[CQ-Contest] Inequity of Zone Checking

[Ron Notarius W3WN]

It seems to me that there are two related, but different, issues here.

(1) Logging what was sent. IMHO, you log what was sent, even if it appears wrong. Maybe K0HB is visiting a relative and isn't operating from home. Maybe that VE station is running portable in Zone 2. Maybe the semi-rare DXpedition is on an obscure island that happens to be on the other side of a zone line from the rest of the entity. Or it could simply be that the op screwed up and sent the wrong zone, or state, or entry class, or whatever the exchange is. Don't waste time arguing the point; confirm what he sent, log it, and move on.

If you're not sure, note it somewhere and report it to the contest committee. After the fact. Even though, as one DX station was kind enough to inform me this morning, allegedly some contest committees don't read any comments. That's beside the point, you at least ought to try.

(2) Scoring the contest. For SCORING purposes, if the contest committee/log checkers determine that the station sent the wrong exchange (zone, state, etc.), then the stations who COPIED the wrong data should not be excessively penalized. So, as in the T2V case, the logs of those who worked them should be SCORED on the basis of the correct zone (which may cost them a zone mult due to no fault of their own) but without any additional penalty -- because they copied what was sent. It is not their fault that incorrect data was sent in the exchange.

Now, what would (IMHO) be wrong would be to penalize (as in, the total loss of the QSO points and related penalities) the stations who worked T2V for copying what was sent, not what should have been sent. To do otherwise means that we have to second-guess the op as to why he or she sent what was sent. Which leads to on-air arguments and more wasted time, amongst other things. 

Further, it may turn out that the correct exchange WAS sent. For example, say I travel across the continent for work or vacation, and operate the 10 meter contest from California, so of course, I send 'W3WN 59 CA.' Suppose that for any one of a variety of reasons my log isn't submitted. Now, imagine a log checking program penalizing people who logged me in CA, since I live in PA and usually operate from PA... now I would hope that in real life, SOMEONE would notice this and ask questions before automatically penalizing people for logging the 'wrong' exchange.

To penalize (as opposed to just correcting for scoring) an operator for logging what was sent, not what the computer was programmed to expect to be sent, reduces our contest exchanges to totally meaningless. If you're going to do that, why bother with the exchange at all?

73, ron w3wn
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On 11/30/11, kr2q at optimum.net wrote:

The following statements are my own opinion and should not be construed as anything
official or representative of any contest committee with which I may be associated.

>From an international standpoint, for CQWW, it would be grossly unfair to check the copied
zones. For stations NOT working USA qso's, one can, with 99+% certainty, "know" the zone
based on the callsign. For stations working USA qso's, there is no such certainty - just a 
probability based on "most W1's are in zone 5 and most W6's are in zone 3." 

That means that USA entrants can almost never "get the zone wrong" while "DX" working USA
can very likely "get the zone wrong."

In terms of scoring, this would be a gross inequity, with most "dings" for copying the wrong
zone going to non-USA stations. Very different than adjudicating for copying callsigns
incorrectly.

In terms of SCORING, why would the sponsor ever accept what the entrant logged? As we
recently saw with T2V, wrong zones can be sent....but should NOT be counted. If KR2Q
was active and sending 59923, it would be expected that everyone would LOG 59923 but 
clearly the sponsor should NOT count that QSO for zone 23. 

In case there is any confusion (IMHO), LOG what was sent but let the scoring be calculated
on reality.

REMINDER: Please see disclaimer at the beginning.

de Doug KR2Q
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