There's an intrinsic conflict in a mix of contesters and nets on SSB.
Contesters spend the entire weekend on a band which is jammed full of
signals. They have the best QRM-fighting tools available and know how
to use them. They have good ears. They don't mind slugging it out 1.5
KHz away from another loud station, because that is all part of the
game. For them, this is the way it is supposed to be.
Many nets, such as on 14300, operate daily. On weekdays, there is
typically not much QRM. Net operators get used to nice, quiet,
clear-channel operation. For them, this is the way things are supposed
to be.
On contest weekends, contesters can't keep track of what net is on
what frequency at any given time. Even if net control is a loud
station, contesters don't know who he is, and he is only one of many
loud stations on the band. The contesters will happily snuggle right
up against him and offset their passband tuning or crank in another
filter to minimize the interference on receive. The net guys don't
want to put up with this QRM, because it is above their threshold of
pain, and their feathers get ruffled. Policemen start going off to the
side channels to try to shoo away encroachers.
What's the solution? I think the nets need to be ready to accept loud
QRM from 1.5 KHz away. A good net control station can manage traffic
under those circumstances. A good NCS should always have a clear
frequency staked out where he can send stations to pass their traffic
anyway. Sometimes that is hard to do on a contest weekend, but it's
not too hard to find a frequency that is better than 14300. If a net
control station is not loud AND competent, he shouldn't be a net
control station. If a contester starts calling cq on an active net
frequency, shoo him away. But don't be shooing off stations 1.6 KHz or
more away.
Another solution is to shorten the duration of those nets. I don't
understand why 14300 needs to be tied up for 14 hours a day, between
the consecutive Intercon and Maritime Mobile Nets. There has got to be
a better way to concentrate the traffic and use that frequency more
effectively.
Dave Hachadorian, K6LL
Yuma, AZ
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