On 11/11/02 1:01 PM, Jeffrey Clarke at ku8e1@yahoo.com wrote:
>"2.4.3. Listening time counts as operating time."
>
>Seems like this would be hard to prove.
You'll get no argument from me there. I'd like to point out there's a lot
of rules in contesting that would be hard to prove from just an
examination of the log. Low Power or QRP operation, for instance.
The rule exists for a reason. In the distant past, I'm sure there are
folks who abused the 30 minute off rule, instead listening all the while
to hunt needed multipliers. Essentially, such folks have a 30 hour
contest, not a 24 hour contest, wherein the rate for 6 of the hours is
halved.
Hence, the rule. If you are listening, you aren't taking time off. You
must take 6 hours of time off in at least 30 minute installments, during
which you cannot listen.
>What if I got on at 1200Z(after
>an off time) and didn't make a QSO that showed up in my log until 1205
>Z. That's say that off time was at 11:35Z and you got back on at 1200Z
>by accident (kind of what Jay did). You have NO know way of proving you
>were operating from 1200z - 1205Z because it would not be reflected in
>your log in any way.
While true, you could easily operate 24 hours at 5 kW and log QRP, and
there would be no way of proving from the log that you weren't using 5
watts.
Either way, it is cheating. Just because you don't think you'll get
caught doesn't make it right.
>Plus Jay could of been making his last QSO before he took his off time,
>one minute before he logged it but because of entering the long
>exchange it was not logged until a minute later.
Again, you're getting back the the vagarities of proving an infraction
from the logs themselves. That doesn't change the rules.
Listening during an off time voids the offtime. Period. Logging it
otherwise is cheating.
>The "2.4.3. Listening time counts as operating time" rule is ambigous
>because all the SO2R and multi-ops are on more that one band at a time.
Not at all. No matter how many radios they listen to, they are operating.
They cannot log off time during the time they are listening to one or
more radios.
>For SS you are not considered on a band unless you are transmitting.
I cannot find any such rule for Sweepstakes.
>When I used to operate SS at KW8N, we were basically M/M, but because
>we had an octopus device, which prevented us from transmitting on 2
>bands at the same time it was legal with the ARRL...
And the ARRL responded by doing what? Making a rule prohibiting such
devices. Are you going to argue that we should use them anyway and
shuffle our logs around so you can't prove we used one?
>I bet 99% of everyone would edit their log.
Well, I wouldn't.
>I respect Jay's honesty....
I do, too. Jay didn't ask for a way to cheat, he just asked how the
judges adjudicate such errors.
I'm just surprised that Jay happened to overlook rule 2.4.3. He's not the
first, of course. There are others caught in this trap. Best to avoid it.
Turn the radio off during breaks.
Bill Coleman, AA4LR, PP-ASEL Mail: aa4lr@arrl.net
Quote: "Not within a thousand years will man ever fly!"
-- Wilbur Wright, 1901
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