The A-R-Double-L

Amateur radio is an activity governed by rules and regulations more than almost any other non-commercial activity. Firstly, amateurs are bound by the rules for amateur radio operation established by their governments regarding frequency, power and other limits of their operation. Those who pursue the art of DXing are bound by the rules of the various DX programs in which they participate. Contesters are bound by the rules of the contests in which they operate.

Where ever there are rules, there are inevitably rule breakers, intentional or not. Some are blatant, others, not so much. For every rule there is an interpretation of what the rule actually means. In the case of award programs and contests in particular, there is even room to argue that rules are wrong.

Opinions on these matters, like certain body parts, are universally widespread among the populace. This has lead to a sub-genre of activity in the amateur radio world defending or attacking various rules and interpretations. To date, this activity has been haphazard and un-organized. Amateurs, however, love clubs and organizations. Except for those who hate clubs and organizations - another argument for another day. But for those who feel a need for organization and recognition, we are proud to announce the founding of the Armchair Radio Lawyers League (A-R-Double-L).

The A-R-Double-L is predicated on the assumption that everyone has watched enough episodes of Law and Order to be a self-educated lawyer and can apply that astute thinking to interpreting the rules of the DXCC program or the 10-minute rule for CQWW and can argue their opinion persuasively without resorting to childhood epithets involving bodily parts. Hence, it is not expected to attract a large crowd of 75m ragchewers.

A new list-serv dedicated to A-R-Double-L arguments will be created. As needed, special list-servs may be created for individual topics such as “Should Scarborough Reef be considered ‘land’?” and “What actually constitutes ‘assistance’ during a contest?”. The hope is that these will remove some of the dreck from CQ-Contest*.

The Armchair Radio Lawyer League will be administered by the law firm of Howe, Dewey, Cheatham and Wynn.

* The Armchair Radio Lawyer League has no affiliation with the CQ-Contest website, the CQ-Contest list-serv or Major League Baseball.

Cheaters Rejoice – Your Day is Near

The recent mast up the posterior for some of the contestcenti over on CQ-Contest is cheating in contests. Or more specifically, how to prevent and detect suspected cheating in contests. To date, the Russian DX Contest is setting new standards in either cheating prevention and detection or paranoia, depending on one’s viewpoint. To date, only the CQWW Contest Committee (CCC -hmmm, seems to be an old acronym) has had the cojones to start disqualifying serious competitors and naming names, or calls at least. If you are an avid reader of CQ-Contest (which should probably qualify for some sort of entry in the DSM), then you might suspect there’s a cheating contester under every other bed. I think the last time we heard such prognostications it came from a fellow going by the name of McCarthy, and he didn’t have an EI call.

Of course every contestcenti worth his monobanders proclaims their innocence. Everyone they know operates above board and clean as a whistle. It seems everyone knows who the cheaters are, but no one actually admits to knowing one.

Well, the day is fast approaching when contest cheaters can throw caution to the wind and fully and openly participate in a contest that not only celebrates but encourages cheating in the most extreme manner. I speak of the Poisson d’Avril Contest, held annually on April 1 since 1896. Yes, this contest pre-dates radio itself.

By its very nature and lack of meaningful rules or organization, the Poisson d’Avril Contest demands stretching the limits of propriety and common sense and, perhaps, the laws of several states. In the spirit of the contest, for 2011, contest logs are due within 48 hours BEFORE the contest begins. Work quickly, as time is shorter than you think!

The prima donna, kingpin, and perennial winner of the Poisson d’Avril Contest, K1DG, is claiming to relinquish his top spot this year. However, it will cost you to replace him. Literally.

The winner of the 2011 Poisson d’Avril Contest will have to buy the win. Not with sweat, hardware, BIC time, and good propagation, but with cold hard cash. That’s right – cheaters of the world rejoice! There is no need to waste 24 or 48 hours of battling the bands and other cheaters to eek out a Top Ten finish. You can BUY a FIRST PLACE FINISH from the comfort of your Lazy-Boy. This contest is not about a boy and his radio, but a boy and his wallet. It's not who has the biggest tower, but the deepest checkbook.

Lest you think K1DG has finally revealed his true nature, sadly no. The proceeds from the Poisson d’Avril Contest will go to support WRTC2014, an event we’ll never be invited to, so this is as close as we can get to participating.

A Meeting of the Big Guns

Word has reached the Fi-Ni Report of an unprecedented meeting of the minds among the contestcenti. Several months ago the heads of the Five Families of American contest clubs met in a top-secret location identified only by the code name Aytonday to discuss a dire threat to amateur radio-sport, aka contesting. The Dons and Capos of the five largest contest clubs gathered in secret to address the sluggish Cycle 24 and potential remedies. In attendance were the heads of the Yankee Candle Contest Club (YCCC), the Primarily Virginia Radio Contesters (PVRC), the Funky Radio Contesters (FRC), the Sorta-inda Middle Contesters (SMC), and the No Chance Contest Club (NCCC).

News of the secret meeting was smuggled out via carrier pigeon and NTS traffic nets. The cabal discussed ways to address the sputtering performance of the current Cycle 24 solar cycle in an effort to increase contest activity and scores.

Suggestions ranged from asking for a federal bailout for Big Gun stations to a proposal to inquire of the Louisiana family, uh, contest club if they had connections with the New Orleans voodoo community who might be able to do something to address the problem. It was suggested that the residents of 14.230 would be suitable for human sacrifice if needed. A suggestion to move all the contest stations to the Caribbean was deemed impractical, at least at this point.

The most promising proposal presented was to attempt to resurrect the Palos Verde Sundancers to see if they can breath some life in a asthmatic sun spot cycle. However, last seen, the Sundancers were doing an afternoon review show in a Reno casino for the seniors catching the Early Bird special at the buffet. Its uncertain if they can be coaxed back to their old dancing grounds, especially since it now resides in a gated community that probably won't look kindly on such shenanigans.

Unable to reach a consensus, the heads of the Five Families departed and went in search of amplifier tubes with handles.

Keeping Us Straight

It's 0001Z Monday morning. Around the world, contesters are rejoicing in joy or sighing in relief as they end another weekend of contesting. The contest is over.

But not for a dedicated group amateurs intent on insuring all participants in the contest played fair. The Contest Score Investigators (CSI) are gearing up to investigate evidence of cheating by radio-sport competitors. They will spend countless hours in the succeeding weeks, perhaps months, scouring logs of cluster spots, and audio recordings looking for evidence of rule infractions, whether those of the station's country radio rules or those of the contest sponsor's. This dedicated team committed to the strict rule of law, will continue even after the official results of the contest have been release, meaning their work may go on for more than a year. In contests where competitor's logs are released publicly, the CSI team will dissect the individual logs of competitors suspected of cheating, looking for evidence. Instead of spending hours in front of a radio, the CSI team members spends them in front of a computer screen, running statistical analyses and looking for patterns of suspicious behavior in IP trace routes.

The CSI are not paid by the hour, administrative lackeys, tiny cogs in the giant machinery of justice. No, their mission is entirely self-appointed. No contest sponsor asks for their assistance policing the sport of radio contesting. Their findings carry no weight, except in the court of public opinion, usually on the CQ-Contest reflector. Are their findings anticipated for their insight? Hardly. Almost every report from a CSI analysis results in additional, conflicting analysis from other CSIs. Rarely is a consensus reached or action taken as a result of any CSI analysis. Discussions, or arguments, about them rage for months after the contest or even the final results. While the CSI analysts slice and dice the data from the last big contest, the competitors have moved on and operated several more. Meaning that the CSI's work will never be done.

Open vs Closed

Commentary by Cousin QRM

The recent tiff between the German and the Spaniard HQ stations regarding last year's I-R-R-U Contest (motto: Are You? I Are) has dredged up a new re-occurring theme among the contestrati – Open versus Closed Logs. We haven't quite figured out where in the schedule the Open Log debate should fit on CQ-Contest, so its occurrence is still somewhat random.

In this instance, the Spanish HQ team alleged some definitely unkosher behavior occurring in the German HQ team's log after a review of said log. The German's did not appreciate being the focus of this new Inquisition and denied their team did anything wrong. Besides, they couldn't be responsible for the actions of some over-zealous fellow countrymen, and anyway, the Spaniard's log didn't look exactly squeaky clean, either.

One of the outgrowths of this controversy has been a revival of the arguments pro and con regarding making contest logs open to all gawkers. The Open Log contingent argue that contest sponsors should make all logs available for inspection, since there are no secrets to contesting except keep your butt in the chair and work stations, and if you don't want your logs open, just what are you hiding?

The Closed Log contingent point out that the latter argument was used very effectively back in the 1950's by one Senator Joseph McCarthy, a reference that probably loses resonance outside of North America. Some of the Closed Log coterie argue that there ARE secrets in their logs, and they have nothing to do with phony Qs or rubber clocking. Besides, forcing a contester to open his log for all to see violates his Fifth Amendment right against self-incrimination, another reference that loses resonance outside of the North American borders.

Cousin QRM has thoughtfully weighed the points of both sides in deciding where he and the LIDS should come down on this controversy. After careful deliberation, Cousin QRM has decided to side with the Closed Log crowd. It is far too risky that sneaky competitors will glean critical information from a careful analysis of the LIDS logs. Our hard won competitive knowledge, skills and advantages could be easily erased by clever bit-shifters.

In fact, now that this threat has been brought to our attention, we're getting down right paranoid. How do know we can trust the contest sponsors with our log? Once they finish tabulating our score, what else are they going to do with that log? Hey, the log checkers are contesters, too. Now, I don't want to cast aspersions on the many honest, hard working volunteers who do the log checking for all the contests we enjoy. But it only takes one bad apple to spoil the whole bunch, girl, at least according to the Jackson 5. Again, we just can't take that chance.

A contester can be hoisted upon his own petard with an open log, too, as demonstrated by last year's CQWW logs which showed certain Big Guns operating outside of their 160m band allocations. Now, we're all allowed a mistake or two getting too close to a band edge. Just because it wasn't noticed for over two hours during a run doesn't mean it wasn't an honest mistake. Right?

We're also getting worried about those QSL cards we receive following each contest. Could they, perhaps, be a surreptitious way to finagle key portions of our logs out of us? What a brilliant strategy! And all these years we thought we were helping out WAS and county hunting paper chasers. Now, we see the real motive. This goes far deeper than anyone could imagine.

So, effective immediately, Cousin QRM and the LIDS will not be submitting logs for ANY contest, anymore. No logs, no LOTW uploads, no QSLs. Nuthing! No matter how much K5ZD begs, we're not sending in our logs. That doesn't mean we're giving up contesting. Not at all. We'll still be in their fighting just as hard as ever, but we won't send in our logs. Just can't take the chance the wrong eyes might see our award winning secrets. It's a shame too. I'm pretty sure this is the year we will win Multi-Multi on both modes of CQWW. Oh well, guess you'll just have to take our word for it when we announce our claimed score.

Poisson d'Avril Contest 2010

We are once again about to witness one of the most blatantly corrupt, nefarious, perfidious, and unscrupulous events of the year. No, it’s not time for another congressional election. I refer to the Poisson d’Avril Contest, held every April 1^st, whether anyone cares or not. This is advertised as the 56^th running of the Poisson d’Avril Contest, although records only seem to exist back to 2006.

K1DG, by his own proclamation, has won every running of the contest since its inception. That should make K1DG fast approaching an age that should give others hope of winning this contest soon. Very soon.

Despite rule changes and calls for more openness in adjudication of the results, K1DG has maintained a steadfast attitude of “Nana nana na-na”. He has even gone so far as to retain the services of the law firm of Hungadunga, Hungadunga, Hungadunga, Hungadunga, and McCormick to defend his grip on control of the contest. Frankly, we are impressed. But we’ll still put the LIDS official law firm of Howe, Dewy, Cheatham, and Wynn up against them any day.

The LIDS considered funding a CQWW-style observer to go to K1DG’s station and observe him during the contest. But the plan was abandoned when it was pointed out that the problem was not in the contest, but in the scoring. As LBJ once said, “Let ‘em vote for who that want to, just as long as I get to count the votes.” DG is our LBJ.

So, once again this Thursday, the electorate will sheepishly head to the polls and re-elect the same scoundrels to office. Wait. That’s not for another six months.

So, once again this Thursday, the hopeful and the brash will attempt to de-throne the king of Poisson from his self-appointed throne. Regardless of the band conditions, regardless of the QRM, regardless of activity level, we think we know how this will all turn out.

15m Band Reappears After Long Absence

The 15 Meter Band recently reappeared after an unexplained absence of more than three years.

The 15 Meter Band, a workhorse for contesters and DX'ers worldwide, has been missing for over three years but recently made an unexpected, but long overdue, reappearance during the recent ARRL DX CW contest. No explanation of the long absence was offered by the band. When approached for a comment, the sometimes cantankerous band responded with "Wha'sit to ya? Bugger off."

The band, which performed brilliantly at its peak, was often undependable and erratic in the years before it's disappearance. It was known for periodic, unexplained absences, at time failing to show up for weekend contests with no explanation or apologies offered.

The recent three plus year absence has been attributed by supporters to certain solar conditions. However the band has been hounded with allegations of substance abuse for years. It was rumored that the 15 Meter Band has shared time in rehab with such celebrities as Charlie Sheen and Brittney Spears, with whom it was rumored to have been romantically linked.

Representatives for the band claim it is in good health and will only continue to improve with each contest and will soon be demonstrating the performance that made it a superstar at its peak.

The 15 Meter Band's cousin, the 10 Meter Band, is still missing in action with the exception of some small, weak flurries of activities.

Demon DX Dog Storms the Web

Our good friend K1NSS over at Dashtoons.com has started a nice section featuring those Second Ops many of us have in the shack. He's been kind enough to include some pics of Cousin QRM's Demon DX Dog among the gallery. Triple D hasn't mastered the key yet, but he is handy at holding a run frequency on phone while Cousin takes a bio break. Does that make Cousin Single-Op Assisted? Hardly. If anything there should be a Single-Op Distracted category. But some claim that's what the cluster is for.

Fi-Ni Report's End of Year Top Ten List

End of the year means it's time to look back and look forward. My crystal ball is a little murky, but here is Cousin QRM's Top Ten Contest and DX Events for 2009. This is a very scientific culmination of what popped into my head. Agree? Disagree? Enjoy.

1. Sunspots

Or rather the lack of them. The predictions by the 'experts' throughout that year that cycle 24 would start "any time now" had the hollow ring of the politician's cry that the economic recovery was "imminent". Finally, we did see some sun spots toward the end of the year. But so far Cycle 24 has been about as robust as the economic recovery.

2. CQWW Contest Committee Gets Some Cohonies

After years of not-so-quietly-whispered rumors about rampant cheating by some competitors, the contesting world was SHOCKED to see several disqualifications handed down by the CQWW Contest Committee. On a roll, the contest committee then implemented some rule changes, among them the requirement for competitors to allow on-site visits to stations during the contest. No more looking at your neighbor's paper for the answers. Now if the ARRL would follow suit.

3. New contest clubs

2009 saw it's usual bemoaning of the death of amateur radio. But the sport of radio contesting continues to attract more and more participants, except from the world of nets. The most encouraging sign of the growth in contesting is the establishment of at least two new regional contest clubs. The Arizona Outlaws and the Louisiana Contest Club opened up shop this year, bringing new blood and camaraderie to the contesting scene. Growth is a sign of health.

4. DXpeditions

It seems no matter where we are in the sunspot cycle, there are always intrepid adventurers ready to go to some rock in an ocean and provide The Deserving with a new one, or two. For 2009 we tip our hat to the folks who brought us K5D, K4M, TX3A, and VK9GMW. They brought us top drawer entertainment, not to mention a couple of new counters.

5. 7O1YGF Accreditation

This one belongs among the Eternal Enigmas of DXing. We had long ago tossed this card in with our Romeo collection for the DXDCCC award. Suddenly, eight years after the fact, this one counts. Like manna from Newington, the news had many of us jumping for joy. Given recent world developments, this may likely be the last operation from 7O for some time, unless you count occupation forces.

6. Xtreme Contesting

The CQWW Contesting Committee makes our year end list again. Showing foresight and courage, they created a new just-about-anything-goes category to encourage advancement of the technology that is going to take radiosporting into the 21st century. While we've yet to see what will be made of this new opportunity, we applaud the effort to make it available. Ultimately, Machco Cueso and Leche Dinero will be recognized as the champions they are.

7. Blogs

This entry might seem a bit self-serving, but as the year came to an end, Cousin QRM had an epiphany. I get more of my day-to-day amateur radio news, information and entertainment from blogs than anywhere else. KA3DRR, K3NG, and G4ILO are must-reads on a regular basis, for their blog rolls if nothing else. Radio-sport.net is THE source for actual contesting news. Sad to say that the traditional dead-tree news sources have shrunk in importance. They are still enjoyable for the articles, but there is little 'news' in them by the time they arrive on the doorstep. This is true throughout the publishing industry, but our small niche is perhaps more vulnerable than the mass-market magazines. Hopefully, they can still turn a profit and keep publishing.

8. CQ-Contest

Like a pair of favorite worn-out jeans, the CQ-Contest reflector continues to provide comfort and utility. Comfort in knowing that regardless of whatever else may happen in the world, we can count on the annual arguments about cut numbers, Sweepstakes checks, and packet cheating. Somewhere among all the chaff, is an occasional nugget of useful information that (usually) makes all the other worthwhile. Not to mention that it provides inspiration for at least half the entries on this blog.

9. LoTW

The ARRL's Logbook of the World has matured into a useful tool for the DX'er. It still has it's many flaws, but it's still the best show in town. We still miss getting those pieces of cardboard with funny looking stamps on them, but the cost and time savings make LoTW a winner in my book. When first announced, I wondered how LoTW would affect the "business" model of DXpeditons depending on QSL donations for support. It appears that DXpeditoners have adapted to the new realities and it does not appear that LoTW is severely hampering their operations. Now, if we could only get ARRL and CQ and all the other awards to play nice and share with one another.

10. Did I say Ten?

Well, I can only think of nine.

Full Disclosure

The Federal Trade Commission (FTC) has released new guidelines governing endorsements and testimonials which include blogs for the first time. Under the new rules, blogs that do not disclose "material connections" with the products they advertise or endorse can face fines of up to $11,000. What are "material connections"? Getting stuff for free or getting compensated for the endorsement.

To insure that we are in compliance with the new FTC rules, the Fi-Ni Report would like to disclose that, yes, we have received and used Dr. DX's Antenna Wax and Sunspot Salve, as well as McElroy's Key Grease. However, we have received no discernable benefit from any of these products. So take that as you will.

New Cheating Accusations Surface in Radio Sporting

The summer of 2009 has been a difficult one for the amateur radio radio-sporting (i.e. contesting) community. After years of rumor and innuendo, the CQWW contest committee has publicly lowered the boom, disqualifying a number of top stations and operators. First the CQWW SSB contest saw several top multi-two stations disqualified for apparently being unable to count to ten. Then just a month later, with the results of the CQWW CW contest announced, comes word that the top claimed single op score was disqualified along with several others. While CQ Magazine has remained extremely terse in their announcements of the disqualifications, the website radio-sport.net has provided excellent coverage and commentary.

On the heels of the CQWW controversies comes accusations of contest cheating by another world class top operator, i.e a Big Gun.

The Poisson d'Avril contest was started in 1992 and is held every year on April 1. Every year since its inception the contest has been won by K1DG. While K1DG is an acknowledged world class operator, having won the World Radiosport Team Championship, albeit with family help, the string of 18 consecutive top finishes in any contest is simply beyond credibility. In no other contest has a single operator been able to finish in first place more than a handful of times. Yet, K1DG has won every running of the Poisson d'Avril contest since its inception.

A careful examination of the rules for the Poisson d'Avril contest, which is difficult given that they are published in such obscure languages as Esperanto, l33t, redneck, and pig latin, shows that the contest is not only sponsored by K1DG, but that he also is responsible for all log checking. How such blatant bias has been allowed to continue for so long is certainly a question that senate investigators should ask when this scandal finally receives the attention it deserves.

In what may have been the height of arrogance, back in 2006, K1DG preemptively declared himself the winner of the contest from 2006-2009.

But there is a glimmer of hope that respectability may be restored to this contest. The rules for 2010, which were announced back in 2006, provides new categories and much needed reform. However, like most government reform, a careful reading of the rules exposes loopholes large enough to drive a truck carrying a Big Bertha through.

Will the 2010 Poisson d'Avril contest finally have a winner other than K1DG? We will have to wait and see if legitimate competition will finally be allowed to occur. But we have all suspicions that if K1DG's call doesn't top the winner list, it might well be K1AR, in which case charges of nepotism will likely follow.