Let's imagine two contesters, Joe and Bob, in an SSB contest.
Joe enters assisted, from a relatively uncommon zone/DXCC. He spends a lot
of time running, but also feeds cluster spots to his bandmap, where he
watches for unusual mults. Under crowded band conditions, holding a
frequency is a challenge. He might call CQ for 30 minutes or more before
someone finally spots him. When they do, the floodgates open, QSOs pour in,
and his rate remains high as long as he can hold the frequency. When he's
finally forced to QSY, the process starts all over again.
Bob enters unassisted, from a relatively common zone/DXCC. He also spends a
lot of time running. For S&P, he mostly just starts at one end of the band
and works his way up, hitting station after station, and keeping track of
who he's worked before on his bandmap. Bob is a member of local ham club. He
has a good station, and is relatively well-known. Many of his friends enter
assisted. With a wink and a nod, either implicitly or explicitly, they agree
to spot each other when they hear each other. When Bob is running, he gets
noticed quickly by his friends, who spot him. Like with Joe, the floodgates
open, and his rate jumps. When he's forced to QSY, his friends notice him
quickly again, he gets another spot, and can continue running with a good
rate.
This is the situation I face with every contest. I'm Joe, and I run into a
lot of Bobs. I'm not saying every op who enters assisted is like Bob, but
they are certainly out there. And yes, I realize that "asking to be spotted"
is against the rules. But there are many who don't need to ask; their
friends simply volunteer.
So tell me, in the scenario above, who is benefiting more from "assistance"?
Skimmer server and the RBN have, in one sense, leveled the playing field
quite a bit for CW contests, because everyone who gets heard gets spotted.
No such luxury in SSB (yet).
Also, to those who don't like multi-channel decoders and want to compete
with others who think the same way: if that's all there was to it, we
wouldn't be having this conversation. The problem is two-fold: first, many
people enter unassisted who are actually assisted by others, whether they
ask for it or not. Second, why is it OK for an "unassisted" op to get lots
of Qs and points from being spotted remotely by a multi-channel decoder, but
not OK for them to use that information themselves, when it's generated by
tools at their location, using their radios and antennas?
Oh, and here's another issue: what about using Skimmer spots during an SSB
contest? Since they are for CW calls, they wouldn't provide the information
needed to make a QSO, so are they still considered assistance?
73, Rick ZL2HAM / ZM1G
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