[CQ-Contest] Software for Multiple Contests

Thu May 8 18:24:28 EDT 2008

Jim, et. al.,

That's an interesting approach, especially for the examples you cited.

On the other hand, it doesn't eliminate the problem I was trying to address. 
That is where there is more than one QSO Party going on and you get an 
exchange like "5NN BAY". You can guess that would be Bay County, but what 
state? After you figured it out, you would have to enter the appropriate 
information into the CONTEST field. And when the very next station gives you 
"5NN BAY", you'd have to ask again.

Someone suggested they like the variety of exchanges. Fine. First, I am 
suggesting the QSO Parties be viewed as a CLASS of contest, similar to 
Sweepstakes, ARRL DX, and CQWW DX.

Second, I am only suggesting a change to using a standardized ST+CNTY 
designator on both ends of the QSO. Score it anyway you want. Have serial 
numbers if you want. Give extra points for "Bonus Stations" if you want. 
That's all irrelevant to the "Location" issue.

Take this example of a typical QSO Party format. This is where the In-State 
station sends their county abbreviation and the Out-State station sends 
their state. I am an in-state fixed station. I work 500 contacts and log 75 
"CA's", 89 "TX's", and 64 "NY's".

First, I would like to know what counties I have worked. I might be 
interested in pursuing the County Hunter awards. I will need to use other 
resources to know whether I have logged a new county.

Second, if I work someone in another QSO Party, they will give me their 
county. That's great, but I will need to ask them for their state. Now I can 
figure out what QSO Party they are running. Multiply this scenario by the 
number of concurrent (overlapping) events running.

Third, after the dust settles, I need to figure out what to do with my log. 
Your suggestion for a CONTEST column would be helpful. But a standardized 
exchange of ST+CNTY would eliminate the need for this field in QSO Parties. 
I could submit my log to 3 or 4 parties and let their log processing 
software cull the contacts valid for their particular event. My log may 
contain a number of BAY counties, some which would qualify as a valid QSO 
while other Bay's would not.

Here's an extreme example to illustrate the problem. Imagine running three 
DX contests over one weekend. One uses RST+CQ Zone, another uses RST+ITU 
Zone, and the third uses RST+Age. Anyone can work anyone. That's what we had 
on the bands last weekend.

73 de Bob - KØRC in MN

----- Original Message ----- 
From: <Jimk8mr at aol.com>
To: <cq-contest at contesting.com>
Sent: Thursday, May 08, 2008 3:10 PM
Subject: [CQ-Contest] Software for Multiple Contests

>
> The problem of logging software handling more than one contest at a time 
> is
> not limited to state QSO Parties.
>
> The best example of this is probably  the second weekend in September, 
> when
> there is the WAE SSB, the ARRL VHF QSO  Party, the NA SSB Sprint, and the
> Tennessee QSO Party. And probably some RTTY  contest as well.
>
> There is no way these contests could share the same  exchange.
>
> What the world needs now is a software package that will run  multiple
> contests.
>
> I'm not a programmer, nor do I play one on TV, but  what I envision is
> something like this:
>
> An extra field in the  logging line, when running multiple contests, that
> would switch between  contests.  Something like:
>
> LINE        TIME    CONTEST     BAND     MODE      CALL          SENT
> RECEIVED
>
> 1              0001      WAE              7           SSB      G4BUO 
> 59
> 001     59   231
> 2              0002      WAE               7           SSB       IR4T
>   59 002     59   313
> 3              0004      SPR             7           SSB      K7RAT 
> 1
> JIM       7  TREE    OR
> 4              0007      VHF             144        CW        K8GP
> EN91       FM08
> 5              0009      SPR               14          SSB      K5TR
> 2  JIM       12 GEO TX
>
>
> The contest field would either be a direct entry ("VHF") or a toggle
> ("CTL-Something"). It would stay the same until switched, so you don't 
> have to  make
> an extra entry unless the guy you work is in a different contest than the
> previous qso.
>
> A lot of the fun in contesting, whether full or part time, is seeing how 
> you
> are doing in real time.  So when you change the contest field, the
> appropriate windows for scoring, multipliers, exchange memories, etc., 
> would pop  up
> for that particular contest.
>
> When the contests are over, it ought not be a difficult problem to  sort 
> out
> each contest into its appropriate log, saving a lot of clutter at the  log
> checking and reporting end.
>
> I for one am a lot more inclined to pass out qsos in a contest if I can 
> keep
> track of all the normal information. Last weekend I heard some Italians in
> the ARI contest, but never called.  With functioning logging software in 
> front
> of me I probably would have.
>
> I for one am eagerly waiting.
>
>
> 73  -  Jim   K8MR
>
>
>
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