[UK-CONTEST] Contesting Activity

[Stephen Telenius-Lowe]

Dennis Andrews, G3MXJ, wrote:

> I am on the point of retiring to France - watch out for major contest
> activity from F5VHY! As part of this move I recently joined REF. Their
> support of operating in general and HF/Contesting in particular is an
> eye-opener.
>
> Just look at the contents of the November issue of their magazine...........
> .............
>  - a total of 51 pages of operating interest out of a total of 98 pages
> (including covers) with just 5 1/4 pages of advertising.
>
> Contrast that with the latest issue of RadCom; 14 1/2 pages of operating
> interest in 100 pages (including covers) and 40 1/4 pages of advertising!
>
> There's a message here somewhere!

The message seems to be that the French advertisers don't like all that
operating information! Seriously, if RadCom could only attract 5 1/4 pages of
advertising (a) I'd be out of a job, and (b) RSGB subscription fees would be a
lot higher. Advertising in RadCom is an extremely important revenue source for
the RSGB. Admittedly,
40 1/4 pages of ads *is* a lot, but it is usually in the order of 36 - 38,
which includes RSGB 'house ads' (books etc) - there were several additional
paid ads in the December issue, presumably because advertisers wanted to get in
the December (= Christmas) issue.

I also get to see the REF magazine and I agree it is a very good one
(incidentally, very few national societies have a magazine anywhere near as
good as the REF's, QST,
CQ DL (DARC) or - dare I say it? - RadCom. Most are extremely poor and very
'thin' in comparison, and that includes the JARL's magazine, even with their
vast number of members). As a DX / contest enthusiast myself, on a *personal*
level as an RSGB member I would be quite content to see RadCom with the same
proportion of operating features as the REF magazine. But I wouldn't be doing
my job properly if that's what I produced, and if that's the sort of magazine
RSGB members received the Society would undoubtedly lose a lot of the technical
/ rag-chewer / anti-contester members who - like it or not - are certainly a
larger group than the pro-contesters. It's the old story of trying to produce a
balanced magazine which has something for everyone in most if not every issue,
not always an easy task as I'm sure you appreciate!

You should be receiving the January issue of RadCom by the end on next week
(yes, very early - because of Christmas) and that contains the 12-page
'Contesting Guide', so if you do a count of that issue you should get a more
'favourable' (?) proportion of operating features.

Enjoy your retirement in France, Dennis!

73,
Steve, G4JVG.