[UK-CONTEST] 21/28Mhz, the future?

[Dave Lawley]

Some of you will know that the 21/28MHz CW contest is a relatively 
recent introduction. Going back to a Radcom from 1971, when I first 
joined RSGB, this was contained in the preface to the rules for that 
year's "21/28MHz Telephony Contest"
"... Due to the likely deterioration in the sunspot cycle, 21MHz has 
been reintroduced....."

So it seems that at one time the phone contest was on 28MHz only. 21MHz 
CW was introduced in the mid-70s and was changed to 21/28MHz more recently.

Times were very different then. There were fewer contests, so an event 
in which you only worked Gs was of more interest, and clearly there were 
proportionally more Gs to be worked. Hence the three 1.8MHz contests, 
7MHz phone and 7MHz CW contests as well as 21/28Mhz phone.

It seemed to me for many years that single- or perhaps dual-band 
contests were attractive to those with limited room for antennas, the 
situation of many Gs. It is easier to be competitive on one or two bands 
than on all six, for example you can easily put together a very 
effective quad for 15 and 10m using 8ft garden canes. Similarly, to be 
competitive in the 7Mhz contests (CW at least) you only needed to put up 
a 30ft vertical and some radials. However, that contest simply didn't 
attract enough G activity to make it viable, and I believe the 21/28MHz 
events are going the same way.

At the risk of my elmer G6BQ (all 24 stone of him!) turning in his 
grave, I also believe it is now becoming hard to justify the RSGB 1.8Mhz 
contests. The proportion of G activity has declined massively. Ok, the 
top Gs can make around 200 QSOs, but the top oversease entrants struggle 
to get 60 QSOs, a rate of 15 per. hour. What happens I'm sure is that 
they make most of those QSOs in the first half of the contest and spend 
the rest of the time scratching around for the odd G that comes home 
from the pub and switches on the rig. We're just not providing an 
attractive contest any more. Even in the days of paper logging, 15/hour 
was an easy rate, but now that just about everyone uses a computer for 
logging that sort of rate makes for a very boring contest.

The 80m CC contests this year were a great success, and the HFCC is keen 
to find ways of picking up the many new contesters from these events and 
getting them interested in other, perhaps more challenging, events, 
whether RSGB sponsored or not. I'd hope that this will lead to greater 
UK activity in the topband contests, though a lot of people have 
problems getting enough room to put up an antenna for that band. 
Regarding the 21/28MHz events, we recognise that in their present form 
they just aren't working and I believe that in addition to the options 
listed by Bob 5B4AGN we have to face the question whether these events 
should be discontinued altogether.

Dave G4BUO