VHF NFD 1999

1999 saw a halt, even a slight reverse in the trend of reducing entries; more groups entered, and more individual stations were active than last year. Widespread good weather might have contributed, although the far North stayed on the wrong side of a weather front; those a bit further South had to wait for a front to move on before there was a chance of getting any sunshine. Radio conditions were widely described as flattish or average, although the 'best dx' columns suggest that it wasn't the whole story, and that the issue might have been partly one of low activity. A few on 2m caught openings for better dx while 4m saw extended sporadic e openings, with the majority of stations making contacts into Slovenia; as well as bringing dx on 4m, the opening also left plenty of broadcast interference to get in the way.

After a few years helping prepare the VHF NFD results, and a couple of years producing the final tables and RadCom writeup, it's interesting to realise just how familiar some of the club and group names, callsigns, even handwriting becomes. Many of the entries are from reliable, stalwart supporters of the contest who start to feel like old friends. Many aspects of the results tend to have a familiar feel too, with particular groups and clubs tending to do well, although it's also very interesting to watch as new names appear, make their mark and gradually improve year on year. This is the case this year, with some trophies being retained by last year's winners, some finding new homes and Cheltenham ARA winning the G5BY trophy in its inaugural year.

There can be no doubt that increased effort does bring improved results, and contesting is one area where effort and reward are inextricably linked, although the increased skill that accrues from contest experience will always play its part. On the other hand, a modest station can be very rewarding with an opportunity to join in the bustle of contests; for many people it's a chance to try out new bands, or seek out unusual callsigns, both of which might be pointless from a home location

Fun for all

It is clear that numerous clubs and groups include VHF NFD as a social event as much as a highly competitive contest, and we delighted that so many do so; it's an aspect of this contest in particular, and contesting in general, that the VHFCC wants to encourage as much as possible. Some take the social side to greater extremes than others, a case in point being the 'North Bedfordshire Gentlemen's Contest Group'. Leaving aside the gender bias implied in the name, this is a group of longstanding friends who have got together for VHF NFD for 15 years or so. Over the years, the group has become dispersed and so they have a Friday night 'ritual' of a meal at the local restaurant; in modern language it might be called a 'bonding session'. The picture below shows them on site, ready to go out, complete in full evening dress - rather smarter than many of us manage, even that early on in the weekend.

At least for this year, the weather was kind and they weren't stuck pushing cars in the mud, although they suffered a huge lightning storm while getting undressed afterwards. Just to prove that normality returns come the start of the contest, there's a picture of G8BNE operating the 70cm station in regulation format. This year brought modern luxury on site with a microwave cooker and fridge, and no significant equipment problems. G4JTJ's letter reminisces about trials and disasters of previous years (apparently G4VHF emigrated to Dubai to escape the humiliation) but what they all remember is the fun, and endless laughter over a few beers.

Trials and tribulations

Most groups find themselves with some problems to sort out on site, although sometimes bad luck arrives in larger helpings.

Cambridge & District club had their share of problems to overcome this year (4m tvtr failed, 4m linear non-linear, o/c mic lead, s/c coax connector, 70cm rig failure, 23cm tvtr deaf and oscillating) but despite this, G6KWA wrote "We had one of the best radio weekends ever. … (Those members who didn't make it on site)…missed a lot of fun and real 'Amateur Radio'…."

GM4DGT wrote regarding the effort of the Highland CG. Their (well known) logging programme caused grief when a new version refused to work with earlier files installed on the laptops, and the 70cms output relay "vapourised before our eyes"; the string on the loading flapper went up in flames too, so it was back to solid state. Bill himself had to carve up the innards of the FT747 4m driver (without circuit diagram) when the interface circuitry refused to work. Coax patch leads were soldered in place to provide the correct connections, and held out for the weekend. Sorrows were drowned at a bar-be-que on Sunday evening, and plans made for next year (I quote) "…what ***** idiots!".

GM3WOJ described the event as "a disaster" for the North of Scotland CG, with problems of weather/propagation, 70s vintage equipment and "the worst generator in Western Europe". I think that many of us might have met contenders for the latter position.

On the bands

There were surprisingly few comments in the cover sheets, other than the usual few words about weather and conditions.

On 4m, GM4WLL reported the cw session abysmal because of antenna problems, SSB session "much more like it" after a strip down revealed 4 separate faults.

70cms brought most input. "I really enjoyed this band, can't understand those who think it's a waste of time" - GM4WLL. "Remembered to take and fit the preamp after three years trying." - G8ZTT. "Absolutely useless … going to try from underground next year - couldn't be worse. Generator blew up on Sunday and nobody cried" - G0ROC. "The band is a total waste of time … 24 hours with few contacts…" - MM0CCC. "Quality evident, could have done with a smattering of quantity" - M1CRO. "Lost time on Sunday when the aerial tried to escape off the mast, just managed to persuade it to stop around for the rest of the contest" - G4LIP. (Where is it now?)

The 'aerials' pictures this year comes from the Chesham & Maidenhead clubs joint entry and shows the solution they adopted to use only one tower for 144, 432 and 1296MHz.

Final

Some readers might not be aware of recent changes in the VHFCC, with Martin G4XUM taking over as chairman and me stepping into the shadows once a few jobs are wrapped up, so I'm going to steal a couple of lines to say how much I've enjoyed being part of the VHFCC and to thank everyone who enters contests for their support.

Steve G8GSQ.

1999 Awards & Section Winners