Don,
My feeling is that almost everyone who contests
signs a statement that they lived by the rules
when in fact they may have not. They probably do
not even know they may have violated this rule or
that regulation. I don't see how anyone, given the
complexity of regulations and technical standards
that anyone can follow all the rules to the
letter, all the time.
If you run a transmitter on SSB and have the
processor cranked and splatter all over the band,
you have violated the rules. If you QRZ on a
single frequency for 15 minutes before IDing, you
have violated the rules. If your transmitter on CW
clicks and/or chirps you have violated the rules.
The FCC rules state that everyone must use the
minimum power necessary to conduct all contacts
and that rule is violated by every High Power
contest operator out there. When a station
running the 1.5 KW amp works a station I just
worked when I was running 5 watts, he has violated
FCC rules yet he still signs the statement that he
followed the rules to the letter. If I work
someone at 5 watts and someone else works the same
station at 1 watt, I have violated the rules.
This rule is typically violated by every ham radio
operator out there whether contesting or not.
I hear that kind of stuff all the time in
contests. How many have violated the rules to one
extent or another? I bet just about everyone, at
one time or another.
I see the statement of following the rules as " I
followed the rules for every contact "claimed"
during the contest" If I make a mistake and then
do not count the contact in the log, I have
satisfied the requirement of "following the
rules". I wonder how many make the mistakes and
still claim they follow the rules by counting it
in the log. I made a mistake by working someone
out of band, I did not count it, The only
contacts included in the log were contacts that
were made inside the band. Technically I could
say that the one contact I made outside the band
was not during the contest but during a short
"rest period" which is not counted as part of the
log. Had that station not asked me to check my
frequency, I would never had realised what was
going on. Technicaly It would have been wrong to
include the contact. If I had then I would heve
been as guilty as all the others who have
"violated" the rules.
I admire you for DQing yourself, but should we
kill the whole log, the whole time spent as wasted
simply because we make one little mistake that is
not included in that log? I think not. If I make
one mistake and DQ the whole darn effort then I
guess I will not be a contester for very long. Rag
chewing is a whole lot easier and ther are just
that many less rules to worry about.
This whole thread started with mistakes made while
contesting. Some are very amusing. I wonder how
many of them DQed their logs. I think we will
find out. How many that submitted funny stories
while contesting DQed yourselves after doing it?
Don, I believe as you do, but when it comes right
down to it, I do not believe that everyone is
perfect all the time. I know I am not
73
Thom WI8W
----- Original Message -----
From: <K4BEV@aol.com>
To: <wi8w@attbi.com>
Sent: Sunday, February 03, 2002 16:13 PM
Subject: Re: [CQ-Contest] On my signing that
summary sheet
> In a message dated 2/3/02 09:17:25 Central
Standard Time, wi8w@attbi.com
> writes:
>
> << Yep, and so did everyone else who ever made a
little mistake that violated
> the rules. >>
>
> Hi Thom,
>
> Where did this come from?
> When I had a general I would occasionally find
myself in an advanced class
> band segment in a contest. I always DQd myself
and didn't send in a log. I
> was also much more careful in following
contests.
> Been a while since I've caught myself breaking a
rule, but when I do I will
> still be a DQ. Now I would send a check log
though. Live & Learn.
>
> While my working a station "out of band" isn't
going to get me into the top
> 10, or give me a big advantage over my
competitors (either of them). The
> deal, as I see it, is you either agree to play
by the rules AND accept their
> consequences, or you don't.
>
> Take care,
> Don - K4BEV
>
> BTW - My posts aren't accepted on the CQ-Contest
reflector (don't know why)
> so I reply privately.
>
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