[CQ-Contest] An S&P'ers view regarding contest ID'ing

[Gerry Hull]

In the big DX Contests, I find that there are a few serious contesters who
don't ID enough.  It is a small number -- for most good contesters know
they are going to have more NILs and dupes if they don't identify enough.

That said, there are LOTs of DXers and casual players who are looking for
new Band Countries, States, etc, and who don't care or don't know the
specific rules.

Case in Point: CQWW Phone -- Sunday afternoon -- a HUGE pileup on an
African station.  He NEVER identifies, for as long as I listened -- too
long -- and even coming back later.  During the run, an (obviously) young
operator, who was quite loud, told the op "You know, sir, you'll get a lot
less dupes if you would please identify with your call sign"  It was a very
polite request.   The African station never even acknowledged the op.  So
-- for a bunch of this stuff -- and sometimes fairly rare mults -- you just
going to have to deal with it.

In CW contests, I find the problem to be not as much of an issue.  It is
most definitely the bad human spots and RBN misses that cause much of the
issue.  Remember the famous BY1V spots?  Well, if your antenna is not
pointing at China, and the station is not loud, it's probably not there.
 Is it the right time of day to work that location?
Common sense goes a long way.  Don't rely on ID for everything -- because
we are never going to eliminate the problem altogether.   A good knowledge
of active calls and Super Check Partial will go a long way to working lids
that don't ID.  A positive ID is always better, though.

73 es let's have a blast in ARRL DX CW!    See ya from Vermont.

Gerry, W1VE


On Thu, Jan 30, 2014 at 10:40 PM, <n7jb at arrl.net> wrote:

> I don't favor a contest rule requiring "frequent ID."  The contest station
> primarily must follow the amateur service rules of his or her county - this
> is the bottom line.  Not ID'ing frequently (selective ID'ing) is also a
> contest strategy.  How will a frequent ID rule be enforced?  Will we
> actually see someone disqualified from a contest for infrequent ID? How
> many
> contesters are ever disqualified from a contest anyway?  I also wonder
> about
> the contest rule that says "listening time counts as operating time."  How
> is -that- rule enforced?  Doesn't it make more sense to start the clock
> when
> someone logs his or her first QSO?  Just a thought.
>
>
>
> If I don't hear a station identify frequently, I spin the dial to look for
> someone who is actually ID'ing.  I think the competitive contesters who do
> not identify frequently lose the S&P'ers like me (but that is
> -their-strategy).  Even though I personally do not think a frequent ID rule
> will work, it will be interesting to see if it does.  Thanks to all of you
> out there who ID frequently during contests; this S&P'er really appreciates
> it!
>
>
>
> 73,
>
>
> Jim, N7JB
>
>
>
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