[CQ-Contest] WRONG! (No matter how you do it, I still lose!)

[Doug KR2Q]

In a message dated 98-03-19 00:34:39 EST, Scott wrote:

<< Well, we will have made about 14K QSOs and in that bunch will be K3CR,
 AA4LR, 
 W0AH, etc, etc.  The logs of K3LR and W0AIH will have nice "N's" on them
 for the
 reports of the J6DX QSOs, but there will be 3 or 4 possible matching calls
 in our log.  Again, K3LR and W0AIH lose NOTHING, but now it's J6DX that
 loses
 about 5K points.   >>

[the following comments are my own and are NOT intended or designed to be
interpretted as being necessarily representative of the views of the CQWWCC]

To Scott:  This is ABSOLUTELY INCORRECT.

To EVERYBODY: I have seen many comments (nearly all favorable...tnx!) about
the CQWW web page, the UBN reports, etc., posted on here lately.  I have also
seen some confusion.  Look guys/gals...you can NOT simply look at the UBN
report and assume that you understand it.  You MUST (that means REQUIRED,
ESSENTIAL, VITAL) read the information on HOW the UBN report is used.  You
simply GOTTA read the instructions!  Additionally (and I am NOT here to hawk
CQ-Contest magazine) this topic has been extensively covered many times in CQ-
Contest magazine.  If you want to know the INS and OUTS of every facit of CQWW
log checking, I strongly urge you to consider a subscription or to borrow your
friend's copy or something.  If you are serious about YOUR OWN contesting, the
articles in there ARE A MUST! [no, I don't get paid]

Briefly:  An "N" call that is a "lone" N call (nothing else listed to the
right on the UBN report) is AUTOMATICALLY REMOVED.  Other "N" calls (those
WITH other possibilities listed to the right on the UBN report) are NOT
automatically removed.  Read it again...not AUTOMATICALLY removed....they are
STILL subject to removal pending HUMAN INSPECTION.  This is why there are LOG
CHECKERS and not just computers.

Using the example provided by Scott, if K3CR is shown as a possible call
listed for the N qso with J6DX on the K3LR ubn report, THEN THE NEXT STEP MUST
BE TAKEN.  That next step is to do a CROSS CHECK BY TIME.  So first we find
out WHAT TIME the qso is claimed to have taken place in the K3LR log.  

Two things can now happen:

A.  We look inside the J6DX log AT THE TIME that K3LR has claimed a qso, and
we look for "something close" to K3LR; in the example cited by Scott, it would
probably mean looking for K3CR.  If K3CR is NOT found in the J6DX log AT THAT
TIME, K3LR would lose all credit and suffer a penalty.

B. We we look inside the J6DX log AT THE TIME that K3LR has claimed a qso, and
we look for "something close" to K3LR; again, in the example cited by Scott,
it would probably mean looking for K3CR.  This time we DO find K3CR at that
time.  Now we again have 2 options:

1.  Look inside the K3CR log (if we have it, or when we call him on the phone
or write him a letter) to see if K3CR has logged J6DX AT THAT TIME.  If he HAS
it in his log AT THAT TIME, then we credit the qso to K3CR and NOT to K3LR.
Again, K3LR would lose full credit and suffer an additional penalty.

2.  If, however, K3CR does NOT have J6DX in his log AT THAT TIME, then credit
WOULD be given to K3LR....but remember, this is ONLY if the TIMES MATCH, and
ONLY if K3CR were the only listed "possible" call.  If other calls were
listed, such as N3LR, WW3LR, etc, then each of those would be investigated in
a like manner and ALL would have to be eliminated before credit to K3LR (for
that qso) could be allowed.

So in the scenario painted by Scott, the odds of K3LR getting credit for that
qso are THEORETICALLY 1 in 3.  The actual odds of K3LR getting credit for that
qso IN THE SCENARIO painted by Scott (where they intentially don't log him)
are probably extremely close to zero.

Remember, the UBN report is NOT necessarily your final score...it is the
STARTING POINT for the HUMAN LOG CHECKERS to further investigate the flagged
items.  In many cases, this will be your final score.  In many cases, your
final score will be reduced even more (often much more).  This is due to the
CONSERVATIVE nature of the software in AUTOMATICALLY removing contacts.  Human
log checkers (at this point) are able to make better judgements on many of the
FLAGGED qso's (the ones we feel need further investigation), so THEY are
responsible for the followup, and often DO find more contacts which must be
deleted.  Sometimes, the score will actually IMPROVE compared to the UBN
report, again due to HUMAN intervention.  Log checkers can spot mistakes and
correct them in EITHER DIRECTION.

finally....NOT LOGGING SOMEONE YOU WORK IN ORDER TO INTENTIALLY MAKE THEM LOSE
POINTS IS A CLEAR VIOLATION OF THE INTENT OF THE RULES.  DO NOT DO IT.

de Doug KR2Q



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