M2A/M6A/M7A Page

These new M+1 callsigns

In June 1996 the Radio Society of Great Britain were allowed to offer special short callsigns for use in International contests by the RA (Radiocommunications Agency - a UK government department). However the callsigns were only allocated to club stations and were initally valid only for the rest of the year. There are 52 such callsigns:

G6A to G6Z
M6A to M6Z

The callsigns use the same prefixes as the UK. For example if M6A were to operate a contest in Guernsey the callsign would be MU6A. Not all of the callsigns have been requested (contesting in the UK is not as popular as in other parts of the world!)

In 1996 the club used M6A, in 1997 the callsign was M7A and from 1998 onwards M2A is being used.

The M-series callsigns have been causing some confusion in International contests, so to clarify:

The UK holds both the 'M' and 'G' series of callsigns;
Currently M0xxx callsigns are being allocated to new Class A (HF) licensees and M1xxx to Class B (VHF) licenseees;
QSL cards are OK via the RSGB bureau (assuming that the license holders have lodged SASEs with the QSL sub-manager!).

Who are M2A/M6A/M7A

M2A is the De Montford University (Leicester) Amateur Radio Society. Our normal callsign is G3SDC.

Further details of the club can be found at G3SDC Radio Society pages maintained by G0TPH.

QSL Information

The QSL manager is Steve Lawrence, G4EOF.
QSL cards can be requested via the following means:

Via the RSGB QSL bureau;

The M6A contest logs can also be searched on-line using the Java Log Search Applet.
This applet can also be used on your site to search your own logs.

Contests Entered by M6A and M7A

All contests have been entered from a field outside Kettering (Northamptonshire in the middle of England) using the Kettering club's tower and A4 beam. To date the callsign M6A has been used in three International contests:

1996 IARU Championships - This was the callsign's first airing and 1500 CW contacts were made in the multi-operator section. Operators were G4EOF and G4ZFE with guest appearances by G3RIR and G3ORY. Band conditions were great with a super opening on 10 metres to the US (it has been a long time since that happened). Equipment used was a TS850S and Cushcraft A4 at 50 feet with 400W output;
Result: 1st G Multi-Op section
1996 CQ WW SSB. This was the club's first attempt at the CQ contests and was a training ground for the CW section the following month. The club entered the Multi-Single section and made 1500 contacts. Being our first Multi-Single contest we had RFI problems with the computers and inter-station interference. As none of the team had arranged to have Monday off work the station was closed down at 1500Z to dismantle the antennas;
1996 CQ WW CW. The big one! 3100 contacts were made in the Multi-Single section. Antennas used were:
- Run station - Cushcraft A4S at 60 feet, 40,80,160m dipoles at 60 feet;
- Multiplier station - Butternut HF6V, all band trapped dipole.
LF conditions were super with lots of good DX being worked on 160 and 80. 40 metres was difficult as the dipole did not seem to be radiating at all well even after it was converted to a delta loop during the contest. The downside of the contest was the cold - with snow most of the Sunday!
Result: 2nd G Multi-single section
1997 CQ WPX SSB. This was a small scale effort from the Nottingham University Amateur Radio Society shack. The contest was over the Easter holiday so most members had family commitments. Two single band entries were made:
- 20m SO HP. Marios (G0WWW/5B4WN) used a TS930S, Explorer 1200 amplifier and Cushcraft A3 at 50 feet to work 543 stations. Conditions were not at all favourable to the US. The downside was the amplifier breaking down due to the high SWR at the top end of 20m. This is the *third* amplifier that Marios has broken!
- 15m SO HP. Rich (G4ZFE) used an IC-706, KW 1000 amplifier and a Delta Loop and Butternut HF6V to work 176 stations. Conditions were strange with short openings to I, EA, OH in sequence. I spent most of the time reading magazines and books.
1997 CQ WPX CW. This was a even smaller scale effort from G4ZFE parent's QTH. G4ZFE operated single-op, all band, low power (100W) using an IC-706 and Butternut HF6v vertical and made 993 QSOs.
1997 IARU HF Championships. This was the first contest from a new site on the outskirts of Leicester in the Midlands. The station was set-up field day style for the contest and comprised of TET 5-ele beam at 48 feet with dipoles for 40-160m and a HF6v plus dipoles for the multiplier station. Both stations used amplifiers to reach the legal limit of 400W.
Operators were G0WWW/5B4WN, G3RIR, G4EOF, G0TPH and G4ZFE. Conditions were superb and 2300 QSOs were made.
1997 IOTA Contest. Rich, G4ZFE decided to take a holiday in the Isles of Scilly (IOTA EU-011) as well as take part in the IOTA contest.
IOTA contest write up.
Using low power (100W) from an IC-706 and a Butternut HF6V vertical Rich made 835 QSOs. Conditions were variable and 100W was not enough to keep a run frequency. An improved antenna set-up is planned for next year from EU-011.
1997 CQ WW CW. The station was set-up field day style on the outskirts of Leicester. The multi-single section was entered with a run station consisting of a TET 5-ele beam at 50 feet and a Cushcraft 40-2CD at 40 feet and dipoles for other bands. The multiplier station also used a HF6v. The main amplifier PSU failed after 12 hours which impacted the score somewhat. However nearly 3400 QSOs were made and last year's score beaten.
Band conditions were fun with an opening on the Sunday afternoon to the US and also good propagation to the West coast of the US on 15m. Operators were G0WWW/5B4WN, G3RIR, G4EOF, G4MJS and G4ZFE.

M2A/M6A/M7A Page

These new M+1 callsigns

Who are M2A/M6A/M7A

QSL Information

Contests Entered by M6A and M7A

M6A/M7A Photos