[UK-CONTEST] Clusters again

[Chris Tran]

Hi Clive, Dave, Don, Graham et al

Use of the DX Cluster is at the core of current contesting credibility
problems, yet many contest organisers and contestants have not realised the
magnitude of the problem, or have chosen to ignore it. I admire CQ WW for
their initiatives in disqualifying stations in recent years, but when I made
a big fuss in 1998 and again in 2000 about DJ7AA cheating in CQ WW SSB, I
was told "he is a very good operator" - more like "he is a very good cheat
but we can't DQ him" - so things are definitely improving on the CQ WW
front.

There are now a whole generation of contesters and DXers who have never
known the 'pre DX Cluster' era, so the option to remove Assisted sections is
not a real option - however there are a reassuring number of ops (not just
old timers) who will *never* use the DX Cluster in contests, simply because
they know that whatever score they achieve in a contest is achieved entirely
by their own efforts and the contest is much more interesting and enjoyable
anyway.

73
Chris
GM3WOJ