This discussion is at times, funny, naive, ridiculous and sad.
Accept the violations and violators and everyone loses. Not just this
hobby, but society as a whole. In 1938, it was called appeasement ("
Hobbesian in its insistence upon swallowing the bad in order to preserve
some remnant of the good, pessimistic in its belief that Nazism was
there to stay and, however horrible it might be, should be accepted as a
way of life with which Britain ought to deal." Martin Gilbert, /The
Roots of Appeasement/, 1968) and the concept is, I see, still alive and
well.
The idea of stations recording contests and making that part of a
submission requirement makes sense to me.
The physical recording is very, very simple to accomplish, either with
internal recorders (i.e., your computer's soundcard writing to your hard
disk by way of your logging or separate recording software) or with an
external recorder. Those that complain at the extra cost (<$100) and
extra gear to carry with them are, I suspect, the same folks who will
spend $$$$$ on towers, antennas and station equipment, but not on
contesting or any other software, even though none of it costs more than
$100, and will fly to an exotic location with lots of gear... and their
iPod, which is no larger than the average MP3 recorder/player.
Those trivial issues notwithstanding, the purpose of the recording is to
be a check-log, not unlike a dupe sheet from the pre-computer days.
They would only be needed when the conventional log checking process
tagged a log as being suspect -- however that is done and by whatever
criteria the sponsor establishes. The purpose is not to burden the log
checker with the additional task of reviewing an audio log of each
participant. It's analogous to looking at the canceled check/receipt
when an unaccounted-for debit or payment request comes in that you
_know_ you had taken care of!
The only change I would make in W4PA's excellent proposal is that the
contest sponsor determine the criteria (e.g., # of QSO's, claimed score,
etc.) that would require a recording. While there's no harm in making a
recording I'll never have to submit, there be lots of harm if I don't
have a recording I am required to submit.
Those determined to win at any cost will, in fact, doctor their logs and
recordings. On the other hand, those who may be tempted to violate the
rules will know that their attempts will likely be uncovered. Society
should not condone their actions.
In the end, it appears that very few on this reflector are interested in
changing the status quo. Instead, it seems that this whining, along
with its "I know who the cheaters are but won't say" element, will
continue from year to year.
Sad...
Eric W3DQ
Washington, DC
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