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[CQ-Contest] What's your call?

Subject: [CQ-Contest] What's your call?
From: frenaye@pcnet.com (frenaye@pcnet.com)
Date: Mon Sep 8 00:30:13 1997
W4AN posted a summary of score reductions from last year's CQWW SSB contest 
a few days ago (claimed scores versus published scores).  The multi-multi 
section showed we were not perfect...

USA M/M

KC1XX 2.2
N2RM  2.6
K3LR  2.4
W3LPL 2.4
W2PV  7.5
K1KI  4.5   <----

SSB isn't the favorite mode here but we're usually more accurate than most 
other MM entries so the 4.5% score reduction number was a surprise.

I asked CQ for the details showing why the score was reduced.  With computer 
checking the CQ contest committee found 36 not-in-log QSOs out of 1213 cross 
checked, their callsign database said 25 others were bad callsigns, while 
the unique checking showed 68 callsigns no one else worked - out of a total 
of 3618 in the log.

        QSOs    NIL     Bad     Unique
160     107     2       2       2
80      471     6       4       14
40      474     4       0       3
20      1206    8       11      25
15      1146    11      6       16
10      214     5       2       8

        3618    36      25      68

B= bad call = removed with penalty
U= uniques to your log not removed unless PROVEN as Bad by crosschecks.
N= Not in the other guys log. All N's with nothing next to them are
removed as no QSO calls.

In the end deductions were made for 17 of the NIL QSOs (NILs are not 
automatically deducted, for instance, several were marked as NIL when it 
was clear the other station had worked us but had logged it wrong - K1K1 
and KW1KI are examples) and 23 of those marked bad - a total of 40 QSOs..  
Unique QSOs are not automatically deducted but are used as an indication 
of possible problems that might require more detailed checking.

With the penalty (original QSO plus 3 more of the same QSO point value) 
the QSO point loss was 420.  Add to that a deduction of 2 multipliers 
(they added 2 zones and deducted 4 countries).

So, the totals went from a submitted 3618/150/584 to a final 3578/152/580 
and the score went down by 325,032 points.  And remember that the top couple 
of scores were probably checked even more thoroughly than ours...

So, I guess the way to figure your potential loss for each QSO for an 
average M/M entry is that it is about 10,000 points (if the log checkers 
catch it) - about the same value as one lost multiplier.  That suggests that 
the same attention you take to get a new multiplier (5 minutes trying to 
bust that huge pileup) should be made to getting the callsign right on a 
generic S-3 DL or JA (yes, take more time) - and I'm sure that's the point 
the contest sponsors probably want to make!

I noticed that in 1995 a total of 21.6% of our QSOs were cross checked in 
CQWW SSB, and in 1996 that percentage was up to 33.5%, so the chances of a 
NIL or bad QSO slipping past the log checkers is getting smaller and 
smaller.

Special congrats to those who make or approach "golden log" status (no 
mistakes).
                                73 Tom

--------------------------------------------------------------------
E-mail: frenaye@pcnet.com   
Tom Frenaye, K1KI, P O Box 386, West Suffield CT 06093 Phone: 860-668-5444



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