Topband: I just want to vent (a little)

[Tree]

As some of you know - I was up at KL7RA's QTH during the past weekend.
Along with operating the SS CW contest, I got to spend some time on
160 meters.  

Probably the biggest difference from operating there instead of Oregon
was how good the morning opening to Europe was.  I worked well over 100 
Europeans over two different mornings.  The last morning (yesterday) was 
the best and many 599 signals were heard.  I even worked a few stations 
in the UK.

I had a lot of issues with people calling over and over who were not
copying me - and while the majority of people are well behaved, it only
takes about three or so lids to make a mess of things and greatly impact
my rate.  They simply were calling over and over again and hoping I would
peak.

First off - I have found QSB peaks work in both directions at the same 
time.  If someone is peaking in my receiver - I know this is a good time
for me to call.  If I can't hear someone - then it isn't.   

The second thing I would like people to think about is NOT SPOTTING SPLITS.
It's all fine and dandy for you to say you are hearing KL7RA - but why 
not leave it as an exercise to indicate where to put your transmitter.
You can simply put "UP" in the comments field and leave it at that.  As
it turns out - I started using a trick some of the better DX peditions 
do - which is indicating exactly what QRG I am listening on.  If you can
hear that - then you get to call me on a mostly clear frequency.  If you
can't - then maybe you shouldn't be calling me anyway.  By having this
frequency posted - it totally defeats what I am trying to do with my 
pileup management - and enables lids to start calling me.  I had to 
change this frequency several times after it had been spotted and the lids
showed up.

If a DX station has a pileup - I am not sure why you need to spot them
anyway.  Let those who found them on their own have the first shot at
them instead of enabling those who are better at using their mouse than 
their ears to work their DX.

Thanks - I feel better now.

73 Tree N6TR

PS: All KL7RA QSOs are in LOTW.  There were a few people who thought they
had a QSO with me that will be disappointed - as it was clear they were
not hearing me and would not respond to my requests for their RST again
(since they were doubling with me because they had no clue when I was
done sending).  I would often try for two minutes to get them to send 
something - so QSB isn't a good excuse.