[CQ-Contest] Re: What Is a Contact?

[Kelly Taylor]

At what point do we say enough with new rules? If we addressed every little
gripe on this reflector with a new rule, contest announcements would be
about as brief as War and Peace. The periodic reprintings of ARRL General
Rules would bankrupt the League. Serious stations would need to retain
attorneys just to figure it all out. Is that how far we want rulemaking to
go?

Certainly there are some blatant non-identifiers, but most stations that I
hear who don't ID after every QSO (and I think the jury is still out on
whether that really is what the FCC intends to stipulate (not that I need to
give one whit about what the FCC wants, unless I'm operating in the U.S.))
do tend to manage their pileups and their identity very well. My experience
in 20 years of contesting suggests the people like W9WI refers to are in the
vast minority.

If you tune across someone who isn't ID-ing as frequently as you would like,
it is likely because he knows that the people who were already in the pileup
know who he is. His failure to ID is possibly in some way a bonus to the
stations who got there first. It may be discourteous to the folk who are
newly tuned in, but it's not discourteous to those already calling.

But if you intend to be efficient about S&Ping, you should NOT be sitting
there long enough to get frustrated by his lack of IDs! Tune on, come back
later, dial him into a Quick Memory, plot him on your bandmap. BUT KEEP
WORKING STATIONS. Contests (like life) are too short to get your coax in a
knot over stuff like this. It only hurts your rate. If you can't work him
because he doesn't identify enough, DON'T! Don't let something like this let
you take your eye off the ball. Chances are by the time he does ID, he'll
just end up being the umpteenth zone 13 station you've worked anyway..

The worst thing you can do is be one of the loudmouth louts who yells
"WHAT'S YOUR CALL?" You're just interfering with those who already CAN work
the guy, and the law is quite clear on the legality of premeditated
interference. These folks are also hypocrites of the highest order, since
they don't include their callsign in their missive. Perhaps we need a rule
about that, too.

Sprints are unique, and require unique rules, because of the QSY rule. In
contests that actually allow running, the need for a rule about IDing is
less evident. If you don't like how someone is operating, don't work him.
Vote with your feet. Unless it's SS and the offending station is in VO1 or
VE8, there will be other mults, certainly there will be enough rate to make
up for it. But if enough people vote as you do, the other station will run
out of people to work and be forced to re-evaluate his operating technique.

You may believe that in the U.S., the quoted FCC regulation makes not IDing
after every Q against the law. I remain to be convinced. But even if it is,
remember, jaywalking is also illegal. In some places, chewing gum in a
public place is illegal. So is, in some areas, backing out of a front
driveway. But you know what, the world doesn't grind to a halt over any of
this stuff. The key here is perspective.

73, kelly
ve4xt
----- Original Message -----
From: "Doug Smith W9WI" <w9wi at w9wi.com>
To: <cq-contest at contesting.com>
Sent: Monday, August 19, 2002 11:42 AM
Subject: [CQ-Contest] Re: What Is a Contact?


> (If you get QST and you haven't already read the cited VHF column, you
> should.  It really may be more relevant to HF contesters than to VHFers -
> while I don't agree with everything he writes, there's plenty of food for
> thought.)
>
> > From: "M.Sivcevic, VK4DX" <radio at stelex.com.au>
> >
> > The thing is that FCC rules apply only to the USA, not the rest of the
> > world.
>
> True, but contest sponsors are free to impose any additional rules they
> wish, above and beyond FCC rules, and apply them to all participants
> regardless of country.
>
> IMHO adding such a rule in all contests would be a good thing.  It already
> exists in the Sprints and I don't see anyone complaining.
>
> During a DXpedition, it is simply annoying to have to listen to a station
> for 5 minutes before he IDs.  During a contest, it is exceedingly
> discourteous to the callers.  At least the ones who are serious
participants
> in the contest.
>
> =================================================================
>
> "Contest OOs" are another issue.  Actually I think that's a good idea too.
> Everybody knows there are stations out there doing things they should get
> disqualified for, but the chances they *will* get DQ'd are essentially
zero.
>
> It would not be easy to implement, especially on CW where anyone skilled
> enough to catch violations would probably be participating in the contest.
> It might be worth discussing though.
> --
> Doug Smith W9WI
> Pleasant View (Nashville), TN EM66
> http://www.w9wi.com
>
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