Jay:
Can I get you to post this to the RTTY reflector? Thanks!
Dan Henderson, N1ND
ARRL Contest Branch Manager
A joint statement by Dan Henderson, N1ND, ARRL Contest Branch Manager and
Will Roberts, AA4NC
We know there has been discussion about possible problems with the ARRL Log
Checking regarding the ARRL 2002 RTTY Roundup. Here are the basic facts.
AA4NC asked a third party to please process his entry for the contest,
since his version of the software would not convert into Cabrillo.
Inadvertently, the third party used his own RTTY Roundup log to generate
the log instead of the log sent by AA4NC. The log that was submitted to
the ARRL was marked as AA4NC, including the header and each QSO line.
There was no way to identify that there was a problem with the log submitted.
The log checking team processed the log. While there were a large number
of NILs in the log, there were sufficient valid QSOs not to raise a flag.
It would not have been possible to know the log file was invalid. The
CLAIMED-SCORE: field in the Cabrillo header may not be accurate. (Several
logging programs have been known at time to produce a wrong score.) If the
field was manually entered, it was also possible that the claimed score was
a typographical error. The score that was determined by the log checking
process fit with the number of QSOs and multiplier included in the log. The
END-OF-LOG: statement was present, so nothing in the log itself seemed out
of place..
When the RTTY Roundup results were published on the ARRL Web, AA4NC
approached N1ND about the possibility of a problem. N1ND checked the AA4NC
log checking report and concluded that the numerous NILs were in fact
legitimately not in the other stations' logs. He also forwarded Will a
copy of the LCR and the log that Will had submitted for the contest.
Upon examining the log, Will conveyed to Dan that the log was not the same
as the log he thought was submitted. Dan verified the original email
submitted and that the log processed was indeed the log that had been
submitted via email. He then began trying to cross-reference the log, and
finally found what be believed the log that was the one inadvertently used
to create the AA4NC log.. Dan forwarded this information to Will, who
recalled that yes, a third party had compiled the entry for him because of
the software problem. This discovery process took place well after the
contest results were made public and after QST had been released to the
printer.
It is apparent that problem with the log was unintentional, and laying
blame is not necessary. Both sides apologize for any inconvenience this has
cased any and all parties. If the correct log had been converted, the AA4NC
log would have shown the entry as Multioperator Low Power, with a claimed
score of 106,446 points, 942 QSOs, 113 multipliers.
The "bottom line" is that the results were based on the log that had been
submitted to the ARRL for contest adjudication. While it is an unfortunate
set of circumstances, it is not practical to re-score the entire contest
results. The AA4NC entry is being re-classified as a checklog for the 2002
ARRL RTTY Roundup.
If you have any questions, you may contact Will, AA4NC at AA4NC@aol.com or
Dan, N1ND at n1nd@arrl.org
---
Jay Townsend, WS7I
http://www.ewarg.org
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