[CQ-Contest] I hate ITU prefills

[Dave Edmonds]

I agree 100% with Tree. I was away from contesting for many years and
returned in 2013. One of the things I noticed was the use of pre-fills in
contests. In Chapter 1 of my ham career, contest ops copied what the other
op sent. This is what should happen during a contest.

Beyond the my reason based upon pure principle, pre-fills can be more
confusing than helpful. I remember working a DX station on 40m when
conditions were marginal... He asked me to repeat my callsign several
times... Here's what happened...

"Please repeat your callsign..." DX Op
"WN4AFP, WN4AFP"
"N4AF?" DX Op
"No WN4AFP, WN4AFP"
"N4UFP?" DX Op
"No WN4AFP, WN4AFP"
"N4FP?" DX Op
"No WN4AFP, WN4AFP, WN4AFP"
"WN4AFP?" DX Op
"C C C C TU de WN4AFP"

It was apparent that he went through all his pre-fills before actually
copying what I was sending.

Using pre-fills may help you gain a few Qs, but you lose a bit of the fun
of contesting.

73s Dave WN4AFP


On Thu, Jun 29, 2017 at 2:00 PM, Tree <tree at kkn.net> wrote:

> It's still a depressing feeling for me seeing all of this activity around
> getting the ITU pre-fill database updated every year.  Does this activity
> stop after the contest?  I am sure there is enough momentum of the
> collusion that goes on - that some people think nothing of helping their
> friend out when they are sure if MRASZ was right or not.
>
> One of the things we try to measure during a contest is how accurate people
> are.  How well they can copy what they hear in the headphones and
> accurately log it.  This is a skill that would be very important if the
> amateur radio service is ever called into handling emergency
> communications.
>
> In an emergency - we don't have pre fills on the information we might be
> exchanging.  A phone number needs to be copied correctly in order to find
> the right person on the other end.  (This is something I was personally
> involved in after the 1971 San Fernando Earthquake).
>
> As the log checker for the IARU contest - it is fairly easy for me to bust
> exchanges for people who mis-copied the ITU designator.  However, a group
> of you have decided this is too much work during the contest and want to
> rely on a pre fill database instead of using your brain to figure out what
> is being sent.  This feels like you are playing the game by a different set
> of rules.
>
> I applaud those who avoid using such a database.  In truth - by keeping
> their brain engaged - they might actually have a more accurate log.
>
> Tree N6TR
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-- 
Dave Edmonds
PK Ministry Webs
864.288.6678
dave at pkministrywebs.com
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