[SCCC] separating zero beated pileups?

[David Hachadorian]

You asked an excellent question!

Here are some suggestions:

Try to avoid a pileup situation in the first place, by sending short 
CQ's, increasing CW speed, and not signing your call at the end of a QSO 
if you have a caller waiting.

If you have a pileup, reduce receiver RF gain so that AGC will not 
compress amplitudes to the same level.  On some radios, you can even 
turn off AGC.  A signal that is even slightly louder than the others 
will then stand out.

In a pileup, try to get at least a fragment of one call.  For example, 
if you hear ####BC## just send BC.  If you don't get even a fragment, 
just be silent and someone will start calling again.

If you are using N1MM Logger, have the Check Window positioned near the 
Entry Window.  If you get a pretty good fragment of a call, you can 
probably look at the check window and intuit the full call.  You can 
then either click on it with the mouse, or Yank (ALT-Y) to put the call 
in the entry window.  Sometimes it is easier to just edit what you 
already have in the Entry Window.

Practice between contests using a CW trainer like MorseRunner, setting 
it to pileup mode.

If the pileup goes totally out of control, you can QSY.  It helps to 
have a Panadapter so you can find another clear frequency.

If you want on-the-air pileup practice, show up in the Wednesday CWT's 
at about 45 past the hour and call CQ twice.  A Skimmer will pick you up 
and the horde will descend.

73

Dave Hachadorian, K6LL
Yuma, AZ





On 6/27/2024 9:45 PM, Drew Arnett wrote:
> "15 meters -- using 100 watts to a six element yagi"
>
> Being on the receiving end of this, seems like a lot of folks tx zero
> beated.  A solid 5 seconds of zero beated cw is hard to pull out a
> letter at times.  I was wondering if there are any good tips or tricks
> stations?  Do I just learn to hear the subtle amplitude variations?
> The vast majority of the time wasn't a problem at all, but this
> happened enough for this CW beginner to have to ask.
>
> Best regards,
>
> Drew
> n7da
>
>> Date: Thu, 27 Jun 2024 05:16:14 +0000
>> From: "J. Scott Bovitz<bovitz at bovitz.com>"<bovitz at bovitz.com>
>> To: southern california contest club<sccc at contesting.com>
>> Subject: [SCCC] N6MI Field Day report
>> Message-ID:<D3837DA1-29EB-48C1-ACE4-12298EC77768 at bovitz.com>
>> Content-Type: text/plain; charset="us-ascii"
>>
>>
>> For Field Day 2024, Tom's Garage ARC (N6MI) set up camp at Tecuya Mountain (Kern County, DM04, in the Los Padres National Forest).
>>
>> Our 2A SJV team included: Tom, K6VCR; Drew, N7DA; Larry, NB6E; Chef, KN6OGP; Greg, KI6RXX; Shane, K1BTW; Broden (17 years old and promises to get his license soon); and Scott, N6MI.
>>
>> We set up right next to a smooth dirt road about 1.5 miles from the nearest pizza joint. (Thanks for the pizza, Drew.) Many folks drove by our operation. We were visited by a few strangers, one SOTA ham, two park rangers, and (by invitation) a senior officer of the California Department of Fish and Wildlife. We always had off-duty hams to chat with the visitors.
>>
>> One primary station was set up in Tom's trailer (40/15).
>>
>> The other primary station was set up in N6MI's converted television news van (80/20/10). See n6mi.com for photos of the van.
>>
>> Six meters was operated from KN6OGP's trailer.
>>
>> Two meters was operated from KI6RXX's truck.
>>
>> We did not put up an antenna on 160.
>>
>> We worked 5 hams on 80 CW, using 100 watts to an inverted vee.
>>
>> We worked 203 CW and 66 LSB contacts on 40 meters -- using 100 watts to an inverted vee. Tom said that he missed the two element 40 meter yagi we have used in prior years.
>>
>> We worked 641 CW, 1 FT8, and 341 USB contacts on 20 meters -- using 100 watts to a JK C3S triband yagi at 60 feet (two elements per band). This easy to assemble antenna was mounted on the pneumatic mast of N6MI's van.
>>
>> We worked 415 CW and 589 USB contacts on 15 meters -- using 100 watts to a six element yagi at about 50 feet (on an AB-577 mast). Yep, six elements. Sweet.
>>
>> We worked 26 CW and 47 USB contacts on 10 meters -- using 100 watts to the JK C3S triband yagi at 60 feet. Ten meters was tough going.
>>
>> We worked 43 FT8 contacts on 6 meters -- up to 100 watts to a five element yagi at about 20 feet. Six meters never opened up.
>>
>> We worked three FM stations on 2 meters.
>>
>> We ran a GOTA station (N7DA). Shane and Drew made 389 contacts -- using 100 watts and a mutli-band Alpha Delta dipole. Their station was set up on a card table under a pop-up canopy.  N7DA served as the coach. Next year, Shane is moving over to a big station and Broden is going to (he says) get his ham radio license. Broden is 17 and has other commitments, but we want him to be ready to serve as the officer of the radio club at his college.
>>
>> Did I mention the food? Chef set up a great spread for Friday's lunch and dinner. Then he cooked waffles on Saturday morning -- apples, strawberries, authentic maple syrup, and whipped cream were available. (Next year, how about fresh squeezed orange juice?)
>>
>> And about that chatter on Field Day...
>>
>> I don't recommend yet another change to the Field Day rules. There are plenty of folks to work during the contest. If a ham is happier working from home, I'm glad to encourage that ham to get on the air and work us all. But there more adventure in the field.
>>
>> Thank you for the contacts.
>>
>> 73,
>>
>> N6MI
>> J. Scott Bovitz
>> bovitz at bovitz.com
>>
>>
>>
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>>
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>>
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>> End of SCCC Digest, Vol 258, Issue 33
>> *************************************
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