[CQ-Contest] contests and participation on air

[Cqtestk4xs at aol.com]

Back in 2008-2009 at the bottom of the cycle when I operated form  KH6, I 
often would find 15, 12 and 10 "dead".  To check prop I would  sometimes 
"self spot" on the lowest freq band not "open".  I know it's not  approved of in 
all circles, but hey, the band was dead.
 
I would sometimes be  pleasantly surprised and have an EU come back to  my 
CQ...sometimes a whole  pile of them.  If 15 was good, I'd do the same 
thing, moving up to 12, and  sometimes even 10.  Remember, this was at the bottom 
of the cycle.   Over the summer of 2009 I worked about 30 or 40 EU stations 
in a couple of  months..the equivalent of working HS or JA from W4 in the  
summer.
 
The bottom line is..the bands  are often open.  If no one calls CQ, 
everyone thinks the band is  dead.  Invest in penny's worth of electricity and a 
couple of minutes of  CQs.
 
Maybe I'm wrong, but if some  EU station self spots on 10 in the middle of 
the summer, no one is going to  complain.
 
Bill  K4XS/KH7XS