[Dx-qsl] NEW DXCC RULES - REMOTE STATIONS

Thu Jan 22 16:40:31 EST 2015

/Leaving it up the integrity of the operator on whether or not he would 
apply for a DXCC award for contacts made using a remote station is risky 
and naive provided I read the new changes correctly. I don't believe 
using the //*"guilt trip"*//on the Amateur community sends the right 
message. And lowering DXCC standards sends the wrong message. /
On 1/22/2015 04:11 PM, Danny Douglas wrote:
> That is the way I read it too. I dont know how I feel about this. It 
> has always been OK , by the rules, for us to travel to the west coast 
> (for instance) away from here on the East Coast, then work someone who 
> the east coast cant hear or work, and count that contact for DXCC. 
> But, to sit here in one locale, and work the DX from a 
> transmitter/antennas 2,000 miles away, and consider it worked----- 
> well I am not sure of that. Now, if I were to set up a remote 
> station, like that, I might go ahead and work a DXCC -FROM THERE-: but 
> to count it as part of my DXCC from here, I would question the 
> reason. It simply smacks of MONEY. What if one wants to set up a 
> stateside station, and work it from China, or other DX location? 
> Would they use WX1XXX, OR BY/WX1XXX? Leaves just too many questions 
> for my brain to attack.
>>>> MG <mailto:mgreen at erols.com>
>> Thursday, January 22, 2015 3:31 PM
>> */If I read the new rules correctly, and I am not certain that I did, 
>> there are no restrictions on applying for a DXCC award for operators 
>> using remote station. It further leaves it up to the user of a remote 
>> station to decide whether he wants to apply for DXCC credit? For 
>> example, a user on the east coast where there may be no propagation 
>> to Heard Island for example, can use a remote station where the 
>> propagation is favorable to Heard Island and apply for credit if 
>> he/she believes it is ethical?/ **Did I read this correctly? Comments.
>> =============================================== 
>> =============================================================================
>> *
>> ARRL Board Okays Changes to DXCC Program
>>>> The ARRL Board of Directors has tweaked the DX Century Club (DXCC 
>> <http://www.arrl.org/dxcc-rules>) rules to clarify and expand their 
>> recognition of remotely controlled station technology. It has also 
>> added a rule that puts greater ethical responsibility on operators 
>> with respect to remotely controlled operation. In addition, the Board 
>> adopted changes to the ARRL VHF/UHF contest rules that are aimed at 
>> encouraging greater participation. The Board took the actions during 
>> its annual meeting January 16-17 in Windsor, Connecticut.
>>>> *ARRL President Kay Craigie, N3KN, prepares to gavel the 2015 Annual 
>> Meeting of the ARRL Board of Directors to order. [LJB Special 
>> Photography photo]*
>>>> The DXCC Rules <http://www.arrl.org/dxcc-rules> changes, which affect 
>> Section I, subsections 8 and 9, explain and extend how contacts with 
>> remotely controlled stations now may be applied toward the DXCC 
>> award. According to ARRL CEO David Sumner, K1ZZ, the changes are 
>> subtle but significant. The modified rules make clear that contacts 
>> with legally licensed, land-based, remotely controlled stations count 
>> for DXCC, but the control point -- the operator's location -- of a 
>> remotely controlled station no longer has to be land based; the 
>> operator can be literally anywhere.
>>>> "It has always been permitted for a QSO to count for both stations, 
>> if either station was operated remotely from a control point within 
>> the same DXCC entity," Sumner explained. "Now the location of the 
>> operator doesn't matter; the operator could be on the far side of the 
>> Moon, if he or she could figure out how to remotely control a station 
>> on land back on Earth from there." Transmitter location continues to 
>> define a station's location, and, for DXCC purposes, all transmitters 
>> and receivers must be located within a 500 meter diameter circle, 
>> excluding antennas.
>>>> *The ARRL Board met January 16-17 in Windsor, Connecticut. [LJB 
>> Special Photography photo]*
>>>> Under the old rules, if either station was operated from a control 
>> point in /another/ DXCC entity, the contact did not count for DXCC 
>> for /either/ station. "This was unenforceable unless someone was 
>> transparent about what they were doing," Sumner said.
>>>> The Board further adopted a new rule, now Subsection 11 (subsequent 
>> rules have been renumbered accordingly), that acknowledges the 
>> reality of the technology enabling remote operation, and it puts 
>> greater responsibility on individuals when it comes to applying that 
>> technology ethically and responsibly.
>>>> *Midwest Division Vice Director Art Zygielbaum, K0AIZ, attended his 
>> first Board meeting. [LJB Special Photography photo]*
>>>> "Issues concerning remotely controlled operating and DXCC are best 
>> dealt with by each individual carefully considering the ethical 
>> limits that he/she will accept for his/her DXCC and other operating 
>> awards," the new rule states. It adds, in part, "the owner of these 
>> achievements needs to be comfortable standing behind his/her award 
>> and numbers. Peer attention has always been a part of awards chasing, 
>> of course, but in these times with so many awards and so many 
>> players, it is more important than ever to 'play the game ethically.'"
>>>> Subsection 11 acknowledges that technological advances "add to the 
>> difficulty in defining rules for DXCC," but stresses that the intent 
>> of the rules is what's important. "It will continue to be up to the 
>> operator to decide what types of legal remote control operating 
>> he/she will use (if any) to contribute to an operating award," the 
>> new rule concludes.
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>>>> -- 
> Danny Douglas
>>> <http://www.getpostbox.com>