[RTTY] ANARTS and BARTG contests .. the future

[John Barber GW4SKA]

Pat Leeper recently informed me that she would be unable to continue managing the ANARTS RTTY contest due to failing health. She has made every effort to find someone else in VK to take over the contest but with no success.

BARTG have had close links with ANARTS over the years and we felt that we should help in some way. After discussions between Pat and the BARTG committee we have decided on a course of action which I hope will meet with the approval of the RTTY contesting community.

For this year only the contest will be managed by John GW4SKA, the BARTG contest manager, with help towards expenses from ANARTS. The rules are much the same as in previous years but logs must come direct to anarts at bartg.org.uk. You can find the rules at http://www.anarts.com.au/rules2009.htm and they will also be available on the BARTG website shortly. This will save any disappointment for those of us who have made plans to enter the contest this year.

2009 will be the last running of the ANARTS RTTY contest. From 2010 we will be moving the BARTG HF RTTY Contest from March to the 2nd weekend in June. This will give us a bit more time between our Sprint and HF contests and also avoid the March clash of dates with the very popular Russian DX contest. 

My thanks go to Pat for her cooperation and hard work in running the previous contests. The ANARTS test has always been one of my favourites and I know that Pat did not want to let anyone down at short notice.

73 and see you all in June,

John GW4SKA
BARTG Contest Manager