TopBand: ZK1XXP Inflated

[Garry & Yelena]

Egon Boehm wrote:
> 
> I'm disappointed with the 80 meters CW operator who was on this morning
> at abt 0500Z. I know that you must manage pile-up to allow europeans to
> come tru, but the operator ignores that South America has more or less
> the same timing for QSO's with the Pacific Islands.
> I was calling him for abt a hour and persistently he keyed only EU, only
> EU, and  WITH NO TAKERS FM EUROPE...
> Condx were bad here and there in EU but operator answered calls at 35
> WPM..
> No matter, perhaps in a next expedition I hope to get the ZK1N with a
> experienced low band operator there.
> 
> 73  Egon  PY2BW
> 
>  -

Egon,

Your frustration is certainly understandable, but I believe the problem
is not the operators--check the team list and you will note very
familiar callsigns of some top operators.

The problem, IMHO, is that DXpeds necessarily concentrate on the three
main population centers--Eu, NA and JA. AS you know, there are
relatively fewer DXers in SA and AF, and there is generally less
consciousness of propagation to those areas. A DXped may schedule its
trip to a Pacific island when condx to Europe are likely to be good, but
it can hardly be expected to do so for South America. That is reality.

Because you are part of a minority audience, it is up to you to ensure
that you are not overlooked. Were I a PY DXer, I would contact each
needed DXpedition before departure, remind it that Brazil is alive and
well and provide the team with propagation information and perhaps even
request skeds or a "QRZ SA" interval on the bands of interest. No
DXpedition wants to leave out any of The Deserving--but the pressure to
work the huge hordes of Europeans, North Americans and Japanese is
overwhelming. So perhaps you must make the extra effort from your end.
Surely that is more likely to be rewarding then complaining afterward
that you were overlooked.

GL & 73,


Garry Shapiro, NI6T
Visit the Northern California DX Club home page:
http://www.ncdxc.org
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