[UK-CONTEST] RSGB DX Contest Update

[Chris G3SJJ]

You make some very valid points Lee. I also agree with Ian's GM3SEK last comment. The issue of RST, penalties and log submission times are very minor 
points and can be modified at a later stage. The important aspect is to get the objective of the event, bands, timing, sections, scoring and awards in 
place first. There also seems undue pressure on the Contest Committee to respond quickly.

Chris G3SJJ






On 06/10/2012 10:32, Lee Volante wrote:
> Hi Chris,
>
> Thanks for this update.  I've been without Internet at home for over a week so I'm only just catching up properly now.
>
> Well done to you and Clive for your progress so far with the proposal. To my eyes you've ticked all of the boxes in terms of public consultation, 
> amending the proposal having been given feedback, and having been mindful of other ongoing events on the same weekend.
>
> Without delving too much into the minutiae of the rules, the key things which I am interested in are what happens next.
>
> 1) Proposal is broadly accepted by the Contest Committee. This could lead some to wonder why the committee themselves were unable to consider this 
> sort of bold change themselves. It could also then set a precedent that with the appropriate set of clear thinking, structured documentation and a 
> body of public support any of the rules or contests could be similarly changed. It remains debateable whether this is a good thing. On the one hand, 
> it gives the contesting public / customers of the committee / RSGB members much more of a hands on say in the contest programme than they do now. On 
> the other hand, this approach could become unwieldy, and the hard working committee could feel their ability to manage their own contest programme 
> diminished. Sadly it may come down to "power and politics," and the suggestion from a previous thread that the ideal communication methods between 
> committee and everyone else are yet to be found.
>
> 2) Proposal is politely declined by the Contest Committee. This could lead to some frustration from those enthused by the idea, and thoughts of the 
> "Not invented here" syndrome i.e. changes of this nature should be seen to have come from within the committee.  If this were the case, would Chris 
> and Clive, supported by others, run the contest themselves anyway?  Perhaps even use the same dates if 21/28 continues and let market forces decide 
> which is the favoured event. BARTG, WAB and others run their own UK based contests across all modes. Dave BUO is heavily involved with the EUSprint.
>
> Starting in 2004, we already had UK DX Contests on CW, SSB and Data run by the Scottish-Russian team, although only the Data modes one persisted for 
> many years. Remember this posted on here. It's not a million miles away from the new proposal:  "SD V10.09 supports the new UK DX contest.  The SSB 
> leg takes place from 1200 GMT Saturday 10th January to 1200 GMT Sunday 11th January. There are single and all-band categories on the usual bands 
> from 160m to 10m.  It's an everyone work everyone event with the emphasis (extra points and multipliers) on working UK stations."  Why did these 
> ultimately fail?  Marketing?  Rules that weren't liked? Clash with AFS season?  Slow turnaround of results and awards? Lack of 'RSGB' in the title?  
> On many levels they succeeded with the basics of running a successful contest.
>
> These old contests pre-date the growth in the 80mCC series of course which is one reason to consider trying again. But have we really thought about 
> why we want a RSGB all band DX contest? What would the experience of the new contest be like for the majority of entrants that they wouldn't achieve 
> in many other contests in the calendar. Rate? CQWW, WPX, RDXC, EUHFC etc. would likely offer more, and they offer plenty of opportunities for 
> certificates. Do you have a second or third tier station and feel CQWW is too much - then try the Ukranian DX or CQM or others - more room on the 
> bands and still plenty of activity.  Want to feel special and generate a pileup all day - the sad fact is that for many of the HF contest weekends, 
> UK stations are sparse and are often sought after DXCC multipliers. Or try the existing IOTA or BERU which already have some bias towards UK 
> stations. Strategy?  IOTA, WAE and others have diverse rules that mean that strategic operating is needed to do well.  Want some UK competition - 
> just look at the UK scores for the many contests where results filtering by country is possible. There's nothing unique about the new proposal other 
> than it would be an RSGB event. UBN's are not offered universally but this is improving. Online scoring is an innovative idea, but the 80mCC 
> entrants shunned it when offered.  I suggest there are many opportunities for the 80mCC entrants to take next steps in HF contesting already. (I 
> might guess Alan XSV's "Next steps in Contesting" at the Convention next week would include some similar thoughts.)  Do we just need to stimulate 
> more interest in other contests apart from those run by the RSGB, perhaps by compiling UK-centric results and awards from a range of existing 
> international events?
>
> At present there's an RSGB contest staking claim to 21 and 28 MHz for 12 hours on an October Sunday. Increasing to more bands, or in future more 
> hours is new territory. There's also that guideline from IARU to refrain from organising new all band / mixed mode contests to appease 
> non-contesters to think about.
>
> 73,
>
> Lee G0MTN
>
>
> ----- Original Message ----- From: "Chris Tran GM3WOJ" <gm3woj at christran.net>
> To: <uk-contest at contesting.com>
> Sent: Saturday, October 06, 2012 8:44 AM
> Subject: Re: [UK-CONTEST] RSGB DX Contest Update
>
>
>> Hello Ian (GM3SEK) et al
>>
>> Thanks for your feedback and the feedback from everyone else. It is perhaps
>> worth clarifying exactly why Clive and I decided to make this proposal for a
>> new contest.
>>
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