[CQ-Contest] Sweepstakes -Automatic Fill - 93 or 67

[Gerry Hull]

Auto Fill both hurt me and hurt a LOT of people I worked.

My home QTH is NH, but in the last 5 years using W1VE, I've operated from
EMA, WMA, VT and this year, NNY.  Almost all the busted Qs from other logs
had EMA, WMA, VT or NH in em.

I rarely use the feature -- and probably won't in the future.  I
always try to copy the call --
but your brain fakes you out when the field on the screen is filled in.

Not as good a feature as one might imagine.

73, Gerry W1VE

On Wed, Apr 8, 2009 at 2:02 PM, Stan Stockton <stan at aqity.org> wrote:
> Looking at the log checking reports, I was surprised at the number of
> stations who apparently fill in the exchange information from a previous
> year's database.
>
> My son used my call in 2007 and his check is 93.  In 2008 I operated
> with a check of 67.
>
> There were 22 instances in 2008 where received logs did not make a
> correction, had the check listed as 93, they lost the QSO and perhaps,
> for some, a mulitplier.  I would assume there were perhaps hundreds who
> made the correction from 93 to 67.
>
> There were other instances where it was somewhat close to 93 (not even
> close to 67) and the log checking report from the previous year shows
> the check was miscopied in 2007, and then the incorrect information was
> used for 2008 and the contact would have been lost even if Kevin had
> operated instead of me.
>
> There may be some advantage in using the fill but something that you
> would really need to watch in order for it to not hurt you more than it
> helps.  For those who choose to use it, it would be good to go to the
> log checking report and correct any errors in your log so it will be the
> best it can be for the next time.
>
> Stan, K5GO
>
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