[UK-CONTEST] CQ Calls - a plea

[GORDON BROWN]

Ken,
      They stopped teaching UK geogeaphy at school many years ago!
Gordon.



On 11 July 2011 21:14, Ken Eastty <ken.g3lvp at btinternet.com> wrote:

> Darrell,
>
> The point that I'm  trying to make is that very few people calling CQ in
> V/UHF contests or at other times
> give their location in any way. I suggested that a simple geographical
> location is more useful
> than transmitting a four letter/two figure reference.  The whole of the
> locator
> needs to be copied for the information to be really useful. However it
> seems that
> I made the mistake of assuming that most people would know where UK
> counties & major cities are.
>
> Working a DX station is easier, we know roughly which way to point the beam
> towards France Germany etc. but another G station might be in the same
> square but 100kM away and can be difficult to copy if both stations are
> in the
> null of the others beams (especially on 70cm).
>
> Including the name of the county or nearest major city (not small town
> or village)
> in the CQ call makes getting the beam on approximately the correct
> heading quick & easy
> (assuming basic knowledge of UK geography but see above!)
> With the slow pace of V/UHF contests including the general location AND
> Locator
> shouldn't be a problem certainly better than CQ CQ CQ cq cq.....QSB into
> the noise.
>
> In case anyone still hasn't got the point I can find beam heading given
> a locator
> but generally that means keying it into the PC or referring to a map.
>
> 73...
>
> Ken
>
> G3LVP
>
>
> On 10/07/2011 16:59, Darrell G0HVQ wrote:
> > But surely that's the beauty of squares...you don't need to *know*
> > anything, yiu can work it out from the info given e.g. if you're in
> > IO82 and you hear somone calling from IO85 or IO86, you know to beam
> > north; likewise if they're in IO80, you beam south (the last bit of
> > the locator isn't going to make that much difference unless you have a
> > very big, sharp beam).
> >
> > How many cities, towns and villages in the UK? I wouldn't have a clue
> > where 99% of them are.
> >
> > 73
> > Darrell
> >
> >
> >
> > ----- Original Message ----- From: "Ken Eastty"
> > <ken.g3lvp at btinternet.com>
> > To: "Ray James" <gm4cxm at yahoo.co.uk>
> > Cc: <uk-contest at contesting.com>
> > Sent: Sunday, July 10, 2011 5:01 PM
> > Subject: Re: [UK-CONTEST] CQ Calls - a plea
> >
> >
> >> Thanks Ray,
> >>
> >> Even after all this time (how long?) I can find Scares on the map but
> >> have no idea what the locator might be for the Mull of Kintyre.
> >>
> >> As for remembering  the locator/beam heading of every one you work on
> >> V/UHF as someone suggested
> >> sounds like something that only a candidate for Master Mind might do!
> >>
> >> 73...
> >>
> >> Ken
> >>
> >> G3LVP
> >>
> >> On 10/07/2011 09:49, Ray James wrote:
> >>>
> >>> --- On Tue, 5/7/11, Ken Eastty<ken.g3lvp at btinternet.com>  wrote:
> >>>
> >>>
> >>>> I miss the days when the actual location was required as
> >>>> part of the
> >>>> exchange, that could be a real challenge with some groups
> >>>> being really
> >>>> inventive with their location  (15km W of Scares -
> >>>> Where the .... that?)
> >>>
> >>> A look at the VHF Contesting page at www.qsl.net/gm4cxm may give you
> >>> a clue Ken.
> >>> Chris will no doubt correct me if I'm wrong but I believe we were
> >>> asked to change that particular one!
> >>>
> >>> 73 Ray GM4CXM
> >>>
> >>>
> >>
> >> _______________________________________________
> >> UK-Contest mailing list
> >> UK-Contest at contesting.com
> >> http://lists.contesting.com/mailman/listinfo/uk-contest
> >
> >
>
> _______________________________________________
> UK-Contest mailing list
> UK-Contest at contesting.com
> http://lists.contesting.com/mailman/listinfo/uk-contest
>