Contesting in Amateur Radio is all about trying to establish two way communications with as many people as possible in a fixed amount of time. Each contest usually has a particular theme or challenge associated with it. For example, some encourage you to contact stations from as many continents as possible in a 24hr period, others focus on VHF/UHF operating techniques while others are all about operating from a location other than your home base.

A prime example of the last type of contest is the John Moyle Field Day contest held in March each year. The aim here is to operate a portable station for a 24hr period. You can participate in the contest as a home station, but you gain extra points for contacting portable stations. If you are operating portable then you get additional points for evey contact made.

• Visit the 2015 JMMFD Activation of VK5WIA/P Photo Gallery

There is a very active contest sub-group within AREG. Members have participated in many contests over the past couple of years including:

• The John Moyle Field Day
• The IARU Worldwide HF Championships
• The Oceania DX Contest
• The CQ 80m/160m VK/ZL Contest
• The CQ WPX Phone Contest
• The Remembrance Day Contest

Past contesting achievements by AREG can be reviewed here.

To get an idea of what the group gets up to, take a look at this video produced by Theo VK5MTM shot at the 2014 John Moyle Field Day station operated portable from the Para Wirra conservation park in the Adelaide Hills.