[VHFcontesting] Sports vs. Radiosports

[Alex]

Ev Tupis wrote:

>>> === Radio Contests Today ===
>>> When it's all over, we are given 30-days to "audit our logs".
>>
>>  
>> Are you trying to imply that people are cheating during this period? 
>> Could you explain this to us a bit more?
> 
> 
> Hi George,
> Nothing that ominous.  

Well, you did say "audit"...

> I simply point out that in today's contesting 
> world, there is a 30-day grace-period that should be questioned as to 
> "why?".  Of course, the answer is "to allow for the submission of paper 
> logs via postal mail."
> 
> I believe that this should be revisited as part of an overall 
> re-engineering of contesting with a 21st century focus.

A 21st century Focus does not include hams who do not have means to 
electronically submit logs, or who choose to use paper logging? Let's 
keep the focus on being inclusive rather than exclusive. I'm sure the 
contest sponsors would narrow the window if their experience would allow 
for it.

A 30 day window really isn't all that bad. Heck, sending a letter in the 
US can take up to two weeks. I get air mailed magazines from Europe that 
get here 6 to 8 weeks late because they end up on the wrong pile at the 
post office over there.

I'm one of those folks that takes advantage of the 30 day window if 
needed. One time I had to rework my log because silly me didn't check 
the time on the computer and didn't realize until after a 48 hour 
contest that the CMOS battery was dead. One time I received a message 
from a fellow contester in Argentina whose log got partially destroyed 
and he tried to contact those folks he worked in order to recreate the 
log so he had something to submit and all that time at the radio wasn't 
for nothing.

Of course, if we're really only interested in the scores of the highest 
scoring stations, then yes, you can shorten the grace period to a week 
or so. Those stations will probably have the means to meet that 
requirement. But count on losing a lot of participants, who btw., are on 
the other side of the contacts needed to generate that top score.

73,
--Alex KR1ST
http://www.kr1st.com