MISSING LOGS INCIDENT PROMPTS APOLOGY, IMPROVEMENTS
ARRL Membership Services Department Manager Bill Kennamer, K5FUV, has
apologized to the amateur contesting community after a number of ARRL
10-meter Contest logs sent via e-mail--most from high scorers--were not
listed when the contest results showed up in July's QST. Blaming the
problems on a balky e-mail autoresponder system, Kennamer called the log
omissions "an inexcusable error." "It is my intention that this does not
occur again," he said in a posting this week to the CQ Contest Reflector.
Kennamer said the e-mail autoresponder worked--indicating to those who had
e-mailed that their logs had been received. The problem was that the log
gathering procedure did not. "The situation was rectified months ago, but no
one notified the world. Thus we had many logs missing, most of them top
logs," Kennamer explained.
Kennamer said a new redundant system is in place that uses both an in-house
computer to record logs as well as another system outside of ARRL HQ. "You
should receive a response that your log has been received, and the log
should be saved on two computers," he said.
Kennamer said the League also has instituted a program--effective with the
ARRL DX CW Contest--of posting logs received on the ARRLWeb site
(http://www.arrl.org/contests/) as soon as the log database is completed.
Kennamer said he hopes to eventually be able to provide a daily Web update
of logs received. "Meanwhile, we will be posting changes to the received
logs list on the CQ Contest Reflector as they occur," he said.
Prominent contester Trey Garlough, N5KO, spent a week at ARRL HQ in May
reviewing the Contest Branch and recommended some changes in procedures.
As for the ARRL 10-meter Contest results, these are being updated on the
ARRLWeb page. Kennamer said those whose logs still are missing should send
another copy of the log file and summary sheet to him at k5fuv@arrl.org. A
corrected summary of the contest results is slated to appear in the October
issue of QST.
"Our aim is to get back to having the premier contest program in Amateur
Radio," Kennamer concluded. "We know that's what you want and deserve, and
we're going to make the extra effort to get it for you."
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