I'd like to comment on a few more things concerning this issue.
Many have commented directly to me that they have never been able to
hear them on RTTY. I did not hear them well on RTTY until about 1600Z today.
Yesterday, I heard them briefly on 15 and believed I made a contact simplex
while everyone else was still calling them on 20. But I never saw my call
completely, so I kept going after them.
They do not have a very strong signal on RTTY at present. It's obvious they
have not dedicated the resources available to the RTTY station (yet?). I
saw a spot for them on 21295 SSB operating simplex. WX5L reported to
me that he worked them with a true 59 signal on 15 meter SSB. So I'm strongly
believing the RTTY station does not have their best antenna or an amplifier.
This does not mean that in the latter stages of the operation that they won't
direct more attention to RTTY and improve their operation. We can only
hope they will.
Now comes the weird part. I'm a little freaked out today. As many of you
read in post sent before the CQWW contest that I commented that I had
finished listening to 6 CD set of self-help training called "Psychology of
Achievement". I even had E-mail responses wondering why a successful
RTTY contester like myself even needed such motivation. Actually, I got
the training CD's to help me at work. If you had told me anything about
self-help
before a couple of weeks ago, I would have told you to go jump in the bayou.
Afterall, I've done fairly well for myself in the past 46 years...
The information from the CD's definitely did not help in my CQWW effort.
In fact, I know 100% why I had a bad contest. It was because I thought ahead
of time that condx would not be good and I would not have a good contest.
So it happened, that indeed I didn't have a good contest.
3C0V was a different mind-set. In the CD, the author said that if you dedicate
yourself 100% toward a goal and that if you envision yourself achieving that
goal, that it would happen. I decided that I would be 100% dedicated to
working
3C0V (OK, I don't have the QSL - but you know what? I don't care because I
know I made the contact, I did a screen shot of the contact so I'm satisfied).
So what I did while I was sitting in front of the radio was to envision myself
making the contact. I knew ahead of time how it would go. First I had to
actually
hear them. I did hear them and I copied them. I realized what they were
sending -
what their actual buffer was. I knew I would have to turn my VFO as soon as I
heard them in order to hope to catch my call. And I said to myself "I am going
to
work these guys!" over and over in my head. I was 100% focused. OK, I was
at work (station TS870, AL80B & A3S at 50'). I had a few calls, but the people
I work with knew how important this was to me so they didn't bother me.
Then it happened, just like I envisioned it would. I would call and they would
come
back off frequency. I'd have to quickly move the dial and hope I could catch at
least part of my call and see that stupid buffer they send and I would go back
and send a worthless "599" and it would be over. And that was it. It happened
exactly as I envisioned. Exactly as I'd been told on that self-help CD.
OK, well you say, no big deal. You listen to some self-help BS and it works
one time.
Big deal. Lucky deal, right? Now comes the really weird stuff.
On this same CD, the author says focusing on something very strongly can achieve
amazing results. He uses an example of going to a location where it is always
difficult
to park and envisioning that there is an empty parking space directly in front
of where
you want to go. When I heard this, I said to myself "This is major BS" - no
way...
The author says this works more often than not...
Well, it just happens that I was to meet my girlfriend tonight after work at a
popular
restaurant where it's nearly impossible to park at all. I was so high after my
3C0V
episode that I thought I would try this "parking" psychology. So I envisioned
in my
mind that just as I approached the restaurant, a parking space becomes
available right
at the front door. I 100% believed I would be able to park 3 feet from the
front door.
It was going to happen.
Guess what? It friggin' happened!!! No BS. I'm serious. When I pulled into
the
parking lot, the space directly in front of the front door was open just as I
had
envisioned it. I have a full-size F-100 supercab pick-up truck and I backed it
right in.
OK, maybe it was a coincident. I'm smart enough to realize that. But I'm also
smart enough to realize that perhaps this 100% concentration on a goal just
might
work (in most cases). I'm applying it at work, at home and at ham radio. It
seems
to work.
Sorry for the long post. I told this to the YL, but she just didn't get.
Hopefully you
will.
73, Don & good luck with 3C0V on RTTY!
----- Original Message -----
From: "Don Hill AA5AU" <aa5au@bellsouth.net>
To: "RTTY Reflector" <rtty@contesting.com>
Sent: Tuesday, September 30, 2003 3:53 PM
Subject: [RTTY] 3C0V important RTTY info
> Sadly, the 3C0V RTTY operation has been poor. I've spent the better
> part of the last two days at the radio. I'm happy to say I made a solid RTTY
> contact
> at 1755Z. But there are issues I'd like to pass on to others to help make it
> into the log.
>
> They do not confirm contacts. You get one shot. When they receive a call,
> they send the following:
>
> AA5AU AA5AU DE 3C0V 3C0V 599 DE 3C0V 73..SK
>
> You go back with your report and that is the end of the QSO. They do not
> send a confirmation. They go on to the next contact. It may be 3 minutes or
> 15 minutes between contacts (or I should say transmissions?) or more.
>
> The biggest problem other than not confirming contacts is that their transmit
> frequency changes nearly every time they transmit. This afternoon, they
> were around 21082.00, but nearly each time they transmitted anywhere from
> 21081.97 to 21082.12. I had to keep one hand on the VFO of the radio.
>
> If you want to get this one in the log badly enough, I suggest to plan on
> spending
> a lot of time at the radio. I sent my call 5 times each time up anywhere
> from 2 to
> 10 khz. I was up 2.4 khz when they called me. Aftern each of my
> transmissions,
> I listed around 5 seconds and send my call 5 times again. It was a good 20
> minutes
> from the last time I heard their signal until they came back me.
>
> In the several hours that I listened to them today, I can confirm the
> following
> stations were given reports:
>
> W1MAG
> DF3CB
> IK5DNF
> I3MLU
> LY2ZZ
> SP9AOA
> CT1FJK (I'm not 100% sure on this one, the report seemed different, maybe
> from a pirate?)
> G3BWP
> UA3UQK
>
> I did not record times. All these contacts were made before my contact at
> 1755Z. I
> saw only one other contact after mine but did not copy the callsign, then
> they were gone.
>
> It's easy to criticize their operation, but that won't get you into the log.
> We don't know
> the conditions they are operating under. It might be better, but I would
> count on it.
>
> 73 & GL,
> Don AA5AU
> http://www.aa5au.com
> http://www.rttycontesting.com
>
> _______________________________________________
> RTTY mailing list
> RTTY@contesting.com
> http://lists.contesting.com/mailman/listinfo/rtty
>
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