[UK-CONTEST] Fwd: GB7HQ and DXCC/LOTW

[Paul Beecham]

---------- Forwarded message ----------
From: Paul Beecham <paul at attenuate.org>
Date: Jul 14, 2008 12:08 PM
Subject: Re: [UK-CONTEST] GB7HQ and DXCC/LOTW
To: Chris Tran GM3WOJ <zl1ct1 at gm7v.com>


Hi all,
As a station host for GB7HQ (15M CW) I have been mulling over whether
to comment on this as its sometimes just as well to keep your head
down, these are my personal thoughts and no way reflect what others in
GB7HQ think.
I have to agree with Chris, it is very frustrating when you hear this
and that about GB7HQ with all the hard work that is put in by the team
by people who just don't get (or want to) what GB7HQ is about.
Constructive criticism is one thing but some of the comments are at
best not very well thought out to being just plain rude and
vindictive. Maybe some comments are just a wind up but this tells
another story about their state of mind perhaps.

On the operational side we are very happy and indeed encourage UK
station op's to call GB7HQ on all our band slots. An award can be
gained for working us all, and even some op's set their selves a
challenge on how quickly they can achieve this.
Because of Geographical location and the bands that GB7HQ stations are
on in relation to them it is not always that easy to work them all or
at all .
There are some op's however that gripe and moan about stuff that is
completely out of our control and that there must  be something wrong
with the host stations set up or organisation if they can't .
With out being rude or disrespectful to operators with a modest
station and aerials it is can be very hard to hear G stations calling
you amongst the very loud EU/rest of the World mix. This is often the
case even with quite respectful station set ups too! After all would
you choose 10,15 or 20m for inter UK communication in the first
instance? when you have lower bands ?.  We even broke runs if we heard
one however fleetingly!
Maybe they should look at their own setups and improve the ubiquitous
G5RV@ 15 feet. Infact many do as they might only need one band slot
which they finally achieve with an aerial upgrade ! ( Please don't be
offended if you have a G5RV but you know what I'm getting at )

The organisers of the UK team have a difficult role, firstly they have
to identify the
stations that might be suitable.
Contact the station owners as to availability, are they willing to
"hire it out" ?
Get the op's onboard ,sort the training issues regarding logging
software and infrastructure.
Liaise with Ofcom, web site, publicity,qsl cards etc etc.
Get the teams ready and provide the support that they need.
More stuff I don't even know about !!

There's a lot more going on behind the scenes than meets the eye just
for one 24 hr contest.

During the contesting year most of the people involved in GB7HQ
compete against each other in many hard fought battles but come
together as a team for IARU. Why can't the UK amateur radio community
come together for one day at least  and support the GB team?

73 Paul G6PZ


On 7/14/08, Chris Tran GM3WOJ <zl1ct1 at gm7v.com> wrote:
> Hi Dave et al
>
> With respect, this in an LoTW problem not a GB7HQ problem. When LoTW was
> constructed, some key areas were poorly thought out - IOTA island naming
> being a key one for example.
>
> Since 2003 when GB7HQ went 'nationwide', the printed GB7HQ QSL cards carry
> the info as the which DXCC the particular band/mode station was located in.
> The logs submitted to LoTW (by Nigel G3TXF) are carefully identified as
> well.
>
> I'm disappointed that some recent posting seem to be keen to criticise GB7HQ
> instead of supporting our national team - many hours of effort go into the
> preparations and the actual contest. GB7HQ is a complex set-up.
>
> On a positive note, at the 40m SSB station here we noted a big increase in
> the number of UK stations calling and working us, then moving to another
> band to work GB7HQ - thanks everyone !
>
> More reports about GB7HQ soon....
>
> 73
> Chris
> GM3WOJ
>
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