[CQ-Contest] How To Deal with Cheaters....

[K1ZM at aol.com]

Hello All
 
I have been away and "reading the mail" and now have the time to comment  
(sort of).
 
I am not afraid to act on this one and did so in 2003.  I observed a  
well-known (and TOP 10) USA contester chasing packet spots all Sunday afternoon  long 
during a CQWW SSB contest - to me there was NO OTHER WAY this station  would 
have been able to "miraculously find" some first-time mults on 10M -  within 2 
seconds of them having been spotted!  It happened on Saturday  afternoon as 
well but Sunday's observations were quite pervasive.
 
I did what any one SHOULD DO and wrote to three members of the CQWW contest  
committee expressing my observations and some specific stations worked and the 
 times I heard the QSO's take place.
 
It is a VERY LONG story, but some friends (who have been quite vocal on  this 
topic on these pages this week) wrote to me and suggested perhaps I was  
wrong to have reported the individual and that "I should have asked the  
individual first etc etc".

I elected NOT to do that because what I heard was a CLEAR-CUT PRIMA-FACIE  
CASE OF BLATANT CHEATING - and because of that, there was NO WAY I could have  
been mistaken - nor should I have given the station the "benefit of the doubt"  
which I was also criticized for for NOT DOING.
 
In this case, I think the committee had no hard proof and I know most of  the 
CQWW members and their policy (as I understand it) is, in the absence of  
hard evidence, their hands are tied - even if there are questions about the  
specific operation.  This is a very fine line we are talking about  here folks - 
and I DO NOT BLAME THE COMMITTEE for being CAUTIOUS before just  DQ'ing people.
 
In this specific case, no penalty was exacted - the station was not DQ'd -  
although, I did later approach the station involved myself (I did NOT  
initially) and I told him what I had heard - I did this, if for no other reason,  to 
let him know I KNEW WHAT HE DID - others were told on the committee - and if  
nothing else, I hoped he would cease and desist going forward, knowing he was  
now probably on the "CQWW Committee WATCH LIST."  I am pretty sure such a  
defacto list exists - although these things do not usually ever get discussed  
publicly.
 
So what do we do here?
 
1) Don't cheat!
2) Play by the rules
3) If you hear someone you think is cheating, please DO REPORT it to the  
CQWW committee for investigation and a ruling - that's what they are there  for!
4)You'll have to decide whether you want to confront the person you are  
accusing - and if you do, you damned well better be sure - because YOU WILL LOSE  
A FRIEND IF YOU DO!
 
In my case, this station has not spoken two words to me in 4 years as a  
result - but that is not important to me.
 
I did what I had to do - to me there was NO OTHER OPTION - and I ask that  
the rest of the contest community consult first your conscience - then "DO WHAT  
YOU KNOW SHOULD DO IF YOU THINK IT'S RIGHT!"
 
Hope this helps.
 
And no, I am not interested in flames.
 
I have said my last on this topic.
 
(And please do not write to me privately to ask who it was - the individual  
involved already knows who it was and I do hope he has changed his  ways!  
Naming names at this point serves no useful purpose.)
 
73 JEFF
 
K1ZM/VY2ZM
 




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