[CQ-Contest] Disguised Packet Spots

[Doug Grant]

A couple of years ago I was surprised to see that "I" had spotted a station
during the WAE. I didn't do it - somone else was using my call. Several
other people I know appeared to have spotted the same guy, but when I
checked with some of them, it turned out that none of them had spotted him
either. At first, I suspected that these were disguised self-spots, and
confronted the spotted station. I told him that if he wanted to cheat, he
had better stop using my callsign. He claimed he had nothing to do with it.
It is possible that:

1. He did it and is lying
2. Someone else did it, without his knowledge, in an effort to "help a
friend"

In either case, someone used my callsign without my permission and I'm
pretty unhappy about it. This is identity theft, which is a crime in most
places. Some people believe that it's easier to get answers to CQs if they
spot themselves first, rather than make sure they are on a clear frequency
in the target area and that the band is open. And since the majority of the
contest community (and most of the major contest sponsors) agrees that
self-spotting is against the spirit of the competition, the people who
insist on doing it anyway have found a way to hide by stealing someone
else's identity. Or picking a random call.

Like most criminals, these miscreants will eventually be tracked down by the
"authorities", identified, and suffer the consequences, which will include
disqualification, public humiliation and disgrace on this (and other)
reflectors, and maybe a personal visit from people whose callsigns they
used. And tools such as what K1TTT has developed will help.

I am not as vehemently opposed to packet as some people. I use it
occasionally at multiops, and even won the CQWW CW Assisted category the one
time I entered it. However, packet has become a crutch for too many
operators, who find the "point-click-yell-ENTER" style of operating easier
to learn than the skill-based "tune the band-find a station-copy the call
myself (correctly)-time my call-make the QSO" method.

But as K1AR has pointed out in his column, there are a lot of erroneous
calls spotted on packet, and a bad call in your log actually reduces your
score. It pays to listen.

It is unfortunate that some people will seek to improve their apparent
scores by these packet-enabled short cuts - legal or otherwise. However,
none of the top operators I know do either of these things (or the other
cited examples of cheating such as high power, etc.). The top operators are
at the top because they know how to pick the right bands at the right times,
find clear frequencies, get the calls right, and find multipliers without
assistance. And they practice a lot.

If you insist on taking short cuts, you will never improve as an operator.

If you insist on cheating, you will eventually be caught, and your
reputation will be seriously damaged.

If you want to learn how to play this game well and earn the respect of your
peers, do it the right way. Which is a lot more fun anyway.

73,

Doug K1DG