[UK-CONTEST] HFCC Site

[don.field at gmail.com]

 ..although I know I will get flack for even suggesting it..

 What an odd comment Stewart!

 It is obvious to anyone, even to those "behind the scenes" so to speak, 
that the preferred solution would be to have everything under one umbrella 
site. Bob G3ORY has already answered fairly comprehensively and I won't 
repeat what he has already said, but simply add a couple of other points.

 1. RSGB has a new IT man (Rob King). His first priority is to clean up 
what is already on the RSGB site (site maintenance, as anyone who runs a 
website will know, is always a nightmare!). His next priority is some 
rationalisation of what is out there by way of committee wesbites, etc.

2. Part of the problem, as Bob has said, is wandering IP addresses. But 
there has also been a concern about external editing of the RSGB site. 
Regional managers are able to do so, but at the level of simple text 
editing. The Contest and ARDF sites need much more. We store logs on the 
sites, run PHP scripts, do all sorts. Currently the RSGB server is not set 
up such that this sort of access is allowed from outside. Like Bob, I 
would love it to happen - "London bus" syndrome and all that. In the 
meantime it is unfortunate that there have been problems with the vhfcc 
server (generously provided to the Committee free of charge for many years, 
going back to a time when commercial servers were still pretty pricey). But 
there seems little point in migrating them right now when, hopefully, as 
described above, a proper long-term solution isn't too far away.

 Meantime, apologies for any inconvenience suffered.

 Don Field G3XTT

(wearing my Contest Cttee hat)

 

> ----- Original Message -----
> From: Cooper, Stewart
> Sent: 08/09/08 02:32 pm
> To: UK Contest Reflector
> Subject: Re: [UK-CONTEST] HFCC Site
> 
> I can't understand why this (HF and VHF Contest Committees') website 
> seems to be so problematic. I've been caught out twice now. I needed to 
> see the 144MHz Trophy rules to understand the 6 hour section.These are 
> not in the RSGB Year Book. I had to make an assumption, and got it wrong. 
> OK, so I leave it to the last minute to check the rules, but that's what 
> the web is good at!
> For the sake of £20 a year, this could be hosted with a 100% reliable 
> service. www.70mhz.org just never goes down - 10+ years and I can't 
> remember the last time it was down. Why is the HF web site hosted with a 
> VHF related URL? Why do we have to have so many web sites linked outwith 
> the RSGB web site. Couldn't they all be co-hosted and made to work within 
> the same URL? The answer is 'yes', although I know I will get flack for 
> even suggesting it. And the VHF web site needs a face-lift. And it's 
> slow.
> Sorry for the rant, but the 'Sports Radio' link on RSGB.org is not 
> helping our hobby.
> Whew, 73
> Stewart
> GM4AFF
> 
> 
> -----UK-Contest at contesting.com
> http://lists.contesting.com/mailman/listinfo/uk-contest
>