One of the overlooked resources for contesters, especially new contesters, is a white paper on the ARRL web site that asks and answers the hard questions about the ethics of contesting.
Beyond “reading the rules,” the white paper looks at when the contest is over, sanitizing logs, interacting with other contesters, and the use of spots in a contest.
At the Pacific Northwest DX Convention, Ward, N0AX, talked through some of these items as a member of the Contest Advisory Committee.
I didn’t know about the white paper, but went and read it after the convention. It is a good, thoughtful read and I’d recommend it for any contester.
You can find it at the ARRL Site (http://arrl NULL.org) as HF Contesting — Good Practices, Interpretations and Suggestions (http://www NULL.arrl NULL.org/contests/hf-faq NULL.html). You do not need to be a member to see the article.
By the way, Ward mentioned that 95% of the logs from a contest are now electronic — and uploaded within one week of the contest date. Certainly, contesters are processing the “electronic paperwork” well.
Scot, K9JY
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