Radiosport competition is built on a simple foundation – the expectation that all contacts are made over the air and correctly logged. Since operations are performed from the privacy of our stations and without supervision, we all trust that everyone is playing by the same rules.
In CQ WW CW 2014 the top single operator score of TO7A (operated by Dimitry Stashuk UT5UGR) was disqualified for unclaimed use of assistance (e.g., DX Cluster, RBN, or CW Skimmer). During the public discussion around this disqualification a section of the log on 160 meters was pointed out as being suspicious. Further checking revealed a run of 47 QSOs between 0437 UTC Nov 30 and 0608 UTC Nov 30 that were added to the log when TO7A could not be detected on the air by RBN or SDR recordings. In total, as many as 123 QSOs representing 22 additional multipliers were padded into the log.
The added QSOs had a particular pattern that made it very clear they were done deliberately after the contest to fill in rest or break periods.
A look back into older logs revealed this practice has occurred in other entries submitted by UT5UGR. Many of these were competitive entries including one that holds a continental score record.
| SSB | Final Score | Finish Place | |||||||
| Call | Year | Category | Score | QSOs/Zn/Cty | Cty | Con | World | Rec | Log Padding Found |
| UT5UGR | 2007 | SO HP ALL | 2,806,695 | 3,196/128/515 | 1 | 18 | 48 | No | |
| TO7A (UT5UGR) | 2009 | SO HP ALL | 6,543,120 | 5,386/138/459 | 1 | 4 | 10 | Yes | |
| TO7A (UT5UGR) | 2010 | SO HP ALL | 8,200,120 | 6,026/152/468 | 1 | 3 | 11 | FM | Yes |
| UT5UGR | 2011 | SO LP 160M | 13,338 | 283/8/49 | 1 | 3 | 3 | UR | Yes |
| UT5UGR | 2012 | SO HP 160M | 43,617 | 653/10/57 | 1 | 3 | 4 | No | |
| UT5UGR | 2013 | SO HP ALL | 77,700 | 269/56/129 | late log | ||||
| UT5UGR | 2014 | SO HP 160M | 53,406 | 798/11/58 | 1 | 3 | 3 | Yes | |
| CW | Final Score | Finish Place | |||||||
| Call | Year | Category | Score | QSOs/Zn/Cty | Cty | Con | World | Rec | Log Padding Found |
| UT5UGR | 2007 | SO HP ALL | 2,764,480 | 2,767/141/511 | 2 | 15 | 61 | No | |
| V31WA (UT5UGR) | 2008 | SO HP ALL | 8,387,400 | 6,107/140/460 | 1 | 3 | 6 | V3 | Yes |
| UT5UGR | 2009 | SO HP 80M | 19,200 | 258/10/54 | 4 | 33 | 59 | No | |
| UT5UGR | 2010 | SO HP ALL | 856,041 | 1320/88/345 | 6 | 71 | 221 | No | |
| TO7A (UT5UGR) | 2011 | SO HP ALL | 11,451,375 | 6,757/162/563 | 1 | 2 | 7 | FM | Yes |
| TO7A (UT5UGR) | 2012 | SO HP ALL | 11,807,340 | 7,165/165/540 | 1 | 1 | 6 | FM | Yes |
| TO7A (UT5UGR) | 2013 | SO HP ALL | 13,765,575 | 7,916/161/564 | 1 | 1 | 2 | NA | Yes |
| TO7A (UT5UGR) | 2014 | SO HP ALL | Disqualified | Yes | |||||
This violation of the trust that underlies radiosport competition cannot be ignored. The CQ WW Contest Committee is announcing the following actions:
- All of the UT5UGR entries listed above where log padding was detected will be disqualified and removed from the official score database.
- For the next five (5) years (July 2015 – July 2020), any entry in the CQ WW, WPX, or CQ 160 Contests by Dimitry Stashuk UT5UGR, or where UT5UGR is listed as a participant, will be reclassified as a Checklog.
New log checking processes are being created to improve detection of log padding. We intend to test these methods against all submitted logs from 2011-2014. If other entries are found to have added unverifiable QSOs, we will address them on a case by case basis.
The CQ WW CC is committed to protecting the integrity of the competition as best we can. We look for the contesting community to also do the same.
CQ WW CC 25 June 2015
