[CQ-Contest] Cheating

[Carol Richards]

I have been reading the comments posted and I would like to add my $.03 (inflation).worth.

1. The organizers of this year's WRTC did a fantastic job of leveling the playing field. At my QTH, every signal sounded identitcal in signal strength. This is a marked 
    improvement over the previous WRTC competeitions.

2. The level of skill by the operators was certainly as high as one could ever hope for. Each country should be extremely proud of their representatives.

3. Contesting is a sport,much akin to the Olympics. Over the years even the Olympics have also been plagued by accusations of cheating. Everything from using 
    professional athletes to the use of performance enhancing substances has been addressed. As a result, each succeeding Olympics has focused on "leveling the 
    playing field"  in order to keep the emhasis on the skils of the participants. I have the same confidence in future WRTC sponsors.

4. As for ways to acomplish this fact, suggestions have been proposed to eliminate the "recognition factor" with the use of technology. ( pre-recorded .wav files, the
    mandatory use of F-1 - F-12 keys, etc. ) I contend that such impositions will be counter-productive to the basic premise of WRTC; i.e., the emphasis on operating
    skills.

"Cheerleading" is always a factor in competion. The Super Bowl, the World Series, the World Cup etc. are prime examples of its' influence. Even the so-called "home venue" may have some effect on the outcome of an event. Cheerleading has become an accepted practice. It spurs the competitors to achieve at their highest levels, but does it really influence the outcome? No more than a referee missing a crucial call, or a player fumbling the ball, or a player missing an easy goal.The ultimate difference between victory or defeat lies with the competetors themselves. WRTC is a competition that requires many levels of skills. So what if one station is spotted more than another. Each WRTC station never lacks for callers, whether they are spotted or not. Winning comes down to working more stations than everyone else, acquiring more multipliers than anyone else, and knowing how to use the propagation better than anyone else. 

Let's remain focused on the reason WRTC exists. It is a measure of the operating skills of each team. Packet spotting is not the problem as some would believe. What happened in the previous competition was the "possible" use of calls that were not in the contest.