[VHFcontesting] ARRL Contest Scoring Discrepancies

[David Olean]

Hello Dave

I was surprised when the ARRL started dinging me for contest points. It 
was back in the mid 2000's. It had been done on HF before that.  Our VHF 
MM log was hit for 1.8% of the score. I was told that was about as low 
as it gets typically. There are all sorts of reasons, but most are *Not 
in Log*. I can see how that happens in a contest setting. I found myself 
guilty of that here. I would get so busy changing bands that I would not 
enter the last QSO and it could disappear! I have seen it often in my 
Log Checking Report, but never checked the logs of the other station, so 
I can't comment on log checking errors by the Contest Committee.  The 
LCRs have made me be  a lot more careful in my logging as a result. What 
I really like is when we got a computer crash and the log gets fractured 
with wrong times, or contacts get written on the back of a pizza box and 
have to be written in later when the smoke clears!  All fun and games 
and prone to massive errors.

Dave K1WHS

On 3/18/2026 4:49 PM, David R Buckwalter via VHFcontesting wrote:
> Maybe it's just me, but I am starting to be irritated by the ARRL scoring of
> logs submitted for the VHF contests.  Several times in the past 2 years or
> so, my final score posted has bee lower that what was submitted as "claimed"
> score.   For the past September contest results just posted my score is
> shown almost 5000 points below what I submitted.   This would not concern me
> if we were still back in the day of paper logs and multi-page cross matrix
> dupe sheets, but I pay for and use logging software that tracks and flags
> dupes as well as maintaining a running and final score.   The score I submit
> should be no different that what is posted in the results, minus some
> minimal amount for fat fingering incorrect callsigns and grids into the
> logging software.
>
>   
>
> There, I said it.  And it didn't help.  I'm still irritated.
>
>   
>
>   
>
>   
>
> Dave -  K3SK
>
> FM07
>
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