the addition of the scores from the three two hour blocks starting at 08:00; 10:00 & 12:00 UTC

9. Logs

Logs are due in within one week of closure of the contest. Submit logs via https://www.vklogchecker.com/
Logs MUST be in Cabrillo 3 format – this is the submission file produced by VKCL and N1MM Loggers.

http://www.mnds.com.au/vkcl/
https://n1mm.hamdocs.com

* The User Defined Contest (UDC)for N1MM is available for download from: vk4sn.com/downloads/VKTTRTTY.zip

10. JUDGING:

The Contest Committee is responsible for checking and adjudicating the contest entries.
Entrants are expected to follow the rules and best amateur radio practices. Violation of the rules of the contest or unsportsmanlike conduct may lead to disciplinary action by the Committee.

Unsportsmanlike Conduct:
Examples of unsportsmanlike conduct include, but are not limited to:
* Arranging or confirming any contacts during or after the contest by use of ANY non-amateur radio means such as telephones, Internet, instant messaging, chat rooms, VoIP, email, social media or web sites.
* Transmissions by the entrant on frequencies outside of license limitations.
* Changing times in the log to meet band change or off time rules.
* Taking credit for excessive unverifiable QSOs or unverifiable multipliers.
* Signals with excessive bandwidth (e.g., splatter, clicks) or harmonics on other bands.
* Running stations not identifying in a timely manner (i.e., 1 minute).
* Use of Tag along operation where a restricted number of stations are contacted.