[CQ-Contest] ARRL to allow self-spotting in contests

[wigi at kl0r.com]

Sterling wrote:

". . . at the end of the day, they need to bring more hams into the hobby,
more contesters on the air, more activity on the bands, and more members
into the ARRL, and by promoting higher scores, greater competition, and
weaving this into the attention economy of the internet through content
creation, that goes a LONG way to investing in the future at the expense of
the status quo."

--Sterling N0SSC

I mostly agree with the goals. However, this rule changes the dynamic of the
contest AWAY from the idea of furthering operating skills... not just as
contesters but as hams in general. In our current universe, between spammed
spots, busted calls being spotted, skimmer errors, typos, etc, the spot
chaser needs to pay attention to whom he/she is working - confirm that the
station you're working is actually the one spotted. This rule reduces the
need to be so careful because at the logical conclusion, where every
assisted station is using a SpotBot, the overall quality of the spots goes
up, so the penalty for sloppy listening and operating skills goes down.

Additionally, this opens up at least one legitimate channel for abuse: If I
see my arch nemesis spotted, I could tune to his/her frequency, send my call
once, and spot myself, essentially erasing the station's self-spot. I made a
transmission on the frequency, sent my call, and posted my spot. Even if the
intent of the rules prohibit that, how do you determine the intent of an
operator who claims it was done in good faith? We already see it with fake
spots. This creates a legitimate method for this activity.

>From the perspective of a multi-op station, this essentially turns the
contest into an operating event. And now every multi-op needs a SpotBot. A
nice IT project and perhaps opportunity to make some money writing software,
but clearly at the expense of the contest.

As the manager of a MM station, I would think long and hard about even
entering ARRL DX as a DX station... and not because I think that the rule
hurts our chances (it would probably help our score in relation to the
competition). It simply turns the contest into a special event. Advertise
and work the pileup.

If the intent here is to legitimize live-steaming in some way, carve a rule
that allows it without bathwatering the baby. Maybe a 2 minute delay in the
live stream. Maybe insisting that the frequency is not transmitted in the
stream. To achieve that goal by legitimizing something that we seem to
universally consider to be cheating is crazy talk.

Multi-x unassisted? I'm down for that.

73,

Wigi, KL0R
Station Manager, KL7RA
North Pole Contest Group