Randy,
Between when this was first posted and your post, I happened to be reading
an old issue of the National Contest Journal. It's amusing that apparently
the ARRL made exactly the opposite ruling 30 years ago. I have no idea if
the licensing clause was in the 1981 rules.
>From NCJ July-August 1982, editorial by Rick, K7GM
...
The genesis of this controversy was the operation of a specific contester
outside of his subband while a guest op during the 1981 ARRL DX Test. In
the example cited, the guest op was a General class and the station owner
was an Extra. If a General is to operate outside of his subband while at
an Extra's stations, FCC rules regard that General as an unlicensed third
party and require that "a control operator is present and continuously
monitors and supervises the radio communication..." (FCC Rules and Regs
97.79(d)). The aggrieved party, who came in second, requested that the
League either disqualify the entry for non-compliance with the FCC rules
if the control op was not present and supervising or, if the control op
was present and supervising, to reclassify the entry as a multi op. The
League refused to take either course of action. As to the first point,
the guest op stated to the League that the control op was present and
acting as control operator during the contest. As to the second, the
League did not find the present definition of single op - where "one
person performs all operating and logging functions" to be in conflict
with the FCC requirements so as to require reclassification.
...
73 Kevin w9cf
On Sat, Aug 18, 2012 at 02:30:18PM -0000, Randy Thompson K5ZD wrote:
> I realize I am behind the curve on this, but it is a subject of particular
> interest for contest administrators.
>
> The ARRL addresses the question of callsign use by others on their web site.
> http://www.arrl.org/regulatory-faqs
>
> They use Field Day as an example and it seems pretty clear that operating
> outside your privileges using another call is permitted -- as long as there
> is a control operator.
>
> The FCC does not fully define what level of presence/control the control
> operator must have. Only that the control operator shares equal (more?)
> responsibility for operation of the station with the operator.
>
> The ARRL FAQ makes reference to the issue of the callsign holder not being
> present, but is silent on what constitutes control. This lack of definition
> regarding control is important as it would be unlikely that the control
> operator would be present and vigilant for the full contest period by a
> single operator station.
>
> The contest rules definition of single operator is usually based on one
> person doing all operating and logging functions. It could be argued that
> the control operator is not participating in the operating or logging, but
> only "observing" that the on air operator is not violating any rules.
>
> If the ARRL rules only required following the FCC rules, then there would
> have been no reason for disqualification. However, the ARRL rules include
> the clause, "All operators must observe the limitations of their operator
> licenses and station licenses at all times." This gives ARRL the latitude to
> conclude that a single operator entry must operate within the restriction of
> the operator's license. To do otherwise, the ARRL is claiming that the
> control operator does count as a participant of the operation and therefore
> the operation should be submitted as a multi-op.
>
> Most other DX contest rules do not have this clause. Assuming this precedent
> is carried forward, anyone operating an ARRL contest should take note of
> their entry category when operating outside their license privileges.
>
>
> Randy, K5ZD
_______________________________________________
CQ-Contest mailing list
CQ-Contest@contesting.com
http://lists.contesting.com/mailman/listinfo/cq-contest
|