[CQ-Contest] Contest Branch

[TOMK5RC at aol.com]

It is painful to read the correspondence about the errors and omissions in the
Ten Meter Contest results. During my editorship of the NCJ, this subject came
up all too often. In 1984, the world-high multiop score in the ARRL DX Contest
from XE2FU was not listed and, for years afterward, never appeared as the all-
time record high score. 

There are only two reasons most of us contest. The first is personal
satisfaction and the second is recognition by our peers. If your efforts are
not recognized in the results, the results are inaccurate and incomplete,
there is little incentive to continue to compete, and we don't need any more
reasons for contesting to decline in popularity.

In the years when W1YL, K7GM, K1TN and K1KI worked in the Contest Branch,
there was a benchmark set for excellence in reporting contest results. That
legacy has not been maintained. Fortunately, for all of us, the problem was
recognized long before the Ten Meter Contest results were published. Bill
Kennamer, K5FUV, was appointed as the new Department Head a couple of months
ago. I talked with Bill at length about this subject at Visalia. According to
Bill, his first and highest priority is to overhaul the Contest Branch.

My advice is to continue to provide objective evidence of the problems to the
League, through your Director and through K5FUV. At the same time, let's give
Bill a chance to implement the strategic and tactical changes he has planned
to restore excellence to the Contest Branch.

Tom Taormina, K5RC


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