I'm a relative newcomer, licensed in '09, small pistol. I admit I have little
or no clue about a lot of contesting history or some of the traditions; I
respect them, but I admit I don't know all of them. I can only comment on how I
see things as they are today.
In my view this whole Assisted vs. Unassisted debate is somewhat overblown and
out of step with reality. I think the two classes should be merged for two
reasons:
-- Assisteds Don't Win. In all three classes of the just concluded CQ WW DX,
the top scoring SOAB HP outscored the top SOAB HP(A). SOAB LP beat SOAB LP(A).
SOAB QRP defeated SOAB QRP(A). Same result in CQ WPX. I haven't done a
statistical analysis but looking at the scores it appears there's not a big
difference between the two categories as a whole. The supposed advantage that
Skimmer and spots provide to the operator is not visible in the results. This
doesn't surprise me; I find a lot of the spots to be dead ends, either because
I can't hear them or they have QSY'd. Half the time I end up turning the VFO
anyway.
Separate categories only make sense if the results show a measurable difference
between them. The power categories HP, LP and QRP show this; there is a large
and clear difference in scores between the three power levels. When the
distinction between the categories show up in the results, it verifies that the
categories are providing a useful and clear division.
-- Clusters Assist Running Unassisteds. The popular QRO running stations, who
are mostly Unassisted, get spotted early and often. This draws the Assisteds to
running stations like moths to a light bulb. And so while running stations
aren't using the cluster directly, they benefit greatly from it. You can't beat
free worldwide advertising! Click here and work us...
I see this as a major logical fallacy of the Assisted class: it assumes that
the effect of using the cluster are confined to the operator using it. In
reality the cluster impacts both sides of the QSO. The large swarming pileups
around fresh spots prove that point.
In conclusion I see no downsides to merging Assisted with Unassisted. If you
want to embrace the latest technology, use the internet and computer-based
tools. If you want to tune around and find your own contacts, then enjoy doing
that. The evidence suggests that merging the two styles together in one class
will cause no harm in their resulting scores and will not change the results.
If the telnet/cluster/Skimmer experiment has demonstrated anything, it's that
running stations will always win. And there's one other benefit of merging
Assisted and Unassisted: it will end the long debates on CQ-Contest!
73 Jim K6OK
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