[CQ-Contest] Illegal Power....was Smelly Subject

[Cqtestk4xs at aol.com]

In a message dated 4/4/04 4:58:46 PM Greenwich Standard Time, gerry at w1ve.com 
writes:
Name-calling about who runs power is not.  
Identify cheaters and root them out -- don't name call and provide innuendo.
(oh, gee, maybe that's what internet
Reflectors are for? :-) )   
Innuendoes about certain people is wrong unless one has proof.  But, how does 
one get proof?

Do the guys who are running soup...not the ones who push it to 2000W....I 
mean the real abusers who crank out 4000-5000 watts from the two holers, 
advertise the fact they run illegal power?  Nope!  Do people advertise they cheat on 
their income taxes?  Nope

The IRS looks for "smoking guns" when they audit...flaky exemptions, 
self-employment, and that sort of thing.

Hams need to be aware of the same sort of things when they visit shacks.  
Does the guy seem to have poor "ears" in contests?  Does he have a two holer of 
8877s?  Does he have a big homemade linear?  Are all the components of his 
station "super-sized" for higher power...watt meters for 5K, baluns for 5K? 

I am not saying that everyone who has poor ears runs soup.  I am not saying 
someone who has a two holer or a BIG homemade amp is running illegal power.  
But, if all the pieces of circumstantial evidence add up one must begin to 
question the ethics of that operator.

Of course he is not going to admit running the excess power, just like those 
who cheat on income taxes do not admit it.  Most people in contesting have a 
pretty good idea of at least a couple of stations who they feel are not running 
legal power and have some evidence to back it up.  Proving it though is 
difficult.  That is the real problem.  

We cannot and should not make accusations unless we have a real smoking gun.  
That is almost impossible to find.  I wish I had a solution.

What makes me feel better though, is that although I have been beaten by some 
mighty fine ops and some good stations in the US, I have never felt that ANY 
of them were running illegal power. The really good ops don't need to and 
don't want to.

Bill K4XS