Way back at the time of last year’s AGM, the club took part in the annual Club Calls Contest on 160m, putting on two club stations – GX3GWB operated by G4CZB and GX8LED operated by G3MPZ, G0FJS and G6TVB. The latter station took advantage of the long wire at the 'MPZ QTH and made 57 contacts which was a great improvement on the previous year, climbing the table to 49^th out of 93. G4CZB having the benefit of a full size dipole made 77 contacts putting GX3GWB into 34^th place.

January is the month for the 80m Affiliated Societies Contests, CW on the second Sunday and SSB on the third Saturday. Both are very well supported throughout the UK and this year attracted in excess of 230 individual entries in each one, and many other stations were active that didn’t enter. This gives “wall-to-wall” QRM on both sessions and a severe test of receiver performance and operating ability! The CW event is for teams of four stations but only G4CZB was active so although making 60^th place individually, the club entry was well below the mid-table in the club listing. Any CW operators out there willing to have a go next time?

On SSB four stations are also needed to make up a team and this year we had only two club members active. G4CZB and G1BHR managed a combined score of almost 2000 points which put us into 53^rd place out of 90. The SSB event turned out to be more of a struggle this year for both entrants with high noise levels on the band.

The Club Championship series of contests runs from January to July each year, with short weekday evening sessions of just 90 minutes each on SSB, CW and DATA (PSK31 and RTTY) and have attracted progressively increasing support from clubs. Full licensees are limited to 100W, and there is also a 10W low power section, so M3/6s can participate on an equal footing, and many do. Using 80m, the format is for single operator stations to make as many contacts as possible on the mode specified for that day, and each individual’s scores are combined to give a club score. The final total is the sum of all 21 sessions, so the bigger clubs can achieve a massive cumulative score. For a variety of reasons, Northampton RC managed only a few sessions on either CW or SSB, but this still put the club in 75^th place out of 80. Not bottom, but at least we were represented!

April saw a new venture for the club, with participation in the first 70MHz contest of the year. Iain M0VPE had recently constructed an 8 element yagi for the band and was keen to try it out. It was a little early in the year for a portable effort, so the pneumatic mast at the end of the garden at the G4CZB QTH was pressed into service to put the monster yagi (27 foot long boom) into the air. Even with the hills to the north the Angus beacon GB3ANG could be heard so there was no doubt the beam was working. Only 25W out was available and as a multi-op we had to enter the Open section, up against some powerful contest groups, but we managed not to be last - just! The main purpose was to test the new yagi for use later in the year and that was successfully achieved.

In June the plan for National Field Day was to attempt to capture the Reading QRP Trophy for the third year running, but it was not to be. The Ravensthorpe site was unfortunately unavailable at short notice so Field Day had to be abandoned. A check log was submitted from a fixed station so as not to completely miss out on the fun.

The continued lack of a site put the planned entry in the 50MHz Trophy later in the month in doubt, but contact with our friends in the Banbury club came up trumps with the offer of a farm location just outside Byfield. This year, after the near-disaster with the 6-over-6 yagi array in 2008, and a forecast of windy conditions again, just one of the 6 element yagis was used. From the first few minutes of the contest we realised that the efforts in securing another site were well worthwhile as we encountered some of the best conditions on 50MHz of the year. A total of 376 contacts in 171 different locator squares was achieved, the best DX being NP4A.

Just two weeks later saw a four-band entry in VHF Field Day and another new site, this time near Litchborough. The four stations were on 50MHz, 70MHz, 144MHz and 432MHz. Conditions on 50MHz were not quite as good as two weeks earlier, but the same antenna and power as used in the Trophy event saw us grab fourth place in the Restricted section, ahead of some well-known groups. Best DX was again in the Caribbean, this time 9Y4D. The 70MHz entry was a mimic of the April contest with the 8 element yagi and 25W. This gave us another fourth place and a satisfying result for Iain and the 8 element. 144MHz was also a low power entry with 25W maximum and yet another antenna from the M0VPE stable, this time a 13 element long yagi. Some good DX into DL and the surrounding European countries gave a good score and a 7^th place. The fourth and final station was 432MHz using the DEM transverter and a 21 element Tonna. Full advantage of the early morning lift in conditions was taken, and throughout the day DX stations were picked off with eight being 500km plus. This gave us a second place (and a nice certificate) in the low power section The overall result in the Mix-and-Match section was a creditable fourth. This was a pleasing result after the effort of putting up three tents, three masts, one lowered to switch the 50MHz 6 element antenna to the 8 element for 70MHz on the Sunday morning, and two generators, plus all the operating hours.

The 4m 8 element yagi had one more outing in the summer, an entry in the 70MHz Trophy contest on the 16^th August. 62 contacts were made in 6 hours, no sporadic-E that day but plenty of contacts throughout the mainland UK, plus GI and EI. Best DX was 537km into Aberdeenshire.

The final event of the summer was SSB Field Day, again from the Litchborough site. This is similar to National Field Day but without the 160m band and of course SSB only. This year we decided to have a go at the Open section, up against the best contest groups in the country, but with the opportunity of making many more contacts than in the Restricted section and thus a much more enjoyable weekend. The mobile pneumatic mast was now available to support the Hygain Tribander, and two inverted V dipoles were successfully constructed for 80m and 40m. After that it went downhill! It took much longer to assemble the Tribander on site than was anticipated, and it would not work on 10m. Already running late, first pull on the generator broke the cord, and with no socket set on site, repairs required a trip home to fetch suitable tools. Fixing it then took 5 minutes. We were two hours late starting but at least it all went well after that with good weather and no further problems following the initial disasters. The lack of 10m proved to be insignificant as no-one made more than a handful of QSOs on the band this year. 470 contacts with 85 multipliers was the final total, and this gave us 16^th place out of 22 in the Open section.

Thanks to everyone for their continued support in making this a very successful year, particularly Graham M0GCR, Kelvin M0EBU, Keith G7HLP, Iain M0VPE, Adrian M6RPG, Pete G0FJS, Chris G3MPZ, Ian G1BHR and Richard G6TVB. Also Geoff G3TQF from the Rugby ATS who loaned the 21 element Tonna for 432MHZ and did some operating, and RAYNET for the loan of the generator. As always, club members are welcome to take part or just come and see what we are doing in any of the contests, just ask! Suggestions for other contests to add to the list are also invited.