[CQ-Contest] W2SC's ARRL DX LCR feedback

[Georgens, Tom]

My callsign is now attached to a string of E-Mails that are becoming
increasingly critical of the log checking process, and that was not my
original intention.  People should be free to express their opinions but I
wanted to make mine clear.

We are all indebted to the volunteers that check the logs and make the final
results more meaningful, and I would never say anything to diminish their
enthusiasm.  In fact, I applaud Tree taking the time to respond to my
original post.

I would rather refer to the software as "not-perfect" rather than flawed.
My query was whether the callsigns I logged were legal.  If they were legal,
correctly copied, located in the US and Canada, they should have counted.
On the other hand, if the complexity associated with figuring this all out
is significant, it may not be worth it to pursue 9 contacts out of a log
with 9000 Q's.  No measurement process is perfect, and we would all admit
that the measurement accuracy is better than the operator accuracy by a fair
amount.  In rare instances, the margin of difference will lie within the
measurement accuracy (Florida!) and the outcome will become unpredictable.
This is rare in the world of 48 hour contesting and certainly a risk I can
live with.

I pointed out the K2G instance since it was more obvious and easier to
address.  Since all the calls of the form K2G** were removed from the logs,
I suspect that K2G** had a 100% NIL rate.  Imagine his surprise had he been
a serious entrant.

My lesson is clear, I will add the portable designators in the future.  It
would be great if the software could handle this or the stations would sign
accordingly, but it is just as easy for me to take the special precaution.

I am sorry if cause any undue scrutiny or criticism of the log checkers.

73, Tom W2SC

-----Original Message-----
From: K4SB [mailto:k4sb at earthlink.net]
Sent: Tuesday, September 16, 2003 9:10 PM
To: cq-contest at contesting.com
Subject: Re: [CQ-Contest] W2SC's ARRL DX LCR feedback


OH1XYZ were to send "599 OH" ?

If this were to happen, OH1XYZ would be in violation of FCC rules,
assumming the "OH" is meant to be Ohio. While he may have FCC
permission to operate from the US, he must append a US prefix.

By convention, he must sign W8/OH1XYZ, or under the old standard,
OH1XYZ/W8, or any other legal designator for the 8th call district.

This is basic, and logging software which does not know these rules is
flawed. For example, in SS, if you worked OH1XYZ and he gave OH as a
State, the QSO" would get kicked out in a flash. 

73
Ed
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