[CQ-Contest] Log checking with mismatched bands

[Julius Fazekas]

Ryan,

The signal report topic has been beat to death for decades and really doesn't apply to band and time issues.

Not everyone is connected to the internet, I check WWV and manually reset my computer clock before every contest, if needed.

Depending on how your software and hardware is set up, it is possible to fry your finals or damage filters, matching and switching devices, not to mention causing unnecessary and unintentional QRM to others.

I think these are much more serious issues than who gets a NIL and who doesn't. I'd rather understand what happened and fix the problem, if any and if possible. I know I'll make mistakes that will result in an occasional NIL...

73,
Julius

Julius Fazekas
N2WN

Tennessee Contest Group
http://www.k4ro.net/tcg/index.html
http://groups.google.com/group/tcg1?hl=en

Tennessee QSO Party
http://www.tnqp.org/

Elecraft K2/100 #4455
Elecraft K3/100 #366
Elecraft K3/100 #1875


--- On Fri, 1/8/10, Ryan Jairam <rjairam at gmail.com> wrote:

> From: Ryan Jairam <rjairam at gmail.com>
> Subject: Re: [CQ-Contest] Log checking with mismatched bands
> To: "Julius Fazekas" <phriendly1 at yahoo.com>
> Cc: "Robert Chudek - K0RC" <k0rc at citlink.net>, "Tree" <tree at kkn.net>, "David Levine" <david at levinecentral.com>, cq-contest at contesting.com
> Date: Friday, January 8, 2010, 8:31 AM
> True, but look at it another way.
> 
> If someone gives you a report other than "59" in a
> contest...say in
> CQWW he gives you a "41" but you log it as "59" anyway
> (we're all 59
> in contests, right?) Because we all know that there are
> people who
> think that a contest should have "honest" signal reports.
> 
> Both you and that person submit a log. Your log shows "59"
> and his
> shows that he sent you a "41" Should you be penalized for
> miscopying
> the signal report, even though the signal report is
> largely
> unimportant in the contest?
> 
> Mind you, many (most) contest software pre-populates the
> signal report
> field with "59" anyway. It's automatic.  Yes you
> should be paying
> attention, but is the signal report important? 
> Similarly, is the band
> important in sweepstakes since you can only work any
> station only
> once, regardless of band?
> 
> The timestamps I agree you should lose points if they are
> way off but
> even LoTW allows you +/- 30 minutes, so someone must not
> think they're
> that big of a deal.
> 
> Oh by the way I do my best to ensure the frequencies and
> bands are
> correct, and I use CAT so I get exact frequencies in the
> log. But I do
> that because I feel it increases the integrity of log
> checking and
> it's "the right thing to do" not because of any compulsion
> that I will
> lose points if I don't.  My computer clock is also
> synchronized via
> NTP (3 sources) and all that is checked out
> pre-contest.  It's
> overkill but I pay attention to detail.
> 
> Ryan N2RJ
> 
> On Fri, Jan 8, 2010 at 8:16 AM, Julius Fazekas <phriendly1 at yahoo.com>
> wrote:
> >> Timestamps and frequencies don't test skill, only
> the
> >> equipment and software.
> >
> > Ummm, if the timestamps and frequencies are wrong
> doesn't that mean that your software and/or equipment is not
> either setup and/or working properly?
> >
> > Sounds like that would present a bigger problem than
> poor logging...
> >
> > Julius Fazekas
> > N2WN
> >
> > Tennessee Contest Group
> > http://www.k4ro.net/tcg/index.html
> > http://groups.google.com/group/tcg1?hl=en
> >
> > Tennessee QSO Party
> > http://www.tnqp.org/
> >
> > Elecraft K2/100 #4455
> > Elecraft K3/100 #366
> > Elecraft K3/100 #1875
> >
> >
> >
> >
> >
> 
> 
> 
> -- 
> Ryan A. Jairam,
>