[CQ-Contest] Skimmer for S/O in IARU

[George Fremin III]

On Tue, Jun 03, 2008 at 03:47:46PM -0400, Michael Coslo wrote:

> > I often hear folks talk about computer logging as some really big
> > advance in contesting and I do not agree - computer logging is just a
> > tool to record the contacts.  It is true it does make it easier - no
> > more filling in the dupe sheet - something that is hard to do at the
> > rate shown on that SS log page above.
> 
> The number of people who send in hand written logs to me are becoming  
> few and far between.  No one with a hand written log has won anything  
> for as long as I've been involved.

Just because you are not getting winning hand written logs does not
mean there is significant in contest disadvantage to logging a contest
by hand.

> We have people seriously asking us to ban a technology that is  
> setting all by itself on a computer, and has no way of being detected.
> 
> Which of course, would beg the next question - "How would we enforce  
> a ban?"

Those are good questions.  But, we have plenty of rules in contests
that we can not easily enforce - I think it is a mistake to use ease
of enforcement as a huge deciding factor.

> 	The sticky wicket in all this is that people have to watch what they  
> ask for. They might get that and a lot more.

I think that is true - it is one of the reasons that I have not made a
post on this subject on CQ Contest until recently.  I am still trying 
to understand how this will affect contests.  This past CW WPX contest 
has given me a few more data points and has helped guide my comments
on the skimmer subject. 

Your previous post prompted me to rebut the idea that computer logging
in a contest is some huge step forward in technology and enables an
operator to make more contacts or a bigger score.  My experience in
many contests over many years with both computer logging and hand
logging does not prove out that computer is an advantage during the
contact making and logging process. 

Computer logging is a huge advantage when you go to submit your log
after the contest is over.

On the other hand, from what I have seen so far, technology like CW
Skimmer stands to alter the CW contesting landscape in a major way.

> 
> That being said, if you want to influence the outcome, why not get  
> involved with running a contest?
> 

I am involved in quite a few contests.  And computers and computer
logging make the adjudication of contests much more interesting and
fair and faster and better.


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