[UK-CONTEST] CQWWSSB Results + Packet-cheats

[G3SXW]

Dear UK-Contest,
Results of the CQ WW SSB 2002 contest are published
in CQ Magazine, August 2003.

Many congratulations to Chris/GM3WOJ for winning top
Single-Operator in Europe, signing GD6IA.
UK top-placings are:
GI5W - Assisted/all-band, world 3rd, Europe 1st
G3UEG - Low Power/1.8MHz, world 6th, Europe 5th
GD6IA - Single Op/All-Band, Europe 1st (6.1m)
GM7V - Single Op/All-Band, Europe 2nd (5.7m)
GW4BLE - Single Op/All-Band, Europe 4th (5.3m)
GW3JXN - QRP/All Band, Europe 10th
MU0C - Multi-Op/Two Transmitter, Europe 6th
GM5A - Multi-Op/Multi-Transmitter, Europe 4th

For those who haven't seen it, I thought perhaps the
'Comments' section by K3EST bears repeating here.
This new software will stop packet-cheating and so will
increase credibility of the contest.
73 de Roger/G3SXW (CQ WW International Advisor).

quote
Packet is available as a tool in all the Multi categories
and the Assisted category. It is *not* available as a tool
in any other category. The *only* Single Operator
category that allows packet or *any* spotting assistance
is the Assisted category. There are two general mis-
uses of packet. The first is self-spotting. This mis-use
applies to *any* category, including Assisted. You cannot
use any means to solicit QSOs on the packet/the internet.
The rules are clear on this subject. The second is using
any DX spotting means (i.e. packet) to find QSOs. This is
okay for all the Multi and Assisted categories. The misuse 
occurs when an entrant does *not* claim packet but *uses*
packet. There can be several reasons for mistakenly not
claiming packet: You forgot to claim the correct category;
you just submitted your log without worrying; you were not
familiar with the rules.
Over the last several years the CQ WW Contest Committee
has developed software that allows the detection of packet
use. Thanks to the co-operation of all the major packet
services, we were able to create a massive file of all packet
call-outs during the CQ WW SSB test. This year we checked
all 4100 SSB logs against this packet file. The results are
very heartening. Only 12 logs were reclassified. Since the CQ
WW is the first contest to analyze logs in this manner, we have
had to develop some ways to deal with packet misuse. The
first step is a letter of enquiry asking the entrant if he used
packet and forgot to indicate the proper category in the
summary information. This usually solves the problem, being
that most misclassifications are human errors of omission.
After a second year of not claiming the use of packet, a
warning letter is sent. Thereafter, the entrant's log will become
a checklog. First and second violations lead to proper
classification as Assisted. Third violations cause the logs to
become checklogs. It is easy to avoid problems: Claim the
category you actually entered. It is that simple.
unquote