[CQ-Contest] Answer to accept from "cheaters" and contest sponsors

[Charles Harpole]

I contested from 1959 to about 1990 exactly obeying the rules and
especially really believing that all contesters were doing the same.  I
even gained a very few wins of my category or top 20 rankings.  Then,
various acquaintances began to slip around me with comments that led me to
see that cheating was common, and often among some big scores.  I think it
is true today, and I think that some clubs encourage cheating and assist
certain members to cheat and score big.

The result has been that I still contest but my enjoyment is reduced, not
because I am driven to win, but because I feel involved in a tainted
activity.  More often, I work, say 500, but do not bother to send in a
log.  Sending a log feels pointless.  Awareness of the tainted process has
helped me to see other taints, especially in DXCC, and to be aware and
repulsed by the "insiders" of the hobby, the "old boy" arrangement at high
places.

I am further repulsed when I see so many widely lauding ham radio as the
last honerable activity with the idea that when one enters the ham realm,
one mingles with a special breed.  Hams buy and sell radios in a remarkably
honorable system;  hams climb other ham's towers for a pizza dinner; and
hams, otherwise strangers, stay over in each other's homes during visits.
I wonder if I am expecting too much to have that ham spirit include
contests, too.  Also, I know honorable hams who will stick to their honest
guns personally, but will not speak out about "others."

A real characteristic of "the ham spirit" avoids openly calling a spade a
spade.  We know Italian ops are world infamous as the worst DX operators,
for example, but we keep quiet about it publically.  Maybe we need The Old
Man back with his Rotten Radio notes.  I have been surprised at how deeply
hams want to put their heads in the sand.  I have been banned from five ham
reflectors for speaking my observations about everything from the CW
Skimmer to how a well-loved radio model is not better than sliced bread.  I
may be banned from cq-contest, now.

My answer to your question,  NO, I AM NOT OK WITH THAT.

Charly, K4VUD



On Thu, Jan 31, 2013 at 1:32 AM, Michael Adams <mda at n1en.org> wrote:

> Doug KR2Q asks:
>
> > "Are you OK with that?"
>
>
> I'm answering here from the viewpoint of a relative newcomer to amateur
> radio, one who enjoys contesting but has no real delusions of being a
> "serious" competitor.
>
> One of the reasons I fell into amateur radio so deeply, so quickly, is that
> I was tired of being bothered by "stuff" in other pastimes.   For example,
> I used to maintain a website for a different hobby, and I just got sick of
> being bothered by working around the virtual canine landmines of spam and
> advertising or in trying to keep with the latest developments.  It used to
> be fun to me....but it's not anymore.
>
> While it's possible to be exposed in amateur radio to some of the same
> general kinds of frustrations I've had with other pastimes... really, it's
> just kind of relaxing to let some time go by -- me, the transceiver, a set
> of paddles, and a wire or two -- and see who, or what, I can find on the
> bands.
>
> Sure, I can see the appeal of walnut and wallpaper, and I wouldn't mind
> having some to decorate the shack....but when I'm contesting, it's just an
> extension of finding relaxation in seeing who/what is on.   I'm a little
> pistol, playing without a real expectation of winning, just for the fun of
> it.   Scores and rankings don't necessarily matter given my simple goals,
> but they do add a bit of interest to the discussion surrounding the
> contest, to extend the enjoyment of a particularly fun weekend, or to whet
> interest in an upcoming test.
>
> So, am I OK with cheating?   No, not really.  But as long as there's some
> space for me to be able to play, as long as there is enough activity to
> hold my interest, I refuse to be too bothered by it.  Why spoil something
> that I enjoy by stressing over other people doing things I can't control?
>
> I'm not opposed to anti-cheating measures, because I respect that the
> competition is a big deal to some.  I just ask that those measures not be
> too onerous on the more casual participants.
>
> --
> *Michael D. Adams* (N1EN)
> Poquonock, Connecticut | mda at n1en.org
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>



-- 
Charly, HS0ZCW