[3830] ARRLDX SSB ND0C SOAB QRP

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                    ARRL DX Contest, SSB

Call: ND0C
Operator(s): ND0C
Station: ND0C

Class: SOAB QRP
QTH: Minnesota
Operating Time (hrs): 17

Summary:
 Band  QSOs  Mults
-------------------
  160:           
   80:           
   40:    1     1
   20:   71    49
   15:  181    63
   10:   94    34
-------------------
Total:  347   147  Total Score = 153,027

Club: Minnesota Wireless Association

Comments:

This was a part-time effort, QRP as always, limited to day-time hours with quite
a bit of time taken off for family stuff.  I had decided to try to preserve what
bit of sanity I have left (considering I operate 100% QRP!) and not venture into
the QRP hell of 80 and 40 SSB this time.  (I'll save that for WPX - turns out my
masochistic streak is still alive.)  I did make a quick pass thru 40 Saturday
night and heard PJ4G bangin' in so I worked him (on the first call!).

20 was a zoo - no surprise.  It was interesting to hear the DX stations (who
did a great job by the way) mention that the QRM or splatter was bad.  Really? 
I could barely filter out the crap to copy their kilowatt and they're pulling my
5 watt whisper out!  At times 15 sounded like 20: wall-to-wall.  But it was
really the "go-to" band for me.  Despite the nasty QRM, the propagation made it
the place to be.  And 10 was really great for this point in the cycle.  On
Saturday I heard some weird flutter on some South American stations - like
Arctic flutter - don't know what that was!  And the QSB was nasty!

OK - the "complaint department".  There are two (recurring) complaints.  First
is the DX stations that just don't ID.  I don't know how many times I would
wait and wait (and sometimes my request "your call???" would be answered) and
then find out I'd already worked him.  Geez!!!  And some DX stations act like
they're really doing you a favor by telling you their call!  There's actually a
few of us that are running unassisted (for real!) and need the station to tell
us who they are.  There's a concept!

That brings us to my second complaint (or observation): the decrease in
operator skills, etiquette and ethics by many stateside operators.  And some of
this is a direct result of complete dependence on packet spotting.  Many of the
guys using click and call don't even listen before they call.  It is an amazing
phenomenon to be calling a station when the packet lizards suddenly descend. 
They start calling on the station being worked and repeatedly call regardless
of who is being called by the DX.  I've heard many big gun multiplier stations
act like total idiots in this exact manner.  Does might really make right??  At
what point do stations get DQ'd or at least warned for this crap?  Some of the
same ones do it repeatedly. 

Another indication of the packet guys not being able to utilize basic skills
(like determine who the DX really is) is all the dupes being worked.  I was in
one pile-up on a DX station who had obviously been spotted incorrectly.  At
least 2/3 of the stations that called him were dupes.  (One caller even said
"oh, I guess the spot must have been wrong!"   If I was a DX station that got
spotted incorrectly I think I'd kill myself.  It doesn't even matter if the DX
ID's every QSO.  A lot of the US/VE callers don't listen.  Just check the spot
and hit the mike button with 1 KW of brute force.  I really think the use of
packet spotting is dumbing down contesting and making it a less enjoyable
experience.  - Very frustrating and disappointing.  

Thanks again to all the awesome DX stations with the great ears (super
receivers and mega antennas) to pull my tiny signal out of the QRM and QSB. 
You rock!

See you in the WPX in 3 weeks!

Rig: Yaesu FT-897D running 5 watts
Antennas: Wilson SY-3 three element triband Yagi at 48 feet (15 meters) and
inverted Vee (for that one 40 m. QSO!) with apex at 45 feet (14 meters)

73,
Randy, ND0C

You don't have to be crazy to run QRP ... but it helps!


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