[VHFcontesting] VHF contesting ethics questions

[Chet, N8RA]

Hi John,

I think you just said it very well at the beginning.

The internet info is not your own equipment- it's someone else, somewhere
else, pumping QSO information at you by non-radio means. Someone else
assisting you to go work them.

If you have something set up within your own station to better find
contacts, that seems OK, be it a preamp, second antenna, rtty decoder, DSP
filter, spectrum sweep analyzer, or skimmer (shudder...not wanting to start
that debate here-hi). Four of these gadgets use your computer to crunch the
information for you, by you. 

It's not the using of a computer, but the source of the QSO information that
makes the difference.

73
Chet, N8RA

-----Original Message-----
From: John AA5JG [mailto:aa5jg at lcisp.com] 
Sent: Wednesday, June 18, 2008 3:32 PM
To: 'Paul Kiesel'; 'VHF Contest Reflector'; Chet, N8RA; Duane - N9DG
Subject: Re: [VHFcontesting] VHF contesting ethics questions

I guess I am a little dense here, but what is the big difference between
using the internet to set up a contact and using your computer to find
signals (CW skimmer)?  Both are using something besides you and your
equipment to find signals.

73s John AA5JG


---------- Original Message ----------------------------------
From: Duane - N9DG <n9dg at yahoo.com>
Date:  Wed, 18 Jun 2008 11:17:08 -0700 (PDT)

>
>--- On Wed, 6/18/08, Chet, N8RA <chetsubaccount at snet.net> wrote:
>
>> From: Chet, N8RA <chetsubaccount at snet.net>
>> Subject: Re: [VHFcontesting] VHF contesting ethics questions
>> To: "'Paul Kiesel'" <k7cw at yahoo.com>, "'VHF Contest Reflector'" 
>> <vhfcontesting at contesting.com>
>> Date: Wednesday, June 18, 2008, 12:16 PM Hi Paul, A ping jockey 
>> listing by station saying he is now on freq X using modulation Y now 
>> calling CQ is really a self-spot by that station.
>> That itself is
>> something not allowed for him by another rule I think, and it is not 
>> permitted for a person entering as a single op to connect to that 
>> assistance. This PJ spot is not really different than a packet spot, 
>> isn't it?
>
>I really do think that WSJT is a genuinely cool mode. However what has
really kept me from really wanting to pursue it is the standard operating
practice of real-time or near real-time Internet coordination of a majority
of the QSO's done with it. In fact in general I'm just not a big fan of
scheduling contacts at all. Which is also why EME (WSJT or otherwise) hasn't
really tripped my trigger much either, there's just too much "scheduling" of
Q's for it to intrigue me much.
>
>Now if WSJT was implemented in a CWSkimmer like configuration where it was
watching a wide swath of spectrum for totally random (i.e. unscheduled)
signals then I'd be all over it. I want it to be me and/or my equipment to
find the signals through my own antennas on the band of interest. It's just
not as sporting to me to look for someone because they told me that they
were there. Too much like commercial game farm "hunting", ... and with some
animals even tied up... Now some will argue that "running the bands" is
tantamount to scheduled contacts as well, perhaps it is to a degree, but
finding that other station to work at all in the first place (without using
outside means or schedules) I think is the critical differentiator.
>
>Duane
>N9DG
>
>
>      
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