[UK-CONTEST] ARS 144mhz

[Ray James]

--- On Mon, 8/12/08, Andy Swiffin <a.l.swiffin at dundee.ac.uk> wrote:

> Well it wasn't really worth the bother.   
> 
> A grand total of 5 QSOs wasn't a lot to show and I now
> understand what Ray has been going on about.....


What a shame but not unexpected with only "Points Per Km" as the basis for results. This is the only RSGB 144MHz Affiliated Society Contest in a year.
One would assume the goal is to encourage communication nationally between members of affiliated clubs in the UK so participants do not even require the usual proviso of having to be an RSGB member to enter.    

I would suggest that the inclusion of a club name or initials in the contest exchange would be no great burden and each AFS participant carries a multiplier value of 1. This would make every AFS contact vital so in demand from the start to the finish. There would still remain the interest for those who want to fill their boots with contacts to non-AFS stations with PPKm.
As a further incentive, certificates to the leading 1, 2 or 3 stations in each of the 13 RSGB zones could also potentially enhance interest in all areas of the UK. The cost would be small but the potential benefit would be enormous.

There are at least 368 RSGB Affiliated Societies.

Zone
1   18
2   12
3   39
4   44
5   33
6    7
7   20
8   15
9   44
10  30
11  35
12  43
13  28

That is a lot of clubs.
Dave advisers us that some of the CC members are corresponding members so perhaps a good AFS contesting marketing task would be for the CC to be provided with updated AFS contact points each year and prompt each contact with AFS information to publicise to their membership in advance of events.

I can't sign off without including this gem from one of the AFS entrants.

"Generally average. 9 DXCC & 34 SQR. Needs more publicity in europe. Tnx to all"

73 Ray GM4CXM GS WoSARS