Part of real-time QSO submission is being able to cross-check a QSO
relatively quickly and report back to both submitters whether it is a
valid QSO. If after making a QSO with UA9CDC, I am notified later by
the cross-check service that the QSO was invalid because of a mistake by
me or a mistake by Igor, I can go back and make another attempt at a
valid QSO. Because there is no post-event log, there needs to be no
post-event penalty because the error can be corrected during the contest
with another contact, just like any other sport. The QSO either counts
or it doesn't. Penalties are only necessary in today's contests because
of the post-event log being what is judged. Getting rid of the
post-event log solves a lot of judging and behavioral problems.
Obviously, there is a lot of distance between where we are today with
post-event logs being cross-checked after the event and real-time
contest QSO validation but as you can see from ClubLog and DXA, the
basic structures exist on a smaller scale and longer timeline. Imagine
a "blank" Contest-LOTW being established before each contest, configured
to match calls, date/time, band, and exchange. Contest QSOs are signed
and delivered to the Contest-LOTW server just as they are now for
ordinary day-to-day QSOs to LOTW. In fact, people are automatically
sending day-to-day QSOs one-by-one to LOTW as they are made, under the
control of TQSL and their general-purpose logging software. It's
happening now and there are automated reporting tools to extract reports
from LOTW as to what contacts have been validated, construct a scoring
leaderboard, etc.
All the pieces exist today. What is needed is integration and enough
server horsepower to handle the load - the cloud is cheap and even a
full-blown amateur radio contest is not really all that much data
compared to a commercial application. Bandwidth requirements on the
submitter end are minimal. Simple Matter of Programming :-)
73, Ward N0AX
On 11/10/2016 5:48 PM, Igor Sokolov wrote:
Ward,
Very interesting. But this approach begs the question: If
prescription finally got wrong (name of the medicine or dosage) who's
fault is it? Transmitter or receiver? Should not both sides be penalized?
73, Igor UA9CDC
----- Исходное сообщение ----- От: "Ward Silver" <hwardsil@gmail.com>
Кому: <cq-contest@contesting.com>
Отправлено: 10 ноября 2016 г. 21:18
Тема: Re: [CQ-Contest] When it's over, it's over (again)
> If it wasn't a penmanship contest then, why is it a typing contest
now?
At the risk of setting off a "plastic owl pointing true north by
remote control" thread...
Why is it that we have contests at all? It is to practice our
ability to communicate and to reward effectiveness - in whatever form
that takes. Part of it is knowing when the bands are open and
closed. Part of it is assembling a station that works well. Part of
it is having good operating technique. And part of it is accurately
transcribing the exchanged information into whatever format is required.
We are fond of claiming that contesting makes us good public service
operators and all that back-patting we do for ourselves. Imagine we
are relaying orders for prescription medicines needed in a disaster
area. Is a typo in "hydrochlorothiazide" acceptable because we were
in a hurry? ("Can you give me that phonetically before the band
closes?") Is mistakenly changing a dosage of 50 mg to 500 mg OK
because we hit 0 twice? ("Whoa - how did that huge hairy bat get in
here?") Of course not...we would recognize that as an error and we
should do so when N0AX gets changed to N0XA. Each unforced error
needs to produce negative feedback so we will work to lower our error
rate. The CQ WW introduction of penalties for errors was exactly the
right remedy for sloppy operating because it provides both carrot and
stick to operate at a rate no faster than what optimizes effective
operating. Nothing is error-free but a three-QSO penalty has a way
of focusing the mind.
At any rate (so to speak), anything noted during the period of
competition is fair game for log correction. I would prefer in the
long term that QSOs are submitted in real-time and verified shortly
thereafter so that this whole notion of "log" goes away along with
all the misbehavior and delays it engenders, but in the mean time,
transcription into the submitted record of competition is as much a
part of the contest as transmitting the information in the first place.
73, Ward N0AX
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