[UK-CONTEST] VHF Convention - the Good Old Days

Thu Oct 18 20:14:47 EDT 2012

Count me in!

Rob, G4LMW

----- Original Message ----- 
From: "Dave Lawley" <dave at g4buo.com>
To: "UK Contest" <uk-contest at contesting.com>
Sent: Thursday, October 18, 2012 10:47 PM
Subject: Re: [UK-CONTEST] VHF Convention - the Good Old Days

> Belfry was in the early 1980s. I was one of the helpers, and another - 
> G3Zxx - got up early to help set up, but left the door open when he had a 
> shower which set off the fire alarm resulting in dignitaries such as G3FKM 
> freezing outside in the car park while the fire brigade turned up.
>
> Speaking personally, my ideal HF Convention is a long bar with plenty of 
> real ale and lots of bar staff serving. You can keep your lectures - for 
> me a convention is all about meeting your mates that you have worked 
> and/or competed against over the last 12 months.
>
> Dave G4BUO
>
> Sent from my iPhone
>
> On 18 Oct 2012, at 22:04, "Steve White" <steve.g3zvw at gmail.com> wrote:
>
>> I seem to remember The Belfry, near Oxford (in about 1970).
>>
>> I have clear memories of the Winning Post Hotel at Twickenham (in the 
>> 1970s). There was one hall, basically divided 50/50 between traders and 
>> seating for lectures (only one stream!). It was seen as extremely 
>> discourteous if anyone (apart from the traders) stayed in the rally area 
>> are while a lecture was in progress.
>>
>> As to the future, I have read several messages from those who don't think 
>> the current venue is adequate any more... but I haven't read any messages 
>> containing practical suggestions about where to relocate. The hunt for a 
>> new home must be a simple matter. All that's needed is a large, 
>> inexpensive, well laid-out venue with plenty of accommodation nearby, 
>> free parking and located somewhere between the major population areas of 
>> England. Well maybe it's not quite that simple, but if any of you can 
>> think of somewhere that 'covers all the bases' I'm sure we would all like 
>> to know where it is.
>>
>> My personal thoughts (I have no inside info) are that the RSGB would 
>> prefer to organise one large, prestigious event than several small ones. 
>> I rather think that to organise multiple small events now would be seen 
>> as a backwards step.
>>
>> Steve, G3ZVW
>>
>>
>>
>> Message: 2
>> Date: Thu, 18 Oct 2012 12:22:14 +0100
>> From: Ian White GM3SEK <gm3sek at ifwtech.co.uk>
>> To: uk-contest at contesting.com
>> Subject: Re: [UK-CONTEST] VHF Convention - the Good Old Days
>> Message-ID: <yYsJiiSmZ+fQFA0L at ifwtech.co.uk>
>> Content-Type: text/plain;charset=us-ascii;format=flowed
>>
>> Tim Hugill wrote:
>>>
>>> The Winning Post at Twickers was the best.
>>>
>>
>> But that was another venue, like the Bell, that had already become too
>> small for even a 'single-interest' convention. It wasn't sustainable.
>>
>> The old VHF Convention wasn't sustainable for a different reason. It
>> fell into the hands of the Rally & Exhibitions committee and turned into
>> another big London rally. The technical side withered away because the
>> contributors hated going there.
>>
>> There were two VHF DX conventions in later years, both of which were
>> superb and memorable events, but each one completely burned out its
>> small group of organisers and was never repeated.
>>
>> So in the long term, the only SUSTAINABLE conference formats seem to be
>> either the very big "flag carrier" conventions (anchored by some
>> long-suffering employees who have been ordered to make it happen)... or,
>> at completely the opposite extreme, the small one-day events like the
>> Microwave Round Tables which actually have the longest unbroken track
>> record of all.
>>
>> There is certainly a place for a big annual thrash, but the HF and VHF
>> communities definitely have something to learn from the microwavers
>> about these smaller-scale formats.
>>
>> The MWRT calendar has several events spread across the UK, but each one
>> is small-scale, low-key and therefore quite easy to organise. Nobody has
>> to travel far to reach at least one event a year, and no individual has
>> to organise more than one a year so burnout is minimal.
>>
>> I shamelessly copied that Microwave Round Table format when helping my
>> wife to organise a series one-day music events. These started at our
>> village school and have since grown into a thriving national society,
>> which still holds on to these small-scale regional events as its grass
>> roots.
>>
>> Find yourself a school or church hall with the usual facilities, be
>> clear about what refreshments you will and will not provide, and charge
>> a whip-round to cover expenses. When you do the publicity, only offer
>> one organised day so attendees will understand that everything else is
>> up to them. Then put out a B&B/hotel list for people who want to stay
>> over, warn the pub, and away you go.
>>
>> What you do in that time and space depends on your own special
>> interest... but if you organise it, they will come.
>>
>>
>>> But a combined HF/VHF event has the benefit of allowing VHFers to learn
>>> about HF techniques and vice versa. (Although I didn't see too many HF
>>> stalwarts in the Microwave sessions last weekend.)
>>>
>>
>> The best thing about the "big convention" format is that it provides
>> opportunities for people to cross lecture streams and look at something
>> completely new. It was a very pleasant surprise to see one of the UK's
>> most respected HF contesters in the audience for GW4DGU's 10GHz
>> presentation. All credit to him!
>>
>> -- 
>>
>> 73 from Ian GM3SEK
>> http://www.ifwtech.co.uk/g3sek
>>
>>
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