[CQ-Contest] Do not rely on spots for copying callsigns

[Pete Smith N4ZR]

I don't think it's "either/or".  My contest operating these days is 100% 
CW, all assisted (99 percent RBN) and almost all S&P - but I'm acutely 
aware of the risk of bad spots.  On CW, these days, bad RBN spots tend 
to be callsigns either truncated or run together with non-call fragments 
- like T's added on the end of callsigns from "TEST".  I blacklist those 
busted calls when I see them. Most often they tend to be obvious because 
someone else spots the real call at about the same time.  And believe it 
or not, I listen hard to make sure that the callsign I hear is in fact 
the one going into my log.

73, Pete N4ZR

On 4/9/2024 8:16 AM, charlie at thegallos.com wrote:
> I've been following the thread, and I'm wondering - has anyone gamed out the "points gained by going faster because of relying on spots/rbn" vs "Cost of busts"
>
> Is it possible that by going faster, you are getting more points than the busts cost?
>
> Just an interesting idea
>
> 73 de KG2V
>
> -----Original Message-----
> From: CQ-Contest<cq-contest-bounces+charlie=thegallos.com at contesting.com>  On Behalf Of NC8R via CQ-Contest
> Sent: Monday, April 8, 2024 7:49 AM
> To:cq-contest at contesting.com
> Subject: Re: [CQ-Contest] Do not rely on spots for copying callsigns
>
> It seems like that's quite common in phone contests. Whether it's caused by QRM or the operator's accent, some calls will be copied and spotted wrong. I occasionally get spotted as NC3R, etc. That happened during WPX, even though I say my call after every QSO while running. It's always important to listen carefully to verify that you have the correct call. Unfortunately, some operators are going to lose points as a result of relying on the spots!
>
>
> Dan NC8R
>
>
> On Saturday, April 6th, 2024 at 10:10 PM,john at kk9a.com  <john at kk9a.com>  wrote:
>
>> On Thursday I received an email from the WPX committee encouraging me to submit my log from the 2024 WPX phone contest. Apparently based on other submitted logs they know which stations were active and encourage them to submit a log for log checking or just as a friendly reminder. This reminder was for the P40A callsign which I use in Aruba however I did not participate at all in this year’s contest from anywhere. My good friend P43A was very active on 15m and he was apparently mis-spotted once. I am certain that Jean-Pierre correctly said his callsign but some stations just logged what was spotted. I am not sure how many stations logged his callsign incorrectly but it was enough for the committee to send me the notice below: This is just a reminder to not rely on spots for callsign data as they are sometimes not accurate!
>>
>>
>>
>> John KK9A – P40A etc
>>
>>
>>
>>
>>
>> From: CQ WPX Contest
>> Sent: Thursday, April 4, 2024 5:41 PM
>> To:john at p40a.com
>> Subject: 2024 CQ WPX SSB - Please Send Your Log Reminder for: P40A
>>
>>
>>
>> Hello P40A,
>>
>> Your callsign shows up in logs we received for the 2024 CQ WPX SSB Contest.
>>
>> Your contest log is important to us.
>>
>> The information from the SSB QSOs you made on March 30-31, 2024, can help us improve our log checking processes.
>>
>> PREFERRED METHOD: The preferred method of submitting the log is using the web upload option which will check for possible errors or inconsistencies. Logs in Cabrillo format can be uploaded, checked, and
>>
>> Thank you for being part of the 2024 CQ WPX SSB Contest.
>>
>> 73,
>>
>> The CQ WPX Contest Committee
>>
>>
>>
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