IARU 2013

[KG4NEL]

This one's been fun in the past - who's corntesting this weekend?

[NQ6U]

http://www.saveseeds.org/tools/images/corn_tester/rag-doll_seed_tester_template_top.jpg

[KG4CGC]

I'm always looking forward to International Alliance of Research Universities contest.

[KJ3N]

Well, the 160m antenna won't be ready by this weekend, but I'll give the other bands a shot.

[W3WN]

Oh, I'll putz around a little.

In the contest, too.

[KB3LIX]

I'll be on too just for S**** and Giggles !

[PA5COR]

Since the FT 2000-D will be on i might give a few points away then....

[KJ3N]

Well, several things conspired to keep me from the contest today, so I got started around 2300z today. :(

10m was its usual disappointment and 15m wasn't much better. In typical contest fashion, 20m and 40m seem to be the winners for me tonight.

Certainly not burning up the bands on this contest, but then I was never in these things to win. 57 Qs and 49 Mults as of right now. Probably won't break 10,000 at the rate I'm going.

Oh, in case anyone ever suggests that you can't work DX on 75m during the summer:

80m PH 07/14/13 0054 PX5E
80m PH 07/14/13 0054 GR2HQ
80m PH 07/14/13 0055 ZW2HQ
80m PH 07/14/13 0057 DA0HQ
80m PH 07/14/13 0102 IO4H
80m PH 07/14/13 0229 OL3HQ
80m PH 07/14/13 0233 EI7M
80m PH 07/14/13 0236 TM0HQ
80m PH 07/14/13 0238 DL6NDW

;)

[KJ3N]

Probably won't break 10,000 at the rate I'm going.

I was wrong. Broke 10,000 about 30 minutes ago. Time for bed.

[PA5COR]

Italy, Germany, Poland, Lithuania, Russia, and some all 160.
Could not be bothered to go to 80/40/20, went to bed at 04.00 ....

[KB3LIX]

112,000+ points.

[W3WN]

Ran the Argonaut V for a few hours before & after the game. Primarily 80 & 40 CW, with a smattering on some other bands.

I was going to submit my log, when I caught this little "gotcha" on the log submission info page: (http://www.arrl.org/iaru-hf-championship)
By submitting a log to the IARU HF World Championships, the entrant agrees the log may be open to the public.Cute. I wonder when they snuck that in there?

Oh well. At least I had some fun with the rig.

[KJ3N]

Ran the Argonaut V for a few hours before & after the game. Primarily 80 & 40 CW, with a smattering on some other bands.

I was going to submit my log, when I caught this little "gotcha" on the log submission info page: (http://www.arrl.org/iaru-hf-championship)

By submitting a log to the IARU HF World Championships, the entrant agrees the log may be open to the public.
Cute. I wonder when they snuck that in there?

Oh well. At least I had some fun with the rig.

Remind me again what the issue is with that? I know you don't like it, but I forget why.

[W3WN]

Remind me again what the issue is with that? I know you don't like it, but I forget why.I am opposed, in principle, to Mandatory Open Logs.

The idea behind this is that any log submitted to a participating contest committee will be posted to the Internet. It will be available to anyone else at any time and for any reason.

The official reasons for this so-called "transparency" boil down to these:
1. Research. Anyone who would like to do (unspecified) research from the results of a contest can do so.
2. Learning. Anyone who would like to learn how to improve their operating methods can do so from reviewing other logs.
3. "Honesty." Anyone who feels that a contest participant has done something inappropriate or in violation of the contest rules, and who feels that the contest committee overlooked or simply missed it, can review a competitors log to "catch" them.

My reasons for opposing these "noble" methods:
1. What research? The only real "research" is done by the top competitors who scrutinize their fellow top competitors. I recall a story told by a contest station owner who had a guest op one time, guest op walks in with a complete breakdown of what the competition worked (and when) the previous year, all from analysis of open logs. Idea being that if you know what the other guy's habits are, you can "counter" them.

Now, I don't have any opposition to legitimate research... such as mapping propagation patterns, for example. But -- if my log is going to be used, I want to be asked first. (I've been told, in response to this, that it would be "too much trouble" to individually ask hundreds or thousands of hams for permission. Oh, so because you don't want to bother, I'm expected to just give in? Right.)

2. Learning? Give me a break. Again, I don't have any opposition to someone who'd like to learn something, especially a new contester. Hell, I spent a good bit of the last ARRL DX SSB contest teaching & training a newly upgraded General -- cost me a lot of QSO's, but it will be worth it in the long run.

Just ASK ME FIRST. (Why is this such a difficult concept to grasp, I often wonder). If this is such a good thing, like the alleged research, why can't I have the courtesy of being asked? Why is my "cooperation" being mandated via a back-door method like this?

3. This is the real reason, IMHO, behind Open Logs. There is a lot of distrust at the very top level of Contesting. Primarily amongst the boys (yes, boys, not men) & their toys, who have near unlimited funds to build superstations. I'm talking about the super-contest ops & stations like K3LR, KC1XX, W3LPL, and many more... (disclaimer: I am using these calls merely as an example of the group, I am not accusing any of them personally in the following statements). There have been more than a few examples (see the CQ Contest reflector archives on www.contesting.com (http://www.contesting.com)) of contesters being "called out" various indiscretions; from things as simple as undeclared use of Packet, or questionable power categories, up to and including an alleged Single Op station using hired-gun additional operators undeclared

Some of these accusations border on a witch-hunt. I won't bore you with all the details, but they're out there.

I refuse to be part of a witch-hunt. And I don't want my log to be used as part of one.

If someone has a problem with the way a particular contest committee is doing (or not doing) it's job, that's one thing. But to hound an operator, based on limited data, without all the facts?

I could harp on the point, but I think you see where I'm going.

4. This is the most important point...

Keep in mind that I work in IT at an insurance broker. Part of my job is keeping our people in compliance on privacy and personal information issues. HIPAA & HITECH and related laws, rules, and regulations are a big pain in our collective tuchus... but they are there for a reason, so we have to adhere to them.

IMHO, Mandatory Open Logs is in violation of the spririt of federal/state/local privacy laws, rules & regulations in general... and very probably, depending on exactly what information is submitted with the log that is then posted to the web, in technical violation as well. And that's not just my opinion, but the opinion of our company's Compliance Officer, and the opinion of a couple of lawyers I've discussed this with.

The counter-argument, I've been told, is that our logs are public. Why?
(a) Because broadcast station logs are open to the public, and
(b) we operate on the air where anyone can hear us.

To which I reply,
(a) Selected Broadcast station logs are open to public inspection by FCC rule. The implication is that if the FCC didn't have a rule requiring it, they wouldn't be. And not all Broadcast logs are open to the public.
(b) That's irrelevant. If you want to follow me around the bands and log every contact I make, that's your business, and I can't stop you. But to demand that I turn my logs over to you, just in case YOU get nebby? So that you can look for something and maybe find it? You have heard of the 5th Amendment, haven't you?

What's that? You want to know what is that I have to hide? Actually, nothing... it's the principle of the thing. (This is akin to mandatory drug tests, for, say a prerequisite for a job. Ask me what I think of them, and I'll tell you why I oppose them in principle and why I think they're a bad idea. But ask me to take one? Sure. I have nothing to worry about... even though I think they're a very, very bad idea)

Now: There's a very simple answer that will satisfy me, and (IMHO) keep everything legal. Simply don't make Open Logs mandatory.

You want your log out in the public? You don't care. Well, good for you. Don't force me to do it, because I choose to disagree.

It can be done very simply. A Cabrillo entry can be added: Public Logs Yes/No. If I choose No, my logs stay off the web. Hell, make them Yes by default; if I feel strongly enough about it to make a point to check the No box, then I will.

If I choose to keep my log non-Public, and you want to list me in the results that way, that's fine too.

But if you want to use my log for anything OTHER than simply cross-checking with other logs... you ask me first. You don't make it mandatory as part of the entry. And if you can't give me the simple courtesy of asking... there's a bigger problem here.
---------------------------------
Now, with all that said...

I know there are a lot of other hams who feel the same way. But you won't read their comments on the CQ Contest Reflector, where a lot of these discussions have taken place. I've heard privately from many of them that they have either been kicked off the reflector, or been told that any further comments will get them kicked off... so they are silenced. This is not my imagination... I got such an email from K1AR several months ago telling me just that. (Called me a few choice names as well).

The group on that reflector includes a lot of top contesters. Many of the members of the various contest committees. They are, overally, very much in favor of this idea. And that's the problem... they are so used to discussing this amongst themselves, and convincing themselves that this is the greatest thing since sliced bread, that they can not or will not listen to opinions from anyone outside of their clique. This is very bad. This means that they are closed to alternatives, let alone new ideas... and it has the side effect of pushing away anyone who might be just as enthusiastic about contesting, who simply may not agree with them in whole or in part.

But that's another topic for another day.

As is many of the changes made to many contests to bring them more in line with the World Radiosport Team Championship. WRTC is being billed as the "Olympics" of contesting... excuse me, Radio Sport (if you get the idea that some of these people are getting a little full of themselves... well, you ain't the only one). That's fine, I guess, if you're one of the 100 - 150 contesters worldwide who are both eligible and interested. But what about the many tens of thousands of others who aren't? Why should a general-purpose contest be re-tailored or retrofitted to the so-called self-appointed "elite", to the detriment of everyone else?

The real, underlying issue, IMHO, is that the top-tier contesters don't trust each other, competitively that is. (Can you say, "Pot? Meet Kettle."). So this is their way of keeping tabs on each other? Great, and what of the rest of us?

What the "elite" sometimes, nay often, forget is that without the hundreds or thousands of us "little guys" operating in the contests... they'll work each other for the first hour, and then what? They need us... and a lot more than we need them.

Regardless...

The CQ sponsored contests have been either mandating Open Logs for quite some time, or are about to. As a result, I don't operate in them as much as I used to. (I was told point blank "if you don't like Open Logs, don't operate" WRT those contests... so I don't.) The ARRL sponsored contests, to date, do not mandate Open Logs, and in my personal talks with some of the ARRL staff involved, there were no plans to do so (which may change, hopefully not, now that Sean KX9X is moving on to new responsibilities & someone else is taking them over).

Strictly speaking, the IARU HF World Championship is not an ARRL contest, even though the ARRL is the HQ society for the IARU. So, this change came as an unpleasant surprise.

So it goes.

[KG4NEL]

I completely agree with your point about top-level competition not trusting each other - and this can be found anywhere there's competition, basically. The guy who currently holds the American record in the 100m (Tyson Gay) didn't even try to explain his way out of a failed drug test over the weekend. There's good reason to be suspicious.

Maybe there could be a system where a certain top percentage of logs are available for public scrutiny? This would bring it more in line with combination professional/amateur athletic competition - if I ran the Boston Marathon, I'd be in the same field as the guys running sub-2:30, but unless I was in that elite group nobody would care if I was doping.

[KJ3N]

Now I remember this long dissertation. :doh:

I guess if you're big on contesting, I can see where this would irk you. Being such a small fry, I just can't get that worked up about it.

I do see where these guys at the top are paranoid as hell about staying on top. That level of obsession I could never achieve. I've never been much of a competitive person and never understood most obsessions. It's ham radio; Get A Life. :roll:

The only thing anyone would gleam from my logs is that I'm not serious about contesting (no shit, I know), don't spend sufficient time in the chair to ever come close to competing, and my rate sucks donkey dick. :lol:

[W3WN]

I completely agree with your point about top-level competition not trusting each other - and this can be found anywhere there's competition, basically. The guy who currently holds the American record in the 100m (Tyson Gay) didn't even try to explain his way out of a failed drug test over the weekend. There's good reason to be suspicious.

Maybe there could be a system where a certain top percentage of logs are available for public scrutiny? This would bring it more in line with combination professional/amateur athletic competition - if I ran the Boston Marathon, I'd be in the same field as the guys running sub-2:30, but unless I was in that elite group nobody would care if I was doping.The difference is that in the Boston Marathon (and most other running events at that level) the "elite" are competing for cash prizes, and in some cases, a shot at the Olympics.

What are the so-called Radio Sport Elite competing for? Bragging rights? I mean, really.

I enjoy the competition as much as the next guy... but c'mon.

The irony is, too, that when you read about someone complaining about rude or obnoxious contesters... guess where the bulk of THEM come from? Yup, the so-called elite.

[W3WN]

Now I remember this long dissertation. :doh:

I guess if you're big on contesting, I can see where this would irk you. Being such a small fry, I just can't get that worked up about it.

I do see where these guys at the top are paranoid as hell about staying on top. That level of obsession I could never achieve. I've never been much of a competitive person and never understood most obsessions. It's ham radio; Get A Life. :roll:

The only thing anyone would gleam from my logs is that I'm not serious about contesting (no shit, I know), don't spend sufficient time in the chair to ever come close to competing, and my rate sucks donkey dick. :lol:Well, you asked... and I did warn you in the heading... :twisted:

[KG4NEL]

The difference is that in the Boston Marathon (and most other running events at that level) the "elite" are competing for cash prizes, and in some cases, a shot at the Olympics.

What are the so-called Radio Sport Elite competing for? Bragging rights? I mean, really.

I enjoy the competition as much as the next guy... but c'mon.

The irony is, too, that when you read about someone complaining about rude or obnoxious contesters... guess where the bulk of THEM come from? Yup, the so-called elite.

I've learned to never underestimate what bored rich people are capable of...:hyper:

[WØTKX]

This is why I'd rather rag chew, even on 75 meters.

[KJ3N]

I've learned to never underestimate what bored rich people are capable of...:hyper:

Witness the Koch brothers.

[KJ3N]

This is why I'd rather rag chew, even on 75 meters.

I could possibly ragchew on 75, but I wouldn't do it in the General portion. :hand: