[CQ-Contest] Recording your CQ WW CW contest

[Scott Robbins]

K1TTT:
>Mid June sometimes I turn on 6m and find a contest going on, so I pass out a
>few points.  Then it starts to rain and I stay on and play some on 2m and
>70cm.  I send a log in and get a certificate.  I didn't mean to, but I
>accidentally became a 'serious' entrant.  Should I be denied a certificate
>because I didn't record the whole contest? 

Perhaps.  Just like you have to log, you have to record if you expect to win. 
It is not at all unreasonable.  What we're talking about here is a mindset
shift, not unlike when the contest community switched from paper logging to
computer based logging.  The next logical step in the digital age is recording.
 

W4TV:
>So what?  WRTC is a limited event with a limited number of
>competing stations.  To require everyone who HOPES he might 
>have a chance to win to record all 48 hours or to DENY anyone 
>who might be lucky enough to surpass his own expectations 
>and actually WIN the "title" because he didn't record all 
>48 hours (or heaven forbid, had a recording failure) is 
>asinine.  

I would venture at the top end of SOABHP radio contesting, that you are
discussing a limited event with a limited number of stations as well.  There
are not 100 people vying for the top 10 in any category of any major contest. 
There are surely *100 entrants*, and I would say 95% or 98% of all of them have
no reason to record themselves operating the contest.  

Recording should be right up there with logging.  If you didn't log it, you
didn't work it.  If you didn't record it, you didn't work it.  Very simple. 

>Contest sponsors and log checkers can properly review the logs 
>of the top stations without either recordings or making the 
>logs public.  If they can't they might as well cancel the 
>whole contest because they don't have any business sponsoring 
>the event. 

That is apparently incorrect on its face.  Because if contest sponsors and log
checkers COULD properly review the logs without recordings and determine who is
legit and who is not, we wouldn't be having this discussion about cheating,
would we?  

W0MU:
>So now I have to record an entire contest somehow and if by chance my hard
>drive crashes on the way back to the USA my score does not count....

That is correct.  Just like if you have no log, with no recording you have no
entry.  Logs are backed up to floppies or by other means when operating the
contest, recordings can be as well.

UA9CDC:
>This is 21st century....  What tape you are talking about. Get yourself
>cheap MP3 player with line input and 1-2Gig of memory and you can easily
>record 48 hours 2 radio and get file transferred to you home PC for later
>use.

Like I said ... SIMPLE.

Scott Robbins, W4PA


W4PA Contest Blog - http://w4pa.journalspace.com
What Is Radio Contesting? - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Contesting


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