B.E.R.U. CONTEST

Evening Star, Issue 22578, 20 February 1937, Page 4

B.E.R.U. CONTEST

ANNUAL EVENT NOW IN PROGRESS As the British Empire Radio Union (8.E.R.U.) contest is now in progress a little insight into what it is all about may be of interest to readers of this column. The contest, an annual event extending over the four week-ends in February, is divided into three sections —(a) senior, or high power transmitting; (b) junior, or low power transnTitting 5 and (c) the receiving section for listeners who are non-transmitting members of either the Radio Society of Great Haitian or an affiliated society, such as the New. Zealand Association of Radio "Transmitters. . The rules governing the senior contest are that the power input to the last valve of the transmitter must not exceed that permitted by the country’s regulations (100 watts for New Zealand amateurs), and that the time allowed for contacts be from 7 a.m. New Zealand standard time on February ? to 7 a.m. on February 8, and again from February 14 to February 15 at the same times. There are also numerous other rules, hut they are of interest only to operators. The junior contest rules are practically the same as those of the semior except that the power input allowed to the last valve is 25 watts, which is universal throughout the Empire for this contest. The times of operation extend from 9 a.m. on February 21 to 9 a.m. on February 22, and the same period the following week-end. As only one operator is allowed to operate a station in the section he intends to enter, the contest becomes more of an endurance test than a radio contest, as twenty-four hours of operation is a most tiresome experience. To gain points the operator is required to exchange reports (R.S.T. system) with another amateur outside his own British country or zone. There are 34 zones, or 34 areas of approximately 1,000 miles radius for each. For instance, a New Zealand station cannot contact any other New Zealand station, but must reach Australia, which is divided into two zones. The points are 15 for the first contact in each zone, and 14 for the next and so on until a contact for a particular zone is worth only one point. Bands of operation are chiefly 7mc and 14mc, but contacts are being made on a band called the 28mc, or 10-metre band, this year. Only one contact is allowed on each band in each contest. In the receiving contest a station must be logged with reports given by that station, and the station’s own report by the listener. This contest extends over the two week-ends, of the senior transmitting section and the first week-end of the junior section. The station- must also be other than the zone of the listener before points may be claimed. New Zealand has claimed the senior trophy three times. The.operators were Mr Gavin Samson, ex zl4ai, who won twice, and. Mr Jack Callender, cx zl4bt. Both operators now reside in England, but other operators continue to compete each year for the cherished trophies, which, if won, will again prove New Zealand as high in the radio world as any of the bigger Empire countries.