[CQ-Contest] Casual vs organized "alerting"

[George Fremin III]

On Wed, Nov 29, 2006 at 08:06:03AM -0800, Mike Gilmer wrote:
> I find it difficult to equate the passive receiving of
> 
> disorganized information as the same thing as being 
> logged into a spotting network, being fed thousands of
> 
> specific data points that feed various point-and-shoot
> logging program windows.
> 
> If you're running and someone yells at you "Hey lid, 
> you're QRMing HZ1HZ up 1 kHz!?!"  or if you are 
> trying to pull a weak signal out and some lurker 
> yells, "It's Five-Zed-Four-Zulu-Alpha", is it really 
> being suggested to try to talk yourself out of working
> 
> these guys?

I dont see an issue with what you describe Mike.

But what if during the SS I ask folks I am working
to tell me where the VE8 is or for that matter if I 
keep telling folks on frequency that I need VE8.

Some of them (esp. those with packet) might be 
inclined to tell me since it is very easy for
them to do so.  This is just wrong.  And is really
no different than if I had been logged into the 
DX spotting system myself.

In addition - if I have many 'friends' on the bands
that come by and tell me where the 'rare' mults
are during a contest even if I am not asking 
for this information - that is wrong and should not
be encouraged.  And if folks were doing this to 
me and I knew or could figure out who they were I would
tell them to stop.

As an example, over the years I have had several friends
that would stop by and work me.  And then I would get called
by some of their club calls or their friends calls that 
are not on HF or don't do contests.  The signals and/or
voices would all be the same friend that called me.  

I made a point of telling my friends that did this to
stop doing it because it was not right.  And they have 
stopped - they still work me with their one callsign - but 
they do not try to feed me callsigns.  This has worked out well.

Just because it might be easy to log those calls from my
well meaning friends does not make it right.

So anyone that has friends helping them out in any of these
ways should stop.  You do not need to do these sorts
of things to do well in contests. 

If anyone thinks they do then I have some contest scores
to show them.

-- 
George Fremin III - K5TR
geoiii at kkn.net
http://www.kkn.net/~k5tr