[CQ-Contest] ham radio is dead? - Or - Operating Night

[Bill Coleman]

On Feb 18, 2005, at 10:30 AM, PaulKB8N at aol.com wrote:

>  In fact, one
> afternoon ten meters seemed dead, and I  called CQ for about a half 
> hour.  Once
> a couple of DX stations called in,  stations seemed to start showing 
> up.  I
> don't know if one person can make a  difference, but sometimes it just 
> takes a
> spark to start a fire.

I've pulled this trick a couple of times myself. Sometimes I wonder if 
we haven't outsmarted ourselves.

Seems like 20 years ago or so, people used to call CQ on "dead" bands 
all the time and make contacts.

Today, we're so knowledgeable about propagation, so we don't bother to 
even try the "dead" bands -- we go straight to where the action is. So, 
we miss out on some of the rare openings.

Maybe we all just need to call CQ more often.

Bill Coleman, AA4LR, PP-ASEL        Mail: aa4lr at arrl.net
Quote: "Not within a thousand years will man ever fly!"
             -- Wilbur Wright, 1901