[UK-CONTEST] QRM?

[Peter Hobbs]

> ...they are using help of other
> "members" and as soon as you send QRL? within anywhere
> Closer than 1.5kHz from main man's run qrg, they will send yes. If they
> missed you in that you could be sure of deliberate QRM and jamming.

Jiri,

Many thanks for shedding light on these matters - very helpful.  If this 
means what I think it does, we have mafia-style behaviour here, no different 
in principle to tactics used in the drug business.  I doubt very much if the 
contest organisers are aware of the extent and rapid growth of this type of 
activity, which I also witnessed at the weekend but hadn't appreciated the 
extent of the cooperative effort involved.  There seem to be two choices, 
either to boycot the events concerned, or to persuade the contest organisers 
to take robust action to penalise or disqualify entrants who rely upon these 
practices.

As the rules stand for multi-op entrants, there is a danger that what Jiri 
is describing could even be considered legal and so rule changes may be 
necessary to clarify the situation.  Concerns over skimmer etc. pale into 
nothing compared to the establishment of such a "team" behind a major 
entrant.  With most contests held only once a year, it may take some time 
for any defensive measures to bite.  Naming and shaming in soapbox comments 
might help, but a lot of resource would be needed to assemble the sort of 
evidence upon which action could reasonably be taken.  Contest police? 
Forget it - this is (at least for most of us) still a hobby.

73, Peter G3LET