[CQ-Contest] J7zeroJ spots

[Jim Idelson]

We were having this OJ/0J discussion over on the YCCC reflector. Here is one of 
my notes. 

The effects of a bad spot are viral. Once a bad spot or two are out there, it 
all spirals out of control . . .

First, someone makes a mistake in hearing or typing [occasionally the DX 
station sends the call wrong - probably not in this case]. If there was no 
spot, it would be one error in one log. But, the DX station gets spotted. How 
many more people work him with the bad call? A lot. What happens next? A few of 
those who logged the bad call will spot the bad call again. More bad QSOs. The 
bad call also goes into everyone's "Check Partial" data. When you find the J7 
on a new band, you type "J7" into the callsign field and the callsign entry 
field gets filled with the bad call. You don't check; you just work it, log it 
 . . and then you spot it . . . and so it goes.

I didn't operate much of the contest, but I was on for the last hour. There 
were lots of stations in the bandmap. I'd say 50% of them were bad calls. I 
verified every one before, during or after the QSO.

Jim Idelson K1IR
email    k1ir at designet.com
web    http://www.k1ir.com