[CQ-Contest] [Fwd: Equipment Operation Question]

[Richard Norton]

> Forwarded from the BVRC Reflector - by N6AA -

Dear Mr. Contest,

This is in response to your request for additional
information regarding my question, "Can allegations of sub-
optimal equipment operation by disgruntled competitors
disqualify someone from holding a contest record, even if he
produced a record-setting score?"

Since I was tired of obscurity, I checked the Beetle Valley
Contest records, and noticed that the "assisted" class
records presented a reachable chance for fame since the
"record" scores were lower than those for unassisted SOAB.

I don't know much about this modern packet stuff, so I asked
one of the local old-timers for help. He told me recent
advances in technology had changed the nature of packet
interface boxes, and installed a strange looking one for me.

I had to put two pieces of bread in slots at the top of the
interface and depress a lever on the side. After a minute or
so, the now-somewhat-brownish pieces of bread would pop up,
and I was supposed to look at them to find calls and
frequency information.

I couldn't get the knack of it until I had gone about 42
hours without sleep. Then I could occasionally see
callsigns, but when I'd tune to the frequency, the spots
usually seemed to have QSY'd. I did work a station with a
similar prefix on a nearby frequency, so this proved it was
working.

The old-timer smiled when I told him that I had apparently
won the assisted category with a new record score, and was
now headed for glory. A few other guys had higher unassisted
scores, but that doesn't mean anything.

However, some members of the local packet club made a claim
that they had checked and I wasn't "connected to the
network" or something. They said therefore I wasn't
distracted enough to deserve an "assisted" victory, and had
essentially cheated. 

Since there was no rule about sending in your packet spots,
I ate the bread, and can't include it with my log. 

There was no technical requirement to understand every
nuance of this modern technology when I took my license
exam. I believe that I was assisted, fair and square.

Does this crybaby claim by the losers have any validity or
do I deserve my place in the record books?


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