[UK-CONTEST] Comments on the Jubilee Contest

[Steve Jones]

Hi All,
I am finally finding the time to put down my thoughts on the Jubilee contest. See seperate email for draft score.

Entering the contest was one of those very last minute decisions you live to regret! 60 seconds before the start of the contest I was still trying to re fix some radials to the HF2V vertical so I could operate on 40m. However I had set up the SDJ file and had made up a nice table of tune and load settings for my new Acomb 1000 pa (first real outing for the beast- which proved very quiet, and cooler, and easier to qsy than my old TL922).

My intention was to use the contest as a practice event ready for IOTA, having had little time for hf contests over the last twelve months. I also wanted to try using  the second rx on my FT1000 for the first time in a contest, to search for mults (mults? what mults!). Having previously gained call area certificates in every BERU entered over the last few years I thought that even a casual entry would net me the required 50 mults (wrong!)

I had set SDJ up for mixed mode with a keying lead and paddle prior to the contest, but my intention was to do SSB only. SDJ worked fine with the FT1000 (Thanks Paul) interface, although I did have some problems (with RF I think) during the contest with SDJ inserting random numbers into fields if I was transmitting at the time of giving and recording a report, and it then added two false mults once the fields were corrected.

I took time off for meals and went to bed at about 0130am with the intention of getting up at dawn. I stayed in bed and missed any morning dx on 80m and 40m, so it turned out to be even more of a part time effort than I had intended.

Thank goodness for the eastern EU and DL and NA stations! Very poor level of activity from VE I thought, and it was obvious that a lot of the BERU regulars who were active were doing cw only.  I was also called by M3 and MQ stations, and had to take time out to politely explain the rules.

My thoughts for keeping the contest? :

Replace BERU with "Worked all Commonwealth Contest"
Leave it SSB/CW/MIXED mode
Allow mults to count both modes on the same band (more interesting for mixed entrants)
Extend mults to include all UK DXCC countries
Allow everyone to work their own call area for points and mult
Change points to 1 point for own continent and 5 points for other continent (to give incentive to work dx)
Include a 12 hour section (min periods of 1 hour, max of 12, no need to be in one block)
Include a 100w section (no antenna restrictions)
Include a 100w section (single element antenna only)
Include a 10w section (no antenna restriction)

Yes that is a lot of sections, but it will encourage newcomes and people with restricted power and/or antenna farms.

Include a club award too? (up to three ops per team, and any combination of sections)

Did I enjoy the contest? Sort of - being called by a KL7 on 10m long path Saturday pm took me by surprise. I got fed up of running EU though, and did not find the second rx much help given the lack of mults about on SSB only.
If its around next year, I will probably either do CW only or mixed. 

73

Steve GW0GEI

 





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