[NOTE: Bill made a mistake in his description of working by call areas.
I have made the necessary corrections, enclosed by []. - AD1C]
DX-Operating Practices
The DXAC has been asked to vote on accepting the report on
operating practices on August 24. The subcommittee has worked
since 1990 to formulate a response to an ARRL BoD request to
research and recommend disqualification criteria for
DX-Peditions (sic). This request is based on concerns expressed
in the March 90 QST. The subcommittee is chaired by VE3HO, and
its members are K4MQG, K5YY, NA2M (replacing W2MT), W4VQ,
and W6CF. The report is lengthy, so there is obvious risk of
misunderstanding for me to attempt to summarize its main
points. Suffice it to say that this report is well-organized and
clearly written. It is evidently based upon careful consideration
of what is a complicated set of problems and an equally
complicated set of possible solutions. While some may object to
some of the conclusions, the subcommittee deserves everyones
thanks for tackling a thorny set of problems and doing a
professional job in presenting their suggestions.
The following are some of the highlights of the report:
1. DXCC Rule 12, Operating Ethics, provides a mechanism for
applying sanctions to individuals or DXpeditions who exhibit poor
operating practices, and that new disqualification criteria for
DXpeditions are NOT required or desirable at this time.
2. The DXAC shares with the BoD the concern that malicious
interference on the HF bands associated with major DXpeditions
is not desirable and is detrimental to the future of the amateur
radio service.
3. Operating Band Plan: This part of the report deals with the
possibility of an amendment to the band plans that recognizes
the need for designated space for DX-split frequency operations.
SSB and CW DXpedition and listening frequencies are suggested
for amateur bands 10 through 160M. Consideration is taken of the
operating privileges of US DXers with different classes of
licenses. No suggestions are made for RTTY. (There are no
surprises here insofar as I can see. Frequency ranges and options
correspond to those typically used by DXpeditions.)
4. Operating Practices and Procedures: This section is a
synthesis of the techniques and practices that most would agree
good DXpeditioners and successful, considerate DXers follow.
Several ARRL publications summarize many if not all of these,
but the report will serve to call attention to them.
When working by call areas, the recommendation to the
DXpedition operator is to ignore portable designation and
recognize only call sign prefix numbers. For example, if KC1AG
were in San Diego he would call with the [W1s] not with [W6s] or
BOTH the W1s and W6s. The report states this particular
recommendation is likely to be controversial. However, they
point out the rampant abuse of the portable designation as the
rationale for their suggestion. (Any comments?)
5. Equipment Manufactures: The report suggests the ARRL takes
steps to recommend to manufacturers that technical means be
developed to prevent inadvertent out-of-band and off-frequency
transmissions (e.g., transmitting on the DXpeditions XMIT
frequency.)
6. Enforcement and Education: As the report states, ...malicious
interference can to some extent be reduced by increased peer
pressure against such undesirable behavior and by more refined
enforcement techniques. Also suggested are educational
programs to help all amateurs understand proper operating
techniques for both DXpeditions and those attempting to work
them; mechanisms to provide public recognition to those who
exhibit superior and ethical operating techniques, etc.; and
development of a mechanism of alerting the ARRL FCC Auxiliary
Corps of major DXpedition activity.
Due to the length of the report and the wealth of detail it
contains, I hope that this report will be published in QST and
thus be open for broad discussion. It deserves everyones
attention. I am also sure the subcommittee appreciated the
comments those on the YCCC PacketCluster submitted.
73, Bill Shipp KC1AG, NE Division DXAC Representative
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