UKSMG Winter Marathon Rules

UKSMG Winter Marathon Rules

The UKSMG welcomes you to the UKSMG Winter Marathon.

  • The objective is to work as many grid squares as possible between the first day of December (01 December 2026 at 00:00 UTC) and the last day of January (31 Jan 2027  ending at 23:59 UTC) on the Six Metre band.
  • The UKSMG Winter Marathon is open to ALL amateur radio operators worldwide. UKSMG membership is NOT required.
  • Through this Winter Marathon, the UKSMG aims to promote and encourage activity on the Six Metre band.

A. Sections

The Marathon is split into two sections:

Legacy Modes
Traditional and legacy operating modes.
Digital Modes
Digital operating modes.

Any QSO may be uploaded. The website will automatically sort the Legacy modes from the Digital modes and present them in separate standings tables.

You may enter either or both sections simply by managing the QSOs you upload.

B. Sub Sections

The Marathon is divided into the following geographical regions:

World
Africa
Asia
Europe
North America
Oceania
South America
Antarctica

Notes

  1. Single Operator Only.
  2. There will be a separate listing for each class.
  3. Entry into the Legacy and/or Digital Sections is compiled automatically based on the mode entered for each QSO.
  4. The World Sub Section table is compiled from each of the Sections and entry into this Section is automatic.

C. QSOs

  1. All modes are permitted.
  2. Use of the DX cluster and chat/forums is permitted to arrange QSOs.
  3. QSOs made via active or passive reflectors (repeaters or EME) are not permitted.
  4. WSPR exchanged reports are not permitted.
  5. Meteor scatter or digital modes are allowed provided all details are exchanged using the mode concerned.
  6. All licence conditions must be observed.
  7. The use of robots or any method of automated QSO is not permitted.
  8. European stations using FT8 should only use 50.323 MHz for QSOs outside Europe. When operating FT8 on 50.323 MHz, European stations should transmit in the first sequence (Tx 00/30). Stations wishing to work into Europe should transmit in the second sequence (Tx 15/45).
  9. Remote station control is allowed as long as the operator is in direct control of the station. Operators must be physically present at the transmitter or remote-control terminal to operate it.
  10. Each claimed contact must include real-time direct initiation by the operator on both sides of the contact.

D. Scoring

One Point per Grid Square
A point is awarded for each unique 4-digit grid square worked. The station with the highest number of grid squares worked in each section is the winner of that section.

Your section is determined by the region in which you are operating.

Your region is defined in your UKSMG website profile.

Edit Your Profile

E. Entries

  • To participate in the Winter Marathon, each contestant must be a registered user of the UKSMG website. Registration is free and only takes a few moments. Login or Register.
    UKSMG membership is not required.
  • The UKSMG website will determine the grid squares worked from your uploaded log entry.
  • All logged callsigns and grid squares can be viewed by all other competitors.
  • Current results can be viewed in real-time using the buttons below.
  • Only ADIF logs submitted online are accepted.
  • Upon issues arising, the Adjudicator's decision is final.

F. Log Submission

  • All logs must be submitted online in ADIF format with a file extension of .adi.
  • A complete log for the contest period must be uploaded. Each upload either overwrites or appends to any previous upload.
  • Incorrect log entries can be overwritten by uploading a new ADIF file.
  • Logs must be submitted via the UKSMG online log submission tool.
  • Any contacts made in other Six Metre contests during the UKSMG Winter Marathon contest period will count for points provided that they meet the QSO exchange criteria.
  • All logs must be submitted via the UKSMG website by 16th August 2026.

ADIF File Requirements

Only ADIF version 2 files with the file extension .adi are accepted. Only the fields listed below are used; all other fields in your ADIF log will be ignored.

Mandatory ADIF Fields

Date, Time, Band, DX callsign and DX locator as a minimum in ADIF format.

QSO_DATE, TIME_ON, BAND, MODE, CALL, GRIDSQUARE

Optional ADIF Fields

TX Mode, Propagation, Frequency, Home Grid Square, Report Sent and Report Received.

MODE, PROP_MODE, FREQ, OWN_GRIDSQ, MY_GRIDSQUARE, RST_SENT, RST_RCVD

Notes

If your grid square is not present in your ADIF file, or the value is empty, the grid square stored in your UKSMG website profile will be used.

Contest identification for the UKSMG Winter Marathon is supported in ADIF Version 3.0.4 onwards. The expected value in the ADIF Contest-ID tag is:

UKSMG-6M-MARATHON

Further information on the UKSMG ADIF file format may be found here .

Creating an ADIF File

How do I create an ADIF file if I don't use a logging program?

If you need to create an ADIF log file and you don't have a logging program that can export ADIF, you can download FLog from W1HJK.

FLog is part of the excellent FLdigi digital communications program, but the FLog program will run on its own. FLog is available for PC, Mac and Linux.

FLog / FLdigi Downloads

There are many other software packages available for logging your contacts. Please see the DXZone website for a comprehensive list.

For all correspondence relating to this contest, please email the UKSMG Contest Manager .