[UK-CONTEST] RSGB Membership requirement

[Dominic Smith]

Hi all,

 

I have just submitted the G6UW entry in RSGB 144/432 MHz as a checklog. 

 

Although we would have liked to enter in the '6 hours others' category, we
knowingly breached the rules because a handful of our QSOs were made by two
operators who are not RSGB members. One of them has been licensed only for a
few months, and had his second ever QSO during the contest. Another operator
is not even licensed, and was on the microphone under paragraph 3(5)(b) of
the licence (the provision allowing non-licensed people to send messages
under Full Club callsigns). 

 

At CUWS, we consider it really important to get people interested in
contesting from very early in their ham career, as we find that contesting
is a great way to gain confidence, to experience that all-important 'wow'
factor which encourages newcomers, and to learn to operate efficiently. It's
because of this that these two operators were put behind the mic this
weekend.

 

Whilst we understand, therefore, that the rules are as they are, and that we
cannot honestly enter anything but a checklog in this instance, it seems
somewhat unrealistic to expect such new operators to be RSGB members
already. I don't believe that encouraging new blood should ever preclude a
club from entering an RSGB contest; that must surely be against the
longer-term interests of both the hobby and the Society. 

 

Assuming that Contest Committee members are reading, I therefore suggest
amending VHF/UHF General Rule 1(c) as follows the next time the general
rules are reviewed:

All entrants and operators of UK stations must be RSGB members except
operators who are:

(i) not licensed, 

(ii) who have been licensed for under six months, 

(iii) visiting amateurs, not normally resident in the UK.

 

Thanks, by the way, to everyone we contacted who put up with us while these
inexperienced operators were being prompted by me! Your patience was much
appreciated, and will hopefully be rewarded by new entrants in future
events.

 

73,

 

Dom M0BLF

Cambridge University Wireless Society

 

PS: Contest committee: if this isn't the intended consequence of the 'RSGB
Members only' rule, please let me know. I'd be happy to identify the QSOs
involved, allowing you to score them for 0 points, and letting me submit the
rest of the log in our preferred category.