[UK-CONTEST] 144Mhz Trophy --lack of activity

Fri Sep 9 00:36:23 PDT 2011

Now I have a few statistics from the weekend - much better than relying on
my memory ............!

>From our coastal site in JO01:-

The most qsos, and the most points per square, came from JO31 contacts.

Second most "useful" square was IO83. That came as a surprise.

Other squares that gave us plenty of points, no surprises: JO30, 32, 40 and
42.

At the other extreme, we only had one qso each with IO70, 71, 72 and 73.
That result is a bit skewed because we had electrical qrm from the WSW.

Twenty years ago it seemed that every other Welsh hilltop was occupied. How
times have changed !

IO75, IO86 and IO85 gave us 3, 2 and 2 qsos respectively. I think this was
the worst direction for propagation and is not up to our normal
expectations.

Best dx (995km) was worked between 0600 and 0800. We had a modest "dawn
lift".

Well, that's enough facts and figures for this time of day !

Regards

John G4ZTR G0VHF/P

-----Original Message-----
From: uk-contest-bounces at contesting.com
[mailto:uk-contest-bounces at contesting.com] On Behalf Of Chris Parnell
Sent: 08 September 2011 22:41
To: UK contest Committee
Subject: Re: [UK-CONTEST] 144Mhz Trophy --lack of activity

Hi Guys,
Ive been following this thread with interest & several factors stated by
others are very relevant.
For the UKAC (2m) contests I operate from IO80WX on the Dorset/Wiltshire
border. Usually the IO80 square 
is only operated by a few "big" stations with good locations ie G3ZVW/G4RRA/
& me G0HFX, quite often I`m the only
one on thus 80 sq is highly sought as a multiplier and thus I get a
reasonable score.

This site is, however, totally unsatisfactory for a "trophy" entry and of
course as there are no multipliers in this contest one has to look for the
best location where most stations are likely to be heard and also the best
distances.
This is inevitably Central Europe ( DL/OK/OL/OE/F/HB etc), these are not and
would not be worked in sufficient quantity from a S-West or N or N-W
location to provide a competitive score in the open section.
Hence I travel, along with others, to JO01 to be assured of a good chance of
a win or high results position.

For a club or group to stand a chance of winning the trophy and being highly
placed in the IARU rating, one definitely  needs to be located
on/near the East Coast whatever others might think, even in the UKACs and
other contests many of the high scores are achieved with numerous Kms from
QSOs with the continent.  

Over the w/e in Kent we installed a 4 aerial system with one ant permanently
beamed to N/NW UK to GI & GM etc (I`m sure we wkd you Steve), However the
majority of our Q`s came from Europe where there is more commitment to VHF.
I dont have this years log in front of me but of the circa 800 Q`s made I
would guess that ,as in previous years the %tages would be approx 50%
DL--30% rest of Eu and at best 20% UK.

As for activity in the UK, yes it might be unsuitable to have HF NFD & 2M
Trophy on the same w/e but even if not I doubt if this would ensure greater
activity for the Trophy.

There are probably two basic types of operator that enter the Trophy--the
serious types who hope to be well placed at the end of the event and the
other type who are just gaining experience, giving points away or looking
for the unexpected DX.

To enter with a hope of winning needs a dedicated and committed team who are
prepared to travel somewhere to give themselves an edge, have access to a
huge amount of equipment that is required to put up a competitive station,
and be prepared to put up with a lot of discomfort and to cope with all the
things that can and do go wrong in the field.
For instance in last w/e`s Trophy we suffered V high winds, torrential rain,
Thunder & lightning, staic rain QRN, and MCB/RCD tripping due to lightning,
which probably cost us circa 4 hours of operating time overall.

My home club (Trowbridge DARC) has a membership of 40/50, of which about a
dozen or so show any interest in contests whether Trophy/AFS/UKCCs and much
fewer with HF contesting. 
Most of the equipment for this years VHF NFD restricted entry was provided
by 2 members M0GHZ & myself, and no other member has sufficient equipment to
put on anything other than a lower average UKCC station, except for a few
hardy /p operators (see latest claimed scores), However their commitment and
accumulative scores in the 2m UKCC is very valid and is indicative of the
Trowbridge Club`s 2nd position in the present UKCC 2m table.
As for the Trophy contest I think the only club member active for a
reasonable period was Peter 2E0NEY operating from home.
There must be several if not numerous clubs in a similar position, that can
get members to get on with their small home or /p small set-ups for a couple
of hours but cannot/do not commit for a full w/e.

Its a pity but few either in Trophy or UKCC appear to use KST or whatever
and very few advertise their intention to be active or when.
In UKCC during my CQing I always state square location and often direction
beaming, but many dont.

One final thought, it is far easier for a G3 or M3 or any other call
variation to set up a reasonably simple but effective station at home with a
G5RV & up to 100w and have a warm & comfortable few hours fun on the radio
possibly working a few 100 stations, however very few of the same stations
could set up an 8 ele beam, rotatable at 40ft with 100w on 2m and expect
more than a couple of dozen Q`s for their effort, but at least they would
have a dry bed at night and could watch TV if things got boring.

If there are any comments that others do not agree with , then please dont
whinge, this is just how someone who has had an interest in Ham radio since
the mid 1950`s sees things and are related to my own experiences.

Chris G0HFX          

> From: uk-contest-request at contesting.com
> Subject: UK-Contest Digest, Vol 105, Issue 10
> To: uk-contest at contesting.com
> Date: Thu, 8 Sep 2011 12:00:20 -0700
> 
> Send UK-Contest mailing list submissions to
> uk-contest at contesting.com
> 
> To subscribe or unsubscribe via the World Wide Web, visit
> http://lists.contesting.com/mailman/listinfo/uk-contest
> or, via email, send a message with subject or body 'help' to
> uk-contest-request at contesting.com
> 
> You can reach the person managing the list at
> uk-contest-owner at contesting.com
> 
> When replying, please edit your Subject line so it is more specific
> than "Re: Contents of UK-Contest digest..."
> 
> 
> Today's Topics:
> 
> 1. Re: 144MHz Trophy - lack of UK activity (Regwoolley at aol.com)
> 2. Re: 144MHz Trophy - lack of UK activity (David G3YYD)
> 3. Re: 144MHz Trophy - lack of UK activity (Rob Harrison)
> 4. SSB FD G4ARN/P (Roger Cooke)
> 5. Re: 2m Trophy etc (Ken Eastty)
> 6. Re: 2m Trophy etc (Rob Harrison)
> 
> 
> ----------------------------------------------------------------------
> 
> Message: 1
> Date: Thu, 8 Sep 2011 06:57:40 -0400 (EDT)
> From: Regwoolley at aol.com
> Subject: Re: [UK-CONTEST] 144MHz Trophy - lack of UK activity
> To: uk-contest at contesting.com
> Message-ID: <398bf.6d1dbb48.3b99f9a4 at aol.com>
> Content-Type: text/plain; charset="US-ASCII"
> 
> I am I guess the closest station to the centre of England! It is now
deemed 
> to be a spot near the A5 close to Nuneaton, I am about 1km from it! 
> 
> I only came on during the Sat to do a bit of S&P I found there to be not 
> many fixed stations taking part in a serious way. However I found there 
> were a good few portables out there! The days of big activity like the
80's 
> are now gone! However I myself do not think it was as dire a weekend as
many 
> are making it out to be! 
> 
> The more moans on reflectors saying oh there was no one to work. The less 
> folks well make an effort to get on. In other words you are the makers of 
> your own destiny! Maybe we should employ a spin doctor to put things into
a 
> better light! 
> 
> Reg G8VHI
> 
> 
> In a message dated 08/09/2011 11:48:17 GMT Daylight Time, 
> g3yyd at btinternet.com writes:
> 
> I came on first using my G3YYD callsign and after a dozen or so QSOs 
> could find no one else to work. I then worked a few more again using my 
> SCC M7T but got bored with it being so slow so went QRT to do something 
> more productive with my time.
> 
> So for me John's analysis was spot on. I suspect others probably went to 
> HF and worked a lot more QSOs then they could on 144MHz. Personally 
> unless I am a serious entry, I only put an appearance in other contests 
> for practice purposes.
> 
> 73 David G3YYD
> 
> On 08/09/2011 07:04, John Lemay wrote:
> > Probably a lot
> > of them were coming on for a short period and giving away a few points
> > before finding something else to do. It means that one must regularly 
> beam
> > inland to sweep these guys up.
> >
> _______________________________________________
> UK-Contest mailing list
> UK-Contest at contesting.com
> http://lists.contesting.com/mailman/listinfo/uk-contest
> 
> 
> 
> ------------------------------
> 
> Message: 2
> Date: Thu, 08 Sep 2011 11:12:43 +0000
> From: David G3YYD <g3yyd at btinternet.com>
> Subject: Re: [UK-CONTEST] 144MHz Trophy - lack of UK activity
> To: UK-Contest at contesting.com
> Message-ID: <4E68A32B.5070106 at btinternet.com>
> Content-Type: text/plain; charset=ISO-8859-1; format=flowed
> 
> Stewart
> 
> You always have a moan about not being heard down south.
> 
> The first QSO in my log was GM3ZUK at 595Km as invariably I start out 
> beaming up the "spine" of the UK. Never heard you even though I swept 
> the band many times while beaming your way. You are slightly closer than 
> ZUK at 574Km. From memory he was a very good signal. I also worked EU 
> stations at 600+Km with best being 732KM.
> 
> From my QTH, conditions were neither good nor bad just normal 
> troposcatter range. Seems to me you were just not on the band when I was 
> on from 1930 to 2040.
> 
> 73 David G3YYD
> 
> 
> ------------------------------
> 
> Message: 3
> Date: Thu, 8 Sep 2011 13:53:09 +0100
> From: "Rob Harrison" <robharrison at g8hgn.freeserve.co.uk>
> Subject: Re: [UK-CONTEST] 144MHz Trophy - lack of UK activity
> To: "David G3YYD" <g3yyd at btinternet.com>, <UK-Contest at contesting.com>
> Message-ID: <7AF11FA8A1AE4240B846B7DCD011BD15 at G8HGN1442PC>
> Content-Type: text/plain; format=flowed; charset="iso-8859-1";
> reply-type=original
> 
> Hi,
> 
> David raises a valid point, not all stations are on the band at all times.

> Plus for a 500+ km contact to take place you've both got to be beaming in 
> the right direction. Many stations were doing 6 hours only, so they could
be 
> on at any time, then there's the casual op's who come on when they can,
and 
> the Backpackers mid Sunday morning to finish time.
> 
> You both could be calling CQ or both searching, either way you won't make
a 
> contact. A lot of the continentals will beam inland for long periods, as 
> that's where the most potential contacts are for them. They may not beam 
> your way when you're active. Many variables to consider.
> 
> For me, doing a 6 hour stint, the WX and conditions seemed to favour 
> Saturday over Sunday, so that's when I operated in two 3 hours sessions, 
> Saturday afternoon shortly after the start and the evening form about
1830z. 
> I suspect more casual ops would have come on Sunday, but that's just my 
> opinion. My tactics were S&P as calling CQ with 50W in a major contest 
> doesn't bring the rewards, and there are more Europeans to work than UK at

> considerably longer distances, from here in JO01. With 6 hours only it was

> the best way to maximise the score. Other contests need different tactics.
> 
> What's going to change it? Not a lot I fear. If you're a new group you
need 
> a good site, most are "taken" or full of comms anennas. So you go to a
site 
> you feel might work, try it out don't feel you've done well, and go HF.
> 
> I do look for GM, but with not too many on the band, and weak here, it's a

> law of diminishing returns. I did work Stewart and GM4ZUK/p. Whether
anyone 
> else was active I don't know. Nothing heard from EI/GI this time.
> 
> I felt there was good EU activity and fair UK activity on flat band.
> 
> 73 Bob G8HGN
> 
> 
> ----- Original Message ----- 
> From: "David G3YYD" <g3yyd at btinternet.com>
> To: <UK-Contest at contesting.com>
> Sent: Thursday, September 08, 2011 12:12 PM
> Subject: Re: [UK-CONTEST] 144MHz Trophy - lack of UK activity
> 
> 
> >
> > Stewart
> >
> > You always have a moan about not being heard down south.
> >
> > The first QSO in my log was GM3ZUK at 595Km as invariably I start out
> > beaming up the "spine" of the UK. Never heard you even though I swept
> > the band many times while beaming your way. You are slightly closer than
> > ZUK at 574Km. From memory he was a very good signal. I also worked EU
> > stations at 600+Km with best being 732KM.
> >
> > From my QTH, conditions were neither good nor bad just normal
> > troposcatter range. Seems to me you were just not on the band when I was
> > on from 1930 to 2040.
> >
> > 73 David G3YYD
> > _______________________________________________
> > UK-Contest mailing list
> > UK-Contest at contesting.com
> > http://lists.contesting.com/mailman/listinfo/uk-contest
> > 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> ------------------------------
> 
> Message: 4
> Date: Thu, 8 Sep 2011 16:42:56 +0100 (BST)
> From: Roger Cooke <g3ldi at yahoo.co.uk>
> Subject: [UK-CONTEST] SSB FD G4ARN/P
> To: "uk-contest at contesting.com" <uk-contest at contesting.com>
> Message-ID:
> <1315496576.95085.YahooMailNeo at web28309.mail.ukl.yahoo.com>
> Content-Type: text/plain; charset=iso-8859-1
> 
> Norfolk ARC uses this contest primarily as a training ground, and a
contest for
> the inexperienced to have some fun operating a decent station and do some
contest
> operating. We entered the open section with a reasonable antenna selection
and a 
> 
> linear to enable them to work some DX and also use RUN to some extent,
something
> that most of them cannot do with limited antennas and stations.
> 
> ?Chris, G0DWV towed a trailer tower to our location together with an A4S
beam. We
> strung up two delta loops for 80m and 40m. We used the Club's Pro III and
linear.
> 
> We did not have a spotting station, nor any of the other sophisticated
assistance, just 
> 
> bare-bone operating, using N1MM. We didn't make a huge score, but
considering some
> had not even been on HF before, let alone done any serious contesting, it
wasn't a bad
> score. Heck, some person with a camera even got a picture of me in front
of a thingy,
> oh yes, a microphone! Just testing prior to the contest. I did not make
any QSOs in the
> contest, just talked a lot outside the operating van. 
> 
> 
> We had bacon butties for breakfast courtesy of David, G7URP, whose field
it was. It
> was a typical summer day, cold, windy and raining at the end when we were
packing up.
> 
> This is our effort:
> 
> ??? Band??? QSOs??? Pts? DXC
> ???????? 3.5???? 227??? 1013?? 22
> ?????????? 7???? 238???? 984?? 26
> ????????? 14???? 206???? 717?? 38
> ????????? 21????? 36???? 113?? 24
> ????????? 28????? 11????? 34??? 8
> ?????? Total???? 718??? 2861? 118
> 
> 
> ??????????? Score : 337,598
> ????????????? 
> ?? Operators: 2E0GOL, 2E0DJR, 2E0CEY, 2E0GAX, 2E0RHT, M0UMH, G3XLG
> 
> ?? Operators but mainly supervising: G0KYA, G0DWV, G4WUG, G3YLA
> 
> ?? Nagging and coordinating only: G3LDI
> ???? 
> 
> 
> 
> Regards from Roger, G3LDI
> Swardeston, Norfolk.
> 
> 
> ------------------------------
> 
> Message: 5
> Date: Thu, 08 Sep 2011 15:57:02 +0000
> From: Ken Eastty <ken.g3lvp at btinternet.com>
> Subject: Re: [UK-CONTEST] 2m Trophy etc
> To: uk-contest at contesting.com
> Message-ID: <4E68E5CE.6060902 at btinternet.com>
> Content-Type: text/plain; charset=ISO-8859-1; format=flowed
> 
> I agree,
> 
> There's just not enough interest (especially among our club members) to 
> take part in portable contests except HF NFD, even that we can only just 
> manage, mixing HF & VHF wouldn't work for us, maybe there are now just 
> too many RSGB contests to fit in the available weekends.
> 
> I spent a short time on 2m this weekend with the intention of giving 
> points away but got fed up with trying to decide which way to beam. This 
> was made more difficult as hardly anyone (as usual) gave a clue as to 
> their approximate location when calling CQ, the increasing number of 
> weird callsigns being used (which I fail to see the point of) doesn't 
> help when trying to decide which way to beam either. Is it really so 
> difficult to program the stations location into a voice keyer?
> 
> From the depths of Cheltenham I never heard more than a handful of 
> stations at any one time which leads me to ask where the 7-800 stations 
> being worked by some were located, were most of them across the Channel? 
> I'd be surprise of many of them were in the UK. Perhaps a map of all of 
> the stations worked could be produced.
> 
> Finally.....I notice the lack of Foundation & Intermediate calls 
> appearing in the entries for VHF contests, maybe not surprising when 
> these licensees are expected to compete with others running full legal 
> power. Perhaps separate sections for these licensees might encourage a 
> few more of them to have a go on on VHF instead of spending all of their 
> time on 80 & 40m etc.
> 
> 73...
> 
> Ken
> 
> G3LVP
> 
> 
> 
> Hi, Simple answer move SSB FD, the Trophy is a IARU co-ordinated event 
> so all of Europe is on the air that weekend. I'm assuming FD is not 
> co-ordinated outside the UK. I've never understood the logic of having 
> seperate VHF & HF contests over the same weekend, some people find it 
> difficult to get any time at all, let alone 24 hours, and then to have 
> two conflicting contests on the same weekend is just plain daft. I did 
> the Trophy in two 3 hours stints Saturday evening, virtually all S&P, 
> only worked one G, one GD and two GM's, all the rest from Europe. Like 
> John, no propogation to EA either, heard 5P5T for long spells, but 
> couldn't raise them.
> 
> 
> ------------------------------
> 
> Message: 6
> Date: Thu, 8 Sep 2011 18:03:07 +0100
> From: "Rob Harrison" <robharrison at g8hgn.freeserve.co.uk>
> Subject: Re: [UK-CONTEST] 2m Trophy etc
> To: "Ken Eastty" <ken.g3lvp at btinternet.com>,
> <uk-contest at contesting.com>
> Message-ID: <4082012E101B401B969AF54AD5A49417 at G8HGN1442PC>
> Content-Type: text/plain; format=flowed; charset="iso-8859-1";
> reply-type=original
> 
> Ken,
> 
> A single band effort on 144, or any other band, should be within your
clubs' 
> compass. Multi-band's a different thing.
> 
> The bulk of the entrants were in Europe, UK activity was limited. For 
> reasons see my other post re times etc.
> 
> The UKAC's on Tuesday evenings are well supported by Foundation & 
> Intermediate licencees. But this is 2+ hours on a weekday night, not
rather 
> longer over a weekend.
> 
> 73 Bob G8HGN
> 
> ----- Original Message ----- 
> From: "Ken Eastty" <ken.g3lvp at btinternet.com>
> To: <uk-contest at contesting.com>
> Sent: Thursday, September 08, 2011 4:57 PM
> Subject: Re: [UK-CONTEST] 2m Trophy etc
> 
> 
> >
> > I agree,
> >
> > There's just not enough interest (especially among our club members) to
> > take part in portable contests except HF NFD, even that we can only just
> > manage, mixing HF & VHF wouldn't work for us, maybe there are now just
> > too many RSGB contests to fit in the available weekends.
> >
> > I spent a short time on 2m this weekend with the intention of giving
> > points away but got fed up with trying to decide which way to beam. This
> > was made more difficult as hardly anyone (as usual) gave a clue as to
> > their approximate location when calling CQ, the increasing number of
> > weird callsigns being used (which I fail to see the point of) doesn't
> > help when trying to decide which way to beam either. Is it really so
> > difficult to program the stations location into a voice keyer?
> >
> > From the depths of Cheltenham I never heard more than a handful of
> > stations at any one time which leads me to ask where the 7-800 stations
> > being worked by some were located, were most of them across the Channel?
> > I'd be surprise of many of them were in the UK. Perhaps a map of all of
> > the stations worked could be produced.
> >
> > Finally.....I notice the lack of Foundation & Intermediate calls
> > appearing in the entries for VHF contests, maybe not surprising when
> > these licensees are expected to compete with others running full legal
> > power. Perhaps separate sections for these licensees might encourage a
> > few more of them to have a go on on VHF instead of spending all of their
> > time on 80 & 40m etc.
> >
> > 73...
> >
> > Ken
> >
> > G3LVP
> >
> >
> >
> > Hi, Simple answer move SSB FD, the Trophy is a IARU co-ordinated event
> > so all of Europe is on the air that weekend. I'm assuming FD is not
> > co-ordinated outside the UK. I've never understood the logic of having
> > seperate VHF & HF contests over the same weekend, some people find it
> > difficult to get any time at all, let alone 24 hours, and then to have
> > two conflicting contests on the same weekend is just plain daft. I did
> > the Trophy in two 3 hours stints Saturday evening, virtually all S&P,
> > only worked one G, one GD and two GM's, all the rest from Europe. Like
> > John, no propogation to EA either, heard 5P5T for long spells, but
> > couldn't raise them.
> > _______________________________________________
> > 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
> 
> 
> End of UK-Contest Digest, Vol 105, Issue 10
> *******************************************

_______________________________________________
UK-Contest mailing list
UK-Contest at contesting.com
http://lists.contesting.com/mailman/listinfo/uk-contest

__________ Information from ESET NOD32 Antivirus, version of virus signature
database 6448 (20110908) __________

The message was checked by ESET NOD32 Antivirus.

http://www.eset.com

__________ Information from ESET NOD32 Antivirus, version of virus signature
database 6448 (20110908) __________

The message was checked by ESET NOD32 Antivirus.

http://www.eset.com

__________ Information from ESET NOD32 Antivirus, version of virus signature
database 6448 (20110908) __________

The message was checked by ESET NOD32 Antivirus.

http://www.eset.com