[CQ-Contest] S&Pers' Exchanges

[Doug Richardson]

This has been discussed on the contest reflector before, but I ran into 
it 75% of the time or more during IARU, and wonder if we ever came to a 
resolution about what to do.

PROBLEM: When I'm running, the S&P station fails to give my call in 
their exchange. The S&P station hears "Kx0xxx ur 59 Zone 03" from me, 
but all I hear back is "ur 59 Zone xx, thx for the Q!" -or more often, 
"thanks for the mult!" :-) and off they go. On occasion I asked the S&P 
station to give me my call, and often the tone of voice was "you dolt... 
you don't know your own call???" when the question really is: Mr. S&P do 
YOU know my call? On a number of occasions, when the S&P station gave me 
my call after I asked, the call was busted I was able to correct. I 
ALWAYS sent the running station's call when S&Ping myself, and on 
occasion the running station saved a busted call by correcting me.

Contest rules require exchange of calls both ways BUT:
1) Running stations who don't stop and ask the S&P to send the running 
stn's call have a MUCH HIGHER Q RATE, although they risk a higher % of 
busted calls if the S&Ps get it wrong, DOUBLE the Q rate seems to make 
it a no brainer to NOT ask.
2) Is it a QSO AT ALL? The exchange is incomplete. Should the running 
stn even log it? Fact is, from what I heard listening to most runners, 
90% of the time S&Pers did not send the running station's call and the 
runner just didn't care and moved on to the next Q in the pile up. If a 
runner didn't log S&Pers who didn't send the running call runners would 
not log 90% of their contacts (obviously ridiculous).
3) Is the solution just to do as others and run on, take the busted call 
lumps if they are ever discovered? OR: CHANGE THE PROTOCOL. (This would 
be like trying to convert the world to the dvorak keyboard, I know). 
S&Ps don't get the running stn's exchange until the S&Per does their job 
and send the complete exchange.

What to do?

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