[CQ-Contest] Fully Webified

[Ward Silver]

No reason at all not to put sound feeds in.  Lets ask the question, "What
would it take to make contesting a spectator sport?"  We came up against
this in WRTC-90 - lots of interest (we got TV coverage, etc.) but people
were really disappointed when we told them they couldn't crowd in and
watch. 

Here's a starting spec for what I think it would take:

Selectable from any active position at the station...

1) Stereo sound - what the operator hears
2) Video or stills of the operator from either above the PC screen or the
side, not the rear
3) Current computer screen display (this should be available by putting a
dedicated PC on the network to construct the image for the web interface)
4) Summary of statistics (may be available from the same dedicated PC)

And then, to complete it, some way of making comparisons between
competitor stations.  A web site that would "subscribe" to the various
stations and capture their statistics summary every, say, five minutes,
would act as the central "how's it going" terminal.  Imagine being able to
pull up the comparative stats from all the big East Coast m/m in near
real-time!

Items (3) and (4) are the only in-station pieces not available today, but
it seems straightforward, given the architecture of logging software.  The
messaging formats for logging software are available, so translating
network traffic into a web page should be do-able.  And once you're not a
primary logging interface, there is a lot of cool stuff you could do with
the data; maps, stats, links to propagation, etc. etc.

The central web site concept is also based on existing technology.  The
round-the-world solo sailing contest has a similar web site that gives
current location, weather conditions, video, and even lets you sail a
virtual boat!  A similar site for CQ WW would be a great thing!

73, Ward N0AX

> why no sound that is only a heartbeat away technology wise!
> 
> oj
> 
> > Except for the fact that you would have no idea of what the score is or
> > anything else germane to the actual contesting.  Change "web cam" to
> > "logging software screen" or "real-time scoring window" and maybe it's
> > worth doing.
> >
> > Otherwise it's like watching someone play piano for 48 hours with no
> > sound.
> >
> > 73, Ward N0AX
> >
> > > What about the potential for publicity for the contest ?  What about
> > > enabling other amateurs to "watch" while someone else contests ?  I
> think it
> > > would be totally cool to dial up someones' web page and watch them
> operate
> > > the contest.
> > >
> > > 73,
> > > Bob N5NJ


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