[CQ-Contest] Cheating

[Ed Parish K1EP]

At 11:39 PM 2/1/03 -0500, Tyler Stewart wrote:
>I wouldnt jump to conclusions...Zip codes can be very close together....and
>the close times on different ones COULD just be one of them working zip code
>corners.
>
>I think it's unfortunate that they apparently chose to operate a private
>contest machine of sorts, but it's probably no worse than what W2SZ does
>every June to win the ARRL June VHF contest.  They send out a lot of private
>rovers that never send in their own log and never work anyone else.
>
>So...I would give them the benefit of the doubt unless there are obvious
>infractions.

One can draw one of two conclusions from the above statement concerning W2SZ.  Either it is a supposition or you have been able to examine the logs.  If it is the former, you are speaking without knowing the facts.  If it is the latter, then you have access to confidential data submitted to the ARRL.  

Should you be given the benefit of the doubt or is it an obvious infraction?

I don't think that those two situations are comparable, as you state they are.  (It actually is more akin to grid circling that prevailed several years ago before the contest rules were modified.)   Twenty or more years ago, not many hams had or could afford portable microwave gear.   The W2SZ group encouraged the use and development of microwaves by constructing portable microwave station kits that were simple, inexpensive and could be built by an average ham.  Unfortunately to make them inexpensive, the kits used a single common oscillator for both the receiver and transmitter on several of the bands, making them receive and transmit on two different frequencies (offset by the LO).  Amateur use of microwaves was in its infancy back then and these stations allowed it to grow.  It is similar to laser communications today in the VHF contesting.  Do any of the rover stations that use lasers communicate with stations other than their main station?  I doubt it.  Why?  Because laser communications have no standard modulation technique or standard wavelength today.  Same situation that microwaves were back then.  Today we have companies like Downeast that provide standard commercial kits to allow hams to get on microwaves and intercommunicate.  Many of the rover stations that did in fact start out with these elementary kits have graduated to building their own (now standard) equipment and do in fact work other stations and compete nationally in the rover competition (which also did not exist back 20 years ago).  

What Ron describes is different.  What I believe he was implying was that there were stations operating from a fixed location, but giving out various multipliers (zip codes) without being in those zip codes.  If that is true, it is cheating.  It is not comparable to the above situation.  If Ron wants to make a case, he should figure out the minimum distances from these zip codes and compare that to the time difference that is in the log.  If a 10 mile distance is covered in 2 minutes, then I would think that he has a case.  It is just like the credit card companies know that your card has been stolen when they receive transactions from Atlantic City and Las Vegas within the hour.  It can't be done.


>73, Ty K3MM
>
>----- Original Message -----
>From: "Ron Notarius WN3VAW" <wn3vaw at fyi.net>
>To: "CQ Contest" <cq-contest at contesting.com>
>Sent: Saturday, February 01, 2003 2:46 PM
>Subject: [CQ-Contest] Cheating
>
>
>> I would appreciate some input from those on the list who are involved log
>> checking of contests how to best approach the following situation:
>>
>> As I've mentioned here in the past, my club runs a local 4 hour 2 Meter
>> Simplex contest each year.  The multiplier is the ZIP code that the
>station
>> is located in, and mobiles can be reworked as they change ZIP codes.
>>
>> The contest chairman received today the log from the club station of a
>club
>> in one of the next counties.  The initial score seemed unusually high, and
>> on examination, we've found at least four amateurs who claim to have
>> operated mobile, worked only the club station, and worked the club station
>> from at least 5 or 6 different ZIP codes each.  One claimed 21 different
>> ZIP's.  This is not neccesarily impossible -- difficult but not
>> impossible -- but on further examination, some of these ZIP changes are
>only
>> 2 or 3 minutes apart, and looking on the map, suffice to say, could only
>> have been possible if their mode of transit was a Star Trek era
>transporter
>> or equivalent.
>>
>> No logs from these four stations were received, but their calls do not
>> appear in any other logs.  And the four amateurs are all members of the
>> club, some are officers.
>>
>> It appears that they simply sat in their shacks and handed out multiple
>ZIP
>> codes solely to boost the club station's score.  IE, they cheated.
>>
>> So far, I've emailed all concerned (at least to those we had e-mail
>> addresses for) to ask for further explanation and the missing logs.
>>
>> Our options including simply removing the offending contacts if we receive
>> no log (and DQ'ing those ops), DQ'ing the entire club log on the grounds
>of
>> irregular or inaccurate logging, or doing nothing.
>>
>> Suggestions on how to proceed next would be appreciated.
>>
>> The funny thing of it is, they didn't need to cheat.  They won the Club
>> Station category hands down last year, and probably would have again this
>> year.  Go figure.
>>
>> 73, ron wn3vaw
>>
>> 'Never attribute to malice that which is adequately
>>   explained by stupidity.' --Hanlon's Razor
>>
>>
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>
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