Bill, K0HA wrote
>If activity was down this year as it appeared
> to be during my limited time on, I suspect that some people who knew about
> the situation were too paranoid about the consequences to get on. Those
> who have been too concerned about things other than ham radio probably
> got scared off by "the police" after getting on. Asking people who
haven't
> "shook on the deal" to follow a gentleman's agreement is doomed to fail.
>
> The TopBand has lost some of its uniqueness for me.
>
> 73, Bill K0HA
I didn't work the contest. But I did get on to try for a few new ones. I
too called DX below 1843. So shoot me at daybreak. I worked em too, only
because the US were not calling CQ on top of nearly non-existant signals. I
asked one traffic cop to calm down when some guy started calling P4>> CQing
'in the window.' "He's calling CQ and I called him! said the K1>> No, you
said 'CQ" about 1/2 KHz down!" said the unidentified cop. What started as
an innocent answer to a CQ turned into an argument "in the window." Talk
about QRM!
The DX saying they were listening at 1.85X I couldn't work. Why? Because
there was a guy occupying that frequency on this side of the pond. Blasting
him at 1KW is illegal.
There are many perplexing issues: 1) I worked DX because I broke the
gentleman's agreement and didn't break the law; and 2) I didn't work other
DX following the gentlemen's agreement because simply setting the split to
where the DX directed would have been malicious interference and quite
illegal.
I agree with Bill. Topband is different today. In his words, "lost some of
its uniqueness." The way I see it, I've got to be willing to throw my
scruples away to operate effectively. It was easier to just not participate
this weekend--and Topband is (perhaps "was") my favorite band...
This isn't over by a long shot. Wait until 1200 guys try to wedge their way
into the next CW contest and limit themselves at 1810 to 1843! I can just
hear the jammers and the bleepers at 1850 already. 5 or 6 DX 300 miles from
the US border will occupy the "window" with 40over signals. Pompous
policemen above 1843, downtrodden PSKers at 1810. 2 meters is looking more
interesting all the time....
Ford-N0FP
ford@cmgate.com
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