[CQ-Contest] Real Time Contest Logging

[K3ZJ David Siddall]

Ed,

You are correct.  WRL's "bread and butter" service features real time
logging directly to the cloud, but in this WRTC implementation the logging
most definitely is locally on the contestants' laptops with their
everyday logging programs, then the data is streamed into the cloud to HQ,
same as was done at WRTC 2022 (in 2023).  The difference is in what the
organizers plan to do with the data as it is received.  As described, the
focus is on using the data in real time to follow the contestants and
attract new blood to amateur radio and to contesting in particular.  An
admirable experiment and goal.

73, Dave K3ZJ

On Thu, Aug 28, 2025 at 2:16 PM Edward Sawyer <
EdwardS at advanced-conversion.com> wrote:

> As I understand it, its not actually real time logging since it only has
> one side of the QSO.  Its really "real time broadcasting/streaming" of the
> contestants.  But its not doing any logging.  The logging is still be done
> on the contestant computers and the other side of the QSO computer which is
> no where in this system as described.
>
> That's how it seems to me at least.
>
> Ed  N1UR
>
> ----------------------------------------------------------------------
>
> Message: 1
> Date: Wed, 27 Aug 2025 11:14:17 -0400
> From: K3ZJ David Siddall <davek3zj at gmail.com>
> To: CQ-Contest Reflector <cq-contest at contesting.com>
> Cc: w1rm at comcast.net
> Subject: [CQ-Contest] WRTC2026 Realtime Contest Logging & Streaming
>         (was: Contest Software for Chromebook)
> Message-ID:
>         <CABMNUBBYAWdoMwoJxYhSXHNFCQui3i9qhr5Bjd64tNmwYt+Q=
> g at mail.gmail.com>
> Content-Type: text/plain; charset="UTF-8"
>
> Pete and all,
>
> Earlier this morning the WRTC 2026 Organizing Committee released
> information on the real time log scoring system that they are developing
> with WRL for the July, 2026 competition in England.   While real time log
> information was streamed to the cloud from each station at WRTC 2023, the
> WRTC 2026 committee is emphasizing that it will use it more for
> public-facing accurate play by play analytics and scoring. The system was
> tested live in this past July's IARU and is being further refined.
>
> The employed technology has come a long way since WRTC 2002, when the
> Finnish organizers under OH2BH's leadership distributed Nokia cell phones
> to each referee to call in their team's score periodically. Then in 2014
> the New England organizers, under KM3T's leadership, designed and built an
> automated score reporting system that included detailed information from
> each team that was updated every five minutes and directly fed a
> public-facing website designed by WA1Z, reducing the Nokia cell phones to a
> backup role.  This was also used at WRTC 2018 at the German event.
>
> In 2023 the Italian organizers took it further, and in association with
> IW1FRU's HamAward platform (see: https://hamaward.cloud) streamed the QSO
> data live to the cloud and used it in real time to spot irregularities
> (such as "cheerleader" situations) and to activate spotting when stations
> were on SSB (to provide contestants an equivalent to the automatic CW
> spotting that exists through the RBN).
>
> The public announcement from WRTC 2026 is at:
>
> https://www.wrtc2026.org/2025/08/27/world-radio-league-and-wrtc-successfully-test-new-real-time-contesting-software/
>
> 73, Dave K3ZJ
>
>
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