[RTTY] US call signs (BARTG)

[pcooper]

Hi all,

Well, thanks for all the responses! 
Yes, I do appreciate that the comparison between G, GU etc and W is not a good one, but it was the only way I could think of explaining it.

Now, several folk kindly emailed me direct to say things like - Yes, but G.GU etc are different DXCC's, with which I agree.
By the same token, KL7/KH6/KP2 are ALSO different DXCC's, but you still find some in RTTY contests operating from the "lower 48".
I even got a KH8 in one contest that was on mainland America.

I don't know the answer to this, but does the FCC require that you sign differently if you are operating away from your home address?
In the UK, if we are operating somewhere other than our designated home address, we must sign /P for any temporary address, or /A from an "alternative" address, where the alternative is somewhere designated on our licence.

Let's say that you are W6XXX operating from Florida, and you enter the BARTG contest as W6XXX only.
If your log was to be classed as a check-log only, because you weren't following the rules, would you be annoyed?
Maybe contests that use US call areas as mults ought to enforce this part of the rule?
Apart from the BARTG contest, there is the EA RTTY contest, DL-DX, DRCG LDC, SARTG, JARTS, and WAEDC all use US (and some also include VE/JA/VK) call areas as mults, so please don't just single out BARTG for criticism.

Thanks again for all the comments. 

73 de Phil GU0SUP
(definitely in GU!)