[CQ-Contest] Battle of the Cheaters

[Pete Smith]

Like cops with radar, I think half the battle is intimidating the guys who 
would like to cheat but don't want to risk getting caught.

73, Pete N4ZR

At 03:06 PM 12/9/2007, David Gilbert wrote:

>Hi, Pete.
>
>I'm not really knowledgeable on software-defined radio, but I think you 
>can accomplish the same thing quite cheaply (less than $30 or so?) with an 
>SDR front end like the Softrock and the free PowerSDR software.  With a 
>decent sound card you can supposedly record up to 192 KHz bandwidth in 
>real time to your computer and analyze any portion of it later just by 
>tuning through it with PowerSDR.  The price is right for there to be a LOT 
>of such monitors out there.
>
>Probably a log checker's nightmare, though.  Think of all the extra work 
>that might bring them, both in terms of expanding their own review options 
>and in terms of all the "help" they might get from other folks perusing 
>dozens or hundreds of recorded files after they get posted to the internet.
>
>It would sure make contest behavior (both good and bad) more transparent, 
>though.
>
>73,
>Dave   AB7E
>
>
>
>Pete Smith wrote:
>>The heck of it is, all of these steps are readily do-able (except the 
>>on-site referees).
>>
>>There is a device called the Time Machine 
>>(www.expandedspectrumsystems.com), which can record an 80 KHz swath of 
>>any HF band, and costs only about $175.  Station a dozen of those around 
>>the world, recording on VHS tape, with good receivers and omni antennas, 
>>and you can go back to any point in the contest to check what was going 
>>on at any frequency.
>>
>>A recording, whether on tape or on computer disk, isn't an unreasonable 
>>requirement from anyone with a claimed top-ten score in any major category.
>>
>>Contest sponsors should publicly announce that they will apply and 
>>enforce the sort of analysis that K1TTT has been doing publicly for 
>>years.  If falsified spots turn up, clearly to the benefit of a given 
>>station, that station owner should be asked to explain, and if the 
>>explanation doesn't hold water, he should be DQ'ed.
>>
>>The key to confronting the cheaters is to do it publicly and 
>>transparently, with stiff penalties.
>>
>>73, Pete N4ZR