[CQ-Contest] Fishy spots in WPX SSB

[David Robbins K1TTT]

>  I agree with David K1TTT that there is NO way to pllice spotting and
we
> do not need assisted category.But there is no problem with self
> spotting.The most spotted are DX stations or expeditions who has
> preference being needed as multiplier or new country.Self spotting
will
> help other stations to equalize conditions.On the other hand when
there
> will be hundreds of spots each hour, cluster will look like HAM
band.It
> will be waste of time to look it.

There are other things that will help prevent overload if self spotting
is allowed.  One big thing is the configurability of node filters.  In
ar-cluster the sysop can set the filters so that spots within x hz and y
minutes are considered dupes and dumped.  When this filter is used it
can greatly reduce the number of spots of frequently spotted stations...
only allowing maybe 4 or 6 spots per hour of any given station to get
through as long as they are sitting there running.  Also user defined
filters and user side software further reduce what the operator sees
down to just spots that they are interested in by what they need and/or
origin of the spots.

At this point in the larger contests my node passes 700-800 spots per
hour during peak spotting times.  I expect that in cqww ssb this year it
may pass 1000 per hour.

David Robbins K1TTT
e-mail: mailto:k1ttt at arrl.net
web: http://www.k1ttt.net
AR-Cluster node: 145.69MHz or telnet://dxc.k1ttt.net