[CQ-Contest] Re: Cheating

[Doug Grant]

WN3VAW said:

> ...that there are two schools of contesting:
>
> (a)  Follow the letter & spirit of the rules, be a gentleman/lady, show
> courtesy while competitive, in short, be a good sport and show
> sportsmanship;
> (b)  Stretch the rules, almost anything goes, if it's not forbidden it's
> legal, all's fair in love & war & this is a war, search for and exploit
> every technically possible loophole, in short, winning is the end and the
> end justifies the means.

Both of these have merit, and though (b) might initially bother a few people
who didn't think of the "stretch" first, they are still within the rules.
Sometimes a loophole needs to be closed or turned into a new category if it
is judged by the sponsor or the contest community at large that it is not in
the spirit of the original rules. For example, the first time a station used
multiple operators and multiple transmitters to win a contest forced the
creation of the multi-multi category; there was no such category at the
time, but such operation was not expressly prohibited. Innovation is a good
thing (but courtesy should still be in effect).

You left out school (c), which is:

figure out a way to get a bigger score using a technique that clearly
violates the contest or license rules, but seems undetectable by other
competitors or the sponsors. For example, use illegally high power, abuse
packet in any number of ways, enter callsigns in the log that aren't really
worked but nobody can prove, use multiple transmitters/operators/locations
simultaneously while claiming single-op, massage the off-times or
band-change times in a log after the contest to conceal operation outside of
the rules, etc.

Sad to say, there really are people in this school - fortunately they are a
small minority. Often these miscreants are caught and warned or
disqualified - sometimes their activities force the contest sponsors to
develop means to detect cheating techniques. Sometimes the cheaters are not
officially caught, but their peers shun them for their actions. Hopefully
they learn the error of their ways and clean up their act. Sometimes they
get away with it, and occasionally do so for a long time.

> I try to stick to the first category.  If it costs me a win, then so be
it,
> I still have to live with myself.

Good for you. I'm there, too. This is supposed to be fun. Learn the bands,
get good at copying callsigns correctly, and build (or obtain the use of) a
station that works well and that you know how to operate well. Repeat until
you are proficient enough to have an advantage that allows you to win.

The category (b) guys serve a useful purpose, and I'm glad there are some of
them out there (as long as they stay away from my frequency!). But these
category (c) guys really bother me. If they are willing to cheat in a hobby
competition that runs on the honor system, what will these people do in
their personal and business lives to get ahead?

73,

Doug K1DG

p.s. Anybody got the dates for the Florida QSO Party handy? Is it the same
weekend as the Poisson d'Avril?  ;)