The second RSGB 144MHz Backpackers' contest coincides with the Practical Wireless 144MHz QRP contest, so it is usually a busy day on the 2m band. With the contests starting at 10am local time and the PW contest running for 7 hours it's an early start and a long day on the hill.
For the first time in over 2 years the weather forecast for the day of the contest was for dry weather and even sunshine! Given the duration of the contest and the moderate wind it was still necessary to pack the tent. It can get very cold indeed sitting on the top of a hill all day, even in Sussex.
Gary, G0XAN, set off from the car park at 9:15 and was set up at Chanctonbury Ring just in time for the start of the contest at 10:00. Martin, G7RQD, arrived at about 11:15 by which time it was time to break for a few minutes to erect the tent.
The contest had started slowly with only 16 contacts in the first hour using "search & pounce" although the contacts did include Cheshire and Staffordshire. A CQ call then resulted in a steady stream of contacts, resulting in 13 contacts in as many minutes, mostly fairly local, but including a station on Jersey - a good distance plus a country and square multiplier.
The second hour provided 24 contacts, mostly from calling CQ and generally shorter distances. The best contact of the hour was with Jersey.
The third hour started well with a contact with Guernsey, a new country multiplier but the same square as Jersey! Contacts started to dry up after a while and a total of 12 contacts were made.
The fourth hour was mostly spent chasing a few DX stations that appeared. MI0AYR/P was the only success, with another Northern Irish station and a German station being the ones that got away. With only three stations contacted in the fourth hour it was decided to pack up. With 55 contacts in the log we were pleased with our efforts.