[UK-CONTEST] New HF CW Field Day rules

[dave at g4buo.com]

Fine, if there are a lot of groups out there who currently do not enter
NFD because there is not enough scope for innovation. On the other hand I
know for certain that there are a number of groups out there who turn up
to NFD with scaffold poles on the roof rack and an NFD doublet. And I know
some of those groups are considering not entering because they do not want
to get involved with 22m towers etc.

There is nothing to stop you experimenting with wire arrays in the Open
section if that is your thing. What this rule does is to mess with the
Restricted and QRP sections, solving a problem that does not exist in the
first place!

I like designing antennas and I was the one who came up with the Gravesend
Loop that has been used by several groups to win SSB FD. But the
excitement in NFD should surely come primarily from operating. After all,
this is a contest!

Dave

> Well, it\'s a doublet at 22m in the centre, but 0m (well, as high as you
> can pull the strings out) at the ends, since you only have a single 22m
> support.
>
> The new rules seem to open the contest up to a lot of really exciting
> innovations - you can\'t use commercial beams, so if you want something
> directional, you\'ll have to build it yourself, and there\'s no doubt
> going to be some interesting trade-offs in the number of supports vs
> height vs amount of support used for elements.
>
> And don\'t forget you\'ll need to save enough of the 120m wire allowance
> for the low bands - so no using a half-wave dipole on top band and 80m
> if you want anything the rest of the bands!
>
> I might be wrong, but my impression was that previously \"restricted\"
> basically meant you used \"the field day doublet\", and if you did
> anything else, you were silly. Now, we\'ve got rules that allow for all
> sorts of experimentation and variation with some interesting restrictions.
>
> To me, it\'s made it a much more exciting section that it was before...
>
> 73,
> Rob, M0VFC
>
> On 21/03/2012 15:11, dave at g4buo.com wrote:
>> Good point, but that system at 18m would still be an awful lot better
>> than
>> a doublet at 11m. So I repeat my question, is this really much of a
>> restriction? And if you choose just to use a doublet you are still
>> getting
>> the full benefit of 22m height.
>>
>> Dave G4BUO
>>
>>> Dave
>>> As I see it, and I\\\'ll stand corrected if I\\\'m wrong on this, but
that
>> 4m or
>>> so cross arms will need to come off the 22m total support length as its
>>> will be deemed as part of the support!!!
>>>
>>> regards
>>>
>>> Ken..G0ORH
>>>
>>> Sent from my iPhone
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>> On 21 Mar 2012, at 14:39, dave at g4buo.com wrote:
>>>
>>>> Perhaps Ed or Ian could explain how the Restricted section is really
>>>> restricted any more.
>>>>
>>>> Granted, you can still go out with your two 11m masts but does anyone
>>>> seriously doubt that a doublet at 22m will outperform a doublet at
>>>> 11m?
>>>>
>>>> So, to be competitive in the Restricted section you now need a tower.
>>>> Add
>>>> a 4m cross-arm and you can build a very effective 2 element driven
>>>> array,
>>>> with balanced feeders down to ground level youve got gain and instant
>>>> direction reversal, on several bands. So the group that currently
>>>> drives
>>>> to NFD with a few scaffold poles on the car roof rack is going to be
>>>> marginalised.
>>>>
>>>> While the 22m total height is a good idea, allowing for example a
>>>> horizontal loop on three 7m masts if you want, I think it is a mistake
>>>> to
>>>> remove the 11m height restriction for the so-called Restricted and QRP
>>>> sections.
>>>>
>>>> And, to be competitive you are also going to have to invest in an
>>>> interlock, bandpass filters and perhaps a triplexer. This was great
>>>> fun
>>>> in
>>>> WRTC but I simply do not feel it is appropriate for the *Restricted*
>>>> section of NFD.
>>>>
>>>> Dave G4BUO
>>>>
>>>>> Just a postscript -- the initial ideas about antenna rules for the
>>>>> Restricted Section were suggested by GM3SEK and GM3ZBE (SK) -- thanks
>>>>> to
>>>>> both.
>>>>>
>>>>> 73,
>>>>>
>>>>> Ed Taylor, GW3SQX
>>>>> Chairman, RSGB Contest Committee
>>>>>
>>
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>