This isn’t my usual summary. I might post one later.
I just felt like making a post about an operator I listened to in SSCW this year. I won’t mention his name, location or callsign. That should provide him with undeserving anonymity. Suffice it to say, the guy is a well-known contester. According to his website, which isn’t up to date, he has been contesting for years from his current QTH and previous/other QTHs and is a regular in the major contests. Hell, I’ve worked him countless times in various contests.
Anyway, on to the meaty stuff. I came upon this a-hole [who prior to this event wasn't an a-hole in my mind] and was preparing to throw out my call after he finished working another station. He was asking the station for repeats or for specific information, and the other station wasn’t understanding that he needed a repeat of the check (ck) or precedence (prec). The other station kept sending him the wrong information. So the contester gets pissed / frustrated and sends out .-.. .. -.. (LID). The guy he was working may not have been a contester – he/she may have been some casual op passing by and wanting to give this contester a Q. The other op wasn’t intentionally giving the wrong info. I think the contester eventually got the exchange he wanted before demeaning the other op. There are LIDs and there are well-meaning people trying to increase your fun by being a point for you but who don’t necessarily know what you need. So that was strike #1 for the contester. Already I was highly disappointed at what “competition” does to a person.
I went on to listen since there were other callers, and one or two callers later apparently another op wasn’t giving this contester proper information, or the other contester wasn’t providing it in a timely fashion. At the end of that QSO the contester send the other op a ..-. ..- (FU).
Seriously, what the hell is wrong with this picture? Sorry pal, but who is the real victor here? Cap’n Contester with his random bouts of Tourette Syndrome? Or the little guys who are there to give him the points he needs? Why must this guy resort to on-air tantrums?
Bottom line — I see this contester’s posts and summary’s often. He’s a cocky bastard, as some good [and not so good] contesters are, spreading his peacock feathers. He’s got a nice SO/SO2R station. But, he’s a piss poor representative of an amateur radio operator. He’s get an F in Sportsmanship. Whether or not he can make thousands of Qs per contest is irrelevant. His name is mud.
Mike – If I came across it I probably would have posted to the contest reflector and mentioned it on my site and not withheld the ops call. That behavior is unacceptable and unfortunately, sometimes people need to be publicly called out before they think twice about doing it again.
It’s certainly not how any of the top contesters I admire ever behave.
David – K2DSL
K2DSL - David
7 Nov 11 at 7:01 PM
David,
There are ramifications for doing that. If I weren’t affiliated with any club I’d do it in a heartbeat. But, as I do belong to a club, anything I say can reflect poorly on the club regardless of how factual it might be. I’ll just leave it as a rant.
I work the man in question during all the big contests. He’s a seasoned contester, having been active in various multiops over the years according to his site. As his site isn’t up to date with the contests he has worked in, I have no clue if I worked him while he was in a multiop effort. He’s always an SO variant when I work him in a contest.
Just seems to me that I’d probably generate more grief for myself than anything else if I were to “out” him. Some would say I’m making a mountain out of a molehill. It’d also be a he-said / she-said thing. It’s not worth it for me. Plus, I worked him for a Q and a new mult, after I had witnessed his previous behavior. What does that say about me? :)
It did cross my mind after the contest was over that perhaps the guys he was working were friends of his and they were just having some fun, but it would seem unlikely that one would work two people in a matter of five minutes and that only he would exchange “pleasantries” like those :) Everybody has their bad days, but I have never seen that activity in a contest before. Of course, I’m pretty new at the game.
I can’t help but to hold those winning contest ops to higher standards. I think that’s how it should be. It’s not just about what you can do — it’s how you behave when you do it.
Mike
Mike
7 Nov 11 at 10:05 PM
In the event that my comment about cocky contesters might be misconstrued, I might add that I don’t think being cocky is all bad if you have the resume to back it up. It takes confidence to succeed, and when confident people are competing they often exude cockiness.
Mike
7 Nov 11 at 10:13 PM