I normally don't get involved in these kind of discussions, but this time, I
feel I must. This is an alternative view of the events of last night. You
see, I believe the mad scene last night was the largely the fault of the 3B7C
operator. Let me explain how:
The op at 3B7C responded to one W4 for at least 10
calls before he responded.
Yes, and that happened to others as well. The Dx operator didn't give the
call signs of the stations he was trying to work more than once or twice. The
better procedure is to come back to the station, send his call twice or even
three times, give the report, send his call again and BK. That gives the
station being worked a minimum three times to hear his call and just as
important, the other stations in the pileup the opportunity to hear that the
Dx
station has come back to someone and for them to stand by. We all know that
not
everyone will stand by, but most will if they have heard the DX station
respond to someone.
I was hearing him very well here. Apparently a lot of the people calling
weren't. That didn't stop them from calling, though.
Last night, he had the best signals since the operation began. It gave many
people, who had been waiting for a shot to work them, their first chance. I
suspect most people who were calling him felt that they could hear well
enough to work him. We must remember the tremendous variance between
individuals
stations RX setups, the top band spotlight effect and of course QSB. There
is a tendency to think that because I am hearing the DX station well then
everyone else is too. So if I hear the DX station clearly come back to someone
and other stations don't stop calling, there is every likelihood that they
didn't hear the DX station comeback to someone else. That can be because of
the
variances just mentioned, the DX operator, or the callers timing was off
(clearly his fault).
3b7c seemed to have great difficulty picking out a station and
then it seemed NO ONE would stop calling long enough for them to
complete and exchange.
Please reread comments above about the DX operators technique. Add to that
the fact that he continually said QSX 1831. The problem...everyone clustered
around 1831 and was reluctant to spread out. That certainly didn't help the
situation !
I can imagine how frustrating it must have been to the 3B7C operator.
OH MY.... He is probably frustrated by the fact that he was only working one
station every minute or so, but compare that to the frustration of those who
were trying to work him when he was working Europe during the two hour
period of common darkness with NA. He had all night to work Europe and only a
short shot at NA. By only working NA through that time frame, he would have
certainly reduced the number of stations (EU) calling and maybe upped his QSO
rate.
Finally about 30 minutes before his sunrise 3B7C just
quit! or something changed as there was no more signal.
Actually he came back...maybe an ill-timed potty break !
He moved to SSB on 1842. Unfortunately I couldn't hear him nearly as
well there. Not well enough to justify calling him.
Yup...he sure did...for about 15-20 mins. I guess the theory was since he
was having trouble working folks on CW, he would try SSB and work some of the
big gun stations again on a different mode.
Let me say that I have the utmost respect for the 5 Star DXers; they run a
top notch DX operation...top notch!
My comments are not meant in any way to deride them or this fine DXpedition
or the operator involved. In fact, I know most of the operators personally.
Fine folks all !
73...here's to a great season...
Bob
K4UEE
************************************** See what's new at http://www.aol.com
_______________________________________________
Topband mailing list
Topband@contesting.com
http://lists.contesting.com/mailman/listinfo/topband
|