[CQ-Contest] Is it time that the contest sponsors officially identify SCP as "assisted?"

[ve4xt at mymts.net]

Further to Hans' point: some contests define assistance as the use of local, multi-channel decoders (local skimmers), but do not include in that definition local, single-channel decoders. 

A local skimmer will populate your bandmap just like DXCluster, while a single-channel decoder means you still have to find them on your own. 

A skilled CW op should be able to vastly outperform someone who uses a decoder, no? So is the objection then merely, "Hey, I had to learn the code, so he should, too"?

73, kelly, ve4xt,

Sent from my iPhone

> On Dec 3, 2015, at 10:30, "Radio K0HB" <kzerohb at gmail.com> wrote:
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> First, I should make clear that the contest sponsor, not me, defines "assisted" for their contest, so I won't call my description a "definition".  For lack of a better term, let's call it "personal view".
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> Second, I don't use a "CW to text decoder" (or a "voice to text decoder" for that matter), but I can envision that such a day is in my future.  
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> Now then, to provide my reasoning as you requested.
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> My personal view of assistance rests on the phrase "log-ready callsign/QRG information developed and sourced from outside my station".  The key components of that view are "outside" and "information".   
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> Conversely, if I develop the callsign/QRG information with tools INSIDE my station, in my personal view it should not be considered assistance.
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> A final key point.  You should note that my personal view considers technology used inside my station to be a tool, not information.  
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> __73, de Hans, K0HB
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> "Just a Boy and His Radio"™
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> ​PS:  Voice recognition technology is maturing rapidly.  Will contest sponsors view it as the equivalent of a CW decoder?  If not, why not?  How about RTTY decoders?
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> On Thursday, Dec 3, 2015 at 06:30, Kevan Nason <knason00 at gmail.com>, wrote:
> We had a brief discussion about code readers on our local
> contest club reflector. Some felt the same way you do. I don’t, but would like
> to understand your reasoning for thinking a code reader is not assistance. I
> haven’t gotten what I see as a reasonable explanation yet, but am still open to
> listening.
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