[CQ-Contest] Band Category Log Submissions (RAC Contest Manager)

[Bart Ritchie (VE5CPU)]

Hi John and the rest of the CQ-Contest Reflector readers

Unlike many of the larger contest committees, we do not have a 
Contest Robot to receive the log submissions.  All logs come to the 
appropriate email address for the contest and our "wetware" robot, 
the contest manager, does a high level inspection of the log to 
determine if it is in fact a Cabrillo like log or is some other 
format.  Our experiences agree with the many mentions of various log 
types received from the subject "Bad Format Logs" of non standard 
logs, happens to us to the tune of ~15% of the logs are not Cabrillo.

So our wetware robot is readily able to see a dual submission of the 
actual category log and a check log where the operator decided to 
play outside of their official category.

As to why did we implement such a rule?  Over 35% (+/- 5%) of the 
logs do not accurately describe the actual category operated in when 
compared to the contents of the actual log.  This is due to a large 
number of elements including:
  - software does not support the official RAC categories, there are 
a lot of folks still using CT and it knows nothing of the official 
RAC categories from the last 6 years or so, let along all the other 
programs that don't get updated.
  - software does not support RAC Cabrillo structure (missing the VHF 
elements of our contest)
  - entrant does not know how to edit their Cabrillo file for errors 
in the header
  - entrant did not understand the categories,  a single mode log is 
not the same as single op all band low power
  - entrants select single op all band at the start, find band 
conditions suck and only make single band contacts but do not change 
the header info
  - apparently confusion between single band and single model

and the list goes on.  Hence our rules clarification that the log 
will be taken based on it content and not strictly by the 
identification of the category of entry.  In order to minimize false 
NILs we asked for a separate check logs.

If, in the future, we were to have robot software developed, it would 
need to accommodate our rules and we would have to have the 
appropriate logic that would make a unique log be a combination of 
the call signed used for the entry and the mode of entry.

I suspect all contest committees use their rules to determine the 
logic needed for their robots so if they do not elect to have a 
unique log identifier based on multiple parameters then handling two 
log submissions for different circumstances, like a main entry and a 
check log, would not work.

With a two person management team and log checker we had to do 
something to deal with the issue and this was the most straight 
forward from a workload perspective.

73, Bart
RAC Canada Day Contest Manager

At 02:32 PM 7/27/2012, John Laney wrote:
>Hello all:  It took me a while, but I found the rules that contained
>what I mentioned in my last post.  The important part of that post to me
>was that a contest Robot apparently could receive two logs for a single
>contest from the same entrant, one as the resl log and one a check log
>and not have the check log replace the real contest log submission.
>That is what Mario, S56A, was stating the Robot should be able to do.
>
>I have absolutely no problem submitting a log for one category and
>leaving in other QSOs on other bands or modes for log checking purposes
>that will not count for my score in my selected category.  That, in
>fact, is easier for me to do than to break out the other QSOs and put
>them in a separate Check Log as Mario says he did and would like to do
>in the future.
>
>So, maybe VE5SF or others with RAC can explain how their Robot can
>handle these two separate logs.  Given their rule, you can understand
>that it really must be done that way for the RAC Canada Contest or your
>log will be reclassified to a category other that what you specified in
>the contest header.
>
>Here is the relevant portion of the rules from the RAC Canada Day
>website and it appears that they were printed the same way in the
>magazine, The Canadian Amateur:
>
>"Category notes:
>
>1.  The contents of a log that is submitted for a specific category must
>reflect that category.  In the event of a conflict between the actual
>content of the log and the stated category in the Cabrillo header or
>contained in other elements of the entry material, the actual contents
>of the log will be used to determine the category of entry where
>possible.  In the event this cannot be determined or in the event where
>a log does not identify the entry category, the entry will be classified
>into the Multi-Operator, Multi-Transmitter, any authorized power category.
>
>Any entrant who wants to enter a specific category (i.e. Single band
>entry) but who also worked additional contacts outside that category may
>submit those additional contacts in a separate check log file.  Do not
>include them in the main entered category log file."
>
>Let me emphasize that RAC is the only contest sponsor that I know of
>which has this rule.  Other sponsors seem to request all contacts in one
>log and the category in the header determines which contacts are counted
>for the entry and all QSOs are used for cross checking logs.  Note that
>RAC does not seem to encourage submission of the separate check log, but
>says it MAY be submitted in a SEPARATE check log file.  The emphasis is
>on those two words in the original text.
>
>As far as I have ever known, most, if not all, other contest sponsors
>accept the last log submitted for an entrant, replacing any earlier
>submitted log.  Apparently the major contest logger Robots may have some
>ability to recover earlier submissions if there is some reason to do so,
>but they are not routinely checked or recovered.
>
>I guess the major purpose of this post is just to verify that I did not
>imagine reading such a rule recently.
>
>73, John, K4BAI.
>
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>CQ-Contest at contesting.com
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73, Bart - VE5CPU

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RAC Canada Day Contest Manager