On Tue, Jul 16, 2002 at 06:10:19PM +0100, Bill Tippett wrote:
> In thinking about the WRTC 2002, the Finns certainly
> deserve our thanks for making the playing field as level as
> it has ever been by using identical antennas at the same height
> over flat terrain within a limited area of Finland. From what
> I understand of prior WRTC's, the 2002 edition was a major advance.
>
> However, I've heard of at least one instance of severe
> antenna interaction and problems with local power line QRN. Noticing
> how poorly some of the excellent teams did in the standings, I cannot
> help but believe that there may have been more than one case of
> antenna interaction problems at specific sites.
>
> Here are a few thoughts for the 2004 sponsor assuming
> someone steps up to the plate. First, repeat the Finns' excellent
> idea of identical antennas over flat terrain at the same height within
> a limited geographic area, but remove antenna interaction and local
> line noise problems from the equation.
>
> How to do this?
>
> 1. Locate 50 stations along a remote flat seacoast a set distance
> from high tide levels every mile along a 50 mile stretch of isolated
> beach. During the summertime, comfort should not be much of a
> problem due to temperature. Tents, generators, porta-potties and
> coolers could provide what most of us need to survive a 24 hour contest.
> We do it all the time in Field Day don't we?
>
> 2. Use identical multiband verticals with identical radial systems.
> These are simple, inexpensive, easy to erect, and should work very
> well near salt water.
>
> 3. Use small <1KW generators like the VP8THU/VP8GEO team used...
> possibly backed up by UPS in case a referee temporarily forgets to
> refuel.
Some of us at W1AW/5 tossed around very similar ideas while we were on
standby to operate. One place this could be done is Padre Island
National Seashore on the Gulf coast of Texas. I'm sure there are
places in Florida and the barrier islands of North Carolina that
would work, too.
Drawbacks:
* Random beach-goers walking into RF fields, touching the antennas, etc.
* At least on Padre, there's a lot of vehicle traffic on the beach -
which means ignition noise.
* Texas, Florida, and the Carolinas are all subject to summer thunderstorms
and tropical rains.
* There would be concern about the heat giving the USA and SA operators
an unfair advantage over EU operators.
In any event, I think Florida would make a great host site - the terrain
across the state is very flat, you could robably find enough air-conditioned
operating sites in a 50 kilometer radius, and the Florida Contest Group is
fairly active and involved.
Other places that I think would be great:
* Japan (although, the way things are going, it wouldn't surprise me if
next year there were no Japanese teams invited at all.)
* Australia
* SMC country
--
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Kenneth E. Harker "Vox Clamantis in Deserto" kharker@cs.utexas.edu
University of Texas at Austin Amateur Radio Callsign: WM5R
Department of the Computer Sciences VP, Central Texas DX & Contest Club
Taylor Hall TAY 2.124 Maintainer of Linux on Laptops
Austin, TX 78712-1188 USA http://www.cs.utexas.edu/users/kharker/
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