[CQ-Contest] Proposal For Single Op and Single Op Assisted

[Pete Smith]

Just a couple of comments:

1.  The RTTY exception needs to be revised to exclude SDRs with very wide 
bandwidths, because the additions to Skimmer required to make it work with 
RTTY are minimal, only awaiting a programmer with the interest.  I would 
suggest substituting a specific quantitative standard that all current 
tunable radios meet, such as "... within a 3-KHz bandwidth..."

2.  Why not respect the technological interest of the potential Skimmer 
user and call the second single-op class "Single Op Unlimited"?  That gets 
away from the pejorative connotations of "Assisted".

Perhaps the most important thing of all - we need to stop pretending that 
rules can be written that anticipate technology that will arrive 5 or 10 or 
20 years from now.  Rules written 10 or more years ago can't be so 
prescient that their meaning can be exquisitely parsed to apply to a new 
development like Skimmer.  That's as absurd as the ARRL SS rules, which 
still use the term "transmitter."

Let's acknowledge that the rate of technological change is accelerating, 
and that our rules need to be written with the understanding that they will 
change too.

73, Pete N4ZR

At 04:09 PM 6/3/2008, Jim George wrote:
>  From Randy Thompson:
>
>"Here is your assignment.  Propose new rule wordings for single op and single
>op assisted that are simple, easily understood/translated to multiple
>languages, will be widely accepted by the contest community, and makes it
>clear what the difference is between assistance and not assistance. Oh, and
>it needs to apply equally for SSB, CW, and RTTY."
>
>Here goes.
>
>Single Op
>
>Operates the amateur radio equipment alone. All reception and transmitting
>is done in accordance with the contest rules and the rules of his/her
>licensing authority. No use of receiving or alerting assistance of any kind
>is allowed including external spotting, arranged schedules, or any decoding
>devices other than natural human capability may be used, except for RTTY,
>where "non-human ear" decoding of incoming signals is allowed if the
>decoding is done within the usual bandpass of the receiver.
>
>Single Operator Assisted
>
>Same as Single Op except the use of receiving or alerting assistance may be
>used including external spotting, as well as decoding devices other than
>natural human capability.
>
>Jim George N3BB
>
>
>
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