[VHFcontesting] VHF contesting ethics questions

[Duane - N9DG]

I personally separate myself from all of those things once the contest period begins and remain so until it has ended. I decided it was better error on the side of caution regarding any interpretation of them being considered "assistance". And for what it's worth I believe that can get a much better sense of what the activity is like by just working the bands with my equipment.

In my mind the key thing to maintain during a contest is a "sterile" station environment where *all* the information about who there is to work is derived from my *own equipment* on the bands and modes of the competition, and to not use any parallel paths of information about contest activity. I do not put anty artificial restrictions on the make up of the technology that is wholly contained within the confines of my station per the contest rules definition of the "station location".

Duane
N9DG  


--- On Wed, 6/18/08, kb8u vhf <kb8u_vhf at hotmail.com> wrote:

> From: kb8u vhf <kb8u_vhf at hotmail.com>
> Subject: [VHFcontesting] VHF contesting ethics questions
> To: vhfcontesting at contesting.com
> Date: Wednesday, June 18, 2008, 8:03 AM
> Do people think it is ethical to use the internet to get
> National Weather Service
> radar images to assist in knowing where to point a 10 GHz
> dish for rain-scatter
> propagation during contests when all other aspects of the
> contact are facilitated
> over the air?  Exclude the 10 GHz and up contest since the
> rules for that one say 
> anything goes.
> 
> How about use of the real-time propagtion map at 
> http://www.mountainlake.k12.mn.us/ham/aprs/path.cgi?map=na
> ?
> 
> Neither give the callsign or frequency of anybody you could
> work so I'm OK
> with them but I'll stop if I'm in the minority.
> 
> -Russ  KB8U