[UK-CONTEST] AFS

[Lee Volante]

Hi Jim,

> Well I have finally discovered where all the action is!

Welcome to the reflector !

> On a completly different track with reference to the 21/29Mhz CW contest
being ruined by the WAG contest.  I did suggest to the HF
> Committee that the SSB and CW legs be changed around annually to give us
all a fair chance.

Just wanted to make a comment on this point.  Thanks for the suggestion -
I'd also brought exactly the same comment up at an HFCC meeting, but had it
suggested that it might not be a good idea.   In essence it's a simple rule
to adopt, but in practice may be more difficult to govern. The argument was
as follows....

Although Internet connectivity etc. is continuing to rise, it was felt that
there will remain for a time a group of contesters who do not have access to
up to date information, or receive contest details second or third hand.  An
annual swap could cause confusion as to which mode would be on which date.
Traditionally contests hold the same dates / modes relative in the year -
and contest calendars / column writers etc. often use the previous year's
rules when publicising events.   I've entered several contests organised by
other countries, and was only able to find rules for a previous year, on an
unofficial website.  But, touch wood, so far I've not been caught out.

Despite the RSGB calendar being published months before the contest, and all
Internet contest calendars being checked that they were  up to date, the
first year the 7 MHz DX was not run, I still found a few stations calling CQ
who I had to break the bad news to.  Similarly, an Internet contest calendar
did show a date for the Jubilee Contest 2003 until recently.   Even in the
UK, it can take a long time for news to sink in.  Last month I heard a
station on 2m FM signing /A  (I think that went out in 1988!), and very
occasionally someone still tries to give out a county multiplier and not a
district one in VHF contests.  :-)

Perhaps it would work with a couple of years 'bedding down' whilst the word
spreads - odd years CW comes first, even years SSB, although by then maybe
the contest will have been refreshed anyway.

Maybe someone will suggest the practice for CQ WW to avoid the often-time
clash with USA Thanksgiving !

73,

Lee G0MTN