[SECC] Question about "assisted" vs "unassisted"

[Kevan Nason]

I'll add to Lee's comment about assisted with what I have learned about that. Might not be exactly what you were asking, but might be relevant. 

Started contesting as NS4T. Came a time when I looked at all those high scores you mentioned and I began to wonder how they did it. After all, I am not stupid and I can't come anywhere close to those scores. And I had read the contesting forums where people talked about rampant cheating. Hmm...

Then I was fortunate enough to have been invited to a multi station with a great host (NQ4I) and fantastic operators. Many were very good, including K4BAI. They sat me down next to Jim, VE7ZO, who actually won a WRTC. He was the 40 meter run op and I was his multiplier station op.  I am the first to admit that was an extremely humbling experience that I haven't yet recovered from. 

Jim would not only maintain a rate >100/hr, he would simultaneously watch for and correct my mistakes, coach me on what I was doing wrong, pass stations to other band operators, congratulate them on snagging good multi, watch propagation and spots for trends, and surf the internet on his phone all at the same time. Others ops there could do similarly.

To paraphrase a quote I read somewhere: A good contester can take his and beat yours, and then take yours and beat his. 

Jim was, and still is, an inspiration for me. 

So to answer your possible question, some folks are just that good and especially when they have good stations they get nearly unbelievable scores. I am positive cheating is happening,  but just because they have a high score doesn't mean they are cheating. 

Also, I think you will see more and more top ops going assisted. You are already seeing that trend. And as they do you will see assisted scores climb compared to unassisted. You already can see that happening. The best assisted ops seem to be those who can get good unassisted scores too. That's because they have a bigger toolbox to pull from. 

In summary, I believe a lot of what you are seeing now is just top notch ops plying their trade. 

Study those guys. Read what they put out about how they contest. It is worth it. 

Kevan
N4XL

On Feb 28, 2017, at 16:53, Arebias Abanathy via SECC <secc at contesting.com> wrote:

When I participate in any given contest I never use any spotting or clusters at all and have always chosen unassisted however I have also looked at some other scores that were very high and wondered if someone that uses assistance can be determined by the final scoring system? Anyone know the answer?

Another question I have is this; Usually when I am contesting I have anywhere from 1 to 3 friends that do not contest but if they know I am contesting they will usually stop in and find me, and out of the blue they will make a contact with me and ask how it has been going for me. From all I know they don't make any other contacts but I go ahead and log them since they do so thinking they are helping. If their calls do not show up in any other logs do they still allow me to keep those 1 or 2 contacts or are they actually just hurting me buy stopping by and keeping me tied up for a minute or two?

These are probably somewhat common sense questions for most but I am not really a "veteran" contester and inquiring minds ......   well you know. 

Bill - K4WDR


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