[UK-CONTEST] Redundant contest reports? (SSB CC (and other80mcontests))

[Paul O'Kane]

----- Original Message ----- 
From: "Dave Sergeant" <dave at davesergeant.com>

<snip>

> It is very obvious that in the 1970s virtually everybody sent
> real RSTs in contests. I have not yet noticed when this stopped,

Signal reports are entirely subjective - the only ones with
any validity are comparative ones.  Reports stopped varying
some 30 years ago - especially in the major contests.

The final nail in the coffin was due to CT, the first major
contest logger in the late 1980s.  CT had no provision for
logging anything other than 59(9) for RST Sent.  You could
send something (on-air) other than 59(9) but you couldn't
log it.  Of course, it did allow variable RST Received to
be logged.

59(9) no longer has any meaning, significance or value.  It
is a legacy of contesting from the last millennium :-)  It is
redundant.

> I thought at one time it was a requirement for DXCC for RST
> to be exchanged (and greater than something like 45/459) for
> it to be a valid QSO for the purpose

Most of us thought the same - we were all mistaken.  No
signal reports of any kind are needed on QSLs for any ARRL
award, including DXCC.

> The other thing which struck me going through my old logs
> was how many contests there were in those days

Yes, and nearly every day was sunny :-)  There are more
contests than ever these days.  Here are some this weekend,
all on HF, and all open to UK contesters.

   WW-PMC Contest
   Black Sea Cup International
   AGCW-DL Straight Key Party
   North American CW Sprint
   Vermont QSO Party
   Minnesota QSO Party
   British Colombia QSO Challenge
   Delaware QSO Party
   New Mexico QSO Party
   Ten-Ten International Winter Contest

73,
Paul EI5DI