[RRDXA] ARRL Statement zu DA0HQ

[Zrinko Zibert]

2009
----

Once a contest is over, the mission of a contest committee is to check
that the logs of the entrants are compliant with the rules and ethics of
the contest, score them, and adjudicate. The ARRL has failed twice in
2009 : They first published incorrect results and afterwards simply
claim they will *not* decide who finished first or second, despite
detailed analysis provided by an entrant...(as it seems the contest
committee members are unable to do such themselves!)

.

As they don't adjudicate who finished first or second, it implies that
the remaining HQ entrants' results and rankings are also meaningless!
That suggests that over 1000 ops in more than 60 teams took part in a
contest (with countless hours of preparation, etc.) for nothing!
Unbelievable!

2010
----

This time around it got even better. One month prior to the 2010 event,
the ARRL has decided to change the rules...and not check the logs of the
HQ entrants, and finally to not publish any final score (or ranking) for
them! We (TM0HQ) have been preparing for this event since February 2010.
We already have more than 70 ops involved, have spent countless hours on
the preparation of stations, website, computing, drove hundreds of km
for... nothing. AGAIN ! And we're sure we're not alone in this position.
The ARRL is making fools of us and all the HQ teams. Such an approach
displays a total lack of respect for all involved in this international
event. It must also be pointed out that, according to its text, the
decision to implement these last minute rule modifications was taken
unilaterally by the ARRL, despite the presence of a recognized workgroup
(on this list). What arrogance!

So what's next?
---------------

This unfortunate decision from ARRL demonstrates that the contesting
community and the HQ teams obviously values much more the competition
than the organizers themselves. We regret to see such a decision even
more by contesters.

It's clear the ARRL will not reconsider its position on this topic. The
question is now : Do we really need the ARRL to adjudicate the HQ logs?
We don't think so. We believe this is an opportunity for us (HQ
competitors) to do a better job! How about creating a multinational
group to seriously check these logs, and publish results on the web? We
could even tune the scoring and checking methods, and adopt better rules
(on unique QSOs for example) to ensure fairer adjudication and thus
avoid abuse in future.

In light of all the above, be advised that TM0HQ is reconsidering
whether to participate or not in the coming IARU HF Contest. Further
preparations have been brought to a halt and currently if nothing
changes, we will not waste our time for a checklog

We all are VERY disappointed by this situation, brought about by a bunch
of incompetent persons.

73

Patrick (F2DX) and Larry (F6FVY) - Team leaders TM0HQ 2010

__________________

Auch, LY4A (LY0HQ Team leader) hat schon gesagt, alle Baltik Länder (LY, 
LY, ES) und SN0HQ sind NICHT dabei in IARU HF.


73s, Zik