[UK-CONTEST] RSGB Contest Committee

[Chairman, RSGB Contest Committee]

>From the RSGB Contest Committee

I'm replying to the main points raised on uk-contest about the Committee report on its Spring meeting.  You can find a copy of this report at www.rsgbcc.org/hf/information/decisions.shtml 

 

>  RSGB contest calendar ...how parochial the events are.  

To some extent the Contest Committee is responding to the "market" by providing such events, on 80m and VHF/UHF, for example.  These club events, of which there is one almost every week in the evenings, have been a great success.  However, they are not what some seasoned contesters might call "real" contests, but they have attracted entrants who don't consider themselves contesters.  We have begun a programme to get these entrants more interested: compared to countries like the USA and Germany, our international contest participation is poor.   A small, but possibly significant step for beginners is to encourage them to subscribe to uk-contest, where they will find that there is another world of contesting out there, a source of encouragement and information.


 RoPoCo CONTESTS

>  If we don't keep the CW event you never will attract newcomers
>  ... halving the CW sessions of RoPoCo is destined to reduce rather 
>  than to encourage newcomers.

>  Correct copy of ... something unpredictable like ... a postcode in 
>  ROPOCO) is an excellent way of improving your communication skills. 

Only one of these contests will become SSB, and a similar argument applies with regard to communication skills.  If the SSB contest proves popular, then entrants might be tempted to try the CW version as well.  
  
>  highlight the two combined results and the overall 
>  winner's trophy. It is not obvious

Good point.


IOTA CONTEST

>  I have long thought that island stations should not send 
>  serial numbers.  The report is quite long enough with 599 
>  eu005.  Has this ever been discussed?

Yes, as well as the current uk-contest discussions on whether non-island to non-island QSOs should be devalued or completely disallowed.  The IOTA Contest rules are due for review in 2012, so views will be sought next year.


FIELD DAYS

>  encourage more Clubs to take part in NFD? ... 50's and 60's  
>  ... were around 150 Clubs participating with G portables.


Contesters are getting older, and some find it harder to get out and about.  We need more young contesters, and the contesting community in general can help by trying to encourage anyone who shows interest.   


1.8 MHz CW CONTESTS ... allow non-UK to non-UK QSOs 

>  Whist fiddling with the rules for the 160m CW contest 
>  why not introduce an SSB 160m Contest?

>  any contest where USA can 
>  work USA becomes purely domestic

We are still open to suggestions for these contests.


AFS SUPER-LEAGUE

>  My cynical view suggests that all this will do 
>  is introduce louder (and probably) wider signals 
>  on the bands. I do not believe we need it.

As a committee, we have to cater for two extremes (as well as all the people in the middle).  At one end, we want to encourage beginners, as explained above.  At the other end, we need to make our contests interesting for the "experts", so that they add at least one or two RSGB contests to the tally of international ones they enter each year.  The Super-League is an experiment, to see how clubs and their members respond to the challenge of operating both above and below 30MHz.  We know from the results that around 20 clubs enter three of the current four AFS contests, with about a third of that number entering all four, so there is scope for a bit more effort to achieve a good placing in the Super-League, without affecting the way the rest of us enter these events.  We'll be monitoring signal quality very closely.


HF CHAMPIONSHIP

>  it is possible to win the HF Championship using only
>  CW and not possible to win it using only SSB 
>  (or any other mode).  
>  [I favour the] highest positions in 2 CW contests plus 2 SSB contests 
>  plus 1 RTTY contest plus 1 other data mode contest

 
We are looking at ways to change the balance -- the question is still open to debate.


CONTEST RULES

>  Remove the ridiculous rule which places 100w stations with 
>  beams in a category where they compete against 400w 

>  VHF contests ... rules regarding power and antennas
>  ... the current situation where a station with two Yagi's 
>  and 50 watts has to be in the same section as a 400W 
>  single or multiple yagi.

Some contests make a distinction, and some do not.  There are several conflicting goals -- making a roughly level playing-field, encouraging improvement and innovation, and not fragmenting the entry categories, to name a few.  However, all suggestions are welcome.
 

REAL-TIME SCORING

>  My current view is that it would be a waste
>  of effort unless it become mandatory for stations 
>  submitting an entry to take part.

This is still in the planning stage, and will not be compulsory.


DATA CC CONTESTS on 80m

>  RTTY is the major contesting data mode and up to now has 
>  been at 45.5Bauds. ... the BARTG 75 Baud contest, which 
>  a lot thought a waste of time, it has proven to be very popular.
>  ... would be interesting to see how 75Baud RTTY performed  
>  ... extremely simple to go from one speed to another and the 
>  same narrow CW filter can be used.  ... enable scores to be 
>  increased, in the small amount of time spent on RTTY.
>  [I would] not suggest an increase in PSK speed as the 
>  bandwidth is already very small 

Any other thoughts on this, please?

 

>  Disappointed not to see the introduction of scoring via 
>  locator exchanges for any of the low band contests 
>  ... also would be good to have a 4x multiple for QRP 
>  stations ... per Stew Perry.

Again, more input requested.


CONTEST COMMITTEE MONITORING OF UK-CONTEST

>  At present we have no way of knowing whether input is 
>  acted upon or not.

The reflector is monitored, but action is not always taken.  Contest rules and adjudication have to remain relatively stable, and we have to consider this as well as the conflicting ideas coming from many sources.  And those who are just entering this segment of our hobby will have different concerns, which are harder to assess.  


>  ... the proposals have plainly been well thought through.

A happy customer!  There had to be one somewhere!


73,

Ed Taylor, GW3SQX
Chairman, RSGB Contest Committee

chairman at rsgbcc.org