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Disqualified from the 2007 CQ WPX SSB contest, UU7J operator Andy Kazanstev UU0JM says he deserved more than just a terse notice from the WPX contest committee about the first public WPX SSB DQ in ten years.
"I think that if the CQ WPX committee has some questions for one of the participants about his operation in the contest then they have to contact him," Kazantsev told radio-sport.net.
Kazanstev said the late February notice from CQ WPX Contest Director Steve Merchant K6AW was all he would get.
"Dear Andy," the letter began, "The CQ WPX Committee has determined that your 2007 CQ WPX CW log submission for UU7J is in violation of CQ WPX rule IV.1.(a) - Single Operator, and has been disqualified," wrote Merchant.
"The rule states "one person performs all of the operating and logging functions." The committee has determined that you received assistance from packet spots throughout the contest which is in direct violation of the rules for this category," Merchant said.
Kazantsev provided radio-sport.net with the text of the Merchant letter. Merchant did not respond to a radio-sport.net request for more information.
"Right after receipt of this letter I made an inquiry to the CQ WPX CW committee to send me the results of their investigation," said Kazantsev, who wanted an "analysis of my log with the subject of using dx cluster during the contest."
"Did they check the logs of other participants regarding this issue?" Kazantsev asked in an email to radio-sport.net. "I didn't get any answer from CQ WPX CW committee."
Kazantsev though did not respond to a request from radio-sport.net to have his contest log independently reviewed against packet spots in the 2007 WPX CW.
The DQ is double punishment for UU0JM, who also loses the chance to qualify for the 2010 World Radiosport Team Championships in Russia.
"TL/TM (Team Leader/Team Member) disqualified from any listed contests in period from July 2006 will lose the right to apply," states the rule in Section 8 of the WRTC 2010 rules put together by the Russian sponsors.
According to that rule, there five ops now out of the WRTC qualifying process so far:
UU0JM - disqualified from 2007 CQ WPX CW
UT5UGR - disqualified from 2007 IARU
HA1DAC - disqualified from 2007 IARU
9A9A - disqualified from 2007 IARU
RW3QC - disqualified from 2006 CQWW DX CW
"The organizers should be commended for not ducking the issue but taking the right stand against cheaters," said Alexander Avramov LZ4AX.
The DQ's mean that two of the top seven WRTC qualifiers in the EU #4 region are out. Kazantsev UU0JM was in 2nd place, while Dimitry Stashuk UT5UGR, who was DQ'd in the 2007 IARU is in 7th. UT5UGR is a three-time WRTC competitor, in 2006, 2000 and 1996.
The issue of contest DQ's has sparked a lot of conversation in contest ranks in recent years, as allegations of cheating have spiked.
"There were more complaints than usual after the 2006 contest about possible cheating in the IARU," said ARRL Contest Director Sean Kutzko KX9X.
The 2010 WRTC qualifying rule on DQ's increases the pressure on various contest committees, which have been criticized for not being aggressive enough on cheating.
Now, a DQ not only strips the operator of awards in that particular contest, but also removes that operator from the 2010 WRTC competition.
That rule states:
"One person performs all of the operating, logging, and, for the Assisted category only, spotting functions. Only one transmitted signal is allowed at any time. Maximum power allowed is 1500 watts total output."
While CQ WPX Contest Chairman Steve Merchant K6AW did not respond to a request for more information, Kazantsev provided radio-sport.net with Merchant's DQ letter from February of 2008.
"The committee has determined that you received assistance from packet spots throughout the contest which is in direct violation of the rules for this category," Merchant wrote to Kazantsev.
According to a review of WPX SSB results on the CQ WPX web site, this was the first publicly announced disqualification in the WPX SSB contest since 1998, when RE0A was DQ'd for "excessive unverifiable QSOs."
CQ Magazine contest rules state that if an operator is disqualified twice in a five year period, "he or she will be ineligible for any CQ contest awards for three years."
CQ WPX CW Contest
0000z-2400z March 29-30;
more at the
WPX web site. WRTC weight value of 740 points.
