[CQ-Contest] New Universal Contest Rule XXII

Ed Muns w0yk at msn.com
Sat Jun 6 12:20:05 PDT 2009


> > I am sure Hans was speaking tongue in cheek, but I really 
> would prefer 
> > to continue enjoying a competition where people are following the 
> > rules and not always trying to find the outside of the envelope.
> >
> > Randy, K5ZD
> >
> 
> On reflection, I'm not inclined to endorse that preference.
> 
> I think that the spirit of innovative competition should be 
> encouraged in the rules, and that testing the boundaries is a 
> healthy and commendable exercise.
> 
> This is not to condone taking UNFAIR (note emphasis) 
> advantage of loopholes, but we should nurture an atmosphere 
> where new skills, techniques, or technologies are not suppressed.
> 
> Along with that open attitude comes the recognition that some 
> basic categories may need to be protected from "game 
> changing" elements (skimmer?) which would unduly disrupt the 
> competitive structure of the category.
> 
> 73, de Hans, K0HB

This is a subtle, but important, point.  Of course it is healthy for
contesting when competitors push the state of skills, techniques and
technologies to raise the bar of competition and encourage all of us to
further improve.  However, all of these advances should be done "inside the
envelope" that is defined by the explicit rules plus the accepted norms in
radio-sport.

Responsible contesters will carefully consider whether their advancement of
radio-sport state-of-the-art is inappropriately changing the accepted norms,
or whether it is a good evolution of the accepted norms.

Ed - W0YK



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