Well, I've read the contest rules several times, and they don't
specifically make the same "one signal per band" limitation for single
op that they do for multiop. I agree that it is assumed, but again ...
the rules don't specifically rule it out and we all know from past
experience that loopholes tend to be exploited.
And I am absolutely certain that these were three separate QSOs with
three different stations. I should have taken a screenshot. The
contacts were within the same 15 second window, with different stations,
and with different signal reports. And as I said, it happened again a
short while later with two completely different stations. These were
not images, and they were not the staggered transmissions that we can do
while overlapping more than one contact.
I'm pretty sure you can run multiple instances of WSJT-X as long as you
specify different rigs for each. If you check out 5T5PA's page at
QRZ.com you can clearly see that he is a pretty smart guy and that he
has multiple rigs. Probably the simplest way would be to use three
instances of WSJT-X driving the same sound card and talking to three
rigs via different com ports.
Regarding DXCC eligibility, what I saw did not appear to be any more
automated than normal FT8 contacts. They didn't need to be. If he
called CQ on three different frequencies, WSJT-X handles everything from
that point on if he clicked the "Call 1st" box. He would still have to
manually enable the next CQ's, but that wouldn't be difficult to quickly
do three times.
I think it's all kind of clever, but I wouldn't want to see it in the
contest.
73,
Dave AB7E
On 8/6/2019 1:17 PM, Edward Sawyer wrote:
Dave - is this actually REALLY quickly synchronized separate transmissions to 3 different stations? Or are there
3 simultaneous transmissions occurring at exactly the same time? If it’s the former, its certainly serial
single op worthy - I do this all the time while contesting - just not as fast as a computer. If it’s the
later, then it would be "more than one signal at a time". That would violate current rules in all
categories I believe. Even Multi-Op stations can only have one signal at a time on a distinct band. Of course I
am assuming that a "signal" is the roughly 50hz of individual beeps and not the 3khz of computer
managed bandwidth. All definitions to be finalized with this new breed of contest category. Illustrating how
non-human controlled it really is.
Interestingly, and on a different subject, whether 5T5PA is actually compliant with the
new DXCC rules making such contacts ineligible for DXCC is another topic. I believe that
the next contact cannot be made without a human engagement. So was it semi-automatic or
automatic fire? And is that engagement needed as part of a "stack build" or
real time - the initial DXCC language was not too clear.
Ed N1UR
-----Original Message-----
From: CQ-Contest [mailto:cq-contest-bounces@contesting.com] On Behalf Of David
Gilbert
Sent: Tuesday, August 6, 2019 3:10 PM
To: 'CQ-Contest@contesting. com'
Subject: [CQ-Contest] WW-Digi Contest -- Rule Clarification
Although it is certainly implied, the rules listed on the WW-Digi website do not
specifically prohibit using more than one signal at the same time ON THE SAME BAND
for the single op category. They say that transmission can only be on one band
at a time, but they don't say you can't make multiple transmissions at the same time
on the same band.
The reason I bring this up is that I just witnessed 5T5PA making three separate FT8
transmissions on 20m to three different stations all within the same fifteen second
window. A short time later I saw two separate transmissions from him to two different
stations (and different stations than the previous three), again all within the same fifteen
second window. Each simultaneous transmission was spaced exactly 60 Hz apart, and the
software cleanly decoded all signals as if they were from different callsigns. 5T5PA
expertly managed all the QSOs cleanly.
Interestingly enough, even though I've worked 5T5PA before, JTAlert only
labeled one of the three as a dupe.
I can think of more than a couple of ways 5T5PA could be doing this, and for casual operation
I see no problem with it. For a DXpedition, it might even make a lot of sense. I
don't remember it being against FCC/other laws, but I could be wrong about that. In any
case, it seems to me that it could open up the possibility for some controversy in a contest.
Or maybe I'm just crying wolf here ...
73,
Dave AB7E
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