Considering there is a lot of investment of time and money and effort into getting these big stations, you would think they would want to use them as much as possible. But give a call out on 2m SSB at anytime other than a contest (or occaisional E’s or Aurora event) then it can be pretty quiet.
Shame really since I’m watching the 2m FT8 Activity contest and making a couple of calls. I’m being heard down to the south coast and into EI with my 10W into the vertical (so cross polarised to most) and that is under what I would call normal band conditions. If I put out a call tommorow, then PSK reporter would most likely be blank.
I gave up on VHF contesting when the RSGB said you could carry a caravan on your back.
Well we’re most piqued the RSGB VHFCC have spoilt a good contest so the JO01ers can win. Obviously us and a few other Northern stations have been getting above ourselves and doing too well. So they change the rules to keep us in our place. If it was a 24hr contest we’d have been out.
Whereas previously in UKAC 500 England = 500 bonus points/square Scotland = 2000 bonus points/square. So anyone living in the middle of Scotland could work all the surrounding squares and receive oodles of points. When this was changed to 500 bonus/square regardless of (UK) location, entried from GM dropped.
** admittedly it may have been difficult to find someone on air in all GM squares.
I sympathise with your disgust, Andy, but the question I would ask is what have you and the other “scum” done about it? Fulminating on this reflector might give your feelings some relief but is otherwise quite unproductive! On past form a complaint to the VHFCC will at best get an acknowledgement, but surely even they would pay a little attention if the “scum” banded together and sent a petition with many signatures demanding a more equitable arrangement. Since the same disadvantage also applies to the northern Sassenachs I’m sure you would get some support from them. Don’t be shy, Andy, rock the ruddy boat!
Actually some Scotsmen like Northerners. I recalled the time I asked a farmer south of Edinburgh if I could park in his farmyard when I walked up his nearest SOTA. He asked me where I lived. I said North Yorkshire, to which he replied “Yes, no problem laddy, your almost a Scotsman living that far north anyway”!
Quite happy with the doing the RSGB AC Contests on 6/4/2/70cm, rather than the “Big Contests”. Its a nice change from SOTA Chasing and we have built up a small team of operators representing Scarborough ARS - even John @G4YSS was out operating in the 2m AC on Tuesday from his son’s vehicle, despite his achilles injury.
There’s always a good chance of hearing Tom @M1EYP on G/SP-015 or wherever he happens to be - like last month when he was MM1EYP/P in the borders on GM/SS-179 Cacra Hill and we worked in the AC contest on 50 MHz.
Belated comment just seen message - yes Tom and thanks for the chaser point from the Cloud on 50 MHz. Condx flat with no Es or tropo to speak off but you were a good signal. I had a pipeline into IO91 it seemed for a while and finished up with 53 QSOs, but no GM EI GD or EU stations.
