"If the report never changes, why do contest rules still require signal reports, when cutting out phony reports would speed things up?"

This question comes up frequently, among contesters (e.g. on [CQ-Contest](http://lists.contesting.com/mailman/listinfo/cq-contest), an email reflector for contesters) as well as among those who criticise contests. Reasons for the signal report often include (in no particular order):
- meeting the somewhat arbitrary definition of what constitutes a "complete" QSO
- the signal report acts as a signalling, attention-grabbing phrase for the important part of the exchange that follows (e.g. a serial number, location designator etc)
- it's in the rules :-)
- without some agreement on receiver settings (rx bandwidth, rf-gain, attenuator, S-meter accuracy...) a signal report is pretty meaningless anyway
- no contest rules demand an unchanging 59 or 599 signal report, feel free to send a signal report you consider accurate

Finally, some contest rules do not prescribe a signal report, for example the ARRL Sweepstakes, the Stew Perry Topband Distance Challenge, North American QSO Parties, North American Sprints.