[CQ-Contest] Convergence and Change

[Paul O'Kane]

On 18/05/2016 03:27, Jack Haverty wrote:

<snip>

> In other words, Unassisted means you use only ham radio; assisted 
> means you may use other forms of communications as well.


Jack has summed up the issue nicely.  However, the words
"Assisted" and "Unassisted" do not, in themselves, help
to distinguish between the two categories. That's because
all relevant technology assists one way or another.

If the categories were to be described as "Connected" and
"Unconnected", they would become self-explanatory.

We've had "Assisted" and "Unassisted" for 30 years or so.
Let's acknowledge that nowadays, for most practical purposes,
the difference boils down to whether or not we connect to
the internet to find some stations.

There is one exception.  Local Skimmers would continue to
be classed as Connected where their effect (or benefit) is
exactly the same as cluster and RBN - they provide spots
(both callsign and frequency) for stations you might want
to work for points.

Why not call it what it is - Connected and Unconnected?

73,
Paul EI5DI