[CQ-Contest] Packet pile ups - do we need them?

[Mike Gilmer - N2MG]

On Tue, 28 November 2000, K3BU at aol.com wrote: 
 
> windev at inetmarket.com writes: 
>  
> > Paul, K1XM, at P29VPY this past  
> > weekend, used this most excellent  
> > time-proven technique: operate split.   
>  
> Yep, especially "welcome," when you  
> have "your" frequency invaded by  
> "splitters."	
 
Yeah, I heard this happen. It was ugly. 
The poor guy didn't know what hit him. 
"At least" he was a contester.	When this  
happens on 40 phone, the "losers" are  
often diehard statesiders chatting with  
their buddies.	Much uglier (at least WRT  
our collective reputation). 
 
> I guess one solution is for DX to  
> jump to another frequency, leave the	
> packeteers QRMing each other and start  
> the fresh run (until is spotted again).  
> 
 
I witnessed this as well.  I think it was  
VP2EST - he just disappeared from the  
frequency - sure enough, he was just a kHz  
up the band calling CQ.  He was easy meat  
at that point.	I did NOT re-spot him - I  
figured let someone else do it and ruin  
it again.  After I worked him, I went back  
to his original freq - pileup was still in  
progress. 
 
> I remember the days when contesting  
> depended on the operator skill on  
> finding the multiplier, and DX had  
> fun working one after another as  
> people were discovering it and  
> working in nice sequence. 
> 
 
Well, the rude pileups are nothing new.   
Years ago, before CT, bandmaps and packet,  
operators with marginal signals would tune  
the bands, calling stations instead of	
running.  It seemed they all had the same  
complaint back then, too, "If I try to run,  
I cannot control the pileup."  So packet  
has not caused this problem, but it has  
made it acute - a situation that might	
have built up over many minutes now occurs  
in just one or two, depriving the DX of  
almost any time running. 
 
I'm not trying to defend packet - if it  
went away (which it won't), I wouldn't	
miss it much. 
 
73 Mike N2MG 
 

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