Hi Ron,
Thanks for your thoughts and questions. I don't like people taking things
from me without asking either. That's why I chimed in on this conversation
- to have a public forum about it.
One challenge of Radiosport is that we cater to so many different kinds of
participants. Casual, little gun, top-ten, those striving to be op-ten,
etc. There are tradeoffs with every rule and within every contest. I
believe that revisiting these things occasionally is healthy for us. Our
light-speed advances in technology open new ideas and possibilities for
contesting that were not possible a few years ago (and let's not turn this
into a Skimmer thread :-) Extensive log checking, UBN reports, and
publishing logs are some of those possibilities.
Just because public logs are now easily possible, why should we be "forced"
to do that? That's a good question. Any imposition on participants must
provide value to the competition or to the sport as a whole, and a value
that outweighs the imposition. Drug testing in sports was too intrusive
to consider, until the need for the sport became great. I think that
testing has changed many sports, but arguably it has saved some as well.
There have been posts here suggesting that Radiosport competitions need
saving from cheating, so the need for public logs and UBN reports outweighs
the imposition. Perhaps. I am adding that public logs provide even more
value to our sport, for some, by increasing the enjoyment (and hopefully
participation) from a segment of contesters like me.
Is this value to our sport worth the imposition that it requires? THAT is
probably the real question. Radiosport seems to be an exception in that our
actions and points are not made public. That new imposition looks valuable
enough to me. It sounds like it is not valuable enough for you. In the
end, each contest sponsor gets to decide for themselves, but we can
certainly let our individual feelings be known.
73,
Rob KA1ARB
> From: Ron Notarius W3WN <wn3vaw@verizon.net>
> Date: Mon, 08 Aug 2011 17:57:15 -0400
> To: Rob Katz <rob.katz@theLegacyCenter.com>, <cq-contest@contesting.com>
> Subject: RE: [CQ-Contest] KR2Q - RX1CQ
>
> Rob,
>
> I can certainly understand your perspective, and I'm all for doing anything
> reasonable to enjoy the hobby and this aspect of it, and to continue to
> learn.
>
> But the question I pose to you is, why must I be forced to open my logs and
> other reports to you? The key word here is "forced".
>
> I'm not against voluntary sharing of information. Voluntary. Mandating it,
> however, is another matter.
>
> Why is it so much to ask, that I simply be asked? The only reasons I ever
> hear or seem to hear is, in essence, that it is too much trouble, too much
> bother, for someone to do so. So I ask you, must I be forced to
> involuntarily open my logs because someone else thinks common courtesy is
> too much trouble?
>
> You said yourself... you can understand that some are reluctant to reveal
> their "hard-learned secrets". Does your (or anyone else's) need to see them
> trump those who are willing to teach and share, but just want to be asked
> first?
>
> I'm curious to see what your answer is.
>
> 73, ron w3wn
>
> -----Original Message-----
> From: cq-contest-bounces@contesting.com
> [mailto:cq-contest-bounces@contesting.com] On Behalf Of Rob Katz
> Sent: Monday, August 08, 2011 1:48 PM
> To: cq-contest@contesting.com
> Subject: Re: [CQ-Contest] KR2Q - RX1CQ
>
> Another perspective on this that I haven¹t seen discussed:
>
> As a mostly casual contester with an occasionally serious effort, I would
> like to see open logs and UBN reports to increase my enjoyment of our sport.
>
> One of the reasons I participate in Radiosport is the openness and support
> in the community. Complete strangers, my competitors, have assisted me many
> times, and that has compelled me to do the same for others. For me, there
> is a brotherhood of competitors. I have admiration, not jealousy, for the
> top contesters. While I assume there is some cheating, I choose to
> participate with trust.
>
> In every other serious competition that I can think of (there may be some
> rare exceptions), all of the actions and every point scored by each
> competitor is fully public. Personally, I have no problem with that.
>
> I call for open logs (and UBN reports to save me the effort of generating
> them) to learn from and marvel at others. I don¹t have the time to examine
> their honesty. It¹s like watching the Olympics for me I just want to
> appreciate a picture of how others have operated and how the top ones do it
> so effectively!
>
> I can understand others not wanting to reveal their hard-learned secrets
> (for the same reason that I would like to see them!) And any change to ³the
> way it has always been² will often generate resistance. In this case, for
> people like me (some cannon fodder for many of you!), open logs would be a
> big plus to my enjoyment and participation.
>
> 73,
> Rob KA1ARB
>
>
>
>
> On 8/6/2011 4:28 PM, ³Ward Silver² wrote:
> "Will we as contesters be required to put a webcam in our
> shacks and expose ourselves to the world for 24 or 48 hours, to the whim of
> any voyeur who seems to find some reason to watch me operate a radio in
> shorts and a T-shirt?"
>
> I thought exposing ourselves to the world for 24 or 48 hours to any radio
> voyeur who seems to find some reason to call us on the radio was the entire
> point of contesting in general. If privacy is one's goal, radiosport would
> not
> be my first suggestion as a hobby.
>
> 73, Ward N0AX
>
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