[UK-CONTEST] Recent changes to HF CW Field Day rules

[Chairman, RSGB Contest Committee]

  Recent changes to HF CW Field Day rules

The contest committee has been monitoring responses to the changes 
announced in my email of 12th April.  I am aware that this has not been 
handled very well, and apologise that the Field Day rules were not 
sorted out earlier.  If you emailed or copied me you will also receive 
an individual reply in the next few days.

A small sub-group of the committee has been working on the rules for a 
while -- these rules had not been changed for over ten years.  Apart 
from recognizing new developments such as Skimmer and the RBN, they 
concluded from feedback received that participants would appreciate more 
flexibility in the Restricted Section, while leaving the Open Section 
substantially unchanged.

We produced the new rules rather late, but clubs were aware that changes 
were planned, and were happy to wait.  The omission of the 15m 
Restricted height limit was lost in what became a rush to get rules 
(plus FAQs and Diagrams) published.  The "Old Brigade" (as some put it) 
was quick to point out that there is a difference between 50 feet and 72 
feet, not just for groups where the average age was around 70.

The committee decided that (for similar reasons) the requirement for 
complicated switching arrangements was not suitable in a Restricted 
Section.  The simplest solution for two rigs was something similar to 
that in the new Diagrams page.  It would need to be more elaborate to 
work with QSK.

We made the judgement that groups working on lockouts and filters would 
be heading for the Open Section, which was not what was happening.  The 
upshot is that we should not have made the latest rule changes -- 
however, we will stick to them now they are published.  We regret that 
some groups have invested in time and equipment, and will email them 
separately.

To summarise and expand:

(a)   The CW FD rules are now fixed so there will be no more changes 
this year.  My personal view is that they will work well (you may 
differ), but we should not rule out modifications next year as a result 
of experience.

(b)  The SSB FD rules will not change this year, but we will consider 
aligning them more closely to CW rules next year.

(c)  We will also consider the VHF FD rules for change next year.

(d)  We recognise the need for more consultation with contesters,  so 
the committee will introduce a system based on the Litmus Test 
experiment and the Green Paper / White Paper idea.

Thank you for your patience -- we hope to see you on the 2nd June.

73,

Ed Taylor, GW3SQX
Chairman, RSGB Contest Committee