[CQ-Contest] Proposed rule changes

[Dick Green WC1M]

Yes, it’s silly. And remember I’m not advocating for the revised rules. I’m just trying to interpret them.

 

I think your “note on paper” example technically would qualify as an edit because you used it to correct the log that will be submitted. It doesn’t matter whether you made a mental note, scratched it down on paper or used the log program Note feature. Re-entering the QSO would fail that test as well. The intent of the rule appears to be that you cannot make any corrections to the log that will be submitted once the QSO is completed.

 

I agree with VE4XT that “QSO is completed” has not been defined. Is that when the runner sends TU? Is it when both parties have hit Enter on their log entry? Or is it when you’re satisfied that the log entry matches what was sent and received (which is really what the committee should be concerned about when it comes to edits during the contest.) 

 

Re-entering the QSO might work. Then it’s a dupe and the log checker will use whichever version is correct. In fact, you may have found a way around the whole silly thing. The new rule doesn’t explicitly state that you can’t *add* a QSO after the fact. However, I suppose the committee could rule that this is technically a violation because the intent is to correct a previous entry.

 

The case you describe where the other station comes back later and corrects his call or exchange is different. I think you can finesse that one by creating a duplicate log entry because it really does qualify as a new QSO – the information has been sent and received again. Also, you had to take the time to complete a new QSO. However, I think *all* of the information would have to be sent and received again to qualify as a new (duplicate) QSO.

 

Note that regardless of the above, as long as your log matches a hypothetical broad-spectrum recording of the contest, there’s no way the committee can tell that you changed a QSO – during or after the contest. So, in that sense it’s an unenforceable rule that seems completely unnecessary in light of the fact that the logging rule clearly establishes that what’s in the log must match what’s sent and received. That, in theory, is actually enforceable. 

 

Who cares if you corrected a typo during the contest? It requires time to do that – time that takes away from completing another QSO. You make an error and have to correct it, and you pay a price.

 

Corrections after the contest are another story. Like I said, the old version of the rule, perhaps updated to remove “of confirming QSOs”, makes sense to me: No editing of the log after the contest. Period. In fact, it would be much simpler to simply have a rule that says exactly that. I have long felt that editing after the contest extends operating time, so it shouldn’t be allowed. By postponing an edit and running another station, you gain an advantage. Also, it opens the floodgates to post-contest corrections based on databases, email, reflector posts, packet/RBN history, etc. 

 

Now, like a lot of this stuff, it’s not really possible to verify whether the edit took place during or after the contest, as long as it matches the recording. But I still think it needs to be a rule that you can’t edit after the contest. Rule IX.9 used to say almost that.

 

73, Dick WC1M 

 

 

 

From: Jeff Stai [mailto:wk6i.jeff at gmail.com] 
Sent: Sunday, May 24, 2015 11:25 AM
To: wc1m73 at gmail.com
Cc: Dennis McAlpine; cq-contest at contesting.com
Subject: Re: [CQ-Contest] Proposed rule changes

 

 

On Sat, May 23, 2015 at 2:47 PM, Dick Green WC1M <wc1m73 at gmail.com <mailto:wc1m73 at gmail.com> > wrote:

The rule says no “Correction” of logged entries. Converting the log to another format isn’t the same as correcting the log. Heck, when you tell the log program to output the log in Cabrillo format, it does a conversion from its internal format. Converting from paper to electronic is similar, though you are making additions. IMHO, additional entries are not the same as corrections to existing entries. So I think you would be OK entering the paper portion of your log after the contest, as long as you don’t make any corrections to the paper or electronic log. Again, it’s not a change in the information, just a format conversion.


OK, so please follow me carefully... Recall I typed the wrong thing into the computer, but then scribbled the right thing on to paper before moving on to the next station which is calling me right now.

 

The information on my paper is a superseding paper log entry. When the contest ends I will merge the paper log back into the computer log by converting to the computer format. It's just as correct to call this a merge as it is to call it an edit.

 

But if that is objectionable... in the same situation I have been known to simply re-enter the entire QSO correctly right after the incorrectly recorded QSO. This is a behavior I have not been penalized for in the past. Should I now be penalized for this?

 

Similarly, it is not uncommon for a station to come back two minutes later and call me again to correct the exchange - they sent me the wrong exchange. I log this new QSO. It now sure looks an awful lot like my re-entered correction in the previous paragraph. How will log checking tell the difference?

 

This is all getting very silly, isn't it? 73 jeff wk6i

 

 





 

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