[UK-CONTEST] 144 UKAC

[Ray James]

--- On Fri, 8/6/12, geoff plucknett <geoffg4fka at virginmedia.com> wrote:

> No IO81 - what a surprise (not).
> Because you see, despite all of that, one
> thing remains certain. No-one ever beams west!
> 
> Geoff G4FKA


I can assure you Geoff that IO81 is important and looked for.
David M0GHZ and Graham G3VKV appear in my logs on a monthly basis for example.
The thread is regarding a peceived "bias" represented by UKAC rules and in particular M5. The previous M2 (all squares) placed a very heavy advantage to east coast located UK squares. M5 (UK Squares only) and not the west country motorway moved the perceived advantage somewhat inland to central England which is seen to be fairer all round. To do well one needs to beam all points of the compass so now every part of the UK including the south west has the chance of activity being picked up. If folk ignore the SW then it can be costly to miss out on IO70/71/80/81 & IN69/79/89 mults.
If rules were changed that moved the "perceived advantage" from somewhere central to a corner, be it SE, NE, NW or your SW, that wouldn't be seen as "fair" to the majority of participants in what is a UK wide contest. 
Everything is a compromise and nothing can be perfect and suit everyones location and take-off and typical working range. With that in mind, the majority appear to be happy with a central England non-guaranteed bias and in this case, IO81 ain't in central England!

Hope that clarifies it.

73 Ray GM4CXM