[CQ-Contest] Secrets within the logs

[Andrew Faber]

Hal,
I agree that there is such information, and it can be very helpful.  OTOH, 
I've found contesters to be quite willing to share logs upon request.  As an 
example, W2GD has shared CQWW logs from P40W with me, and I  have gotten 
some useful tips from them.  I remember seeing, for example, that one year 
he had moved a VQ9 to two bands for a quick 6 multipliers.  Sure enough, the 
same VQ9 called me at P49Y the next year on 10, and I moved him to 15 and 
20 -- moves that I'm not sure I even would have thought possible without 
help from his logs.
  I regard such assistance as being in the tradition of contest 
sportsmanship (and will always share my logs on request), not as giving away 
a competitive edge.  This is one thing that makes contesting in a fraternity 
of like-minded operators so enjoyable.
  73, Andy, AE6Y, P49Y

----- Original Message ----- 
From: "Hal Kennedy" <halken at comcast.net>
To: "CQ-Contest" <cq-contest at contesting.com>
Sent: Wednesday, June 16, 2010 1:53 PM
Subject: [CQ-Contest] Secrets within the logs


I'm afraid folks who don't believe there are secrets concerning little-known
openings, strategies, etc that can be gleaned from winners' logs simply
think they don't exist because they don't have any themselves.  They are
guilty of projection.

Particularly from the DX side - there are little known, unusual openings at
places like PJ4 that occur on a reasonably predictable basis - these have
been learned over time by those who go to those places and are a hard-earned
competitive edge.

I share everything I know about station design, antenna design, etc.  But if
you want to know how the bands are going to perform - spend 20 years
figuring it out for yourself, or join me on an M/2 or M/S expedition.  Don't
expect anyone to tell you 15m opens long path from the Caribbean into zone
18 at 3AM local time - when you would assume the band is dead (a bogus but
not too far off example).  All it takes is one open log to wipe out the
knowledge base a lot of hard work has gone into building over time.

I agree with the question posed about why logs should be open.  Is this an
admission that the administrators can't handle the log checking task?  If
so, say so and ask for help with that.  Is this an admission some of us don'
t trust the log checkers - there must be a better way to deal with that if
it's the case.

73,
Hal N4GG



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