[CQ-Contest] cq self spot

Sun Feb 26 22:07:01 EST 2017

In contesting and baseball, I'm waaaaay conservative, but ..I gotta give a big thumbs up to this one.  I was on for CQWW 160M SSB.  As you can imagine, 160M Phone is a tough one from KL7, so wasn't expecting anything big, and the first night was a total loss.  Second night had 120 or soQs, of which 117 came on runs after being spotted.  Another way of putting it is, in 10 Hours of operating, I had 120Qs in about 2 hours, 10 or so in the other 8 (all of this at night during times the band was at least somewhat open).  I was very close to asking someone to spot me (and then submitting just a check log), since I knew I wasn't going to have a big result, but was trying to give the Zone 1 Mult to anyone I could.

73
Steve KL7SB

-----Original Message-----
From: CQ-Contest [mailto:cq-contest-bounces at contesting.com] On Behalf Of W0MU Mike Fatchett
Sent: Sunday, February 26, 2017 1:30 PM
To: cq-contest at contesting.com
Subject: Re: [CQ-Contest] cq self spot

or an organized or unorganized group of cheerleaders for one individual for whatever reasons those may be.

Self spotting levels the playing field in this regard.  We have seen cheerleading from the get go.  This eliminates part of it.

W0MU

On 2/26/2017 11:58 AM, Ria Jairam wrote:
> To understand why the self-spotting issue was raised, we need to back 
> up a bit.
>
> In CW contests, RBN and private skimmers will automatically pick you 
> up and spot you on the cluster networks, courtesy of W3LPL and others. 
> This is essentially the same as self-spotting because nobody has to 
> work you for you to be spotted, and as soon as you are detected by one 
> of these robots (RBN or skimmer) you are automatically put on the cluster.
>
> In SSB contests there is no such facility, so it is generally luck of 
> the draw for someone to work you then they will spot you. This is 
> because there is no practical skimmer (voice recognition?) for SSB as of yet.
>
> The accusations were that some folks were self-spotting and trying to 
> hide it, meaning that they would use a cell phone or another IP or 
> "phone a friend" all of which are clear rules violations.
>
> In order to take away that incentive for cheating and put everyone on 
> a level playing field, it was suggested to allow limited self-spotting.
> Otherwise, since some folks are going to self-spot anyway, and the 
> contest committee may or may not find them, it puts honest competitors 
> at a disadvantage. And the logic was that since essentially 
> self-spotting happens in CW contests due to RBN/skimmer, that allowing 
> limited self-spotting would be harmless.
>
> In other words, take away the advantage that self-spotting cheating 
> currently gives, by allowing everyone to do it. This would have a 
> detrimental effect on cheaters because now they cannot really gain any 
> advantage from self-spotting.
>
> Hope I made sense.
>
> Of course, there are purists who see this changing amateur radio into 
> a computer game - my friends, that is not my intention. The intention 
> is to remove the ability to gain from cheating by making it so that 
> even if you self-spot it gives no advantage whatsoever.
>
> With the current system we have the luck of the draw of a random 
> person spotting you or even organized people in a club asking fellow 
> members to spot them.
>
> Just my 2c. It's not perfect but it is fair, IMO.
>
> Ria, N2RJ
>
> On Sun, Feb 26, 2017 at 1:43 PM, Barry Merrill <w5gn at mxg.com> wrote:
>
>> There's an even bigger difference; actual spots from hams or RBN 
>> convey propagation information, self spots.don't.
>>
>> Barry, W5GN
>>
>> -----Original Message-----
>> From: CQ-Contest [mailto:cq-contest-bounces at contesting.com] On Behalf 
>> Of Jorge Diez - CX6VM
>> Sent: Sunday, February 26, 2017 7:57 AM
>> To: Charles Harpole <hs0zcw at gmail.com>
>> Cc: CQ-Contest Reflector <cq-contest at contesting.com>
>> Subject: Re: [CQ-Contest] cq self spot
>>
>> There's a big difference
>>
>> The first one improve your skills, you must learn about propagation, 
>> know where to point your antennas, etc etc etc
>>
>> The other one not
>>
>> So what's next, why we use radios? If we can do all over internet, no 
>> qsb, no qrn, we do not need to spend time and money building stations 
>> and improving with better antennas, just connect to internet, choose 
>> a nickname more funny than our callsigns and go...
>>
>> For DX what´s the next step?  JT65 with a software that do the QSOs 
>> alone for us while we are working?
>>
>>
>> 73,
>> Jorge
>> CX6VM/CW5W
>>
>>
>>
>>
>>
>> Enviado desde mi iPhone
>>
>>> El 26 feb. 2017, a las 08:08, Charles Harpole <hs0zcw at gmail.com>
>> escribió:
>>> What is the difference between a CQ and a self spot?
>>> Both call attention to you, both announce your desire for contacts, 
>>> both are self-promoting.
>>>
>>> We in SEAsia seem seldom spotted in contests, maybe  due to our low 
>>> numbers or remoteness or something.  Out of contests, if I did not 
>>> spot myself, I could call CQ for a long time because few tune 
>>> around, I guess.  If I have an hr to enjoy contacts and do not want 
>>> to waste the first half hour calling CQ, I send in my own spot.
>>>
>>> In contests, why would non-mechanized spots be sent out--that is, 
>>> why would a fellow competitor help anyone find the gem he found and 
>>> thus helping others score better?
>>> I like the ham spirit, but other than bragging ("Look who I just 
>>> worked!"), and ham generosity, why spot at all?
>>>
>>> 73
>>> Charly, HS0ZCW
>>> PS, do big clubs have private, members only, spotting facilities?
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