A couple weeks ago was the NA RTTY Sprint and I saw in the ARRL Contest Update that the Log Check Reports were available so I requested mine and received it within a few minutes! My purpose for posting this is not to criticize or blame anyone but to point out that there are cases where you are copying what is being sent isn’t good enough. I ended up with the following errors in the LCR:
EXCHANGE CHECK RESULTS
———————-
QSO #3 K0YR : T0M Mn should be TOM Mn
QSO #14 K6UFO : MOR Ca should be MORK Ca
QSO #32 W1UJ : JAZ Ma should be JAY Ma
QSO #38 K6UFO : MOR Ca should be MORK Ca
100.0% of your non dupe QSOs had their exchanges checked.
Number of bad exchanges = 4
These QSOs will be removed from your score with no penalty.
CROSS CHECK RESULTS
——————-
QSO #36: QSO not found in log of N7ESU
QSO #51: QSO not found in log of K0AD
81.3% of your remaining good QSOs were cross checked.
There were 2 bad cross check QSOs removed.
NIL Penalty of 2 QSOs will be assessed.
So when I got home from work I pulled up the MMTTY log file that was captured from the contest. The MMTTY log file records all the sent/received information. So I looked up each of the above and I found, based on what I received, what I logged is correct but of course, what I printed/logged in a RTTY contest is all I really have to go on. Again, hopefully none of the ops mentioned here take this the wrong way and there is no blame. It’s just part of contesting. Here’s what I copied/sent for each of the above exchanges, unedited other then to remove any blank lines.
QSO #3 K0YR : T0M Mn should be TOM Mn
CQ NA K0YR TESTZL
<101010 00:10:12 TX>
K2DSL K2DSL
<101010 00:10:16 RX>
K2DSL TU 007 T0M MN I
<101010 00:10:26 TX>
K0YR TU 003 DAVID NJ K2DSL
<101010 00:10:34 RX>
TU K0YR QSY ET
The actual received/logged name for me was T0M (with a zero) and not TOM (with the letter O). It was just sent once in the exchange and with RTTY it is point & click to add the exchange to the log.
QSO #14 K6UFO : MOR Ca should be MORK Ca
<101010 00:42:58 TX>
CQ NA K2DSL K2DSL CQ
<101010 00:43:04 RX>
DE K6UFO K6UFO
<101010 00:43:08 TX>
K6UFO 014 014 DAVID NJ K6UFO
<101010 00:43:16 RX>
K2DSL 35 35 MOR MOR CA CAUFO
<101010 00:43:25 TX>
TU
Received MOR MOR vs MORK seems odd. I looked at the 2nd contact and it was MOR MORK.
QSO #32 W1UJ : JAZ Ma should be JAY Ma
<101010 01:25:17 TX>
CQ NA K2DSL K2DSL CQ
<101010 01:25:22 RX>
W1UJ W1UJ
<101010 01:25:26 TX>
W1UJ 032 032 DAVID NJ W1UJ
<101010 01:25:34 RX>
X K2DSL 052 JAZ MA W1UJ
<101010 01:25:40 TX>
TU
Print/logged JAZ. Maybe if the name was sent twice, it might have printed Jay for one of them, but that didn’t help for MOR(K).
QSO #36: QSO not found in log of N7ESU
<101010 01:36:48 TX>
CQ NA K2DSL K2DSL CQ
<101010 01:36:54 RX>
DE N7ESU N7ESU Z
<101010 01:37:01 TX>
N7ESU 036 036 DAVID NJ N7ESU
<101010 01:37:09 RX>
K2DSL DE N7ES 029 JIM ID K2DSLEE
<101010 01:37:25 TX>
TU
Sure looks like we had a good exchange. Same goes for the next one.
QSO #51: QSO not found in log of K0AD
<101010 02:30:50 TX>
CQ NA K2DSL K2DSL CQ
<101010 02:30:56 RX>
K0AD K0N
<101010 02:31:02 TX>
K0AD 051 051 DAVID NJ K0AD
<101010 02:31:10 RX>
K2DSL K0AD 76 76 AL M
<101010 02:31:18 TX>
TU
Again it looks like a good exchange. For both the NIL entries, I was calling CQ and they came back to me and sent their exchange after I sent mine so you figured it would be in the log.
To me it is extremely interesting to review the LCRs to see what occurred and hopefully learn from the mistakes. I have a macro set up to send my name once or twice depending on the condition I’m receiving the other station. Of course, how they are receiving me might be different but I use that as the barometer for what I send. Maybe I’ll always send my name two times and when logging an op on subsequent bands, just send it once.
73,
K2DSL
Are you sure it was not MORK from ORK ??
Maybe it was an ET cdontact !
Excellent analysis, David! Thanks for looking into the LCR detail. It clearly highlights some important points about logging accurately and the realities of getting penalized for someone else’s mistake, e.g., removing a QSO from their log and giving you a NIL.
Ed
I’ve had similar issues. In one case, it was during a SSB contest and I had recorded the audio. I listened, and the station definitely worked me, without question. The LCR said that I wasn’t in his log, and there’s not much I can do about that. I’m sure that I’ve made errors when doing S&P where I didn’t enter the QSO before moving and had the logger wipe the contact. Bad for all involved, but worse for the person I worked, who gets penalized instead of just loosing a QSO.