Hello contesters,
Let me start off by quoting Bob Cox (K3EST):
"The bedrock of every category in every contest is the entrant's
personal honesty."
It is my impression that because N6AA posed
a question on here about certain contest topics,
that the reader might think that these types
of rules "violations" were taking place, or even
worse, were widespread.
First, allow me to address the topic of qrp-ers
running more than 5 watts. As far as I know
(and believe me, I know) this IS NOT and HAS NOT
been a problem. Qrp-ers who enter a contest
are a very consistant group, almost always numbering
between 90 and 150 per year. Being a qrp-er myself, I can
tell you that WE ALL KNOW EACH OTHER; we are a closely
knit group. NOBODY is running more than 5 watts.
In fact, most of us in the TOP TEN BOX usually run
LESS than 5 watts, JUST TO BE SURE. I usually run
no more than more than 4 watts on CW, and on SSB I run
4.5 watts PEP, NOT 10 watts PEP (which some might
construe as still 5 watts).
>From a practical point, I cannot imagine calling somebody with
qro and then when they come back, quickly changing to qrp.
This concept is crazy and certainly far beyond what the
definition of qrp is. AND THIS IS WELL UNDERSTOOD by the
entrants.
The QRP rules of the CQWW already make the entrant
declare that 5W or less was used as the MAXIMUM during the contest.
This is NOT an issue.
The condition of contesting is SOUND; the quality of the
entrants is SOUND. Those who "cheat" or are incredibily "sloppy"
are dealt with every year and their number is VERY tiny, easily
countable on your fingers and/or toes, out of many thousands (3150
logs on CQWW SSB) of entrants. The reader should not equate
mistakes/sloppy logging with cheating. They are VERY different. As
the vast majority of contesters improve their skills, what is
revealed by the shrinking error rates are entrants who are still
having copying/logging problems OR are cheating.
Those who are BOX SCORES have their logs thoroughly checked and the
level of scrutiny for those box scores is awesome!
And to tell you the truth, the level and quality of competition
within any one category of entry is VERY smooth among the box score
entrants.
CONCLUSION
* Can any contest committee "tell" if someone is running 15 watts
instead of 5? Probably not.
* Can any contest committee "tell" if someone moves a 9K2 from 20 to
15 when they enter 15 monoband...probably not.
* Does the CQWW Contest Committee think this is a problem that is
affecting the results or the order of finish....no we do not.
Just because a topic can be discussed and potential "loopholes" are
brought to light does NOT mean that it is a problem and does NOT
mean that entrants are cheating or using such "techniques!" To quote
K3EST again, "It's possible for competitors to cut each other's coax
lines. Is it worthwhile to make a rule preventing this? Anyone that
says yes needs electroshock therapy."
The state of the contest is SOUND and getting better all the time.
Contesters are IMPROVING, both in terms of the quality of their
efforts and in terms of ethics.
At the end it can be said again:
"The bedrock of every category in every contest is the entrant's
personal honesty."
73
Doug, KR2Q
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