Yes, there is some poor operating. There are also some honest mistakes, wrong
VFO (I AM GUILTY). They ask for W1W? and hords answer, 1"s thru 0"s. I saw
N7DD's comment about the previous evenings opening, I was busy that night, and
made it a point to be there the following night. I sat in front of the radio
for quite some time hearing nothing then I hear a friend 200 miles NW west of
me calling someone. Who was he calling as I hear nothing as I listen down 2 or
so, maybe 5R8X. YUP, it's possibly (97%) 5R8X who he was calling by looking at
internet spots.
About 20 minutes later 5R8X comes up to very weak copy level. A large pileup
up freq +2. I wait another 10 minutes and signal from them builds. OK, time
to call. I split UP about 700Hz above the top end of the calling pileup and
send my call. NADA, they work another station, then QRZ. I send my call
twice, they respond and they are in the log. OK, time to celebrate. BTW, I
worked them 20 minutes before my 200 mile NW friend. Entirely propagation in
my opinion. A big station here; RIght?
Nope, a 1/4 wave sloper (bottom end toward Europe) for RX and TX and
1300-1500W. It was a matter of GOOD PROPAGATION CHANGING, to timing and
avoiding the major pile-up. Propagation changed as they moved closer t o their
sunrise and I caught the optimum time for this QTH THAT NIGHT. Had conditions
not been as good as they were that night I would be one less entity worked on
160M. It was a LUCKY, VERY GOOD NIGHT. YOU JUST HAD TO HAVE YOUR BACK SIDE
SITTING IN THE CHAIR TO TAKE ADVANTAGE OF THE GOOD PROPAGATION THAT NIGHT. IT'S
A LOTTERY EVENT!!.
Yes, things have changed. Take 6M, folks are discovering "new" propagation
modes? Such conditions have probably existed for years but the lack of folks
monitoring the bands, say, 20 years ago vs today we are discovering modes that
have existed. There is an advantage having many extra ears listening.
Yes, packet spotting has created its own problems, out of control animals, but
one can learn to use the info positively. It's frustrating a lot to hear the
constant calling. We just need to be smarter than those folks. GREY LINE plus
GREY MATTER ARE A POWERFUL COMBINATION.
BTW, you East Coast guys should try 160M (6M also) from the Rocky Mountains to
the west coast The W6 (true Calif. guys) , really have a tough time of it.
Thats why 160M and 6M are so much fun. "IF YOU BEL IEVE IN MAGIC"...you know
the rest of the son g .
Arne N7KA
New Mexico, DM65
Arne N7KA
New Mexico, DM65
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UR RST IS ... ... ..9 QSB QSB - hw? BK
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