[UK-CONTEST] 144AC contesting

[Ray James]

Hi Steve MBQ,

Thanks for your input on M3 and the May 144MHz contest.
That got me scurrying for the entry, results and feedback.
Wow...that looked like a fun challenge this year and includes a CC comment that entries were at a 10 year high!!!

This just goes to prove my point that individuals and groups will support contests with innovative rules.
Now just imagine us having the same fun month in, month out in the UK Activity Contests? A very mouth watering prospect indeed.

I am positive that such an amendment would lead to a gradual and ever increasing participation as more and more competitors encourage more and more locals and relative locals to appear each month because they need their postal codes for a multiplier. It worked for me here when I did an annual contest including M3 so it would definitely work even better for regular monthly events.

The potential is present to encourage even more UK amateurs to participate on weak signal modes on all our VHF/UHF and Microwave bands. 
Many who presently operate FM only can be worked on that mode for a PC multiplier and given some interest to also participate on SSB/CW. 
The reverse happened to me believe it or not!
Operating GM3HAM/P from the Mull of Galloway during the 4m Trophy Contest for the first time, I was scratching my head why we were putting up a large vertically polarised aerial as well as the monster horizontal beam.
All became abundantly clear from the start.....loads of non-contest folk on 4m FM are using vertical polarisation and they all have a postal code!
Besides picking up all we needed from GI, a fair number from GM, we picked up loads of needed PC's all the way down into the midlands. 
I ended up buying a 25w FM 4m rig which is now resident in the car!

If a contest can bring about such a flurry of activity on an irregular basis, imagine the end product with the regular 2.5 hours a month UK Activity Contest.


73 Ray GM4CXM
IO75TW GS