[CQ-Contest] Contest preferred segments in WAE

[Jim Brown]

The heart of the problem is, indeed, in the translation.

I am a member of the Standards Committee of the Audio Engineering 
Society, which is an international body, and our Standards are written 
to be applied worldwide. Several European countries are well represented 
(AESSC is a voluntary body). An important element of "getting it right" 
is carefully choosing words that translate the same or mean the same in 
other languages and cultures. Our Standards are written in English.  
Another important Standards body, the IEC, publishes in both English and 
French.

In the English language, the word "should" makes a recommendation,  NOT 
a requirement. The word "shall" defines a requirement.  As quoted below 
(I have not read the rules on the website), the rules do NOT forbid 
operation in those segments, they say that those segments "should be 
avoided."   "No operation to take place on" is ambiguous -- it attempts 
to clarify, but it still lacks the word "shall."

73, Jim K9YC

On Wed,9/7/2016 10:02 AM, David Siddall wrote:
> For background, in its English translation, the WAE rule reads:
>
> According to IARU recommendations operation should be avoided outside
> contest-preferred segments. No operation to take place on:
>
> *CW*  : 3560-3800; 7040-7200; 14060-14350 kHz
> *SSB*: 3650-3700; 7050-7060; 7100-7130; 14100-14125; 14300-14350 kHz.
> Some could find this formulation to be unclear.  In one interpretation, the
> first sentence refers to the IARU recommendations. The second sentence
> adopts the IARU Region 1 recommendations as requirements for the
> competition, and without exception, so it applies to all competitors
> worldwide.  (This makes sense since WAEDC is a "world-work-EU-only"
> contest, so no valid QSO is possible inside the excluded band segments.)