[NLRS] kd0ebt Needs Help with Log recovery

[tosca005 at umn.edu]

On Jun 13 2011, Dr. Gerald N. Johnson (K0CQ) wrote:

>
>I think a partial log submission would be most destructive for all the 
>missing contacts would be deleted from those station's logs. I think it 
>would be best for all the stations contacted to not submit a partial log.
>
>On 6/13/2011 10:24 AM, Clare Jarvis (K0NY) wrote:
>> Rodney,
>>
   I am out in California and didn't make contact with you, but I do not
   think it is within the rules to solicit contact information that way. I
   could be wrong so please double check. I you are missing a huge chunk of
   your log I would ask the ARRL what to do so as to not penalize the 
stations
   that worked you. Sorry to here about your loss.

Rodney:

I, too, offer my condolences on the loss of part of your log. Just in case 
you are not aware of it, what K0CQ is referring to is the new log-checking 
routines that ARRL uses on logs submitted to them. (Actually, the 
log-checking has been used on HF contests for awhile, but only fairly 
recently have they been applied to the bands above 50 MHz.)

Anyway, if you submit a log that is missing a bunch of QSO's, then each of 
those stations that you worked who put you in their log will be penalized 
for that QSO because ARRL has your log (yes, you were in the contest), but 
don't have a corresponding call in your log for the contact that the other 
stations are claiming (Not In Log penalty). So, if you simply submit the 
half (or so) of the log you do have, the people in the log will have an 
advantage over the people in the lost portion of the log.

If you submit no log at all, ARRL assumes that those QSO's are valid, 
because they have no evidence to the contrary. So none of the people you 
worked gets penalized. (KD0EBT probably participated but did not submit a 
log.)

Here is the official description, right out of my June 2006 Log Checking 
Report:

*** Not In Log ('N') ***

Lines beginning with the letter 'N' are judged to be 'Not In Log'. This 
means
we have the other station's log, and your call, or a call close to it, does 
not appear in that log on this band. This QSO is removed from the log and 
an
extra one qso penalty is assessed.

An example from my Januaary 2007 log shows how they treat the situation if 
you submit no log at all:

1 (0.6%) calls unique to this log only

There is no penalty for "unique" calls unless there are so many that there 
is reason to suspect someone is intentionally entering false data. You 
might have just run into a non-contester who was tuning aroung the bands, 
found you, called you to ask for a signal report, held a brief QSO with you 
during which you sent and obtained the necessary information to make it a 
valid contest QSO, and then he turned off his radio. He would not submit a 
log with 1 contact in it, so he appears in your log but nowhere else. (No 
other logs have him in them, either.)

There is another possible alternative. You can submit what you have as a 
"check log" ON PAPER, NOT VIA THE ROBOT, and tell ARRL Contest Branch very 
clearly that you lost all the QSO's from the start of the contest up to and 
not including the first QSO that made it into your partial log. They seemed 
to me to be very understanding about the situation that "stuff happens". 
The "check log" status is the "penalty" to you (but to you only) for not 
having a complete log, but it still shows your interest and participation. 
And the log-checking process could be done manually with the part of your 
log that they got, if they so desired.

I got real lucky with them once when I had what I thought was a fatal 
disaster. I had my logging software misconfigured so that, until I noticed 
it about 2 hours into the contest, it was putting the start time of the 
contest into EVERY one of the QSO's that I had entered instead of the 
current time! I called the Contest Branch and asked them what to do, since 
all the times were invalid for the first two hours, and they had me submit 
it on paper and they allowed it. I didn't even get demoted to check log 
status, which was a pleasant surprise.

Just a note to any skeptics out there: I was unable to get on the air for 
any part of the contest, so I have no QSO's in jeopardy.

Good luck finding the lost data, or however the situation finally turns out.

73 de W0JT