Contesting via One-Way Signals...During an Eclipse

Virtually all competitive amateur radio events involve two-way contacts.  HamSCI is breaking that paradigm by sponsoring the The Gladstone Signal Spotting Challenge, purposefully being held during the April, 2024 North American total solar eclipse.

All ham radio contesters should be familiar with ‘spots’, automated records of received signals. The spotting networks help us find other stations to contact, new 'unworked' locales, and, in general, raise our scores. Spots have never been given their very own competition - but that is about to change, thanks to the Gladstone Signal Spotting Challenge (GSSC). The GSSC is being held for a very simple yet impactful reason: To create research-worthy spot data under ‘controlled’ ionospheric conditions, as the moon passes between the sun and the earth at supersonic speeds, an event better known as a solar eclipse.