Every time this subject comes up here, the overwhelming response is:
Leave the Unassisted category alone.
Why hasn't this message been received?
Why must we wake up to discover that unidentified persons have suddenly
changed the rules we have followed for years without the slightest
effort to check with participants? That's not the way things are
supposed to work in today's world. Ever heard of stakeholders?
This contest belongs to all of us, not just to the current managers and
whoever else happens to be on the inside now. Yes, some of you put in
countless hours to manage this event and produce the results and we are
very appreciative. But this should not give you license to change
important rules willy-nilly. We participants - and especially those of
us who have been regular full-time operators - make this contest what it
is and our opinions ought to matter.
The results of the WPX contest indicate a very clear preference for
unassisted operating among single op entrants. In both the SSB and CW
weekends, a substantial majority of logs submitted by single ops have
been in the Unassisted category every single year for the past 10
years. Over the past five years, 54-57% of CW single ops were
unassisted, while for SSB the numbers were 62-63%. Among US ops, the
preference for Unassisted versus Assisted is even stronger. There is
absolutely no mandate or justification for making this change.
The points made by EI1DI (below) are spot on. They are worth reading again.
Please reconsider this incomprehensible decision.
73, Hal W1NN
On 11/17/2020 1:54 AM, Paul O'Kane wrote:
On 16/11/2020 15:01, Bud Trench wrote:
<snip>
QSO alerting systems will now be permitted in all CQ WW WPX SSB and CW
Single Operator categories, except the Single Operator Classic Overlay
categories.
That's a weasel way of announcing that the Single Op Unassisted
category has been abolished in WPX.
This change also results in elimination of the requirement for
audio recordings.
That represents no justification whatsoever for abolishing SOU.
Rather, it's a consequence of abolishing SOU.
The drivers for combining the Single Op Assisted and
Unassisted categories include:
* Use of QSO alerting systems by single operator participants is
allowed in 70% (33 or 47) of the international DX contests recently
reviewed, including CQ WPX RTTY
Again, that does not justify anything. If 70% of entries in those 47
contests were HP, would you use that to abolish LP and QRP? If not,
why not?.
* It is becoming increasingly more difficult to draw the line between
assisted and unassisted operations as SDR technologies become more
integrated with contest software / networks
Then, you really should try harder. Is it correspondingly more
difficult to draw the line between HP and LP?
* This step further aligns CQ WW WPX SSB / CW with CQ WW WPX RTTY.
The use of QSO alerting systems in CQ WW WPX RTTY has been permitted
since
the mid-1990's
You're aligning the SSB and CW events with RTTY. Why not align RTTY
with the others, and reinstate Single OP Unassisted?
The Single Operator Classic Overlay categories will continue to
prohibit the
use of QSO alerting systems and should be considered by participants
preferring to be unassisted.
That is no consolation whatsoever. Further, it limits those
"preferring to be unassisted" (as you quaintly put it) to 24 hours of
operation.
73,
Paul EI5DI
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