Tiny Elephant's Contest Corner
The Latest Contest News -
A NARC Bulletin Exclusive
A monthly column by Ed Deichler, K2TE
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“Packetiquette”
I’ve been using the packet spotting network
for DX stations for over 10 years. There is
no doubt that it has revolutionized DXing
the way the Internet has revolutionized
information access. For a good test of its
power, tune around the bands during a
contest and watch what happens when you
find a rare station that seems to be “lonely”.
Put out a spot for him and in less than a
minute there will be a huge pileup. The
packet spotting network has made DX
chasing about as difficult as shooting fish in
a barrel. Not surprisingly, most DX contests
have separate categories for stations using
packet spots (known as assisted) to even the
playing field with those who choose to
operate the “old fashion way”.
The packet cluster was developed by
contesters and was populated mostly by
contesters in its infancy. My first exposure
to the utility of the cluster was in a contest.
Most contesters are generally taciturn when
it comes to packet; after all, the idea is to
WORK the station spotted not ragchew with
the spotter. Any comments and queries were
usually handled during non-contest times
through the message boards. More features
got added to packet as entrepreneurs
tinkered with store and forward, database
access, and contest program integration.
As with any tool, there have been a lot of
changes in the last few years on how hams
use the network. I’ve noticed that the spread
of the Internet has reached packet in terms of
the useless clutter and real-time spamming
showing up. In many ways this is analogous
to the influx of CBers into ham radio back in
the 70s who brought their bad language and
bad manners into the hobby.
A few examples will illustrate what I mean.
A normal DX spot will give the frequency of
the DX station, his call, and perhaps a
helpful note, e.g., “listening up 5”, “beam
longpath”, “by numbers”, etc. What is not
helpful are notes such as “no copy here”
(why spot him then?), “deaf”, or “real lid”. I
can understand the times when a ham has
failed after an hour trying to work a station
and puts out a derogatory message to vent
his frustration. A little thought about the
conditions on the other end is in order. The
guy may be experiencing 20 over noise from
dirty power lines or thunderstorms (rare DX
is often not in an established metropolitan
area); he has 100 watts and a vertical (ever
travel with a 4 element tribander and a linear
in your bags?); or there is a constant,
howling gale making the operator’s teeth
chatter and his fingers numb.
Another practice I’ve noticed can be traced
to improvements in connectivity of the
network. In some ways I blame system
operators (SYSOPS) for this. A packet
cluster that covers a small geographic area
such as New England serves a useful
purpose since propagation conditions are the
same. Letting spots in from other parts of the
country, however, usually invites “spot
jumping” to silence. For example, tuning to
a spot from a California station for VK9NS
(Norfolk Island) on 80 meters at 1430Z will
greet us with a lot of sun noise even with a
long beverage. To be fair, some SYSOPS
offer filters for a user to simply delete
showing such spots. However, your favorite
(or only connectable) SYSOP may not have
the software (or the desire) to set up filters.
The practice of DX spots from “DX” has
reached a new low with access to the
Internet. I am at a loss to explain what good
is a spot from, say, I1ABC for ET3AA on 80
meters at 1900Z for us in New England. As I
write this article, there is a spot from PY2FR
for VK9CP on 10 meters that says
“booming”, yet the band has been asleep for
the past hour up here. I supposed this feature
could provide feedback to local stations on
how they are doing in other parts of the
world by observing their calls on foreign
clusters. If you need your ego stroked that
much, go stand in front of a mirror.
I’ve seen packet clutter give way to packet
flaming. On one occasion, I’ve seen a station
“bad print” a DX station in the notes field of
a spot that quickly invites a flame from other
stations using the network broadcast
commands in a form of “packet rage”. I
haven’t observed any foul language, but I’m
sure the day is coming when someone will
lose it and let it fly. A cool head would say
send him a private message diplomatically
expressing your disagreement. If the station
still flames you he’s obviously brain-dead.
So how do we clean up this mess? My
feeling is that hams should take the same
approach used to bring unruly CB refugees
in place. Calmly but firmly let them know
their actions are bad taste, usually in a
private talk message. The trick is to do it
respecting the person’s intelligence - there is
some under his frustration - so he gets the
message. A general message to the bulletin
board about spotting ethics that describes a
recent bad incident often starts a supportive
thread that could indirectly tell the flamer he
is out of line. For those times a packet node
has a really persistent jerk, perhaps a
SYSOP can program to deny connect
privileges to him indefinitely. Hams have a
history of self-policing; lets keep it that way.
Having gotten all that off my chest, here are
a bunch of contests to sample and practice
ethical spotting during March:
ARRL SSB DX Contest, 4-5 March
Hot on the heels of the ARRL CW DX
contest is the SSB version. This is also a 48-
hour event that puts the US at center stage
for the rest of the world. The exchange is
simply a signal report and state for us while
DX substitute station power for a state.
BARTG Spring RTTY, 18-20 March
This popular RTTY contest starts 0200Z on
Saturday and is 48 hours long. Single-
operator stations are limited to 30 hours
while multi-operator stations are
unrestricted. Exchange is RST, message
number, and time in GMT. Multipliers are
all DXCC countries plus all JA, W, VE, and
VK call areas worked on each band. Final
score is QSO pts x multipliers x continents.
Logs go to GW4SKA by 31 may 2000.
Russian DX Contest, 18-19 March
The Russian DX contest is a 24-hour event
beginning at 1200Z on Saturday. The
contest is open to single-operator all bands,
or single band, and separate categories of
CW, SSB, or mixed. Multi-operator stations
are classified as mixed only. Operation takes
place on 160 through 10 meters. Exchange
for us is RST and a 3-digit serial QSO
number. Russian stations will substitute a 2-
letter code for their oblast (state). Contacts
are allowed within a station’s own country
for 2 points. Scoring graduates to 3
points/QSO (same continent); 5 points/QSO
(different continent); and 10 points/QSO for
Russian contacts. Each country and oblast
worked on each band counts as a multiplier.
This is sort of a mix of ARRL and CQ WW
DX contests. Logs may be sent
electronically to ra3auu@contesting.com 45
days after the contest. Given the shaky
nature of the Russian postal service, this is
the most reliable approach.
Stateside QSO Parties.
Several stateside
QSO parties are available this month to do
some laid-back county hunting across the
country. Each contest covers CW and SSB.
Remember to listen high in the CW portions
and near the middle of the general part of the
phone sub-bands for participating stations.
Except as noted, operation takes place on
160-6 meters, VHF, and UHF.
Wisconsin, 12-13 March.
This one is a Sunday afternoon drive for
mobile participants. The contest takes place
1800Z on the 12th to 0100Z on the 13th. We
send a report and state for the exchange.
Each SSB Q is 1 point. A CW Q counts 2
points. Logs to WA9POV by 31 March.
Virginia, 18-20 March.
The Virginia QSO Party starts at 1800Z on
Saturday and runs through to 0200Z on
Monday. Contest points count as 1/SSB
QSO, 2/CW QSO, and 3 for each VA mobile
station worked, either mode. With 95
counties, there’s plenty of mobile stations
running about. Logs go to the Sterling Park
ARC, Box 599, Sterling, VA by 17 April.
Alaska, 18-19 March
Rounding out a busy contest weekend is the
Alaska QSO Party. This contest covers the
48 hours of the weekend and is restricted to
160 to 10 meters. The contest includes
digital modes as well as CW and SSB.
Scoring: 1 point/phone QSO, 2 points/CW
or digital and double if the contact is made
over satellite. AL7J wants logs 30 June.
CQ Worldwide SSB WPX, 25-26 March
This is another 48-hour contest that is
limited to 36 hours for single operator
stations. The object is to work as many
different prefixes as possible on 160-10
meters. As with other CQ contests, there are
a number of operating categories for
maximizing participation and award
opportunities. Exchange is report and a 3-
digit serial number. Contacts on different
continents count 3 points on 20 meters and
up and 6 points below 20 meters. Except for
North America, contacts within the same
continent but different countries count 1
point/20 and above and 2 points/below 20
meters. For North America, this changes to 2
points and 4 points, respectively. Finally,
same-country contacts count 1 point. (Thank
God for logging programs!) Multipliers are
the valid prefixes worked regardless of band.
Logs go to CQ by 10 May.
This should be enough to keep packet
ringing with spots.
73 es have fun, de K2TE
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