I spent an hour or two chasing 3B7RF around the low bands last night
(14 May around 22:00 UTC). As they are fairly local to us, and we
can hear both them and many of the stations they are working, I
thought I'd pass along some observations that could come in handy
with marginal signals.
* Several of the operators seem to think that they are operating
split, when in fact they are listening on their own frequency. This
technique becomes a problem when the operator changes the VFO knob
position, thinking that it is only moving the receive frequency. In
other words, be prepared to tune a little after very QSO. They move
as much as 300 Hz on CW after some QSOs.
* Some QSOs are abandoned at a very late stage (after callsigns and
reports have been exchanged). The operator sends "NIL" once, and
continues calling CQ. Because the parties are not hearing one
another very clearly, the caller is often transmitting when the "NIL"
death sentence is passed, and probably goes away thinking that the
QSO has been valid. I suggest you check the log server and take out
insurance if your QSO is not in there.
However, despite these comments, they have been readily workable.
Most DXers I've heard from have caught at least several new
bands/modes. In my case, I managed three new bands in less than two
hours of chasing. Now if only they can all appear on the log
server...
Chris R. Burger
ZS6EZ
--
FAQ on WWW: http://www.contesting.com/topband.html
Submissions: topband@contesting.com
Administrative requests: topband-REQUEST@contesting.com
Problems: owner-topband@contesting.com
|