[CQ-Contest] Is Self Spotting now allowed in ARRL tests?

[Pete Smith N4ZR]

It makes no sense to encourage stations to clog the clusters with spots 
of themselves, just because they can.

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.

On 11/22/2022 12:12 PM, Tim Shoppa wrote:
> Bob W5OV of the ARRL has corrected me.
>
> He writes "Your reading of PROH.3 is not correct. That exclusion is
> specifically about making schedules, soliciting contacts (i.e.; CQing), and
> sending or receiving the required QSO exchange information via non-amateur
> means. It says nothing about spotting."
>
> I myself fail to see any distinction between self-spotting on a Telnet
> cluster, and soliciting i.e. CQing using non-amateur means, but that's
> official from W5OV of ARRL.
>
> Tim N3QE
>
> On Tue, Nov 22, 2022 at 9:13 AM Tim Shoppa<tshoppa at gmail.com>  wrote:
>
>> First, make sure you have the latest rules. ARRL didn't update the
>> November SS rules (to the latest, version 1.06) on their website until late
>> August. Prior to that we just had a confusing tease about self-spotting
>> from a Contest Update earlier in the year.
>>
>> Link to current SS rules:
>> https://contests.arrl.org/ContestRules/SS-Rules.pdf
>>
>> My reading of SS rule PROH.3 in version 1.06 of the rules, is that
>> self-spotting is a form of soliciting contacts by a non-amateur radio means
>> (in this case Telnet cluster) and thus prohibited:
>>
>> "Examples of prohibited conduct [...]: PROH.3. Arranging, soliciting, or
>> confirming any contacts during or after the contest by use of any
>> non-amateur radio means."
>>
>> One clarification in 1.06 does explicitly allow a corner case of spotting,
>> that was never previously mentioned in past contest rules. In the
>> definition section you will find, "Generating spotting information for use
>> by other stations is not considered to be spotting assistance." So for
>> example you can be hooked up to a cluster and sending spots, as long as
>> you've set all the filters such that nothing ever comes in to you from the
>> cluster.
>>
>> Tim N3QE
>>
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