65th Commonwealth Contest 2002
Who said it couldn't happen again? Conditions this
year, at least on the HF bands, proved generally as good as in 2001, if
not better, although some antipodean stations were not too happy about
10m. Numerous entrants reported that their score had improved over last
year, some said the best ever. The LF bands were disappointing, true,
but you can't have everything! We had a record entry of 168 logs in
total (best for 55 years). The new start/finish times were generally
approved. It was particularly gratifying to receive at last a log from
South Africa - many thanks to Hans, ZS6KR. Let’s hope we can build more
participation in coming years.
Many entrants expressed the pleasure derived from operating in this
unique contest, and there is a large body which wants to keep it
basically unchanged. Perhaps if anything some of us need to be a little
more sensitive towards the needs of the other calling stations in the
pile ups for bonuses and refrain from asking the DX for a QSY until
there is a lull. I can quite understand the frustration this can cause
to those in the queue.
Open section
Back in top place, which he last occupied in 1998, and winner of the
Senior Rose Bowl, is John, VE3EJ. John’s seventh win equals the record
number of wins of Lee, VE7CC. John was followed very closely by 8P9IF
(G3PJT). Bob made a great score from Barbados, but once again had to
settle for second place. Vladimir, 9H1ZA, rose to third place, not far
behind the other two, who will clearly have to watch their backs. There
is a larger gap then, to Lee, VE7CC and Dave, VE2ZP, fourth and fifth
with only a point between them. Dave, G3TBK, as J88DR, came sixth,
closely followed by 9G5AA, operated by Don, G3XTT, both of whom gave
valued bonuses to many. Dave, G4BUO, re-occupies his accustomed Top G
slot, in ninth place, and as leading UK station receives the Col Thomas
Rose Bowl once more. Tenth position and leading station from Oceania,
is taken by Brian, ZL1AZE as ZL6QH, worked by many on all bands. Second
UK station was Jan, G0IVZ, in twelfth place, third Dennis, G3MXJ
(15th).
Restricted section
Bruce, ZF2NT, already a winner of the Open section in 2000, has
tried the Restricted section before, and this year is the clear leader
and winner of the Junior Rose Bowl. Second is Bob, 5B4AGN, a first-time
entrant who is eager for more. Third place is occupied by another 5B4 -
George, 5B4AGC, who was leader of this section last year. Bill, VE6BF,
operated VE6JY again to come in fourth . Fifth was Bert, VE3QAA, with
VE3KP not far behind, followed by Des, ZC4DW. Steve, VK6VZ, was eighth,
then ninth and leading UK station in this section, Peter, G3LET,
receives the Ross Carey Rose Bowl, John, G3LZQ, making up the top ten.
HQ Stations.
Only two HQ stations this year: Fraser, G4BJM,
came to the rescue at a late stage in the run-up, and operated GB5CC to
general satisfaction and a high score. Keith, VK4TT, put VK4WIA on the
air again. We are grateful to both operators.
Two QRP stations deserve special mention: Des, G3HKO, achieved a
commendable score in the Open section again, and Steve, G0DCK, did even
better in the Restricted section. Both showed (if demonstration were
ever needed) how efficient QRP can be, especially when in the fists of
such experienced operators, and under contest conditions like BERU,
where searching out the DX really pays dividends.
Participation
The total points scored by the top 10 in the
Open section were 84,133, an increase over last year (83,281). It seems
that the increase was obtained by going for bonuses: the total of QSOs
for this group was down from 8,502 in 2001 to 8,036 this year. Total
bonuses, however, were up from 1,841 to 2,216.
About the same number of callsigns was recorded as last year, 770 over
all bands. There were fewer Gs (474), more VEs (138), and comparable
numbers of VKs (50), ZLs (36) and ZSs (13). Call areas were the highest
for years, at 63, but some of them were worked by only a select few:
3B8, 4S, 5B, 5H, 5N, 7Q, 8P, 9G, 9H, 9J, 9M2, 9M6, 9V, 9Y, AP, C5, G
(including 2E, GD, GI, GM, GU, GW, M, MJ, MM, MU, MW), GB (HQ), V3-5,
VE1-7, VE9, VK1-7, VK4 (HQ), VK9, VO1, VP2E, VP2V. VP8, VQ9, VU, VY0,
VY1, YJ, Z2, ZB2, ZC4, ZD9, ZF, ZK2, ZK3, ZL1-4, ZL6, ZS1-2, ZS5, ZS6.
As might be expected, fewer stations were recorded on 80m than last
year, but smaller numbers participated on the other bands too, except
for 40m. The number of G calls was lower on all bands, while there were
more call areas active on all bands (marginally on 10m) except 80m. The
figures are: 80m 184 stations including 93 Gs, 24 call areas; 40m 364
(204 Gs), 46; 20m 462 (268 Gs), 54; 15m 430 (279 Gs), 50; 10m 434 (286
Gs), 47.
Logs
The trend of recent years continued: most logs (56%) were
sent by e-mail, 39% were on paper, and only 5% on disk. The standard of
log-keeping was generally high. There were some unfortunate errors in
misreading calls. which lost points and in some cases bonuses - or it
could have been mistyping: the adjudicator cannot tell which! Thorough
checking of logs is recommended. 70% qualified for the special
commemorative certificate for those working more than 50 Band Call
Areas.
Soapbox
'It is going the way of all other contests these days,
I suggest you attempt to slow it down', 5B4AGQ. 'Great fun on the high
bands, horrendous QRN on LF', 9G5AA. 'No time to put up LF antennas
before the contest. My first entry in BERU', 9M2/G4ZFE. 'Where do I go
next year?', 9M6A ( Barry VK2BJ). 'Conditions must have been better.
Down to 3 watts but a lot more contacts', G3HKO. 'Really frustrating to
wait patiently (?) for a qso only to have the guy hauled off to another
band...', G3JKY.....'It should not be allowed', G3LIK. 'Amazing HF
conditions/LF patchy', G3LZQ. 'Best BERU for many years', G3NAN. 'Not
much luck with CQ and 100W! How about low power section/restricted?',
G3TJE. 'A suggestion: double points for 3.5 and 7 QSOs', G3VDL. 'If
only all contests were conducted in such a pleasant manner', G4BYG.
'Roll on next year!', G4CZB. 'Hats off to the globe-trotting Gs',
GW3HGJ. 'Never worked so many VK and ZL stns .... fantastic, I am one
very happy, relatively new contester', M0AJT. 'Very pleased to work a
few ZSs this year. Let's hope this is a trend', VE2ZP. 'I continued to
send a true RST myself (some of the time), VE3VHB. 'Activity from VK
continues to drop', VE7CC. 'This is a contest I really enjoy', VE7VF.
'BERU was fun, as always...great to hear so many old friends from UK',
VK6AJ. 'Great to work the 2E novices ... some fine operators among
them. Also a couple of hot M5 operators', VK6VZ. 'I am now 88 and next
year will be my 40th BERU', ZL1HV. 'Failure of my only antenna in the
middle of my first ever QSO with Ghana/9G5AA was a bit of a
disappointment', ZL2EX. Adjudication (G3PJT)
Harold G2HLU, has been our adjudicator for more years than I can
remember. This year is his 80th birthday and he has asked to retire.
Harold, all of the BERU participants thank you for a really quite
excellent job, always done to time and most thorough. We have decided
to award this years Commonwealth medal to you to mark our appreciation
of the tremendous contribution you have made. Congratulations!
Start time
The earlier start and finish time (1000 UTC) seems
to have been appreciated. It makes for a dawn start in the Caribbean
and Eastern Canada and makes a rather convenient weekend for them and
the UK and Med. stations with most of Sunday to recover! Hopefully this
will encourage some more entrants in both sections. We commiserate with
the VE6/7s over the rather early start time in Western Canada though.
We propose to continue with the 1000 UTC start time for the next few
years.
Next Year
The contest will be 8-9th March 2003 - so get that
date in your diary now. And why not plan a DXpedition to one of the
Commonwealth prefixes - it has never been easier and airfares are
expected to be even lower next year.
We should be back to normal in the near future. Also we will be mailing
all non-Gs with the results and write up with their certificates if
they won one.
By Harold Owen, G2HLU, and Bob Whelan, G3PJT.
To see the full results click here