[Skimmertalk] Now what - other contesting uses for Skimmer?

[Pete Smith]

At 08:09 PM 7/16/2008, K0HB wrote:
>Radiosport contesting is just a bunch of hobbyists amusing themselves with
>a radio for the weekend.  If it's degraded to the point that ARRL (or
>whoever) should spend $Ten-of-thousands on "a network of Skimmers to
>monitor bands during major contests and provide an iron-clad basis for
>resolving at least some allegations of cheating" then it's time to turn the
>whole damn thing over to the CBers.
>

Hans, I was almost certain I'd get a negative response, and you didn't 
disappoint.

Just two points -

For those who take contesting VERY seriously, and because people do cheat, 
reasonably efficient and cost-effective methods of either deterring or 
catching cheating make sense.  For casual contesters just having fun, or 
others just taking the opportunity to work DX or whatever, such measures 
can and should be invisible and irrelevant.

What I suggested, as David says, isn't expensive at all.  I get 
good-quality recordings from my $20 SoftRock.  You can now buy 500 GB of 
external hard drive capacity for under $100.  Transferring the ~100 GB 
files to a central point for review and analysis is an interesting problem, 
but checking might be done either remotely or by volunteer Skimmer-keepers, 
who could join the hard-working teams of volunteers who have already 
massively improved log-checking.

Finally, it's a little off-topic, but I've been contesting for over 50 
years, and I really appreciate the great recent improvements in 
log-checking technology, because they give me information about my 
performance and pinpoint specific areas for improvement.  I don't feel 
threatened by it, or Big-brothered.

73, Pete N4ZR