This morning there was large and noisy pileup over Kh6ZM, whose waves were
arriving here in the Midwest as though the propagation gods were hand-carrying
them from his antenna to mine. Judging from the reports, he was the same all
over the eastern half of the country.
During the course of this fracas I heard numerous examples supporting some of
the issues surrounding operating practices that have been discussed here
recently. I would like to make yet another plea to those inexperienced
operators
who engage in the following practices. I am also afraid that it did not support
the oft-quoted myth that 160 is the "Gentlemen's band" ( or maybe all of the
gentlemen decided to sleep in this morning?)
FIRST: Keep your calls short, one or two X. Making extended calls on the DX
station's frequency (or even on a split TX frequency) is nothing short of
causing deliberate interference to others. Most importantly, LISTEN. If you
really
listened to Kh6ZM in this one, he always came back quickly, showing that he
picked out his next QRZ on the first or second call. If you really think that
by
blocking the frequency by calling needlessly is going to work, you are being
stupid as well as inconsiderate.
SECOND: Unless there is any question about his having your call correct,
please do not send his and/or your call again at the end. It accomplishes
nothing
for anyone and just about doubles the total QSO duration. Since many openings
are definitely time-limited, this results in many others being denied a QSO.
The same goes for sending your state, although I am sure I will get some
argument on this one. There may be times when it is called for, but my feeling
is
that most DX stations running pileups don't really care whether you are in GA
or
FL.
THIRD: If he sends out a partial and you know you DON'T fit, please shut up.
It just wastes time because if he is any kind of operator at all, he will
stick with his partial until it is resolved. He is NOT going to suddenly to
decide
to abandon the W6 call he knows partially, because you are presenting him the
golden opportunity to take your wonderful signal instead.
I was quite impressed by how this operator handled his pileup. Fortunately,
his signal was so good that you could partially copy his comebacks even when
the lids were banging away on his frequency with their long calls. He also did
not take any tailenders. The only less than desirable aspect was that he
decided to remain simplex.
73
Eric von Valtier K8LV
P.S. I wonder how many besides myself seriously believe that we should do
something to curtail and/or attenuate computerized spotting. They are
definitely
causing more harm than good.
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