[CQ-Contest] BOGUS QSO RATES!

[David Gilbert]

You just proved my point.  There isn't any unambiguous FCC definition of 
a "communication".  Some people obviously interpret that in the context 
of a contest to mean every contact exchange, but that isn't necessarily 
that case.  A "communication" could be a series of exchanges all held on 
the same frequency with a multitude of other stations, with the only 
requirement then being that the running station ID at least every ten 
minutes.

A parallel example might be a roundtable ragchew, with members popping 
in and out as the discussion progresses.  Station A identifies at the 
beginning of his participation, then exchanges comments ... often 
individually ... with other members on a randomly rotating basis, 
identifying himself only every ten minutes or when there might be 
ambiguity regarding who he is.

Please explain how those two situations are fundamentally different from 
each other.

You should by now have also read KR2Q's recent post, in which he points 
out that almost ALL callers in a pileup never send the callsign of the 
station they are calling.  I'd be willing to bet another $100 that you 
and every other person (AH8DX included) who has expressed the opinion 
that a contact is invalid if it doesn't include both callsigns has made 
S&P contacts without giving the running station's callsign and included 
them in their submitted log.

73,
Dave   AB7E




On 11/7/2011 8:03 PM, Dennis Younker NE6I wrote:
> FCC Rules Section 97.119 states:
>
> "Each amateur station, except a space station or telecommand station, must
> transmit its assigned call sign on its transmitting
> channel at the end of each communication, and at least every 10 minutes
> during a communication, for the purpose of clearly making
> the source of the transmissions from the station known to those receiving
> the transmissions."
>
> Depending on the definition of "each communication", it's possible that
> those FCC licensed stations that don't identify after each QSO are in fact
> in violation of FCC rules And since most contest rules state that the
> participant must abide by the rules of his/her licensing authority, the
> station would also be in violation of those contest rules.
>
> --Dennis, NE6I
>
> ----- Original Message -----
> From: "David Gilbert"<xdavid at cis-broadband.com>
> To: "Craig Maxey"<ah8dx at msn.com>
> Cc:<cq-contest at contesting.com>
> Sent: Monday, November 07, 2011 9:45 AM
> Subject: Re: [CQ-Contest] BOGUS QSO RATES!
>
>
>>
>> Actually, I can think of some things considerably worse during a contest
>> than someone not giving their callsign every QSO.  Among them would be
>> having a trashy signal more than 5 KHz wide or having somebody try to
>> chase you off your run frequency by just plopping down and calling CQ.
>>
>> More to the point, though, there doesn't appear to be any evidence at
>> all that giving your callsign every contact in a contest is a firm
>> requirement of either the FCC or the contests sponsors.  In spite of the
>> literally tens of thousands of patently obvious occurrences in every
>> major contest, have you ever heard of anyone being cited or DQ'd for
>> it?  Have you ever even seen an official position taken on it?  The ARRL
>> doesn't even address the subject in their white paper on proper HF
>> contesting.   CQWW has been using digital full spectrum SDR recordings
>> of contests to look for rule violations ... how many entries do you
>> think they flagged for not sending their callsign every contact?
>>
>> I always find it amusing when people wrap their perception or opinion on
>> an ambiguous topic with the words "the correct way".
>>
>> To be fair, I too find it extremely frustrating to tune across a station
>> with a pileup (figuring it might be a possible new multiplier) and then
>> have to wait several QSOs to find out his callsign, but I consider that
>> to be a lack of courtesy on the part of the running station and if he
>> persists I just refuse to work him ... then or later.  However, I also
>> find it frustrating (and I suspect the pileup does as well) to hear a
>> running station send something like "TEST de ZZ8/XX8ABC" after every
>> contact.  It slows everyone down as badly as having to wait a QSO or two
>> to find out the callsign.  It seems to me that good "ham operating
>> practice" in a contest means maximizing the QSO rate for everyone
>> involved, including the majority of the callers.  When I'm running a
>> frequency I consider it to be my obligation to get everyone on their way
>> as soon as possible, which just happens to maximize my rate as well.
>> That typically requires me to send my callsign often, but not
>> necessarily every QSO.
>>
>> Dave  AB7E
>>
>>
>> On 11/6/2011 11:15 AM, Craig Maxey wrote:
>>> Timo,
>>>
>>> I respect your list and every operator that has operated a contest but
>>> unfortunately this QSO RATE LIST is "BOGUS".
>>>
>>> In order to make each and every qso valid, you must identify your call
>>> sign. That is somewhere in your transmission while qso'ing with the other
>>> station. If you do not identify yourself properly with the call sign you
>>> are using, the qso in "INVALID".
>>>
>>> There is nothing worse during a contest than to come on a frequency and
>>> have an op running them at a high rate of speed only to give his call
>>> sign after he has worked 20 guys or so.
>>>
>>> I have made it a practice to identify with my call sign each and every
>>> time. You can record me running them in a contest to verify.
>>>
>>> The problem starts with the committtee; I guess since they don't do
>>> anything about it, it is ok.
>>>
>>> I find it interesting that the committee speaks about cheating but
>>> overlooks this basic cheating practice.
>>>
>>> www.ah8dx.wordpress.com
>>>
>>> I encourage operators in future contests to operate the correct way and
>>> uphold the ham operating standards on the band in order to keep the bands
>>> civilized. No wonder we hear so much crap on the air with guys operating
>>> however they wish.
>>>
>>> 73,
>>>
>>> Craig, AH8DX&   8R1EA
>>>