Rick, Gerry, et al:
1. Hope you don't mind if I combine the replies
2. I would normally reply directly, but since you have also posted to the
reflector, I will too. But I hope that this is my last comment on this thread
"in public."
First, Rick's comment was about M/M, so I directed my reply in that direction,
even if not so stated.
Second, I still think that looking at real time scores (for M/M) doesn't
(won't) matter. Your M/M crew should be experts at what they do and should not
need you (Rick) as their cheerleader. Maybe my assumption of expertise and the
need for motivation is wrong, but I still think that taking time to look at
someone else's scores detracts from the effort needed.
Most likely, your M/M competition is not geographically near you, so I'm not
sure what seeing stuff real time would buy. I clearly remember times when W2PV
worked stuff that I couldn't hear at K2GL/N2AA. Equally, I remember times when
LPL was working stuff that I couldn't hear (esp on 10m at the bottom of the
cycle). Of course, that was decades ago now, but I bet it has not changed.
What XX, LR, LPL, and NQ4I work as M/M at any given time of the day are not in
tight sync.
I would expect your team to "know" what the other guys (competition) are doing
by actually listening to them on the band, as one of your op's "tunes around."
Yes, this assumes you have two guys per position which may not be always true
(but should be for M/M).
I fully appreciate your goal of knowing how the other M/Ms did exactly when the
contest is over. We all have experienced that "need." I don't see the need
for "real time scores" when the webversion of 3830 works so well. I think it
is reasonable and laudable that you ask that all M/M post their scores
immediately after the contest so that all can "share" and see how they did.
Switching gears a bit (Gerry)....
I just don't "get" how guys "not top ten" would be more motivated by looking at
scores. You can only do what your station can do. As anyone familiar with
Organizational Behavior knows, motivation comes from within. I concede that
maybe there some ops who are too casual, but that is not something a M/M should
really have think about. If it is, they did a less than optimal job of
recruiting or they acknowledge that their M/M is "casual."
Before I continue, let me remind everyone that most contesters who care (based
on those who voted) think that single ops and real-times do NOT mix.
http://www.contesting.com/survey/171
The CQWWDX Contest Committee also sought input on this topic (Bob Cox requested
your input here on the contest reflector) and the findings agree with what is
posted above. Essentially, those who care say that if you use real time
scoreboards, you can't be "single op" unassisted. I agree. So let's stick
with M/M.
The multi-year trend (decades long) for contest participation and scores has
been improving long before scoreboards. To think that any recent increase is
due to less than one year of minimal experience with these scorecards is
statistically impossible.
Also, I never said anything negative about POSTING to the real time
scoreboards. I said that those who LOOK at it are being less than optimally
efficient in achieving a bigger score.
And finally....I have no issue posting my score in real time (except that my
ham computer is old and has no internet connection). However, I sincerely
doubt that (a) my scores qualify as "big" and (b) there are many in my qrp
category that care about how I am doing during the contest. I sure can't
imagine K1AR and his peers being motivated by my qrp score. LOL
In conclusion (whew).... Yes, do ask everybody, especially M/M, to post their
scores immediately after the contest. It is a worthy goal. Using real time
scores is the long way around since it requires more effort than plugging a
couple numbers into a webform at the end of the contest. I think that the
webform approach is more efficient (and easier to do) and therefore more likely
to achieve success in learning what the final, claimed scores are.
de Doug KR2Q
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