[CQ-Contest] Encouraging Spotting of SSB QSOs in Contests

[Michael Walker]

My 2 cents

This is a contest.  I’m in a contest.

Why would I spot other stations that I used to make points from?

Especially when I actually used the VFO knob to find the station I just worked.  Spin the dial and find your own points.  Last time I checked most HF radios come with a knob or a mouse that works like a knob.  

Now, if this was just DXing, that is a different matter.  That isn’t a contest.  

<rant over> :)

Mike va3mw


> On Nov 19, 2022, at 4:48 PM, K9MA <k9ma at sdellington.us> wrote:
> 
> It would seem that spotting S&P contacts would be beneficial to the unassisted operator. Let them all fight over the station you just worked. The downside, I suppose, is that if everyone does that, the unassisted operator is less likely to find a new station before it's spotted. That's a moot point in CW contests, as the RBN spots everything almost immediately. 
> 
> 73,
> Scott K9MA 
> 
> ----------
> 
> Scott Ellington
> 
> --- via iPad
> 
>> On Nov 19, 2022, at 10:54 AM, Pete Smith N4ZR <pete.n4zr at gmail.com> wrote:
>> 
>> I've been appalled by how few stations spot in phone contests, even though N1MM+ (and perhaps other contest logging programs) offer the option of spotting all S&P QSOs, regardless of mode.
>> 
>> It's been suggested to me that some non-assisted contest entrants may be deterred because of concern that they might risk disqualification if frequent spots attributed to them are seen on the cluster network.  If that's a significant deterrent, which seems somewhat credible, then perhaps the sponsors of the major contests should singly or collectively announce that the appearance of spots attributed to non-assisted competitors will not, by themselves, be considered  evidence of assisted status.
>> 
>> Then how would illicit assisted operation be detected?  15 years ago, CT1BOH and VE5ZX authored a paper on how to identify undisclosed two-radio or assisted operation through log analysis.  With the capabilities now available to us, and the near-universal acceptance of open logs, it seems to me that the means exist for detecting undisclosed assistance without making assumptions based on spotting.
>> 
>> So what say, contest organizers?
>> 
>> -- 
>> 73, Pete N4ZR
>> Check out the new Reverse Beacon Network
>> web server at<https://reversebeacon.net>.
>> For spots, please use your favorite
>> "retail" DX cluster.
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