[UK-CONTEST] G4PIQ/P Reports for 21/28 SSB etc.

[Jonathan G0DVJ]

FWIW, I agree with the majority of Andy's posting.

I have in recent years spent a substantial amount of time working with 
groups and individuals who are very new to contesting, are learning the 
basics, and running very basic station equipment (often not very suited 
to contesting).  There are pro's and cons for getting such participants 
involved in each of the various events.

WAE is more of a challenge from the exchange viewpoint, CQWW is harder 
from the busy band / strong sig / poor receiver & non directional 
antenna aspect as well as the "christ that bloke sounds 
quick/professional etc. I'd better not get in his way" effect.  The 
smaller domestic ones (21/28, Top Band events, AFS, etc.) also present 
their own challenges for the beginner.  But each of these also has 
advantages for the newcomer to try too.

But beware - one thing I have learned by observation is that it is 
unhelpful to class all beginners in the one category when thinking about 
the pro's and cons of any one potentially suitable event.   It is very 
helpful to have a whole range of different events and event types 
available.

Jonathan G0DVJ.
Op: G4IRC, M1CRO, M4U, G0RGH, G4MRS, G0KPW, SQ6W et al.
--


On Monday, October 7, 2002, at 10:45  am, Andy Cook, G4PIQ wrote:
>
> A national contests organisation is essential to
>
> 1. Actively build and run the support framework in-country that 
> encourages
> new folks on, issues national awards, publishes national tables, sets 
> the
> framework rules, build award and table frameworks to encourage newcomers
> like the M3 guys who it is so good to hear on and running in contests.
>
> We should also recognise that events like 21/28 aren't a whole lot of 
> fun
> for folks running 10W (or even 100W) and a wet string sub-urban 
> antenna -
> there just isn't the volume of easy to work stations about and after a
> couple of hours, it's very slow and dull. You only get an acceptable 
> rate in
> this sort of event over a period of some hours by calling CQ, and that 
> is
> really only effective with reasonable antennas and/or more power. Events
> like CQWW and WPX have enough activity from folks with good signals that
> someone with a relatively poor signal can by constantly occupied working
> stuff in S&P mode. For this reason, with the ability to work inter EU, 
> that
> I would prefer to build national events around WPX or CQWW rather than 
> WAE.
>