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

Thu Feb 17 17:51:43 EST 2022

GA Sterling

             I'm confused  what do you mean  " Traditional " ham radio 
contesting is going nowhere

         anytime soon "  ?  Can you explain ?

             BoB WA1FCN

On 2/17/2022 9:18 AM, Sterling Mann wrote:
> I could see that being a hackathon now, and a competitive computing contest
> in the 2030s, but by the time that's really a thing, I don't think many on
> this list will mind.
>
> "Traditional" ham radio contesting is going nowhere anytime soon, but it's
> also getting us nowhere if we don't evolve.
>
> -Sterling
>
>
> On Wed, Feb 16, 2022 at 7:14 PM Doug Renwick<ve5ra at sasktel.net>  wrote:
>
>> Yes let's take another step further.
>>
>> The contest station will be operator free. An AI computer will be reading
>> and transmitting the contacts, turning the antennas, selecting the
>> frequency, even turning the power on at beginning and off at the end. So
>> you
>> know where this rule change is heading.
>>
>> Doug
>>
>> -----Original Message-----
>> From: CQ-Contest
>> [mailto:cq-contest-bounces+ve5ra=sasktel.net at contesting.com] On Behalf Of
>> Sterling Mann
>> Sent: February-16-22 3:43 PM
>> To:CQ-Contest at contesting.com
>> Subject: Re: [CQ-Contest] ARRL to allow self-spotting in contests
>>
>> Let's take it a step further...
>>
>> * epic sports intro music plays *
>>
>> And we are live at the K3LR super station, here on ESPN FiveNine - Your
>> HOME for RadioSport, where everybody is Five and Nine. We're just minutes
>> away from kicking off 2032's Worldwide DX Slam, and we already have 9 -
>> countem, NINE - ops on frequency already warming up the bands. I think we
>> got a big game ahead, last year's rival is putting up a bigger fight - K9CT
>> just put up 3 new towers on their farm, but their ops are sitting pretty
>> from the comfort of their laz-e-boys and couches tied in over Starlink, so
>> it's the perfect storm, butting the Butts in Chairs with the Work from
>> Homers against each other. Tim, what are we gonna be seeing today?
>>
>> Well Fred, this is a young crop of contesters, so you'll be they'll be up
>> all night working well into Japan and Australia on 160m with that new
>> OctaVert they've been playin with, and just checked last night, looks like
>> we got 37,000 VK and JA listed on the regs tonight so it'll be like
>> shooting fish in a barrel in the graveyard shift assuming they can keep
>> their rates up and their frequencies busy. That'll be really key, coming
>> into the sunspot minimums, as the high bands just aren't going to keep it
>> up despite HAARP-II cooking the ionosphere last week for the
>> Lets-Make-10m-work-again contest. Man you could feel the heat, and you can
>> feel it here too. We also expect big things out of the rookie, Maci
>> Maxwell. She has just been blowing up the scoreboards on nightly sprints
>> but now she's eating at the big kids table, so pressure's on but I think
>> she's got it in the bag - we'll really see her shine on the greyline. And
>> can't forget about that wild metamaterial iono-georesonant phased array at
>> 4O3A causing a storm in the radiosport meta, that is going to be a thorn in
>> everyone's side. Definitely going to be a big thing to keep an eye on in
>> the top five, and certainly be a hard battle for first place unlimited, but
>> you will see it here on ESPN FiveNine. Back to you Fred.
>>
>> Thanks Tim. For those playing at home, it's time to put on those FlexVR
>> headsets for a new immersive experience brought to you by DX Engineering -
>> bringing the DX to the METAVERSE - it's DXaVERSE. Watch real-time stats and
>> scores, hear stations in full 360 audio with the all new NeuralDSP audio
>> engine, and SEE the DX coming from the skies so you always know where to
>> spin the dial and spin your beam to always be on top.
>>
>> ***
>>
>> I long for the day that RadioSportscaster is an actual job, but I think
>> we've got a long way to go :-P
>>
>> -Sterling N0SSC
>>
>> Hi Randy:
>>> Allowing self-spotting might not have had much of an impact.  Allowing
>> chat rooms and other non-amateur radio platforms will have a huge impact.
>> Competitive assisted single operators and Multi-ops will have social media
>> coordinators.  Unless a very carefully crafted rule is written, Single
>> Operator Assisted operators can have additional people helping with social
>> media.
>>> Live streaming offers the ability to confirm QSOs in real-time.  The
>> video/audio feeds will quickly be augmented by machine-readable data for
>> that confirmation - and real-time QSLing!  This effectively eliminates the
>> rules against confirming QSOs during contests by non-amateur radio means.
>>> Many QSOs will now be arranged via social media or dedicated apps.  It
>> will be interesting to see if stations still need to hold run frequencies
>> in
>> a few years when the scheduling apps can just access their current
>> frequency
>> in real-time and it becomes sort of like a sprint.  I hope so - otherwise,
>> the single operators won't even be able to work the serious
>> assisted/multi-op stations.
>>> 73,
>>>
>>> Mark, KD4D
>>>
>>>> * On 02/16/2022 7:23 AM Randy Thompson <k5zd at outlook.com
>> <http://lists.contesting.com/mailman/listinfo/cq-contest>> wrote:
>>> *> >  >* From the ARRL Contest Update today:
>>> *> >* "New Rules in effect for all ARRL HF Contests in June
>>> *>* Starting with the ARRL International Digital Contest, in all
>> categories that allow assistance (Unlimited), the use of online and other
>> non-amateur radio platforms including but not limited to social media, live
>> video streaming, and internet chat rooms will be allowed. In all Unlimited
>> and Multioperator categories, the prohibition of self-spotting, and asking
>> another station to spot you, will also be removed."
>>> *> >* Wow.  It was one thing for the VHF contests to allow use of chat
>> rooms and telephone calls, now this is extended to all HF contests. It
>> should be interesting to see what unintended consequences result from
>> allowing multi-ops and assisted competitors to spot themselves. You could
>> spot yourself with every CQ if you wanted to. Or you can call people on the
>> phone and ask them to get on the air. Or send out email reminders to work
>> you during the contest.
>>> *> >* It is likely to have the most impact on SSB to produce spotting
>> equal to what the RBN does for CW and RTTY.
>>> *> >* For an organization that has always been so timid and conservative
>> on rule changes, the ARRL seems to have sprung this one without much
>> consultation with the contest community.  I assume it is in reaction to the
>> W2RE incident several years ago in ARRL DX where he used live streaming on
>> Facebook during the contest.
>>> *> > >* Randy K5ZD
>>> *> >* _______________________________________________
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>>> *>* CQ-Contest at contesting.com
>> <http://lists.contesting.com/mailman/listinfo/cq-contest>
>>> *>*http://lists.contesting.com/mailman/listinfo/cq-contest
>> <http://lists.contesting.com/mailman/listinfo/cq-contest>
>>> *
>>>
>>>
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