[UK-CONTEST] G3RCV/P Cray Valley RS - NFD and RBN

[dave at g4buo.com]

In previous years at Cray Valley we have combined NFD with a part-time
entry in the 6m contest and a barbeque, but this time it was a low-key
affair. There was a small crew on site to start setting up at 11am, and
everything was set up and ready to go by 3pm. We're in a field next to a
pub so everyone had a chance for beer and food, if required. We started
with me and Mark, M0DXR operating but after a full-time entry last weekend
in WPX, Mark couldn't stay the whole weekend and left at about 10pm, half
an hour after Steve, G0CKP had arrived. I was the only one on-site
throughout the contest and this lack of manpower was a problem at times.

10m wasn't as hot as it had been the previous Saturday in WPX, but it's
possible we may have missed some of the openings. Certainly people in
other parts of the country were working stuff that we just couldn't
detect. We were amazed to be called by K3ZO at good strength, and we
worked a few more Ws also. At the other end of the spectrum, topband was
extremely noisy with static but I suspect here too, our score is somewhat
down.

We're always amazed how well a 270ft doublet gets out, and we felt quite
loud into the States and were also called by Barry, VK2BJ on both 40 and
20m. No Jas were worked, but we felt overall that activity levels were
high.

Before all the hoo-hah on uk-contest about RBN, I had already decided that
we should give it a try this year: I was sure it was allowed by the rules
as currently written. It's up to the Committee what they decide, but I
have to say that RBN (and probably Skimmer in equal measure) really is a
game-changer.

RBN is the Viagra of field day - no more little knob. Many groups using
FT1000MP and similar radios have taken advantage of the second receiver so
that when in Search and Pounce mode, two operators can scan the band and
look for needed QSOs. One operator on the big knob, one operator on the
little knob. This doesn't quite double the rate available when S+P but it
does increase it rather a lot over what can be achieved by a single
operator at the radio.

Now, instead of two people scanning the band you have the benefit of the
RBN (or Skimmer) feed, which populates the band map with needed stations.
It's not quite shooting fish in a barrel, but very nearly! You still have
to decide if it's a busted call, or if there's likely to be propagation to
the station you click on, but it renders classic S+P almost redundant.

It was different, and I think Mark, Steve and I adapted to it pretty
quickly and I'm sure it helped our score. Personally I don't like it and I
would prefer that (with a few other things in this life) it had never been
invented but it's there and now we have to decide whether we want the
rules to permit it or not in field day. Just about every other contest in
the calendar allows cluster for multi-op, though this isn't an absolute
reason to allow it in NFD. Skimmer is perhaps more problematic. You can
get around considerations of second RX and separate antenna by adapting
your RX and feeding it from the IF. I doubt it will be long before a
broadband Skimmer feed is available in SDR radios, if it isn't already, so
that your SDR rig 'out of the box' will provide this functionality.
Certainly a lot for RSGB CC to consider.

Final QSO total was 1257, for a score of 4,802

      Qs   Points
160   113   840
 80   182   684
 40   318  1042
 20   407  1226
 15   150   492
 10    87   538

Dave G4BUO