[UK-CONTEST] Contest deadlines, etc.

[Don Field]

The recent thread about submission times raises a number of interesting
issues, both philosophical and practical. These are a few thoughts, based
on experience with the IOTA contest, etc. They are just that - reflections
- not representing "official policy" or whatever.

1. The thread started with a specific case - a Russian contest under
closely managed conditions for top contesters (akin to WRTC, where
competitors have something like 15 minutes to copy their log onto a memory
stick and give to the referee). The RSGB 80m CC contests are in a different
space - they were specifically established to encourage new contesters and
have, largely, been successful.

2. Automatic adjudication and scoring of contests is quick - the 500k QSOs
(typical) in the IOTA contest database take about 10 minutes to adjudicate
and score these days. The time is taken corresponding with those who send
in incorrect logs (format. date, category, etc) and manually checking QSOs
which the computer cannot resolve. Naturally, contest organisers could
simply ignore such logs, and not apply any manual checking to odd QSOs. I
would venture this would have two effects:

  - those logs that were refused would lead to the entrants concerned
having a good whinge on the Internet and probably not entering that contest
(and others?) again. And even top contesters boob from time to time, for
example sending in the wrong log
  - if only automatic checking were used, as has been stated the positions
probably wouldn't change much. But there are some entrants who would query
every "busted" QSO anyway (they already do, there would simply be more of
them!). Should the contest organisers then recheck these and issue revised
scores, or is life to short, with new events coming along all the time?

3. Where does this take us? For some years now there have been suggestions
about real-time scoring (why stop at a two-hour deadline?). The thought is
that "serious" entrants should be connected to the Internet through the
contest and scores would be continually updated. There is, as many of you
will know, already an informal system for doing exactly this. One could
even envisage the day where there was a "contest channel" on YouTube, with
real time scores, video feeds from the big multis, and G0MTN (or whoever!)
doing a "live commentary" - "GM3POI has just QSYed to 15, will GM3WOJ
follow suit, given that he is running at 150 an hour on 20, the excitement
is building ..." But the technology isn't there yet. That said, I can see
it coming out of the US or Russia in the next few years.

So there are technological issues (checking capabilities, even actual
contest logging software, some of which is still flaky in terms of
reliability, etc) and there are philosophical issues (are contesters
prepared to have a lower degree of accuracy - probably not actually
affecting their placing - in return for faster turnaround?).

The above applies to ALL contests, not just RSGB ones - indeed, I have
tried to make it generic - some US amateurs have even started a Worldwide
Contest Foundation (there was a first meeting coincident with the CCF
cruise in Helsinki back in February, led to OH1VR and K1DG) to address some
of these to save organisers having to keep reinventing the wheel in terms
of software, etc, and also to raise funds as contests can be expensive to
run (trophies in particular) and IARU societies, in particular, are
increasingly strapped for cash. But the RSGB has more contests than any
other contest organiser that I can think of, so faces bigger challenges
than most, not least finding volunteers to run the whole thing.

I suspect we will end up (just as with athletic events, football, etc) with
different levels within contest (in a marathon there are elite runners, as
well as casual participants) with different criteria applying to each. The
"big boys" won't get the leniency that applies to the "little pistols". But
who is to decide who falls into which category, other than by some sort of
pre-registration? Again, an interesting question for debate!

Anyway, a few thoughts to ponder over your morning cornflakes.

Don G3XTT