[Elecraft] K3 #1037 in IARU contest

[Ron D'Eau Claire]

When you have done your technical due-dilligence on the receive end and you
know for a fact that another station is splattering badly and QRMing you and
a lot of other people... How do you tell him? Or do you? I hate creating bad
feelings on the air, and the usual rejoinder when I've actually tried this
is angry defensiveness and sometimes even abusiveness.

W5WVO

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Bill, this has nothing in particular to do with contest operating. I believe
taking the abuse from the few is a part of our responsibilities as Hams. 

It's been a long time since a Ham license test including drawing an accurate
block diagram of a rig, or of evaluating a schematic diagram of a key stage
in a rig and finding a purposely included error, or of describing to an FCC
engineer how to properly evaluate a transmitter's signal.  

Even then, passing a test and actually knowing how to operate a rig, are two
different things. And knowing and caring are, for a desperate few, two
different things as well. So even when we had such tests, there were those
who didn't understand on the air. 

I suspect the numbers have increased. I have heard operators complain about
getting a bad signal report, saying something like "I PAID TEN THOUSAND
DOLLARS FOR THIS RIG. NO ONE IS GOING TO TELL ME IT ISN'T PERFECT!!!" 

When I hear a bad signal, I say so, politely and clearly. If the other
operator is offended, perhaps he/she needs to grow up or find a new hobby. 

I expect nothing less from those who I work on the air.

Ron AC7AC