[CQ-Contest] Contest Spam

Wed Oct 15 00:05:58 EDT 2003

Hi Ken,

I'm not sure I'm as offended by this as you are. Spam is in the eye of the
beholder: another spam-blocker, nude mud-wrestling pygmy site, or penile
enhancement scam? Sure, that qualifies as scum-fed spam.

But an announcement on a major operation somewhere that's somewhat rare?
E-mailed to known contesters? Not sure I'd get my knickers in a knot over
that one.

As for the "narrow frequency range," it strikes me as an acknowledgement by
them that, on 40 meters only, their privileges may not be as wide as some
here might think, especially since I can see some people assuming that U.S.
possessions have the same privileges as U.S. mainland. I mean, it's not like
they were announcing their intended run frequencies on all bands...

This whole e-mail doesn't strike me as being overly solicitous. We didn't
get our feedlines looped over DX-pedition announcements pre-e-mail that
would spell out frequencies, QSX tactics, etc. "and, oh, by the way, we'll
be active 24/7 on all bands in WW Phone..."

Will this help their efforts? Maybe a little, but I suspect they'd have
killer pileups either way. Does this open the contest spam floodgates? Not
sure. There are probably only a handful of stations for whom such a tactic
would have any meaningful impact. After all, do we really need to know that,
wow! one out of a thousand Floridians is going to be on? (No offence
Florida, just making a point.)

And, like the real spam, this tactic loses all value once overused.

73, kelly
ve4xt

----- Original Message -----
From: "Kenneth E. Harker" <kharker at cs.utexas.edu>
To: "CQ Contest" <cq-contest at contesting.com>
Cc: <gcc at seo.or.jp>
Sent: Tuesday, October 14, 2003 8:04 AM
Subject: [CQ-Contest] Contest Spam

>      So, I received the following spam from AH2R.  It was unsolicited
email -
> although I have worked them in contests, I doubt that my own callsign has
> ever even shown up in their logs, and I certainly never asked to be on any
> sort of announcement list.
>
>      I would like to think that contesters would be above this sort of
> pre-contest QSO solicitation through bulk (SPAM) email.  Is this really
the
> sort of behavior that we want to see contesters embrace?  Is this not
> operating the contest before the contest starts?  Will all competitive
> stations now feel the need to spam as many hams as they can in order to
> keep up with their competitors?  He who has the largest distribution list
> wins?
>
>      This isn't even a "please get on the air, this is a fun contest,
here's
> the exchange, the mults, etc." kind of message you see once in a while
trying
> to encourage newcomers or casual contesters to get on the air.  This is a
> blatant solicitation for QSOs that even goes so far as to indicate a
> particular narrow frequency range to work them on HF!  I'm surprised that
> they don't outright ask for skeds.
>
>      I really don't like to see this sort of thing going on in contesting.
> It undermines the spirit of just getting on the air and working what your
> skills enable you to work.  Email spamming ability should not be a radio
> contesting skill.
>
>
>
> ----- Forwarded message from AH2R <gcc at seo.or.jp> -----
>
> > Date: Tue, 14 Oct 2003 13:39:53 +0900
> > To: gcc at seo.or.jp
> > Subject: AH2R on CQ WW SSB
> > From: gcc at seo.or.jp (AH2R)
> > X-Mailer: AL-Mail32 Version 1.13
> >
> > Hi contesters,
> >
> > We, Guam Contest Club, will be on the air during CQ WW SSB
> > on the end of this month. (October 25 - 26)
> >
> > This time we set a target as the Oceanic leader in Multi-OP 2-TX
> > category and World Top 5. Also we are trying to build an Oceanic
> > record in this category.
> >
> > Callsign:    AH2R
> > Country:     Guam Island, KH2 (Zone27, IOTA OC-026)
> > Entry:       Multi-OP 2-TX
> > OPs:         Aki, JI3ERV/NH2C; Toshi, JR7OMD/WI3O; Osamu, JP1JFG/N2IU;
> >              Kaz, JG3RPL/N1BJ; Kou, JH7QXJ; Sam, JR8VSE/NH2N; Noz,
JE8KKX/AH2K
> > QSL:         Via JH7QXJ (Direct (see QRZ.com) or JA bureau, NOT KH2
bureau)
> >
> > Sunrise/Sunset: 20:13/07:56 UTC
> >
> > ***Special Notice***
> > Due to the band plan, our operation on 40m is limited
> > between 7075 and 7100. Listen carefully!!
> >
> > Any questions or comments are welcomed. Don't hesitate to
> > email to gcc at seo.or.jp
> >
> > We are also planning participation of CQ WW CW next month.
> > Details will be released later.
> >
> > See you in the contest!!
> > 73
> >
> > Aki, JI3ERV/NH2C
> > Chairperson of Guam Contest Club
>
> ----- End forwarded message -----
>
> --
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------
--
> Kenneth E. Harker      "Vox Clamantis in Deserto"
kharker at cs.utexas.edu
> University of Texas at Austin                   Amateur Radio Callsign:
WM5R
> Department of the Computer Sciences          Central Texas DX & Contest
Club
> Taylor Hall TAY 2.124                         Maintainer of Linux on
Laptops
> Austin, TX 78712-1188 USA
http://www.cs.utexas.edu/users/kharker/
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------
--
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