[UK-CONTEST] 80M SSB CC

[Tony]

Callum wrote:
I do wonder if being in the middle of the country helps (Solihull). I
finished off with 120, my best score so far -

It was a very odd evening Callum, here in the Hereford area it was like pushing a boulder up a vertical rock face -  53 Qs in total,  S/P always,  some stations called I called over a dozen times without success during the contest.  OK my station is  me driving a TS-50 at about 90W into a G5RV at an average of 20 feet or so, but it returned quite creditable scores in last years CCs.
I've been hearing from a station in Essex a regular who often makes very respectable scores who ended up with 20 odd Qs.    A GW3 who again usually makes big scores wasn't doing well,  a G3 in the Portsmouth area was just ahead of me at about 2100, and he usually has loads calling him.   

As to being in the centre of the country,  I think it helps, also being in or near a major conurbation certainly can make a big difference.     Obviously superior antennas are a big bonus.    

I suspect that some of the big scores are also boosted by "friendly locals" calling early on in the contest,  if you can organise your fan club to call you en-mass then you can I guess make a lot of Qs per minute for a while - I think that this is starting to become common practice.    I know that some clubs do practise an only work members policy.   I guess a combination of being in the right location and having cooperative local "supporters" would load the dice very much in a stations favour.

I'm a great fan of as much of an even playing field as possible in RSGB contests,  but I am in a minority,  I tend to look at my scores and the various certificates in my shack and think - at least they were gained on operating merit using 100W and basic antennas !

Cheers to all,  here's looking forward to the next round of CCs - great idea

73  Tony G3ZRJ