[CQ-Contest] N1MM's Embrace of Self-Spotting

[Jim Brown]

On 11/29/2022 6:16 PM, Pete Smith N4ZR wrote:
> Tom has rejected my attempts to raise this issue on the N1MM reflector, 
> so I'm trying here.    The difference between self-spotting and being 
> spotted by an RBN node should be obvious - in the RBN case a transmitted 
> signal has actually been heard by someone else. Making it easy to spot 
> yourself every 10 minutes strikes me as a significant step away from the 
> idea of only using radio to make radio contacts.

I joined CAC as the Pacific Division representative around the time this 
was being discussed. The logic was two-fold -- to equalize SSB with CW 
and RTTY with respect to spotting, but also to put contesters on equal 
footing with those stations publicly streaming their operations on the 
internet. The powers that be at ARRL seemed to believe that streaming 
was a way to attract new contesters, and thus a good thing. It's 
important to remember that CAC is ADVISORY to the committee within the 
League, established by the Directors, that does what it wants to do.

I personally have no strong opinion on the issue. The sky has not fallen 
since CW and RTTY skimmers came into wide use. As Pete has noted, spots 
make contesting a lot more fun for stations who can't run effectively, 
AND they build rate for stations that are running. They HAVE changed 
contesting, making it FAR more difficult for smaller stations, or those 
with marginal propagation, to crack the instant pileups created by rare 
mults and by fresh meat near the end of contests.

73, Jim K9YC