[CQ-Contest] Logging Dupes

[Bill Coleman]

On 12/18/01 1:29 PM, Scott Nichols at snichols at mvosprey.com wrote:

>
>I personally will not log a dupe...Can cause op's to get lazy...

You ought to log the dupe. Otherwise, you are likely to lose credit for 
the QSO.

>I had
>several people tell me "Sorry, I wasn't sure if we worked before or
>not..." in ARRL 10 metre last weekend...

In this situation, say you logged the QSO at 2000z, then get another call 
at 2030z, which you refused the log. The other station did the opposite 
-- failed to log at 2000z, but did log at 2030z.

When the contest judges adjudicate this, they will mark the QSOs as NIL 
in both cases. You both lose the contact.

However, if you were to log the contact at 2030z, then you both would get 
credit for that good QSO, AND you would incur no penalty for the 2000z 
QSO, since you did, indeed, have a confirmable contact with that station.

The bottom line is that not logging duplicate contacts exposes you to NIL 
penalties for stations you did work. It pays to log the duplicates.

>That means THEY did not get it
>right the first time, or wanted me to take the time to look and tell
>them whether we have worked or not...Not my job and a big waste of time
>for me...

Well, then you lose. You end up with a lot of NIL contacts. Serves you 
right.

I really hate it when I'm trying to finish up a QSO, and when I stop 
talking or sending, all I hear is "Zed Contest xxxxxx" or "Q Contest 
xxxxxx". Obviously, the other guy started sending before I was finished 
talking. Did I work him or not? Perhaps he worked someone else with a 
similar-sounding call? 

Gosh, it's downright confusing with all the QRM in a contest -- who can 
tell? So, what do I have to do? I have to call him again. Big was of time 
for ME. Lots more QRM for HIM. Too bad. 

Acknowledgement of the QSO is an important part of the exchange, and the 
timing is important. Rushing to push F1 again doesn't help your rate. It 
only generates more QRM and lots of dupes. 

Take the time to do it right.

>I say log it correctly the first time...I've spent many minutes
>getting reports sent back over and over to MAKE SURE it is logged right
>in my log the first time...(One QRP Isreal station comes to mind... :-)

I say, acknowledge QSOs correctly the first time. That leads to a lot 
less QRM and a lot less duplicates.

>Dupes are considered blemishes in my log...I therefore use F7 very often
>and then move on...That's my own opinion...

The contest judges don't penalise anyone for having lots of duplicates. 
The old rules about "excessive duplicates" don't apply in this age of 
computerised log verification.

Don't think about duplicates as blemishes, or a waste of time. They are 
part of the contest game. Deal with it.



Bill Coleman, AA4LR, PP-ASEL        Mail: aa4lr at arrl.net
Quote: "Not within a thousand years will man ever fly!"
            -- Wilbur Wright, 1901


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