[CQ-Contest] Log checking questions

[Ed K1EP]

At 12/19/2005 09:42 AM, Zack Widup wrote:
>On Mon, 19 Dec 2005, Ed K1EP wrote:
>
>> 
>> If I am in a contest that requires serial numbers (or grids, or first 
>> names) and if I work someone, casual or not, I have to put something in 
>> the log.   I can't just make something up.  
>
>Why not?

Because you do not know whether that person will submit a log or not.  If he submits a log and you have the exchange wrong, you lose.  You just can't make up an exchange and fill your log in with it.   If he is handing out a valid exchange for the contest, but still not submitting a log, that exchange can be derived by the contest log checkers.  I can not just leave the exchange blank, then it is not a valid contest exchange FOR ME.  I don't care if that person submits a log or not, I just want my entry to have that QSO.  

>Now, IF the exchange you sent affects the other person's scoring (e.g. 
>giving the wrong state in SS or the wrong grid in VHF contests) I consider 
>that to be unethical.  But if what you're sending (e.g. serial number or 
>name) has no bearing on the other guy's score, it seems irrelevant to me.

Well, the contest log checking can determine if the exchange is unstable if that person hasn't submitted a log.  In that case, you aren't penalized.  But if that person is using a KW in NAQP, or operated 25 straight hours in SS, or didn't QSY in a sprint, I don't care, in the sense that it doesn't affect my contest entry.  From my perspective, it was a valid QSO for the contest.  

>I've often considered getting in on a contest that requires serial 
>numbers about an hour after it started and then doing S&P, giving people 
>serial numbers in the thousands, and then not sending in a log. That 
>should raise a few eyebrows!  :-)

People have done that in SS, at least started from a number other than 1.  The rules don't state that you have to start with 1, it states that they have to be sequential:

4. Exchange: The required exchange consists of: 
4.1. A consecutive serial number;