Dear Contesters:
I have certainly read lots of mail on post-contest "sanitizing," "correcting,"
"fixing typos," etc. It is OBVIOUS that the waters are muddy. Please allow
me to clear them up...and remember...this is about POST contest "fixing" of
callsigns and nothing else.
A CONTEST (I'll focus on CQWW cw & ssb) is supposed to be (one DEFINITION is:)
"A competition, especially one in which entrants perform separately and are
rated by judges." Note that entrant's efforts are rated by the judges and NOT
by the entrants. Just what are the judges rating in CQWW? They are rating
your SKILL at contesting. This includes such things as Knowing the Bands
(expert at propagation...see K3ZO and W3LPL!), being able to Run when you can,
knowing when to stop running and look for mults, Hearing the calls correctly
AND logging them correctly.
Our's is certainly a technological sport. HB'ing a yagi in 1950 is far
different than how it is done today. Sending cw for 48 hours in 1950 was also
far different than it is today. And keeping a log and dupe sheets has
certainly changed as much, if not more than, the other comparisons. Yes, the
sport is a dynamic one in which changes and technology are important. But
when all is said and done, what is the REAL basis of what the JUDGES want the
entrants to excel in? The answer is that it includes the OPERATOR'S ability
to COPY and LOG the calls you work with ACCURACY. This may be the MOST
SIGNIFICANT factor being measured and honed, it is what the now famous UBN
reports are all about.
And just WHEN is this skill tested? It is tested DURING the 48 hours of the
contest. What could be simplier? This IS the ONE area in which there IS a
level playing field (or there is supposed to, if the concept of a 48 hour
contest is adhered to).
Changing a callsign AFTER the 48 hours of the contest distorts exactly the
skill that is being measured. Here is an example:
THE EXAMPLE
Suppose you are a 2nd or 3rd level op (not you personally, just an example),
and you are up against the world's best op, and you are both given the SAME
scenario: trying to COPY a callsign in difficult conditions. The #1 op sends
his call and exchange, gets a return report, but he tries and tries, and just
can't get the other guy's whole call...so he CORRECTLY logs nothing. The 3rd
tier op sends a report, hears something come back and also can't copy the
whole call but he/she plugs in the (say) 4 letters he did copy.
Now it is AFTER THE CONTEST. The #1 op has NO QSO for that mystery "almost"
contact, because he does NOT know for sure who he worked. The 3rd tier guy
now goes into a database [a database can be a callbook, a group discussion,
looking at last year's results, looking at the packet screen AFTER the
contest, looking at last year's log, looking at this years log, etc.) and
finds ONLY ONE callsign that matches with those 4 letters. He looks at it,
and says, YEAH, THAT MUST BE IT, and CORRECTS those 4 letters into a complete
call. As it turns out, the database was CORRECT and so was his GUESS based on
that information. Is that fair? Should he really get credit for making a
QSO? Was the entrant's own skill being judged? Should 4 letters be allowed
to COUNT for a full qso? Pse tell me HOW you can justify that? And THAT, in
a nutshell, is the basis of WHY you should NOT change/modify callsigns AFTER
the contest.
And the SAME is true if you log a COMPLETE call DURING the 48 hours, but later
(somehow) determine that what you LOGGED was wrong. By YOU (the entrant)
DETERMINING it was "wrong" is CHANGING YOUR ROLE from entrant/competitor to
JUDGE. Go back to the definition. Entrants are NOT the judges! When you
were in school, and you took a quiz or examination or standardized test, you
were given X amount of time to complete it, to "show your stuff." Then you
SUBMITTED your effort for the JUDGE (teacher) to grade. You were NOT
permitted another 1/2 hours or 30 days to REVIEW your effort and FIX the
errors. If you were allowed to do that, HOW would that be a measure YOUR
skill during the timed period of examination? It wouldn't!
Now, here are some answers to some comments/questions that have either been
sent to me directly or posted on the reflector:
THIS IS NOT A TYPING CONTEST
If you CHOOSE to select typing as your method of recording the callsigns, then
typing is INDEED part of your contest effort. Nobody is forcing you to use a
keyboard; if you can't type, don't try to use a keyboard during the contest!
If you type poorly, then this is a skill that you need to improve, and UNTIL
you improve, you will generate errors that MUST be part of your timed effort.
This is like saying that you can't use an iambic paddle, so your keying errors
should be ignored. If you can't use a keyer but are great at using a straight
key, why in the world would you use a keyer? If you were in a wood cutting
contest, and both quantity and ACCURACY counted, some would find that sawing
by hand was way more accurate FOR THEM. Others would find that they could cut
a LOT more wood by using a power saw. Some of them would STILL maintain good
accuracy, but not as good as if they did it by hand....it is a TRADE-OFF that
they would be accepting...being given the ability to cut MORE wood at the
expense of cutting the wood ACCURATELY. Should they be permitted to go back
and FIX the accuracy of their cuts AFTER the event ends because "I can't cut
the wood using the power saw as accurately as I can using the hand saw." ????
If you find MORE advantage to typing than recording by some other method, then
you must take the good with the bad...it is YOUR choice....it is NOT an
excuse!
IN THE OLD DAYS, WE REWROTE ALL THE LOGS
There is nothing wrong with RE-WRITING your log as long as you don't EDIT the
callsigns as you do it. If you use paper to record the qso's, and then type
them in later, you are supposed to enter what you originally recorded on the
paper. This is NOT changing calls AFTER the contest.
WE ARE SUPPOSED TO DUPE AND CORRECT THE LOGS
Wrong. You are supposed to identify DUPES and mark them as zero points. Note
that the RULES (yes, this is in the rules) say that DUPES MUST BE CLEARLY
MARKED. NOTHING in the rules says anything about you being required to
CORRECT the log. In fact, you are NOT supposed to modify any callsigns after
the contest.
IF I MAKE A NOTE THAT A CALL IS WRONG DURING THE CONTEST, YOU MEAN I CAN'T
CORRECT IT LATER?
If you made a note DURING the contest, you have ALREADY corrected it DURING
the contest. You can make your log any way you like. You can record it on
CT/TR, on video tape, on paper log forms, on slips of legal sheet, ANYTHING.
When the contest is OVER, you assemble your log into a concise format and
submit it in the required format. If you made a note about an error you made
in (say) CT by making a note (paper or otherwise) to yourself, then THAT is
part of your log. OF COURSE you can include that in your submitted log. THAT
is NOT changing a callsign after the contest. You CANNOT, however, write a
note that says, "I'm not sure of this callsign, try to figure out what it
might be later," and have THAT "count." You DON'T know with certainty what
the call is (you didn't record it anywhere during the contest), so you CANNOT
change it later.
SOME PROGRAMS DON'T ALLOW EASY EDITING DURING THE CONTEST.
This is the same as above. If you record an error in logging DURING the
contest, then you are NOT modifying that callsign after the contest...you are
simply assembling your log (which may be made up of paper notes and an
electronic file).
WHAT ABOUT TAPE RECORDING THE WHOLE CONTEST AND TYPING IT IN LATER.
If you choose to record your contest effort on tape (or video tape) and
transcribe it (in an acceptable CQWW format) later, that is your choice. You
MUST record EXACTLY what you SENT (the other guy's callsign) as recorded on
the tape though. You can NOT make any changes AFTER the contest based on
whatever you might "newly" discern AFTER the contest, while re-visiting the
tape. So if you SENT 5H2PK during the contest, and that is what is captured
on tape, but upon closer listening you find that it is really HH2PK, tough
luck. Your are NOT permitted the change it to HH2PK.
WE HAVE BEEN DOING IT THIS WAY FOR 100 YEARS.
Fine. If you had been embezzling money for 20 years and "everybody I know
does the same thing," does that make it right? OF COURSE NOT. If letting
everyone know that you have been changing calls in your log after the contest
is somehow cathartic for you, great. Now you KNOW that you should NOT be
doing that.
WHAT IF THE OTHER GUY SENT HIS CALL WRONG.
Ugh. This is what I would call a purely rhetorical question, designed only to
cloud the discussion. First, HOW do you know that he sent his call wrong?
Are you GUESSING again? And just how often do you think this might happen in
YOUR log during the entire contest? Once? Twice? And if this did happen,
do you really think that YOU are the only one who he sent his incorrect call
to? Come on! This just doesn't matter and is NOT not a valid reason to alter
callsigns after the contest. You should NOT be doing things like this to an
entire log based upon this premise. EVERY log has errors that are "not my
fault" so every log is equal in that respect. If those couple qso's are SO
IMPORTANT to you, go ahead and tape record the entire contest. I you lost
credit for those 1 or 2 contacts because the "other guy sent his call wrong,"
I am confident that the contest sponsors would be happy to give you the credit
back and you can watch your score grow by: (1000 qso log total = one tenth of
one percent improvement..//...5000 qso log = two hundredths of one percent
improvement....WOW! These are really worthy of discussion).
FINALLY....
If you are having trouble with any of this, please consider the following:
If you are "cleaning" your log after the contest by altering callsigns, how
many times does that actually happen? If you are changing "a few," does it
really matter (see above)? Will those couple QSO'S make a real difference in
your place of finish?
If the answer is NO (and it should be), why not take the CORRECT route, and
NOT change the callsigns. It will certainly put you on the high ground of
ethics in contesting and you can proudly state that this REALLY IS your score,
based on YOUR effort.
If, however, the answer is YES (it WILL make a big difference), don't you
think that this should be a sign that you are doing something on a large scale
that is WRONG...that your SKILL level is so lacking at copying/logging that
you need lots of HELP to "get it right." If your skill is so poor, WHY should
you be allowed credit for all of those qso's that you really didn't complete
or get right during the REAL event? Remember that making a complete qso
includes GETTING THE OTHER GUYS CALLSIGN RIGHT. What do you think the purpose
of the UBN report is for? It is a TOOL for YOU so you can identify problem
areas and improve YOUR OWN COPYING/LOGGING SKILLS.
If you have bothered to read this far, congratulations...you are genuinely
interested in contesting...it's almost done.
IN CLOSING, it has always been presumed that limiting the contest to 48 hours
means just that: 48 hours in which your skills are tested. Going through a
log to find dupes/mults/apply points, etc. are housekeeping functions and add
NOTHING to your 48 hours of effort. Do NOT confuse housekeeping with contest
skills. This concept (the contest effort is over after 48 hours) has been
considered so basic, that no "RULE" for it was ever deemed necessary. So for
those of you who need to see it in the rules, you should be careful about what
you wish for, you just might get it! I personally think that those who have
so earnestly argued for the "value" or "right" to change a callsign AFTER the
contest have NOT thought about what a contest/competition is supposed to be,
nor what their SCORE is supposed to represent.
I look forward to seeing your comments. This has been a LONG commentary, so I
strongly suggest that you re-read the 3 paragraphes under the title "THE
EXAMPLE" (near the beginning) again....and THINK about it.
Thanks for your time!
Respectfully submitted,
de Doug KR2Q
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