[CQ-Contest] self-spotting

[jljarvis]

Folks,

Self-spotting is just one more 'difficult to administer' situation,
where there is opportunity for deception, and no readily apparent
solution.

I would recommend keeping it simple.
If you are single op....you shouldn't be assisted, period.
If you're on an expedition, your home call shouldn't be calling
you out, as it suggests you're assisted by the folks at home.

If you are either m/m, m/s, or SOA, then you're assisted, anyway.
A socially accepted norm for self spotting ought to be developed..
say once or twice an hour, for discussion purposes. 

The possibility of someone cloaking themselves as you, and spotting
you just to disqualify you, exists.  There was recent evidence of it
coming out of EU on the CQDXirc site.  How to protect against it?

Then comes the really interesting part....all of your club buddies
decide to 'help' you by calling you out early and often, so your
expedition can set a new record.  More difficult to track and 
administer...and possibly done out of ignorance or genuine good
will.  The solution?  Raise the penalty, so nobody can fail to be
aware of it.  Castration might be on the extreme side....

and it would increase the risk of having a flock of dx coming back to
an increasing population of "yl's".   So maybe the contest organizers
should contemplate enabling a "protest" scenario, as is done in
sailboat racing.  DQ the entire club, AND expedition, if there is 
even the suspicion of collusive behavior.  The burden of detection is
placed on the contestants.  File protest at the end of the race.
Sponsors get to be the judges.

There are significant differences in prop times among packet systems.
So it's possible for three or four guys to spot HC8N around the same
time, while being unaware of the OTHER guys who spotted.  And not all
packet systems are linked during contests.  Makes the problem even
knottier.

The alternative?  No rule.  No limit.  Packet is...whatever the 
bandwidth will support.  But SO still can't use it.  That's easiest to
administer.

Jim, N2EA