[CQ-Contest] Why was 4U1WB Disqualified in the CQ WPX Contest?

W0MU Mike Fatchett w0mu at w0mu.com
Fri Oct 27 20:38:32 EDT 2017


I could be wrong but I thought 4U1WB could only operate at the world 
bank location and 4U1UN from the UN Building in NY.  I do not know if 
4u1ITU is locked in to a specific location in EU.

Thank you for reconsidering and reinstating the log and fixing the 
broken rules!

W0MU


On 10/27/2017 1:02 PM, Terry Zivney wrote:
>   Why was 4U1WB Disqualified in the CQ WPX Contest?
>
> As Masa, AJ3M, noted in his posting about the
> disqualification of 4U1WB in the 2017 CQ WPX SSB
> contest, I informed him that:
>
> "4U1WB violated rule V.C.2:
>
> 2. Special event, commemorative, and other unique prefix stations are encouraged to participate. Prefixes must be assigned by the licensing authority of the country of operation.
>
> 4U1 is not assigned by the FCC, the licensing authority of the USA, which is
> what the log of 4U1WB showed as the country of operation."
>
> *********
>
> The WPX contest rule cited clearly states that the callsign must be assigned
> by the licensing authority. The FCC did not assign the callsign, and
> has no authority to issue 4U1WB callsigns. Thus, the station did not
> operate in compliance with the existing contest rules.
>
> Since 4U1 prefixes can be in multiple countries, rule V.C.1 would also apply.
> The DXCC list includes 4U1UN and 4U1ITU as separate entities. So, the 4U1
> prefix does not denote the country of operation. This rule states:
>
> "A station operating from a DXCC entity different from that indicated
> by its call sign is required to sign portable." Because the 4U1WB callsign
> does not reflect the DXCC entity of USA, it is required to sign portable.
>
> I did not write these rules, but was charged with interpreting and enforcing them.
>
> *********
>
> Why was 4U1WB disqualified in 2017 but not in prior years?
>
> I cannot answer why 4U1WB was not disqualified previously. However, I
> can state that my practice, as I believe is true of most contest directors,
> is to focus most of my attention on the larger scores. 4U1WB's score
> was less than 1 percent of the highest score in his category, so it
> was not eyeballed earlier.
>
> I was proofreading the line scores and top scores boxes for the CQ WPX SSB
> contest shortly before CQ's submission deadline.  These scores change every
> day as new logs are received. I try to let this process continue as long as
> possible to ensure the most accurate log checking. While doing the proofreading,
> I noticed 4U1WB/3 listed in a top scores box. This seemed odd, so I looked
> further. Was this 4U3 or 4U1/W3? What did he send? Reference to his log
> showed he sent 4U1WB and was located in MDC so it was obviously in the USA.
> This resulted in my checking the rules about portable callsigns and the
> rest is history.
>
> *********
>
> I will change the WPX rule V.C.2 for 2018 to reflect a new and improved
> wording, "Prefixes must be issued or permitted by the licensing
> authority of the country of operation."
>
> This revised rule will fit the case of 4U1WB, who has a letter from the
> US Department of State saying that the licensing authority (FCC) has no
> problem with this operation.
>
> I don't believe it was wrong for me to enforce the published rules. The
> fact that all published rules have not been (and maybe even are not) always
> enforced does not mean that they can safely be ignored.
>
> As an example, the  CQWW contest has always had a rule that the exchange
> includes the zone, yet for many years the directors of the CQWW
> did not penalize operators for incorrectly reporting the exchange.
> Indeed, one of the former directors published an article in CQ Contest
> magazine saying that the exchange would not be checked! Yet, in recent years
> the exchange has been checked and operators penalized for incorrectly
> recording the exchange.  No advance notice was given of this change in
> practice.  It was always in the rules and now the rules are enforced.
>
> **********
>
> Resolution of problem
>
> 1) Rule V.C.2 will be clarified for the 2018 WPX contest as noted above
> 2) In the spirit of good sportsmanship, the 4U1WB 2017 logs will be removed
> from disqualified status and his corrected scores entered in our online databases.
> 3) An errata will be posted on the CQWPX.com website
>
> I am so sorry that this experience caused Masa grief. I respect
> both Masa and his contest club. I meant no disrespect to either Masa
> or his contest club over this situation.
>
> 73
>
> Terry N4TZ, CQ WPX Contest Director
>
> This message was posted at 1701 UTC, October 27, 2017
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