[CQ-Contest] RES: RES: Club/Group competition 275 km radius in CQContest (petition for change).

[C. 'Fred' Johnson]

With all due respect I have been paying attention. I'm also keenly aware 
of the recent situation(s) that have occurred among the contesting 
community with respect to cheating.

While I agree that there needs to be things done to address those 
particular instances, I have watched (again, silently) as the remedies 
for these potential violations of contests rules have produced some, to 
put it lightly, fairly draconian measures. I've also seen some pretty 
practical solutions that would be designed to 1) deter the 
"unacceptable" behavior in a contest 2) allow participants to 
participate in a contest without having to submit to near Orwellian 
measures to just submit a score.

I stopped contesting a long time ago primarily because I no longer had 
the space and with the underlying tone of "guilty until proven 
innocent", it was not worth the effort.

Perhaps the best solution that I've seen is that "if we don't like that 
particular contest sponsor's rules, then don't participate in the 
contest". It won't do me much good to write a novel on CQ-Contest 
detailing why I'm not on the air, I'll just do something else. Sadly, 
that's what it's become.


Best 73's
Fred "Not Guilty Until Proven Innocent", WT2P

On 04/08/2011 08:00 PM, David Gilbert wrote:
>
> Aside from whatever financial investment some folks might have in the 
> hobby of radiosport, there is no question that making a serious entry 
> in a major contest represents a significant investment of time and 
> effort.  It's a grind, both physically and mentally, and it puts a 
> significant demand on the operator and possibly his family.  Why would 
> I or anyone else do that if it was known that a number of other 
> serious entrants have been cheating and that the contests sponsors 
> weren't attempting to do anything about it?   Would you simply turn a 
> blind eye to that sort of thing in any other sport?  I'm not a 
> competent enough contester to be directly affected, but I can easily 
> see why many others would be.
>
> If you don't think cheating is an issue in our ranks, you haven't been 
> paying attention.
>
> Dave   AB7E
>
>
>
>
> On 4/8/2011 1:19 PM, C. 'Fred' Johnson wrote:
>> What's going to be next for radio contesting (a vision I see):
>>
>> -Submit 3 DNA samples
>> -Hire a lawyer to certify your results/logs
>> -In order to "keep it pure" you will be penalized for not being within
>> 50 miles of another club member (NYC/Chicago hams will be ok, unless
>> someone deems you/your other club member's QTH spacing to be "an unfair
>> advantage")
>> -24 Hour Surveillance/webcam/audio of your contesting effort. If your
>> station is in an area where there's no meaningful broadband access, then
>> too bad.
>>
>> I prefer to keep the lawyers and the peeping eye technology at work. Not
>> in a "hobby". Take a deep breath and think logically.
>> Logical/rational/spirited (yet civil) debate is lacking in all aspects
>> these days. Apparently even in ham radio.
>>
>> 73, wt2p
>>
>>