[UK-CONTEST] RSGB Cabrillo update

[Cooper Stewart]

I does seem to me that the onus for getting your log in the correct format
has shifted. And I can't make up my mind which is correct. As time has
passed, responsibility has moved from the entrant (I remember re-writing
logs with 800+ QSOs so that they were legible and didn't have tea stains on
them), to the adjudicators, to the software vendor/developer. If a developer
is going to create a piece of software (and charge us for it), then it ought
to produce its output effectively. If that means that they have to make it
more open to allow 'plug-ins' for different templates (like Cabrillo),
formats, or indeed customisation by the user, then the market will decide
who has got it right. It is surprising that there are few, if any, contest
logging programs which can do everything well. They all have strengths and
weaknesses.
I think, what I'm trying to say is that Cabrillo is just a catalyst to
standardisation, which is a good thing. It will just take time to get right,
because I personally don't believe that Cabrillo is a good starting point,
but at least it's a start.
Just my two pence worth.

Stewart
GM4AFF

-----Original Message-----
From: Clive Whelan [mailto:gw3njw at onetel.net.uk]
Sent: 03 March 2003 13:35
To: uk-contest at contesting.com
Subject: Re: [UK-CONTEST] RSGB Cabrillo update


 G3Sjj wrote:
> What I must say though is that I cannot see why I
> need to do anything else. I am using up-to-date world 
recognised software,
> after some 10 years or so of computer logging I am satisfied 
that what I
> produce is the correct format so :
> 
> 1 - I should not have to contact the software writer and
> 2 - I should not have to modify the file.
>

This is so obvious, that it shouldn't need saying at all, but 
clearly it does; Chris is 100% correct. The RSGB/HFCC *must* 
address these issues ( in fact I believe they are, so why not 
say so: is it a secret?). Bottom line for 
me is that my choice of logging software is more important than 
any RSGB contest, so if e.g. what WL can produce is not 
acceptable, I'm outa here.

> Again the question I would ask is just how much information is
> cross-checked? Is it just callsign? Is it callsign and serial 
number? Or is
> it the full exchanged data ie callsign, serial number
>

I can only answer for the contest that I adjudicate viz ROPOCO, 
where the entire exchange is checked (pretty obvious I think). I 
don't want to set Ray/G4FON up, but I am certain that if the 
exchange is in the Cabrillo file, then his excellent Logmangler 
software can hack the file. The problem of file standardisation 
is a joint responsibility of the logging software vendor and 
the specific contest sponsor, categorically *not* the contest 
entrant. Contests which fail to accept this realism, will simply 
wither on the vine. My I suggest that RSGB international 
contests are not in rude health , and may not survive many bad 
harvests?

73

Clive
GW3NJW




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