[CQ-Contest] Getting more SSB spots

[Pete Smith N4ZR]

Some of you may have read my post about using this weekend's ARRL DX 
contest to try for more countries on 160.  Well, the contest on that 
band is effectively over, and the results are in.  I used Spot Collector 
to give only 160-meter spots this weekend, and since Friday 
night/Saturday morning I've received precisely 5, of which only one was 
DX .  This phenomenon, unfortunately, is precisely what leads to stupid 
rule changes like ARRL's "self-spotting" idea.

It's sad, too, because something more than half of contesters use N1MM 
Logger+, which has a convenient, zero-effort way to fix this.  On the 
Config menu in the Entry window, N1MM has the option to "automatically 
spot all new S&P QSOs".  If you check this option, you will spot every 
S&P QSO you make, where the station has not been spotted within the last 
10 minutes on the same band and mode. Imagine what a huge difference 
this would make if even half of N1MM users turned it on.

73, Pete N4ZR

Check out the new Reverse Beacon Network
web server at<http://beta.reversebeacon.net>.
For spots, please use your favorite
"retail" DX cluster.