Topband: Chat Room Confirmation

[Bill Wichers]

I would think reviewing recorded audio to be OK. I think that would be
making use of a valid new technology, akin to the use of a new preamp or
better antenna. IMHO, a valid contact is completed when the required
info has been exchanged both directions *on the air*. If you had the
right info in a recording, then you did receive it over the air so I
personally don't consider that "cheating". If you pulled some bit of
missing info from something other than *your radio*, or a recording made
from *your radio* and *during the QSO in question*, then I don't think
it should count as a valid contact. "Your Radio" in this case would be
the radio or other RX/TX equipment controlled by you and located at your
station. 

I'd be OK with a remotely operated station too, but you'd need to be
receiving and transmitting from that same remote station and the contact
should count as having been made from the location where the RX/TX
equipment resides. What's the point of DXing if you just have to connect
up to (using something like the Internet) a remote radio that's across
the street from the "distant" station? A phone call could do that. The
entire point of DXing (and contesting) is to *use a radio* to make the
contact, and I think most would agree that if the radio signal isn't
what is being used to bridge the vast majority of the distance between
two stations then you didn't really make a contact with a radio signal.

I think post-processing of a recording is probably OK too, as it would
be similar to the use of DSP or other below-the-noise-floor receiving
techniques that integrate a signal over a long period of time. Such
systems are in fairly common use these days with the EME guys, I don't
see why they should be unacceptable on the other bands although I can
understand those with the "I didn't complete the contact *during the
QSO*" argument.

   -Bill KB8WYP


> either. Reviewing recorded audio after the fact is a "gray area" for
> me. Technically it's a cheat, though I will admit on a few occasions
> when I reviewed the audio and became sure of a detail (usually
> correctness of my call) I have kept the contact in the log.  I will
> NEVER process saved audio to recover a detail. I only use it as is
> to review if I am not positive on correctness of my call. I would be
> interested in how others view this.
>