I appreciate Barry's comments about being the victim of bad spots. It seems
that my call is busted (as W4DQ) either very early or very late in the 'test.
The vast majority is late, and as Barry relates below, all hell breaks loose, a
free-for-all with the BIG guns and little pistols going nuts.. am I'm thinking
-- not being a packet user -- what's going on, I've worked these guys already!
The situation is exacerbated by the fact (reality!) that I generally don't
operate the entire contest and don't have a bone-crushing signal!
I agree with Barry, "Anyone who operates Assisted and does not verify calls
they grab from the Cluster deserves what they get, in terms of score reduction
for busted calls."
It's all part of the price of entering the game.
73,
Eric W3DQ
Washington, DC
-------------------
Date:Thu, 08 Mar 2007 11:28:50 +0000
From:Barry <w2up@mindspring.com>
Subject:Re: [CQ-Contest] arrl dx ssb spotting report
To:CQ-Contest@contesting.com
Anyone who operates Assisted and does not verify calls they grab from
the Cluster deserves what they get, in terms of score reduction for
busted calls. However, the innocent victim here is the guy whose call
was busted. I recall, a few years ago, tuning across Tom, 8P1A, late
Sunday afternoon on 15m. Moments before, someone spotted him as AP1A
and all hell broke loose on his frequency, killing his run with dupes
(and he's one guy who does ID after almost every QSO.) The frenzy was
so bad, he QSYed.
Even though I felt sorry for Tom, I couldn't help but laughing at the
stupidity of the callers. First, they did not even listen for a call.
Second, there's no way 15m would have been open to AP at that hour.
Third, any experienced op should know Tom's voice after all the years
he's put in. Most of those calling were Multis, not SOAs. So the
solution to busted spots is not OPERATE UNASSISTED, unless you take it
away from the Multis, too.
While embarrassing the chronic offenders publicly isn't the answer, part
of the solution is having the more experienced team members at a Multi
educating their operators - Don't spot something unless you know the
call AND don't call someone unless you know the call.
73,
Barry W2UP
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