[Moon-net] ARRL, Cheating, the future of EME

[dfaessler at bluewin.ch]

Dear EME community

Dear computer and internet communicators

 

The natural way evolution works is by producing cells and spinning them off.

That is exactly what happens with EME. 

The serious crack in the EME community and in its self-understanding is to be accepted. EME is worth preserving it, the way it has been, the CW signals travelling to the moon and back, receiving by the ear and enjoying the QSO.

I have no problem at all to accept that the computer takes over some of the disciplines which qualifies a seasoned EME operator. However, the result is no longer EME but something else. 

It is no surprise that even ARRL is exhausted to combine the two totally different activities. It is no surprise to me that those who want to get respect among the EME community with non EME "QSO's" create own top-lists, own contests, own firsts between countries. I fully agree that it is the only way out to completely seperate the two disciplines. Sooner or later this will happen because its no fun to anybody to endlessly being involved in a fruitless wrestling about the definition of EME. The need for internet at an EME station is sick. EME is good enough to communicate for those involved in EME. EME works without assistance. Since enforcement makes no sense the two (or more) communities shall separate.

HB9BBD


Dominique Fässler
HB9BBD
+41794002118



----Ursprüngliche Nachricht----
Von: df2zc at gmx.de
Datum: 16.04.2008 08:17
An: 
Betreff: Re: [Moon-net] (no subject)

Hello All,

There is no point talking away that the ARRL not at all did a good job compiling the results of the recent EME contest, for whatever reasons. I personally believe it is mainly organisational trouble in the contest branch which hopefully will be resolved by this year's contest.

However, some "special friends" again use this as a plattform to intrigue against JT65 - the author and the users altogether, as usual by by repeating false statements instead of hard facts. 

Dear Dominique, I understand that you are not happy with the introduction of WSJT as it has braught EME a huge step forward. The activity has substantially increased as on 2m stations with just 100 watts and a 13 dBd yagi can now successfully work most of the 4 yagi stations. This is of no thrill for you...of course. It is of no thrill that many more DXCCs are QRV now, that many HF focussed dxpeditions now also take a 2m gear with them. Yes...DXCC has become easier to achieve, I concede this. You don't like and don't want this. It is sad that you call this advancement a damage to EME.

I fully understand you and others who say I do want to copy my QSO partner with my ears instead of using modern correlation schemes to decode signals buried in the noise. That is perfectly o.k.

I do not at all understand how you - who like your fellows apparently has not at all grasped how JT65 DS works, how correlation works, what the basics of information theory are - still continue repeating false statements such as below. That is just ridiculous. It is as ridiculous as it is no longer possible to give a newcomer some guidance how to use the QSO procedure correctly (as I have recently done asking a station to start over again) without appearing on the CWISKINGHALLELUJAH blog in Northern Sweden. It is as ridculous as quoting every mistake a newcomer made due to inexperience and generalising this for all JT65 DS users. It is as ridiculous as secretly watching loggers gnashing your teeth for other's mistakes.

Sadly there were and there are always times people cheated, in any mode. It is a question of character not of mode. Those who are happy working a new grid or DXCC or achieving a good position on the contest results list by illegal means are just poor guys... 

vy 73 Bernd DF2ZC (JO30RN)
www.df2zc.de

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-----Original Message-----
From: moon-net-bounces at list-serv.davidv.net [mailto:moon-net-bounces at list-serv.davidv.net] On Behalf Of Dominique Fässler / HB9BBD
Sent: Dienstag, 15. April 2008 20:41
To: moon-net at list-serv.davidv.net
Subject: Re: [Moon-net] (no subject)

It is very sad indeed to see the systematic cheating by claimed QSO's which have never been made, diluting all toplists and firsts between countries, DXCC diplomas have definitely lost their value since cheating has become integrated in the software used and chat rooms replaced the need for having the moon above horizon and still claiming QSO's.
I did not send in a log to ARRL and I will not in the future. The lists of firsts between countries is obsolete because it lists QSO0's between files on harddisks rather than travelled information off the moon.
Initial lists did not do better and are of no value any more. It seems to me we are playing tennis without a net because some feel that it is too hard to play tennis with a net. Everything is allowed and thus the thrill of EME is gone. So Sad!!!!
You don’t need to be a Nobel-Price winner to realize the damage brought to EME by all the sick ways of cheating up on the various lists under the myth of being smarter than the rest of us.
73 HB9BBD


-----Ursprüngliche Nachricht-----
Von: moon-bounces at moonbounce.info [mailto:moon-bounces at moonbounce.info] Im Auftrag von Peter Sundberg
Gesendet: Dienstag, 15. April 2008 18:57
An: moon at moonbounce.info
Betreff: [Moon] ARRL EME Contest

I can remember when the ARRL EME Competition was the highlight of the year for moonbouncers. The rules were clear, and easy to understand. Reading the results and comments in QST was something to look forward to, and achievements were never questioned, insted they encouraged us mere mortals to push on forward, and improve our stations and operating practices.

Not so any more... the way the contest is handled is a total insult to those participating, especially those who praise fair game and contesting. 

Why have we seen this transformation from a highly respected event to an embarrassing soap opera? 

Well, the reason is clear, it's because of the constant maneuvering with new rules, and the total lack of enforcement of rules.

A bit of background information:

After the 2006 EME contest I sent a formal protest to the contest committee regarding stations who openly violated the rules. I also forwarded a number of logger and cluster extracts to show the committee what had been going on, and pinpointed the violations in these documents. This was also the sole reason for me entering "Assisted" category that year, as I had been monitoring loggers and clusters (of no use to me as a CW operator).

A while later, I was sent the full contest database, with the request to help identify the stations who were violating the rules. I did so, and sent the information back to the ARRL, hoping for a bit of correspondence regarding this issue. I received an acknowledgement that they had received the information.

When the results were finally published, I discovered that a number of stations had been moved to "Check Log", instead of being disqualified. As we all know, K1JT has been telling us that HE (and only he) examined the contest results, in search for violations of the rules. This he said, was in the interest of keeping it a fair game, and to enforce the rules.

Well, the only thing he did was to save his friends from the embarrassment of being disqualified, so it is clear that some officials at the ARRL are not at all interested in a fair game.

Why bring this up at this point then? 

Well, only to point at the fact that since 2006 the same person responsible for the above blocking of rule enforcement was involved in yet another revision of the contest rules, namely in 2007. 

Too eager to share the thoughts with the community, K1JT presented the new rules even before the ARRL had them on their website. The analyzis of the rules presented together with (one) version of the results is clear, and on the ARRL webpage we can read the following statemend from Ward N0AX:

"144 categories, to be exact. Only 28 categories had entries from a total of
184 entries, so perhaps this pie is being sliced a bit too narrowly?"

So, is there a reason for creating so many categories..?? Of course there is, everything is now so sliced up that a disqualification should not be an issue any more, as no one has the ability to understand the rules any more.
Let alone send a formal protest..

Am I wrong in drawing these conclusisons...?  

Don't think so.. not even the ARRL have been able to present the correct results, despit many attempts. And the results published in QST Magazine still stands as the only printed results, and they will probably never be corrected. Why embarrass even more people by putting it right?

My "verdict" over all of this is, that when we let one man dominate EME, and decide for all others, this is what to expect! 

These actions are not possible to sweep under the carpet, because the contest is ruined for all future as it seems now. There will still be people entering the contest, of course, but it is not a contest any more.
It is a joke of a contest, serving no purpose other than acting as an activity enhancer. 

This is good however, we need stations populating our bands. But the so called records set under present circumstances have absolutely NO value, and are not to be compared to the records set when the ARRL EME Competition was a true contest, based on a fair game for everyone.

Let's not be fooled into thinking something else.

CW is King!

73 de Peter SM2CEW
www.sm2cew.com
http://blog.sm2cew.com

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