[UK-CONTEST] Re Contest results/publishing etc

[Phil Cooper]

Hi all,

I have been quite amused by some of the comments about scoring, and the
publishing of results, and I feel that the topic has partly lost the plot!

Yes, the RSGB needs to get the scores out in a timely fashion, and I
understand that this is done by "volunteers", and their acts are praiseworth
etc etc etc.
However, the simple fact is that the RSGB do not - in general - get results
out quickly at all, IOTA being but one example.
Many RTTY contest results are declared in 4 - 8 weeks, although I accept
that not all are.

It is about time the RSGB managed to find a better way to process results,
and simply get them out in a reasonable time-frame. Surely there is someone
within the RSGB that has the ability to create such software, or maybe there
is already a suitable product out there?

I totally disagree with M5AAV's view that the 3830 is a "....pointless
ego-trip.....". It is there for us to use to compare performance with those
others that also post there. For me, it is far from an ego trip, as I am
always well down the list, but then I don't enter contests to win. I don't
have a big station, nor do I have a big ego. It is simply a way to see how
well I did in comparison to whoever else posts their claimed score.

Mention was made of the 80m CC earlier on, and I do feel that this has
become a victim of its own success. I suspect that it is now getting very
close to forcing entrants to disobey the voluntary bandplan set out by the
RSGB for this contest. Even the RTTY segment is now way too small to carry
the traffic.
It is a success, though, but maybe it is time to think about changes for
next year, or some will be forced to call outside the band limits.
There is also a slightly unfair representation within some clubs. Some of
these are more national than others, with far higher numbers of potential
entrants. How about taking only the top five scores from any one club? Or
limiting it to a local area? Probably not good ideas, but something to think
about, unless you belong to one of the top five clubs.

How do we get new blood into the contesting fraternity? Well, taking 11
months to produce results from IOTA doesn't help in this age of instant
gratification! Even the 80m CC is now suffering slightly, in that the latest
results are actually some 2 months old.

I guess Don G3XTT has quite a task ahead, and wish him well with trying to
please you lot! I am sure that he will end up being criticised for this or
that, but I hope he proves you all wrong.

Ah well, perhaps this discussion will carry in in FHFN!!! See you there!

73 for now, and off to the shack for the 80m CC CW leg!
Phil GU0SUP




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