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

[John Laney]

It seems to me that this might be the next most important thing for 
logcheckers to try to get right.  I understand that this problem does 
not exist for all contests.  If I understand correctly, the CQ Contest 
Committee has real people who look at what the computer has done and 
think about it and don't allow disqualification of QSOs that are 
correctly logged.  But, the ARRL is interested in having it all done 
automatically.  So, it must be accepted as the computer spits it out. 
No real person has looked at the results or thought about whether a 
particular QSO or group of QSOs should be discarded.

The message from ARRL appears to be:  Figure out what the logchecking 
software is looking for and log everything that way even if that is not 
what was sent to you in the contest.  If you don't do that, you may lose 
points and perhaps multipliers.  So, the reward here is not for accuracy 
in logging, but for understanding the results of the logchecking program 
and changing the logged information from what was sent to what PERHAPS 
should have been sent.  That is not the message that I think we should 
be sending.

However, I will play by the rules if I can understand them.  They should 
be clearly stated in every publication of contest rules.  In addition to 
saying that the callsign sent must reflect the DXCC country operated 
from, they should say that, if credit is to be claimed for stations who 
are not abiding by the previous rule, the station should be logged as if 
he had complied with the rule using "old standard" prefixes (see 
paragraph below in this regard).

The present system appears to penalize those who abide by the rules by 
logging what was sent to them.  I assume it does not penalize the rules 
violator, such as KH6xx and others, who don't follow the identification 
rule.  In a perfect world, I'd think the station who does not identify 
in accorance with the contest rule (although perhaps legally identifying 
according to FCC or other governmental rules) would be "found out" and 
disqualified, but those who made legal contact with the rule offender 
and logged the information sent should be given credit for the contact 
and the multiplier where the station was eventually determined to be 
located.

Actually, I am not really in favor of disqualifying for most rule 
violations, since I do not want to discourage participation in contests. 
  But it is hard to believe that KH6xx and a few other are not 
deliberately and knowingly ignoring the ARRL contest rules.  Some of the 
others may just be casual operators who don't even know what the rule 
is.  I think contacts with them should count and there should be some 
contest software or real thinking person involved in log adjudication 
that would make any necessary adjustments (such as what has been often 
done for "unstable logs").

To get back to Tom's original question, it seems likely that from a 
governmental rule standpoint, the AH2 or NH2 station in the continental 
USA is probably legally identifying.  After all, how long did W0RTT 
operate from the US with his old call of AH3C with no portable 
identificator?  As I understand it, there is no governmental requirement 
of signing portable with an FCC-issued license in any QTH in which 
licenses may be issued by the FCC.

So, every W#xxx who is in Puerto Rico need not sign portable anything, 
but if we want credit for a QSO and multiplier in certain contests, we 
must artifically add /KP4 or /NP4 or /WP4 or /KP3 or ....?  How do we 
know what portable designator to use if the station doesn't use one?  If 
we are to get credit and log something that isn't being sent, I suggest 
we use the "old standard" prefixes, such as KP4, KH6, KL7, W#, etc.

I appreciate everything the logcheckers, especially Tree, have done to 
make logchecking better.  I have always told him that I think a real 
person needs to think about disqualification of QSOs and multipliers 
before they are actually allowed.  Apparently the CQ contest conmmittee 
has the manpower to do that.  Apparently the ARRL volunteers do not.

Wishing all a good contest season, many QSOs,  and a minimum of lost 
points that are not actually errors on your part.

73,


John, K4BAI.