[CQ-Contest] Too Much 'Assistance'?

[Pete Smith N4ZR]

Bob makes a good point.  N1MM Logger, for example, has a function to 
spot all S&P QSOs that are not already in the bandmap.  When you are 
S&P, the program logs the QSO and sends the spot as soon as you send 
your exchange, before the running station has acknowledged receiving 
your exchange or acknowledged a correction of your call.

P5A (runner) - "TEST P5A"
N4ZR - "N4ZR"
P5A - "W4ZR 5NN500"
N4ZR - "N4ZR N4ZR 5NNWV"
[QSO logged and spot sent]
P5A - "N4ZR TU"

Now of course I could hold back the exchange until I'm sure he has my 
call corrected, avoiding the "premature" spot, but the above procedure 
sure seemed faster most of the time last weekend.

73, Pete N4ZR
Check out the Reverse Beacon Network at
http://reversebeacon.net,
blog at reversebeacon.blogspot.com.
For spots, please go to your favorite
ARC V6 or VE7CC DX cluster node.

On 2/21/2014 5:54 AM, Bob Davis wrote:
> I think it might be simpler than that, Mike. He had his logging
> software set to automatically spot when he enters the QSO and just
> logged you before the QSO was completed. That's because I tend to
> avoid ascribing to malice (or nefarious intent) what might otherwise
> be ascribed to an honest mistake (or incompetence). But still, there
> you are.
>
> That last one is pretty funny, though. I mean, you *are* VE9. NB is a
> needed mult in a bunch of different contests. I'd never think of
> calling you after spotting you spot me - when I'm running the last
> thing I'm doing is looking at the cluster feed - but it actually makes
> a lot of sense. It does make one feel not a little squcky, being such
> a gray area. But it makes a lot of sense.
>
> 73 de Bob WP2XX
>
> On Thu, Feb 20, 2014 at 7:38 PM, Mike & Coreen Smith VE9AA
> <ve9aa at nbnet.nb.ca> wrote:
>> Hey Tony,
>>
>>
>>
>> I don't often comment on this reflector, but read it quite often.
>>
>> I've gone assisted about 50% of the time the past couple years, mostly just
>> in the slower contests, just to increase my enjoyment level and keep me
>> interested.  Sometimes I'll go assisted to attack a certain Canadian record.
>> Often I will ignore this 'assistance' 95% of the time as I find it
>> distracting and just a clickfest.  BORING !  Anyways, prior to the past
>> couple yrs, when in contest mode, it's always been a "boy and his radio".but
>> I digress.
>>
>>
>>
>> A couple contests ago, I forget which one (probably CQWW) something like
>> this happened to me and I thought it was REALLY strange, like I had
>> experienced a rip in the space-time continuum and I had to scratch my head.
>>
>>
>>
>> I was running a small and very weak pileup of Europeans on 10m CW and at the
>> VERY moment, and I mean EXACTLY at
>>
>> the moment, I sent the DX's callsign (and hadn't event sent 5NN 5 or
>> whatever yet) I saw his callsign spot me. (manually I guess)
>>
>> I thought this was really bizarre, as I had not yet sent 5NN 5, nor had I
>> heard 5NN 20 from him yet.
>>
>>
>>
>> Normally you would only spot a station after you would work them, right?  I
>> mean, you don't want MORE competition on the frequency you are battling
>> others on, right?
>>
>> Anyways, as it turned out, I got his call correct on my own, but I wondered
>> at the time, just what the bleep had occurred?>!.
>>
>>
>>
>> Reading your posting, a light bulb went on and I think here's what might
>> have occurred.
>>
>>
>>
>> I was running.
>>
>>
>>
>> TA3XXX was calling. (I made this call up just now)
>>
>>
>>
>> He wasn't getting through, so hoping I was watching he manually spotted me.
>>
>>
>>
>> The manual spot went out of his logging program via internet (or VHF
>> FM?)..some delay occurred... and
>>
>> at the very time I saw it I just happened to be working him anyways.
>>
>>
>>
>> What he/she probably had anticipated was me seeing the spot, seen a semi
>> rare country farther and weaker than the more western EU's, so he/she
>> presumed I would stop and listen for them,  THEN working them.
>>
>>
>>
>> I think it was just luck of the draw that I was already sending the
>> thankfully correct call (and thereby knew the zone by default)
>>
>>
>>
>> I felt weird about it at the time, but I had no "spare" time to dwell on it
>> in the heat of battle.  Your post now makes sense.
>>
>> I dislike this practice and have said to myself if that ever happens I will
>> ignore that station, EVEN if it's a mult.
>>
>>
>>
>> I don't need to win that bad.  It takes away all my satisfaction.  It's
>> about the same as a list operation where Net control gives my call, then the
>> DX listens to me scream "22, 22, 22, rifle shots, bang-bang", and then
>> someone else OK's the contact.
>>
>>
>>
>> Thanks for bringing this up Tony.  I am on-board with your thoughts.  I
>> can't imagine why anyone would condone this practice.
>>
>>
>>
>> One other thing that just occurred to me is every so often if I am just
>> listening to a contest, maybe making only a dozen contacts, or maybe very
>> casually just tuning for mults, I'll spot guys (and not even work them, or
>> perhaps I worked them earlier) and a couple times I have actually stayed on
>> their QRG long enough to hear the DX send "VE9AA 5NN 15" even though I have
>> not transmitted ! ! !............now I know why.
>>
>>
>>
>> Respectfully,
>>
>>
>>
>> Mike VE9AA
>>
>>
>>
>> Mike, Coreen & Corey
>>
>> Keswick Ridge, NB
>>
>>
>>
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