[CQ-Contest] SPOT Filtering

[Jim Kehler]

>This has also been getting some "press" on the CT-USER reflector.

I'm not subscribed to that one, but here's an expansion on the original
idea, based on what N2BIM has told me about the FRC cluster.  The 
FRC guys want to see only local spots, so they aren't overloaded with
stuff they can't hear. Very understandable. Some people want to see
ALL the contest spots, so they don't miss anything. Others don't want
to see ANY contest spots. 

Nobody so far has suggested that the way CT receives spots be 
altered. I don't think we need to even think about modifying the 
original format of spots. I think we just need a few new ways to use
what we already have. Like the COMMENT field. 

We are seeing some 'new' cluster software, but it doesn't seem to do
many new tricks. I haven't see ARCluster, but I'm told it has filtering
capability.

Earlier it was suggested that we add something that could be filtered
to the comment field, '<CONTEST> or whatever.  That would allow 
people who can filter spots to dump all the contest stuff, but doesn't
help the contesters much.  So here's another idea:

<CONTEST:27> the spot originated in Zone 27. CT isn't using the 
COMMENT field now when it sends spots, but it already knows the 
users zone number. 

So with a filter in place, FRC could maintain it's connection to the rest
of the world, and filter out all the contest spots except the ones 
flagged in the comment field as <CONTEST:05>. 

I don't use CT with a packet connection, so I don't know what band 
maps look like - but I doubt seriously CT pays any attention at all to 
the comment field, so the fact that CT is adding CONTEST:ZONE to 
spots generated with CT should be totally transparent to the user,
both in the outgoing and incoming mode. 

I also realize that a lot of people are running PacketCluster and can't
filter anything. And I understand why they don't want to change.
But for Telnet connections, it's easy to plug in a chunck of front end
software that will do the filtering on incoming stuff so PacketCluster 
never sees it. 

Somebody might want to pass this on to the CT users list.

73, Jim KH2D


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