Hello
Many are likely aware of the events surrounding WRTC 2023–2026—and all
of that took place in the presence of referees. Can you imagine, then,
how representatives of Zone 16 behave in remote competitions? I propose
adding a rule stating that if rule violations are suspected, a
participant must provide an audio recording upon the referees' request.
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https://www.kkn.net/stew/stew_rules.html
Welcome to Rule 6. We will try our best to describe what you can and
can't do for each of the categories. We realize that the beat of
technology does not stop - even for the TopBand. Because of this, we
will try to start with a statement expressing the intent of these rules,
to give the reader something to go on if some previously distinct line
is blurred due to advances in technology.
If you are single-op - we intend for you to not be assisted by other
humans during the event. Any communication with humans other than the
exchanges that take place over the air can be assistance. Obviously, you
can ask your wife to bring you a sandwich - and say hello to an old
friend who happens to call in. But - if the assistance starts to do
things like telling you that VK6VZ is on 1829.3 kHz, then that is going
too far.
So - packet spotting is right out. Using a chat room for setting up
skeds is out. This is the "boy and his radio" category. Furthermore, the
technology has advanced to the point where it can give assistance that
is on par with a human. Having a skimmer, or reverse beacon network, or
whatever people come up with in the future that can tell you that VK6VZ
is on 1829.3 kHz is also viewed as assistance. Use of this technology is
not allowed in the single-op category. We do realize band scopes can
show that someone is on 1829.3 - but since they don't tell you who is
actually there, that is okay. We suppose this allows the use of "blind
skimmers" but we would really like to encourage you to turn off the
skimmer and enjoy the contest the way we did back when Stew Perry was
around.
We do realize that some stations use remote receivers to eliminate their
local QRN issues. We wish to include them in the contest - but need to
put some kind of limit on it as we do not intend for people to have
remote receivers on the other side of their country - or in other
continents. That would totally destroy the concept of awarding extra QSO
points for copying QRP stations. Therefore, remote receivers are okay as
long as they are not more than 100 kM from your transmitter site. This
equates to roughly a grid square. NOTE - we don't intend for you to use
a remote receiver so you can do SO2R without QRM from your TX signal. So
- if you use a remote receiver - do not use a local one at the same
time.
If you are multi-op, you can get assistance from other humans in your
shack. We still do not want you to use the cluster or other spotting
methods that happen during the contest. If you have a skimmer - go ahead
and use it. Remote receiving sites within the 100 kM are okay. If a
networked connected skimmer is within 100 kM of you, go ahead and use
it.
While we do want to encourage you to just use the information you find
in your headphones - the BARC has chosen to allow the use of callsign
databases (Super Check Partial) and even those which can remember the
grid squares of stations you have worked in previous events. We do warn
that those who rely on those databases too much, typically have higher
error rates.
You are welcome to operate using a remote station - as long as all of
the radio frequency "stuff" is all located at the remote site and
otherwise meets all of the other criteria. It is best not to operate
from two different locations with the same callsign - as this would
really confuse our log checking software when determining the correct
distance for your contacts.
We have seen a few stations employ "dual CQing" methods. We really would
like to discourage this activity - as it uses more than your fair share
of the band - which sometimes can be very crowded. Feel free to QSY as
often as you would like - but if we see a pattern of using two
frequencies for an extended period of time - we will feel that you have
ignored this advice. It is very easy to see with the RBN (reverse beacon
network) when this is happening.
If you want to do something that doesn't fall into one of these two
categories (and still want to get on and make QSOs) - this is still a
good thing and you can submit your log as a check log. We will still
process your log and print your score. You can explain what you were
doing in your soapbox comments for all to see. Perhaps if enough people
are submitting logs that are doing the same thing you were - we will
consider creating a category for that type of operation.
We are sorry that this rule is so long. We really wanted to keep this
simple, but that didn't seem possible anymore. If you have any questions
after reading this - please let the Boring Amateur Radio Club know and
we will be happy to add a few more paragraphs.
Oh - we should mention cheating isn't allowed either - in case that was
not clear. This includes operating more than 14 hours and trying to make
it look like you operated only 14. It means running more power than you
are supposed to in your category and/or country. It also includes using
QRZ.COM (or other similar databases) to fill in those missing or
questionable grid squares or callsigns. This is a RADIO contest and your
log must indicate what you heard during the contest - not what you found
on the internet afterwards!!
Thank you for reading rule six.
---
Nick, UY0ZG
http://www.topband.in.ua
TreeN6TR via Topband писал(а) 2026-10-13 02:39:
The 160 meter band will be full of CW this weekend starting at 1500Z on
Saturday, October 17th for 24 hours.
Rules and previous results from previous events are here:
https://www.kkn.net/stew/
The plaques from the 2025 Big Stew have been made and are working their
way
to their recipients as I type.
Tree N6TR
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