[UK-CONTEST] May 2m Contest

[David Butler]

Ray GM4CXM said ......

<snip>
Your message is an absolutely perfect example why the CC decision to ban 
KST/Cluster use in RSGB VHF contests was seriously flawed.
Here you are, a CC member, travelling to a semi rare location at a cost of 
time and money and your remoteness and QTF to most operators deem 
KST/Cluster use a necessity to either arrange a schedule with no guarantee 
of success but certainly to experiment.

This is a ridiculous rule when VHF experimentation is penalised for the 
majority due to some unknown minority abusing KST or the Cluster.

Last Tuesday was a good example during the 70cm UK Activity Contest when I 
worked what GM's/G's I could hear but also worked a couple of OZ's, one of 
them being 880Km distant and the schedule arranged on KST. Considering the 
spectrum available to operate, the very narrow beamwidth of my antennas on 
70cm, the fact he was  in the Nordic Activity Contest so would be looking 
OZ/LA/SM most of the time, we would never have known the path was open on 
70cm so experimentation won the day. All required information was exchanged 
over the air.


David G4ASR replied ......

In my opinion the use of 'KST chat **during a contest** is nothing more than 
picking up a telephone and asking for a sked.

It's got nothing to do with 'experimentation' during a contest.

It's not amateur 'radio' contesting - it is degenerating into a series of 
phone calls to arrange sked times & frequency.

It is as ridiculous as some people who use FSK441 or JT6M and then 
'telephone' everyone in Europe to say "here I am - please call me"

That's not real radio!

73 David G4ASR