I've taken my share of hits in log checking, mostly fair, and some unfair.
However, keeping the penalty a big one reduces the guys from guessing too much,
or at least keeps them guessing selectively.
Back in the old days, the log checking was pretty lax so it paid to take a
guess at DL5AB? and take a stab at maybe it was DL5ABC. Only an idiot would do
that now with the penalty being high. The gamble might be taken if you work
VK6A? and can't figure out whether the last letter is a "B" or "D" for the zone
and the country on 80, and guess a "B". In any case, you take a hit if it is
wrong.
Contesting is about many things, including endurance, station performance,
operating skill and keeping an accurate log. Yes, it pisses me off to lose
points for what I consider to be a good QSO, but it also does the same to
everyone
else. As long as the penalties are administered without prejudice, it should
all balance out in the end.
I wish they would publish the Busted/NIL on the summary of the scores. You
can bet the "guessers" would improve in a hurry. If you don't like your
Busted/NIL, quit griping, and learn to copy more accurately.
In my opinion, my Busted/NIL sucks on CW since I'm not a CW guy, but I have
worked hard on my Busted/NIL for SSB to bring it down to where I would be happy
to have it posted. I bet most of the top guys, both phone and CW would not
have a problem with those scores being posted either.
Since all QSOs in a log cannot be cross-checked, it is imperative to have the
lost QSO plus additional QSOs lost. Otherwise, what's to stop someone from
just guessing like crazy on lots of QSO's? Lots of the guessed QSOs will be
counted since they will seem like Uniques. Some will wind up being busted, but
so what? With no penalty, all you've lost is the QSOs, and you've gained all
the ones that turned out unique. The penalty sticks it to those guys who try
to get away with that.
If you don't like your Busted/NIL, work on changing your operating style, not
the rules
Bill K4XS
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