This was included in the August 27, 2005 ARRL Contest Rate Sheet, and is
posted with permission from:
Maty Weinberg
Assistant to the Editorial and Production Manager
ARRL: The National Association for Amateur Radio
225 Main Street, Newington, CT 06111
Hopefully, y'all will find this informative and helpful!
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I Hate Surprises
Probably the most upset I ever get is when I find my supposedly
reasonable assumptions turned topsy-turvy (and for readers in the
Southern Hemisphere, turvy-topsy) by events or conditions not of my
own making. Argggh! For example, on a family driving vacation - no,
that's not an oxymoron - we headed down I-10 to Baker from Nevada to
enter Death Valley from the south. 100 miles to Baker across the
sun-baked desert and when we got there...SURPRISE...the road was
closed for a Fun Run from Baker to Death Valley! Never mind how that
could possibly be termed a Fun Run - we were hosed, to use the
technical term. And mad. No notice was posted anywhere (that we saw)
and it was either go back or go home. It never occurred to me that I
could (and should) have checked that road's status, after all, it was
a big red line on the map, right? And therein lies the problem.
Over the past year or so, I've had conversations of various
intensities with various contesters and contest administrators about
rules, penalties, log checking and the consequences and expectations
thereof. These are often sparked by someone getting an unpleasant
surprise, such as "What the h-e-double-hockey-stick happened to my
score!" There is much vigorous email, justified and unjustified, and
rarely does anyone go home happy.
What to do? As an engineer, my natural inclination is to "fix" the
problem. There are often easily identified things to change.
Sometimes the problem is an actual error - in behavior or in the
rules of the game. More often, the problem lies in misunderstanding
or assumptions. These are more difficult problems to fix because they
require education of one or both parties. Also speaking as an
engineer, I have observed that very many problems are a result of
inadequate statement or understanding of "the requirements."
When asked what was complementary to truth, the physicist Neils Bohr
replied, "Clarity." A trap into which I often stumble is trying to
fix the problem by ever-increasing precision in writing rules and
procedures. This leads to rules that become voluminous to the point
of incomprehensibility, not unlike many legal documents and
contracts. That wouldn't be good for contesting, so let's not go
there.
After all, with the exception of the ARRL, all contest administrators
and adjudicators are volunteers. Paid or unpaid, none of them have
the resources to spend a lot of time monkeying with the language of
the rules. Furthermore, the responsibility does not fall entirely on
the shoulders of the admins. It is incumbent on the participants, as
well, to do their best to understand and comply with the rules and
procedures.
Contesting, as a unique sport that relies upon cooperation like no
other, is a community effort. And like any successful group effort,
requires a certain amount of shared understanding. In one extended
conversation, a common denominator was reached when the question was
posed, "What is the magic sentence that makes the problem go away?"
Enlightenment strikes. Let's start where the rubber meets the road -
the contest participant.
Magic Sentence #0 - Read the rules and expect to be held accountable
for operating according to them. I think we can agree that this would
prevent quite a few surprises.
when was the last time you actually read the rules, start to finish,
for a contest that you entered? If I had prudently checked ahead, I
wouldn't have gotten turned around out there in the desert.
Magic Sentence #1 - If you don't understand the rules, the process of
checking your operation, or resulting penalties, ask the admin or
read what the admin has already published about the contest. You
might not be the first one to ask that question! This will cure a
bunch of the remaining problems.
Yes, I realize that there is a group out there that can't or won't
read the rules. I also realize that there are contest weasels that
will immediately attempt to undermine that information, once made
public. Oh well, humans are involved, so what else is new?
Here the baton passes squarely to the administrators and sponsors.
When a particular rule, process, or penalty continues to be
mis-interpreted or mis-understood by well-intentioned entrants, it
behooves the contest sponsor to address that issue. The admin can
make an unambiguous ruling. The contest sponsor or steering committee
can write a clarification or an FAQ. A group of interested parties
can get together and publish the necessary information and publish it
independently. It's even perfectly OK for the contest admin to say
that answering the question would compromise the contest judging.
These are all legitimate responses...but there needs to be a
response. This does not include doing the participant's homework for
them.
Contest participants must inform themselves about the rules and
procedures, including log formatting and submittal, then do their
best to comply. Contest admins must answer reasonable questions and
publish reasonably clear rules and procedures, including penalties
and reporting. Between contests, we can debate about the sport, but
it has to be with a spirit of mutual respect.
Contesting is supposed to be fun. If you make a good faith effort to
play fair and be reasonable, but are unpleasantly surprised, the fun
rapidly drains out of the game. We all need to work together to keep
the game fun, particularly for newcomers that are the most likely to
get those unpleasant surprises and who are the easiest to discourage
from making a repeat appearance. By working together to improve the
sport, we will keep it healthy and growing.
______________________________________________________________
THE ARRL CONTEST RATE SHEET is published every other Wednesday (26
times each year), by the American Radio Relay League--The National
Association For Amateur Radio--225 Main St, Newington, CT 06111; tel
860-594-0200; fax 860-594-0259. Editor: Ward Silver, N0AX.
The ARRL Contest Rate Sheet offers a useful source of timely
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