[CQ-Contest] Category hopping

[jimk8mr at aol.com]

A couple of thoughts:


During the contest, did anybody care what category CR3L was planning to enter? Would anybody have done anything differently during the contest had they known CR3L was going to be M/M rather than M/2?


In another year or two there won't be all that much difference between M/2 and M/M, as ten meters goes away and it is a two band contest during the daylight hours, with perhaps six "band change" multipliers between the two running stations. This is especially true on SSB, where 160 and to some extent 75 are not great sources of QSOs. I recall operating at PJ2T in CQWW CW in 2008 (M/2), when we had something like 35 QSOs total on 10 meters.


What on earth is at stake here? There are no financial rewards for winning a category. There may be a slight difference in WRTC qualifying points, though one is not going to qualify for WRTC without a lot of very good single operator scores. Does it make one feel good if they won M/M, knowing that at least two other stations did better than they did, with the handicap of being on only two band at a time?




73  -  Jim  K8MR







-----Original Message-----
From: Jeff Clarke <ku8e at bellsouth.net>
To: cq-contest <cq-contest at contesting.com>
Sent: Tue, Dec 8, 2015 2:24 pm
Subject: [CQ-Contest]  Category hopping

Maarten PD2R -

Maybe you didn't understand my comment? You are taking my words out of context.

I never suggested that CR3L cheated or should be DQ'ed like others have. I only stated what they did by category hopping is unethical. Period.

I also didn't call them cheaters like UT5UGR. I only suggested that they not sit back and purposely not defend their actions by ignoring this discussion much like Dimitry did last year.

The bottom line is category hopping isn't an accepted contesting practice. If doing this is part of your contesting strategy then maybe you shouldn't post your score on 3830 or wait until after the log deadline so you don't face any scrutiny. With the cheating that's been going on recently you will.

Jeff KU8E