[UK-CONTEST] Contest end time - a consensus please - Round-up of comments.

[Roger Thawley]

Well folks, I thought this might all make an interesting topic for debate
and indeed it did. I've read thoughts published on the reflector and also
exchanged email with a number of folks; as such I felt it might be useful to
follow up and, perhaps, prompt some further discussion.

 

It's apparent that a minority of folks have MSF clocks. Many folks log using
computers of one sort or another and some of these get connected to networks
regularly enough for them to usefully synchronise with an internet time
standard, some don't. Another large group of folks use a basic clock or
wrist watch, along with any vagaries that go with that approach. I was
amused to note a comment from someone who counts himself lucky if his logs
haven't blown away by the end of a contest. As you'd expect, given all these
differing time keeping methods, there is going to be a variable degree of
accuracy and, being the real world that it is, some stations are going to be
closer to 'real' time than others. Given a lack of rules around timekeeping,
it's clear that each individual station will operate to its own view of the
current time and it's therefore difficult to be critical of timekeeping.
I'll be somewhere near the front of the queue to admit that I rarely
remember to set my watch against anything that might be accurate.

This definitely seems to be an area where rules haven't kept up with
technology; perhaps there's a case for the rules to require stations to have
an MSF time standard available so allow computers to be synchronised to some
reasonable degree of accuracy, say, to within 10 seconds of the MSF time, or
for direct reference for those logging on paper? Given that MSF clocks and
watches can be had at reasonable cost now, would contesters object to such a
rule?

 

Another topic of debate has been over contacts, which start before the end
of the contest but complete slightly after the contest end time. Some folks
feel that the contact should essentially end mid-sentence and not be
counted. The majority of folks commenting on this subject felt that it's
reasonable to conclude such contacts and allow them to be included, within
reason. I dipped back into the original debate and asked if there might be a
difference of opinion between HF and V/UHF contesters and received a few
further responses from V/UHF contesters who were all in favour of allowing
such contacts because signals are often weak on V/UHF and it may take a few
tries to make a successful exchange - this approach appears to be widely
adopted practice.

I also noticed that someone posted a snippet of what appeared to be an email
exchange on this subject and a few folks jumped on this as being 'a
statement of law', however, with respect to the parties concerned, until
those words appear in the published contest rules, all they are is a view.

It doesn't seem that it would take much to form a consensus on this and
update the rules accordingly and perhaps those rules should differ between
HF and V/UHF?

 

A complication for timing was also raised in that there doesn't appear to be
a single approach to timing by logging software. Some applications capture
the time the 'Enter' button is pushed at the end of a contact, others
capture the time the first character of a callsign is entered, there may be
other approaches - an inconsistency, which can clearly mean a difference of
some minutes in contact times.

This would appear to be a good topic for discussion between national contest
committees so they can agree a standard to publish.

 

Further thoughts?

 

Roger, G0BSU