[CQ-Contest] Use of CW decoders in contests

[David Gilbert]

That is not an accurate statement.  CW Skimmer in and of itself is not 
illegal to use in either ARRL or CQ contests.

1.  CW Skimmer has a "blind" mode where wide band signals can be 
displayed without any decoding of callsigns.  It functions just the same 
as any wideband waterfall display and is perfectly legal.  It evens 
turns out that CW Skimmer's waterfall display is probably the best out 
there in terms of resolution, and is good enough to allow the user to 
visually decode CW with a delay.  That can be helpful if you miss a 
character in real time, and again, is perfectly legal.

2.  CW Skimmer can be used as a CW decoder with displayed text when used 
in narrow band mode to copy one signal at a time.  Perfectly legal.

If you don't like the rules, lobby for their change instead of making up 
your own.

73,
Dave   AB7E



On 5/27/2010 3:54 AM, Paul O'Kane wrote:
>
> Well, Skimmer is a CW decoder, and is not permitted in
> contests with a SO-unassisted category.
>