On 11/29/2022 6:16 PM, Pete Smith N4ZR wrote:
Tom has rejected my attempts to raise this issue on the N1MM reflector,
so I'm trying here. The difference between self-spotting and being
spotted by an RBN node should be obvious - in the RBN case a transmitted
signal has actually been heard by someone else. Making it easy to spot
yourself every 10 minutes strikes me as a significant step away from the
idea of only using radio to make radio contacts.
I joined CAC as the Pacific Division representative around the time this
was being discussed. The logic was two-fold -- to equalize SSB with CW
and RTTY with respect to spotting, but also to put contesters on equal
footing with those stations publicly streaming their operations on the
internet. The powers that be at ARRL seemed to believe that streaming
was a way to attract new contesters, and thus a good thing. It's
important to remember that CAC is ADVISORY to the committee within the
League, established by the Directors, that does what it wants to do.
I personally have no strong opinion on the issue. The sky has not fallen
since CW and RTTY skimmers came into wide use. As Pete has noted, spots
make contesting a lot more fun for stations who can't run effectively,
AND they build rate for stations that are running. They HAVE changed
contesting, making it FAR more difficult for smaller stations, or those
with marginal propagation, to crack the instant pileups created by rare
mults and by fresh meat near the end of contests.
73, Jim K9YC
_______________________________________________
CQ-Contest mailing list
CQ-Contest@contesting.com
http://lists.contesting.com/mailman/listinfo/cq-contest
|