[CQ-Contest] real time scoreboards

[Eric Scace K3NA]

   Thanks for polling the contesting community before taking a decision 
on whether to classify the use of real-time scoreboards as "outside 
assistance" for single ops.

   Having used the real time scoreboard in some contests this year, I 
can report that:
   1. It was fun!  I enjoyed the heightened sense of competition, trying 
to catch up to the station just ahead of me in the standings and to stay 
ahead of the person just behind me.
   2. In a contest where I was making a part-time effort, the real time 
scoreboard encouraged me to participate longer in the contest.
   3. As an experienced contester, the availability of band-by-band 
snapshots had no material impact on my score or strategy.

   Allowing single operator stations to have more fun in contests seems 
beneficial to our beloved sport.  And encouraging part-time participants 
to operate more of the contest also seems beneficial.

   An experienced, top-tier SOAB contester will already know on which 
bands she should be operating to maximize his score.  The real-time 
scoreboard will not give her significant new data that she would not be 
able to determine (more efficiently) on her own.

   For an operator new to the sport, real time scoreboards seem to offer 
more encouragement, minute-by-minute, to continue competing against 
other operators at about his skill level.

   Overall it seems to me the benefits of a laissez-faire policy seem to 
outweigh any disadvantages for the SO-unassisted category.

   Furthermore, why rush to kill or reclassify a new-born idea at this 
early stage, when little actual experience has been gained?  As 
real-time scoreboards develop over the next few years, the Committee can 
re-evaluate their impact (if any) on the SO-unassisted category.


73,
   -- Eric K3NA