Topband: Tailending etc

[Michael Tope]

Dean Showalter wrote:

> Hi Guys;
>
> Dont usually get involved in discussions involving operating techniques!
> However I find my fingers cant resist on this one!  Tailending is an
> abomination. Yeah, Yeah, I know .. "if its done right it, its a thing of
> beauty and a joy forever"  To whom??  The guy who sneaked through because
of
> his superb operating skills, and the DX whose too lazy or incompetent to
> take the stations on an equal basis? Those are the only ones I can see who
> might see the beauty of "sneaking in line".
> Hi Guys;
>

I think tailending is especially innappropriate when a DX station
is operating simplex. If 9M0XXX is down in the noise and I am
pretty sure but not 100% sure that he responds to my call with
"W4EF 559" and I then respond with "QSL de W4EF W4EF
UR 55N 559 BK" and all I hear when I turn it back is a bunch
of tailenders, how do I know for sure that my contact was good.
I find that a properly timed "TU" sent right after I turn it back to
the DX goes a long way towards reassuring me that an actual
2-way QSO was completed. Tailending covers this up and
leaves me feeling like  I better come back tomorrow for an
insurance QSO.

If the DX station is using split, I suppose its okay provided that
the tailender has the decency to at least wait until the previous
station has finished sending (this is not always the case).

73 de Mike, W4EF............