There are written accounts of FCC inspections in the book "Don C.
Wallace: W6AM, Amateur Radio's Pioneer." According to the author N6AW,
the inspectors showed up at Don's with a FS meter in the car. After
adjusting the rheostat on his way to answer the door, Don was asked to
match the previous FS power level reading. Don said something like "OK
which of the 16 rhombics should I use?" As the inspectors were unable
to verify which antenna was selected during the initial readings, the
W6AM crew got off with a warning that year. Apparently some other
stations were indeed cited and DQ'ed that same year.
Cheating sucks, and the people doing it deliberately should be
discovered and dealt with. Hats off to the institutions and
individuals trying to do something about it. Some guys have been
cheating for so long that they've convinced themselves that it is
acceptable. I've heard things like "it's the only way to compete with
X who has a huge geographic advantage" or "they are all doing it...",
etc. etc. I don't care what the reason or excuse is. Cheating hurts
the sport and ruins the game for everyone trying to compete. The truth
is that cheaters will continue to find new ways to cheat, but we
should make it as difficult on them as possible. Don't operate with
cheaters. Don't nod your head or look the other way if you hear people
bragging about it. It's not cool, it's not OK, and it's nothing to be
proud of.
We must also avoid the witch hunt mentality and not accuse people
without some very strong evidence. Accusing someone of cheating is a
fine line to walk, and there's no turning back once it's done -- trust
me. There's also the fact that nobody really likes a snitch, or wants
to be one. That may be another reason why we don't see much peer
pressure in radio sport.
73 Kirk K4RO
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