Your SDR was effectively a "remote receiver" used by the DX station. Credit
for contacts made utilizing remote receivers depends on the rules governing
specific awards and contests. Here's the relevant rule governing DXCC
credit:
9. All stations must be contacted from the same DXCC entity. The location of
any station shall be defined as the location of the transmitter. For the
purposes of this award, remote operating points must be located within the
same DXCC entity as the transmitter and receiver.
As you can see, this isn't completely clear. In the first part of the
sentence, "remote operating points" is not defined. Does that include only
the transmitter, as defined in the second sentence, or both the transmitter
and receiver, as suggested by the second part of the third sentence? In
fact, the second part of the third sentence appears to contradict the second
sentence! My guess is that they want the transmitter and receiver to be
located in the same DXCC entity, but this is not stated explicitly.
Fortunately, the situation is much clearer for ARRL contests, and for most
CQ contests: remote receivers are not allowed. Period. (Well, except for the
Extreme category in CQ WW.) For ARRL, the definition of a remote receiver
rests on General Rule 5.3, which states that all transmitters, receivers and
antennas must be within a 500m circle. Since the 160m contact made by the DX
station utilized a transmitter in his location and a remote receiver (your
SDR and antenna) located more than 500m from the transmitter, it would not
be eligible for credit in any ARRL contest and in most CQ contests and
categories.
However, note that the ARRL rules on remote receivers do not preclude the
operator from being outside the circle. So, you can remotely operate a
station that's anywhere else in the world. The location of the transmitter
and receiver (which must be within the same 500m circle) defines where the
station is located, not the op's location. So, if you operate a transmitter
and receiver located within the same 500m circle in Ghana, and you are
sitting comfortably in your easy chair in Brooklyn, NY, running the station
over the Internet, the contact is perfectly legal for ARRL contests and
counts as having been made from Ghana.
Hope this clarifies the issue, at least a little.
73, Dick WC1M
-----Original Message-----
From: Robert McGwier [mailto:rwmcgwier@gmail.com]
Sent: Friday, February 11, 2011 1:27 PM
To: Tree
Cc: topband@contesting.com
Subject: Re: Topband: Web SDR's and 'Cheating'
As a Software Radio Developer and chair of the ARRL Software Defined Radio
and Digital Communications technical committee, as a DXCC recipient,
contester, and as a ham radio operator period, I abhor this misuse of the
technology. Boo Hiss indeed.
Bob
N4HY
On Fri, Feb 11, 2011 at 9:17 AM, Tree <tree@kkn.net> wrote:
> On Thu, Feb 10, 2011 at 07:21:26PM -0800, Bob Kupps wrote:
>
> > What is the ethical position on this, it sure seems wrong to me
>
> What country are the people really "working" with their radio?
>
> There is not a two way exchange of information with someone in a
> single country - therefore - no QSO. The DX station is making
> these QSOs not count. If caught - they will not be accepted for
> DXCC.
>
> Next step - put the transmitter there too and make it even easier!!
>
> Boo hiss!!
>
> Tree N6TR
> _______________________________________________
> UR RST IS ... ... ..9 QSB QSB - hw? BK
>
_______________________________________________
UR RST IS ... ... ..9 QSB QSB - hw? BK
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