[CQ-Contest] Random acts of kindness

[Bill Turner]

ORIGINAL MESSAGE:

On Sun, 3 Dec 2006 09:33:30 -0800 (PST), David Mueller
 <n2nl at yahoo.com> wrote:

>An unassisted operator must not solicit for assistance
>on his run frequency, key word being "solicit".  That
>means, no asking "Does anyone know where the VY1 is?" 
>Doing this very obviously (to me) places that
>competitor into the multi or assisted category.  
>
>Now, lets say someone calls in and tells you that the
>VY1 is 10KC down the band.  I really don't know why
>this person would tell you this unless asked, but lets
>say he does.  Feel free to go down and work him - that
>information was not solicited.  

------------ REPLY FOLLOWS ------------

In the ARRL contests, it does not matter if the info was solicited or
not. Quoting from the ARRL White Paper on contest practices:

"The only time there's a problem with supporting your friends and club
members is when actions are taken by an organization or individual to
influence the competitive environment to the exclusive advantage of a
participating organization or individual."

The word "solicited" does not appear in the above. If you read the
quote carefully, you will see that information fed to you in your
example ("10 KC down") is given to you exclusively and does indeed
influence the competitive environment. Obviously, you can not stop
someone from transmitting, but you can stop yourself from acting on
it. Just ignore the info and ask them not to do it again, explaining
that you are operating unassisted.

Other contest sponsors may define it differently, but that's how it is
for ARRL sponsored contests.

73, BIll W6WRT