144 MHz UK Cumulatives 1999

This series of contests was characterised by variable conditions and fairly high activity levels, and the results show different trends to those observed in more 'conventional' events. For the second year running a station in NW England won the single operator section - this time it was achieved with less than 25W. The highest scores were achieved in sessions where propagation conditions were reportedly average. During the last session there was good propagation to central and southern DL but that probably hindered those looking for maximum points and multipliers, and scores are generally down compared to the earlier sessions.

This event is starting to attract a different cross section of the contesting fraternity, providing a more viable alternative to the maximum distance events for some entrants. Frank PE1EWR must have had a struggle attracting QSOs but that didn't stop him putting in an entry. There were many more stations active than submitted logs, including several portables - hopefully the 2000 rule changes will attract some of those as entries next time. The standard of logging was high this time, with a mixture of paper and computer logs submitted. Congratulations to the certificate winners and see you again - lets have some novice entries this year!

Steve Redfern G4AEQ