[UK-CONTEST] Some comments and questions on the NFD rules

Olof Lundberg olof at rowanhouse.com
Tue Apr 17 13:33:02 PDT 2012


Ed's announcement of the latest version of the FD rules on 12 April says

"(a)   all vertical antennas contribute to both the antenna length and
antenna support allowances -- this corrects an anomaly;"

Do you really mean what you say here, i.e. if you use a GRP mast and let
that mast support a vertical antenna or a sloper, you use up all your 22m
allowance with a single 11 m pole plus a vertical radiating wire?

Then it says

"(b)   antennas may not be higher than 15m, which is within the capabilities
of virtually any group;"

Now wait a minute. I'm probably an idiot but at my moderately unfit 69 years
of age I can singlehandedly raise a slim 60ft pole and presumably also a
70ft pole quite easily. I cannot raise a 15m pole with the associated 7-m
boom and wire beam that is now required if you want to max out the 22m
allowance.

I would argue that this new rule (15m height but 22m total allowance) makes
it physically more challenging maxing out the allowance. The March rules
would have made it easier requiring only a slim vertical pole.

Finally it says

"(c)   a muting requirement applies to receivers used -- this brings
operation close to "big knob-little knob" mode, and can be implemented with
minimum external circuitry."

I agree with John's (G4IRN) comment on that one. You have now destroyed the
one fun element that would have required increased operator and team-working
skills. You are now forcing participants to emulate the old FT1000.

None of these three changes are clarifications. They are fundamental changes
to the March rules and I fail to see how the April rules would make life
more happy for those who want to do a traditional restricted FD effort
compared with the March version.

There is another issue in both the March and April rules. What happens if
you use ladder line or coax as a radiator such as using a dipole as a T
antenna? Does the ladder line then count as two verticals thus reducing max
allowed height to 7 1/3m according to (a) above? What if you did similarly
with coax? Maybe this is covered but I have missed it?

Finally, as an old-timer who learned CW pretty well more than 50 years ago I
can live well without RBN and even better without the cluster. However, you
are seriously deluding yourself if you believe that prohibiting new
technology such as that will help you attract newcomers to the hobby or to
the FD. Last year you issued a "clarification" saying that it was permitted.
Now you have gone back. This is poorly thought through. To be credible you
must now also use technology that can catch cheaters.

On a more minor issue I also believe you should allow only 100w radios. It
is all too tempting to turn up the heat to full power on a big radio and a
3dB power advantage yields a few percent more qsos which is enough to beat
the competition. The alternative is that your inspectors are equipped with
technology such that they can monitor field strength before, during and
after visits. You can't say that you trust the participants because then you
wouldn't have the inspectors in the first place.

I wish you luck with your new rules. It will be interesting to see how much
enthusiasm and new participation you generate to compensate  for the
participation you may have lost and the enthusiasm you so thoroughly have
destroyed.

73 Olof G0CKV



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