This is interesting!
At 07:17 PM 6/29/2012, you wrote:
> One time, my young bride was in the shack and
> listening to a pileup trying to contact an
> exotic DX station. A fellow I know from Arizona
> put out his call, at first with enthusiasm and
> in an upbeat tone. Then again, but without
> the upbeat tone. After that, again, but now
> without the enthusiasm. A bit later, again,
> but with a hint of sarcasm. Then, again with
> a clear tone of annoyance, and finally with
> definite disgust.
>
> I asked him about it a couple of days later when
> we both checked into a friendly SSB net, and he
> said he HATES trying to bust a pileup. He
> admitted he quickly gets impatient, to the point
> of aggravation, if he does not get through on
> the first or second call.
This FD, I was doing quite well, for awhile, running on 80 m. But it
all dried up. So, I decided to go search & pounce (S&P). I started at
the bottom of the band and worked my way up and I had one of the best
S&P rates I've ever had. Anyone that was calling CQ was someone I
hadn't worked, so they were all new!
I was an op for N2IC once in the CQWW phone contest and vowed "Never
again!" Like your friend, I *hated* trying to bust a phone pile up --
it seems to me that it's all brute (signal) strength. I could never
master the technique. Now, CW is an entirely different matter. I
really enjoy busting big CW DX pileups because success is highly
dependent on strategy. I am astonished, in fact, at how many simply
never stop calling the DX. Even if the DX answered them they'd never
know it because they never stop transmitting.
You mention head sets. I've been told that the noise cancelling
headsets are the cat's meow (because the cat can't be heard). Do you
have any good recommendations for something that won;t break the
bank? He has Bo$e but, as nice as they are, I'd rather get the rx-366
for my O II than spend the better part of that amount on a
noise-cancelling head set. I have David Clark (or is that Clamp?)
aviation head sets that are very quiet, but they are not stereo and
so I can't put the main rx in one ear and the sub rx in the other using them.
Happy Fourth!
Kim N5OP
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