[UK-CONTEST] Re 144MHz Contesting etc

[dave at g4buo.com]

The announcement on the RSGB page is a little late, and only gives one
side of the story. Faced with a demand for £1000 in 2009 rising to at
least £2000 in 2010, the beacon keeper had no choice but to announce its
closure. Access issues are a red herring.

It appears the letter to the beacon keeper went out without the knowledge
of the RSGB Board. The President is now personally involved and the beacon
will not close down in December.

The site is owned by Arqiva. They have a section on their web site about
corporate responsibility and since they benefit in the first place from
advancements made by radio amateurs, and secondly by employing people with
skills who started out through amateur radio, I would like to think that
they can pay more than lip service to the concept of corporate
responsibility in this instance.

It is very unlikely that an alternative site could be found which would
match the present one. If you want GB3VHF to stay at Wrotham then I
suggest you make your wishes very clear to your RSGB Regional Rep. or
Board member.

Dave G4BUO

> On 11 Nov 2008 at 8:06, Jiri Culak wrote:
>
>> Wow, where this this information (GB3VHF) came from?
>> I don't believe it (or more likely don't want to believe this)
>> GB3VHF is one of the best beacons, several times hrd from my OK2
location in JN99BM and BO. Heard via Es on FT817 while as 3V8/M0ITY. I am
sure that in case it's funds are to be cut off, we can maybe help there? I
know that this beacon is monitored a lot from continent and contributes to
vhf activity towards UK. If it about to be gone, impact will for sure
decrease already poor activity.
>
> See http://www.gb3vhf.co.uk/ and the linked discussion on their blogs. I
see there is now an announcement on the RSGB home page -
> http://www.rsgb.org/news/gb3vhf.php
>