[CQ-Contest] : Reverse beacon of my own call?

[Jeff Clarke]

I find it interesting the CQ states you can’t use this in CQWW as pointed out by W5OV, but in the CQ VHF contest this past weekend many single operator entries commented on 3830 that they used propagation loggers such as http://www.dxmaps.com/spots/map.php to check for band openings. I think most of the information used by those loggers is gathered from either packet clusters or RBN’s ( if on CW)

It appears from the CQ VHF rules this is legal. They define three types of assistance – passive, active and interactive. It appears only interactive – for example using the telephone to arrange a QSO is disallowed.

I realize comparing a VHF to a HF contest is apples vs. oranges but maybe CQ needs to be more consistent in the rules about what makes you assisted. I guess I don’t see how you can gain an advantage by just looking up you own call on the RBN to see how loud you are. It’s really no different then asking someone “how loud is my signal ?” when you are working them on the air. I don’t see that what Bob did is wrong.

Jeff KU8E