Introduced by VK4OD, Peter Harding.
Firstly I would like to congratulate Alex VK6APK for his many years as the RD Contest Manager, and with many thanks to Chris Edmondson VK4AA/3CE who is unable to continue in the role.
I would like to take this opportunity to explain the main changes to the rules.
Distance Bonus Points were complex to the point that many entrants were hopelessly confused by the bonuses. How did one get precise distances on the boundaries without wasting a lot of time on extra exchanges?. Many operators simply gave up trying to work the points out.
Similarly, bonus points offered for working stations in VK8, 9, 0 or P2 and ZL needlessly confused things and many stations even within those zones were unaware that they, could double all their points.
We actually ended up where a DX contact on 160mtrs CW in the early hours of the Sunday morning could be worth 32 points. Few entrants tried it, though. We needed to simplify scoring, not only for the benefit of entrants but the Manager too.
We have also included a new rule to formally make ineligible contacts which may use an Internet connection. Therefore, the use of such things as IRLP or ECHOLINK are now specifically banned. We want to emphasise the traditional values in this contest to honour our diggers.
So this year we change the rules again. We hope you will find the revised rules make it simpler for you to submit your logs, without taking anything away from this long time-time favourite of Australian and Pacific contesters.
This article presents the formal rules for the 2006 Remembrance Day Contest, which appear in the contest section of the WIA website and in the AR magazine for July.
Along with a new Contest Manager for this year comes a review of the rules and, importantly, a new way of determining the overall winner.
The RD Contest is an important event on the Australian amateur calendar, with heavy participation by individual operators and serious competition between states.
With the introduction of the Foundation and changes to all licence structures, this year's changes are aimed at restoring the drive and renewing the enthusiasm in the grand old lady. We specifically wanted to strengthen the RD without confusion, and hope the new rules will help the RD retain its rightful place as the premier Australian contest event.
The Remembrance Day Contest for 2006 will be held on August 12-13 2006, for 24 hours commencing 0800 UTC on the Saturday evening.
Firstly, in essence, what won't change is the spirit of the thing. We haven't meddled with the basics which make the RD so very special. The winning state will be the one which stands head and shoulders over the rest. Those things won't ever change. Other things will.
Due to the complexity and in order to simplify the points tabulations, I have removed the bonus points for the HF operators, previously you could claim double points for all contacts in excess of 1000km on any HF band, this has been eliminated for Transmitters? and the Receiving categories.
We have also removed the bonus points for contacts with any station within VK8, VK9 and VK zero will also earn double points for both sides of each contact. Logs for VK5 and VK8 will from 2005 be considered as coming from different states.
As from this year we have removed the necessity to show the RST however if it is sent then it should be reflected in the log and if a operator request an RST and is sent it should represent a true assessment of the received signal. Logs should still show sequential numbers starting at 001, with bonus points tallied at the end of the contest and added to the claimed score.
SSB and CW will continue to be considered separate modes on HF, and from this year, subject to licence privileges, any operator who works stations using 10 metres FM above 29MHz will also have the opportunity to immediately re-log the same station using SSB or CW below 29 MHz.
On VHF, we'll forge ahead by going back to the days when VHF operators could work a station on FM and immediately rework them on SSB or CW, or, indeed, both. This provision was inadvertently changed several years ago when the then manager moved to ban completely automated exchanges between packet stations.
The effect it had, other than to remove the packet robots, of course, was to almost totally eradicate CW and SSB contest operation on the VHF and higher bands in one fell swoop. This year we redress the situation.
From 2006, your VHF log can include stations worked on CW, FM or SSB. You do not need to separate the logs according to mode, nor do you need to apply contact numbers according to mode. However, you will continue to need separate logs for HF and VHF categories, due to the different rules applying to the two categories.
Many operators concentrate exclusively on VHF and higher band operation, and many of them will have seen that stations which might be very strong on six or two metres could be substantially weaker on 70cm, and probably all but inaudible on higher bands. From 2005 we seek to address this imbalance by offering reward-based incentives for putting the work into higher band operation.
All contacts on bands from and including 23cm and above will attract double points, irrespective of and in addition to any other incentives already offered. They join 160 metre band HF operators who have enjoyed double points for some years, as have all CW operators.
From this year onward, HF operators using either 10 or 160 metres will be able to work stations within their own state boundaries.
We have not considered allowing WARC band operation, and have decided to restrict HF operation to the 160, 80, 40, 20, 15 and 10 metre bands only.
When polled for comment on a recent VK1WIA broadcast, a number of people asked about multiple contacts. Until now, dupes were not allowed on HF but were allowed on VHF after only two hours. The VHF arrangements will not change this year. However, from 2006, repeat HF contacts will be allowed after two hours. This will encourage both more and longer operation, and real participation in the fun.
What's more, there's a special time for all operators still on the air between 1am and 6am local time. All points scored during those wee hours will be doubled. If you work a station whose time zone means they are outside the 1am to 6am point, only your points will be doubled. Although the contest runs during UTC times, the special "night owl" loading is determined strictly by your time zone.
Until the 1970s ushered in substantial VHF operations, a very convoluted point-scoring system was in place for HF, in which more points were allocated for contacts spanning multiple call areas than ones to neighbouring states. Even with computer technology, scoring such a thing could be a time-consuming process indeed, and very confusing for entrants.
For scoring purposes, too, determining the overall winner is a different affair this year. The RD has always been state against state, but determining the winner was a confusing process involving overall "improvement factors". From 2006 on, who wins is a simple question of how many people take part from each state and actually submit logs. More than ever before, then, for your state to win, submitting your log is vital.
Electronic Logging is preferred but by no means mandatory. Those entrants with a suitable PC may wish to consider it for this years. By using one of these programs, the file that is Emailed to me can be imported easily into the scoring database program. links for these programs are listed below. I have tried and tested them all and with the assistance of all the creators, they have rewritten parts of their program to assist scoring.
That's a basic summary of the changes. Every one of them is designed to boost your scores without making the scoring too messy for either the competitor or the manager. Good luck, and good contesting!
Links to Computerised Logging Programs :-
NOTE:-- Please check your favourite website for current versions, as most of the programmers are now doing a rewrite, to allow for this years rule changes.
From Mike Subocz VK3AVV, the VK Contest Log (VKCL) can be found at the following URL:
http://web.aanet.com.au/mnds/
From John Drew VK5DJ RD logging program can be found at the following URL:
http://vk5dj.mountgambier.org/Amateur_radio.html
From James McBride VK6FJA WinRD+ logging program can be found at the following URL:
http://www.rjmb.net/rd/index.htm.
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