[CQ-Contest] Self Spotting

k1ttt at arrl.net k1ttt at arrl.net
Thu Apr 1 11:37:15 EST 2004


>  Al,
>
>  I think the case that most have made for removing packet is that people
> get away with cheating (i.e claiming SO when they are SOA) and the
> contest sponsors
> don't do anything about it.

i wouldn't bet they aren't doing anything about it... but they haven't
done much to advertise what they are doing.

>
>  I guess I am just old fashioned and my reason for removing it is that it
> makes
> contesting for some like shooting ducks in a pond. You just point and
> shoot. It
> doesn't take much skill to do that...
>

then you obviously haven't operated at a multi-op or even as a serious
assisted entry and tried to figure out if its worth shooting the duck or
calling cq or both.  and then trying to juggle working spots in between
cqing while moving antennas, swapping vfo's, using dual receive to figure
out when to break your cq to call without losing your frequency, etc.


another old saying probably applies:  "If packet is outlawed, only outlaws
will have packet."   The spotting network is not going away.  Even though
it was started by and for contesters it has grown way beyond that today. 
And personally any contest that would outlaw it for multi-ops would lose
my interest...  the single op unassisted vs single op distracted argument
you can continue, but multi-ops helping each other by trading spots goes
back well before the current digital network was started and won't go away
just because a small minority on here complains about abuses.  the more
effective way to help is to bring pressure on the contest committees to
enforce the existing rules and advertise their actions so everyone knows
what is happening.






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