[UK-CONTEST] Beru categories.

[brian coyne]

I enjoy taking part in Beru for the many reasons we see stated by all of the participants but I cannot help feeling that I am operating in a category where nothing can be achieved.
 
This is not a whinge but an attempt to draw attention to the anomoly of including low power stations with a beam antenna in the 'open' section. The subject has been raised before, I think the main rejecting reason given by the committee was a reluctance to create further categories and fragmentation of the result tables likened to the vhf contest results tables.

The latter is easily dealt with by annotation by numbers against each c/s listed in one table with a legend below, for each of the 12 & 24 hour tables.
 
I do not want a 'gong' for the winner of the section, or even a certificate (although the modern trend to 'self printing' removes that laborious task from the committee) but what I do want to know is how I have performed against my peers and there is just no way of knowing that under the present system. I am an average Joe i have a 30'x 60' plot with a 50' mast and a small 3 ele yagi, plus a couple of wire antennas for the low bands, there must be dozens of guys like me who enter, but who are they? it is anarchic to have to dispense with use of the yagi if we wish to be competetive but we have no prospect of being competetive in a section where use of an amplifier is allowed, the low bands becoming a particular handicap for the low power entrant.
 
Taking the QRP section as an example, two categories have been created, same power but an 'open' section for those who have beams, so why cannot  an 'open ' category be created for the low power section?
 
Consider NFD, same power levels imposed for restricted and open sections and recall how historically close are the results for the leaders of both sections. Not the same type of contest i know but it does go some way to underlining my point.
 
Time was when to make such a request we had to write to the committee as a lone voice, now thanks to the web we have this great forum where the committee can get feedback from the membership so please add your views either for , or against, this proposal. The committee do read and act on these pages.
 
73  Brian 5B4AIZ.