[ARDF] Smart phones and stupid cheaters

[Gerald Boyd]

Charles
We are allowing cell phones and 2 meter HT's to be taken on the course at
the region II championships this summer because it's a safety issue. There
is some coverage at our venues in high locations. 

That was also allowed in Taxes a few years ago and I think it's a good idea
to provide a safety net in the event someone needs help (assuming they have
cell service at their SOS location). 

So if someone has an I phone and they want to run your SDR receiver app on
it, we will not stop them from using that device as an ARDF receiver. 

What we will do is have course marshals in the field and if they see anyone
talking on a phone or 2 meter HT for non emergency reasons then they get
DQed. 

We will also ask anyone that will be taking a phone on the course to give us
the phone number. At our last meets conducted in Albuquerque (2001 and 2005)
we allowed 2 meter HT's to be taken on the course as a safety measure.
Safety first.

I also like your idea about an app that can monitor if the phone was used
for com.

Jerry


-----Original Message-----
From: ardf-bounces at kkn.net [mailto:ardf-bounces at kkn.net] On Behalf Of
Charles Scharlau
Sent: Sunday, January 09, 2011 9:53 AM
To: ardf at kkn.net
Subject: [ARDF] Smart phones and stupid cheaters

The idea of using a smart phone as an ARDF competition receiving device has
always carried with it the concern that such a device would necessarily be
banned in competitions. Having developed an app, I conclude that although
current rules would ban communication-capable devices in competitions, an
exception SHOULD be made for smart phones. Furthermore, doing so could
actually PREVENT cheating by the competitor carrying the smart phone, and
others participating in the competition.

The last two sentences above probably sound outlandish, and the explanation
will take a few paragraphs to explain. Please bear with me as I lay out the
essential points.

1. It is very easy to create a smart phone app with the following
characteristics:
a. It records the place, date and time when it is launched.
b. It detects and records whenever it is closed, or it gets put into the
background in a multitasking OS.
c. It provides the above information when queried by an external device.

2. Rules could be put into place allowing (even encouraging) competitors to
register their smart phones for carrying in the competition, provided that
they agree to run a program described in (1) during the entire time that
they are competing. (Perhaps their smart phones would also be impounded with
their receive equipment. But even that might not be necessary.)

3. Anyone found to possess an unregistered cell phone, or one not running a
"certified" app, would be disqualified under the same rules as today.

4. At the end of the competition, all competitors with registered smart
phones would be required to download their app's data to the official
database for analysis. Failing to do so, or if the data shows that their
phone exited the monitoring app at any point during the competition, could
get the competitor (and perhaps their team)  disqualified from the
competition.

A very simple app as described above, then, could allow smart phones to be
carried in ARDF competitions, and in any other competition in which they are
currently banned due to cheating concerns. The main sticking point is how to
certify, and verify, the apps that monitor the phone's use. But I don't
think that is an insurmountable obstacle.

If smart phones continuously running an appropriate app are allowed in
competition, then that opens up the possibility of using them to enhance
rules enforcement. Consider that a monitoring app might also support camera
function, and sending photos along with GPS location and time of photo
directly to an official competition monitoring e-mail address? In that case,
all competitors armed with smart phones could potentially provide evidence
of cheating while on the course, but could not utilize their cell phones for
other purposes without being disqualified.

There are many other possibilities this concept opens up. I think it is
definitely time to start the discussion.

73,
Charles
NZ0I
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