Once a year SADARS hold a construction contest which is open to all club members. This contest is normaly held in January and is open to all classes. The rules are below. Please remember if you win you may be asked to do a talk to other members.

Past construction winners

Construction Contest Rules

GENERAL:

 

This competition is intended to encourage home construction,
and give the opportunity to show off projects. To qualify for entry
the entrant must be a member of the Shefford and District ARS, and
the entry must have an amateur radio context.

Entries are assumed to be working and complete. The judges reserve
the right to ask for a demonstration. An exhibit may only be entered
on one occasion. Club projects are excluded from the competition, unless
they form part of a larger entry.
All exhibits must have a label showing the callsign or name of the
entrant. A member who enters more than one item in the same category
should label each entry with his callsign plus /1, /2 etc.

Members who are present on the evening do the judging; the judge’s
decision is final.
Paid-up members may send an entry by proxy if unable to attend.
Members not in attendance may not vote. Members present may vote for
their own projects.

CATEGORIES: There are four categories of exhibit to choose from;
prizes are:

Novice                          Small plaque
Weekend Special         Dr. Little cup (returnable)and Small plaque
Kit                                 G2DPQ cup (returnable) and small plaque
Major Project               G8EMJ Shield (returnable) and small plaque

Novice: This category is aimed at a person having an attempt at home
construction and entering this contest for the first time.

Mechanical neatness      20 Points
Electrical neatness         20 Points
General appearance       20 Points
Novelty/Uniqueness      20 Points
Complexity                     20 Points

Weekend Special: This category is for projects which could be
construction in a weekend. The exhibit should be of a type that would
encourage others to make something similar. Perhaps it could be
cheaper than buying from a shop, or a very useful addition to the
shack. It could be novel in its' basic idea, or the way it is
constructed. It could show use of bits from the junk box.

Enclosure, including any lettering done by the builder      20 Points
Mechanical neatness                                                            20 Points
Electrical neatness                                                               20 Points
Novelty/Uniqueness                                                            20 Points
Soldering                                                                              20 Points

Kit: This category ranges from kits which are complete to projects
using kit modules or commercial PCBs. Obviously you get more marks if
you have to do a lot yourself.

Enclosure, including any lettering done by the builder        20 Points
Entrant’s additions/modifications/enhancements              20 Points
Complexity of construction                                                    20 Points
Overall neatness                                                                  20 Points
Soldering                                                                              20 Points

Major Project: Are projects which require a lot of effort and
determination. This may include commercially produced PCBs.

Entrant's design effort                                    20 Points
Complexity of construction                             20 Points
Overall neatness                                             20 Points
Documentation                                                20 Points
Soldering                                                         20 Points

EXHIBIT ENTRY: Judging commences at 8.15 pm, so please arrive before
8.00 pm if possible. Do not forget to label your entry. Please remove
screws as necessary to enable the judges to see inside your exhibit.
If you have documentation e.g. circuit diagram, place it with the
exhibit. Even if you do not win, remember that others will have
pleasure from viewing your exhibit. GOOD LUCK! Revised 24/01/06

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A tidy-up of the points allocation in all classes. Five key areas, each with a
possible 20 points. Therefore maximum score = 100.

If an entry does not contain one of the key areas (e.g. a kit not needing a case,
or a cat’s whisker without any soldering, then half points (10) should be given
in that area. The giving of ZERO points for something NOT required in a
project is unfair.

Note: the changes in scoring have been presented in Italics.

Approved in committee (17 May 2010)
as a 'one off' change to be used in 2011