[CQ-Contest] KR2Q - RX1CQ

Sun Aug 7 04:56:57 PDT 2011

Ron,

It might be helpful if you were to isolate the discussion of "erosion of
trust" from your claim that public logs or UBN reports are a "privacy
issue".

You have claimed the latter for a long time, but yet, I see no basis for
such a concern - which I believe is AB7E's point - where he essentially
says that if you were truly averse to making anything public, you would
not post in such a prolific manner. I have to agree with Dave, once again.

Erosion of trust: The reason that there is such distrust is that there are
those who are *insanely jealous* (I have chosen that description quite
carefully) of those who are running the top contests and have to malign
and accuse at every opportunity in an attempt to undermine the status quo
through web blogs and through willing electronic media who are looking to
report something sensational and exciting (I'm talking about independent
ham radio centered, web-based media here in the U.S., primarily). This
tactic is at play on the U.S. political landscape as well, so it's really
nothing new.

The truth of the matter is that there is nothing sinister going on with
those who run the major contests (at least in the U.S.), there is no
favoritism, and there is no unfair treatment of anyone's logs. In fact,
every opportunity is given for those who are caught cheating to admit what
they've done, do the right thing, and spare themselves the embarrassment
of a DQ or sanction (CQWW - Red Card / Yellow Card). Some fight to the
bitter end and will not admit that they have cheated, but the evidence is
overwhelming in most cases. If the evidence is not overwhelming - there
will likely be no DQ or sanction. To many who participate in the log
adjudication process, this very high criteria is frustrating at times,
because it is obvious that some level of cheating has gone on, but the
concern is to be certain and get it right. As a result, some may fall
through the cracks and may get away with it from time to time. This is the
cost of being very cautious to get it right.

My opinion remains that there is no privacy concern in anyone's log data
and anyone can perform any sort of analysis on that data they want. More
power to them. UBN's have no privacy issues either, but if one does not do
well, it might be embarrassing to have others see how poorly you do or how
careless you are in getting the exchange information correct, but that's
what it's all about, is it not? Comparing what we have done to others in
the  contest - right? If you don't want to expose yourself to this
comparison, either don't submit a log, or don't operate at all. It's your
choice.

73,

Bob W5OV

> Well, I'm sorry that you don't want to hear any dissension.
>
> But I fail to see why the number of posts I have made have any bearing on
> the continued erosion of trust in fellow contesters.
>
> And... since you brought up competition on a "global" scale... I'm not
> talking about oversight by the contest committee(s) or similar oversight
> organizations.  That's disingenuous.
>
> For example:  It's one thing for the WRTC organizers to set the rules for
> the operators and to determine the level of oversight.  But it's quite
> another for anyone who feels like it to come along and demand -- and
> expect
> -- the organizers to turn over every scrap of information that's been
> gathered about every operating team, just so "everyone" can figure out on
> their own if the organizers & operators were on the up & up as they
> claimed
> to be.
>
> Does the operator of Joe's Bike Shack in downtown Podunk have the right to
> demand that the Tour de France organizers turn over Lance Armstrong's test
> results... and everyone else's for that matter... after all, he's involved
> in serious competitive biking too!
>
> Is the equivalent of that really what you want?  Because that's where Open
> Logs and now Open UBN reports and Lord knows what next leads us.
>
> -----Original Message-----
> From: cq-contest-bounces at contesting.com
> [mailto:cq-contest-bounces at contesting.com] On Behalf Of David Gilbert
> Sent: Saturday, August 06, 2011 9:27 PM
> To: cq-contest at contesting.com
> Subject: Re: [CQ-Contest] KR2Q - RX1CQ
>
>
> I also find W2WN's rancor on this topic to be a bit unrealistic.  I'm
> hard pressed to think of any other competition with such open global
> participation as radiosport that doesn't involve at least as much
> official and public scrutiny of both the performance and the result.
> Golf, basketball, football, running, bicycling, soccer, etc ... nobody
> would even consider administering a serious competition in such events
> without significant oversight --- before, during, and after.  Heck, look
> at the absolutely incredible measures that are taken at WRTC to assure
> that no participant is able to bend anything to their advantage, and
> those folks are the cream of the crop in our hobby!
>
> Besides, with a minimal amount of Google searching I can find well over
> 3,000 online forum posts that W2WN has made over the years on a wide
> variety of subjects, and I suspect many of the rest of us aren't far
> behind.  Anything anyone would want to know about us is probably already
> sitting out there by our own hand.
>
> 73,
> Dave   AB7E
>
>
>
> On 8/6/2011 2:28 PM, Ward Silver wrote:
>> "Will we as contesters be required to put a webcam in our
>> shacks and expose ourselves to the world for 24 or 48 hours, to the whim
> of
>> any voyeur who seems to find some reason to watch me operate a radio in
>> shorts and a T-shirt?"
>>
>> I thought exposing ourselves to the world for 24 or 48 hours to any
>> radio
> voyeur who seems to find some reason to call us on the radio was the
> entire
> point of contesting in general.  If privacy is one's goal, radiosport
> would
> not be my first suggestion as a hobby.
>>
>> 73, Ward N0AX
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