Saul, K2XA said:
Also, I disagree that 99% of uniques are busted calls.
Hi Saul, et al,
Well, maybe it is not 99%. It could be 98% or even 97%...or perhaps 99.5%.
I started following up on "uniques" decades ago. When I was actively engaged
in this
activity, I would contact the "unique" and ask them a series of questions, such
as:
[let's say it was CQWW CW contest]
1. Were you active at all (even once) during November?
2. Do you operate CW?
3. Do you operate on X band (x being a variable which would match the band the
"unique"
was worked on)?
4. Were you active on November 2x (the date of the contest)?
5. If all of the above are YES, and if you keep a log, did you work K2XA on X
band at
##:## GMT?
Out of all of the inquires sent out (snail mail, email, packet, telephone
calls, etc.),
I have only received one affirmative that the DX station was indeed a
unique..and
he worked WA2C (I'll never forget it). G3SXW did the follow up for me (since
the "unique"
was in G land) and Roger even sent me the posted letter he received where the
other guy
stated that he turned on the rig, heard WA2C, worked him, and turned the rig
off, making
just one QSO in the contest. Roger sent me the letter cuz he knew is was VERY
special...
ummm...like "unique." :-)
The odds of some guy getting on during the contest and working "only you" is
extremely
remote. Yes, we all think we are somehow special and can "pull them out" but
the research
does not validate that. If a guy gets on the air during a contest, he will
likely work more
than "just you."
And I was not doing the research based my own QRP activities. :-) This
started way back
when when I was an op at N2AA/K2GL M/M as part of my tasks on the CQWW contest
committee.
Perhaps things "these days" have changed and now there are more "genuine
uniques," but
I doubt it. I think this is a good area for updated investigation, especially
now that the
internet is so widely available. Perhaps this is an activity which I should
renew: following
up on flagged uniques.
Of course, there are exceptions, such as when someone chooses to be "net
control" for a
VE net, or something like that. But that is clearly obvious from the log. :-)
I do not mean to start a big debate with this. This is just my experience.
YMMV.
de Doug KR2Q
PS. In reviewing my LCR, I am not so sure now that the U was actually removed.
I only
"lost" two qso's total and I see that the flagged Qs were:
1 U, 1 NIL, and 1 dupe.
It never occured to me that the dupe mght be "counted and then deducted," but
perhaps
that is what happened.
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