[CQ-Contest] Stirring the Pot: No more Unassisted in ARRL VHF Contests?

[kr2q at optimum.net]

No analogy is perfect and for me, this sail boats vs power boats is really not applicable.

Anyone can EASILY tell the difference between a sailboat and a power boat.

It is far more difficult to tell the difference between assisted and unassisted, simply by looking
at the submitted log, especially for "conservative" or "smart" use of assistance.

Of course, on a related topic, it is also difficult to tell HP from LP, yet those categories (for
HF contesting) remain in place.  

So...from a theoretical perspective, it makes sense to keep assisted and unassisted separate.
But from a practical perspective (perspective of log checking), there is good reason to
remove the separation.  I mean, why have separate categories if the log checkers can't actually
verify those using assistance in a subtle manner, but in a way that can really impact their final score?

This is my 2 cents and certainly is not a known reflection of what the contest sponsors may be
thinking (but which at least one has clearly been surveying).

de Doug KR2Q