Topband: T30RH & Pile-Up Decorum

[Gary Hinson]

I think you've hit the nail on the head, Steve.  The key factor is the DX
operator's pileup management and general operating techniques, things such
as:
- Being careful where they dump or move their pileup
- Giving their own call frequently, and indicating where to transmit
- Being *stubbornly persistent* with partials, refusing to move on until
worked, and refusing to acknowledge or work the rude alligators
- Being consistent in messages and timing, synchronising gracefully with the
pileup
- Being efficient, so all in the pile know they have a reasonable chance
- Working second and third tier stations, not just the big guns
- Taking advantage of 'windows of opportunity' to work real DX 
- Listening on their TX frequency and responding to QRM there
- Slowing down occasionally to give information, including "Please don't
call out of turn - I won't work you" or similar
- Being confident, loud and clear enough to stay in charge
- Publishing their QSL info etc. on QRZ.com
- Running an online log if poss
- Being an ambassador for amateur radio, promoting best practices and always
being cool, calm, polite and basically staying in control (or QSY or QRT!).

On top of that, some so-called DXers clearly need educating on what the DX
community considers responsible and acceptable versus selfish and
unacceptable behaviour.  I won't go into that now but we have tried to
promote and share good DX practices through the DX Code of Conduct
http://www.dx-code.org/

It's frustrating when people complain about bad operating but say 'There's
nothing we can do about it'.  Aside from cleaning up our own acts (and I for
one am always learning and trying to improve), everyone can help spread good
practices, for example mentioning the DX code on your QRZ page or ham
websites, or by all means creating your own personalised versions like I
have.  Also writing about the DX code in the ham press ... and ham
reflectors!

\Rant

73
Gary  ZL2iFB   www.G4iFB.com

PS  Talking of working-by-numbers, hearing the DX say "Too many callers -
please call one at a time" surely takes the biscuit!

> -----Original Message-----
> From: topband-bounces at contesting.com 
> [mailto:topband-bounces at contesting.com] On Behalf Of D. S. Coleman
> Sent: Wednesday, 16 March 2011 10:29 AM
> To: topband at contesting.com
> Subject: Topband: T30RH & Pile-Up Decorum
> 
> Greetings all,
> 
> I read VE3CUI's post on T30RH's pile-up this morning and I too want to
> comment on this sad phenomenon.  I was listening this morning and also
> heard the rotten behavior that has increasingly invaded what at one
> time was indeed the Gentleman's Band.  The problem of 'deaf and dumb'
> operators :-Q has been a continuing problem in DXing as long as I have
> been a radio amateur, but it seems to have gotten a great deal worse
> since the advent of the DX clusters and software that facilitates the
> click and shoot crowd.  The core of DXing is listening, a fact (and
> skill) that seems to be lost on the current generation of clickers.  I
> spend a lot of time tuning and listening and hopefully working the DX
> before they are spotted on the clusters.
> 
> Everybody, at one time or the other, accidentally transmits on the
> wrong VFO, but the most offensive calling behaviors are deliberate
> and, in my book, skirt dangerously close to malicious interference.  I
> do not know what we can collectively do about this, but I have to
> believe that education can help those who can be helped and social
> pressure may help turn some of the others.  The DX ops have the power
> to discourage the behavior in some ways, ranging from "SRI QRM FROM
> KI4XXX QRM FROM KI4XXX   KI4XXX PSE WAIT  W2 W2 ONLY KN KN", publicly
> embarrasing the offender on the air, listing their calls on websites,
> as VK0MM did some years back, or ultimately blacklisting them and
> purging them from logs.
> 
> I heard an incident during the K5D operation that just delighted me
> and, in my view, set a good example on pile-up behavior.  The K5D
> operator was working a SSB pile-up by numbers and took several tries
> to extract a callsign from the pile-up that should have been 4's,
> which as it turned out was an '8' call.  The result was that the K5D
> operator said that he would not log the contact, because the call was
> out of turn and he asked the operator to call again later with the 8th
> call area!  The pile-up seemed to be much better behaved afterwards.
> 
> DXing on Topband is difficult enough most of the time, even with a
> superb operator such as Jacek on the other end of the path.  Rotten
> operating can ruin the Gentlemen's Band for everybody.   Perhaps it's
> time to resurrect the Woulf Hong?
> 
> 73,
> Steve
> AB4I
> 
> *******************************
> Date: Mon, 14 Mar 2011 07:57:57 -0500
> From: "Diane & Edward Swynar" <deswynar at xplornet.ca>
> Subject: Topband: T30RH & Pile-Up Decorum
> To: <topband at contesting.com>
> Message-ID: <004101cbe247$747b8ac0$660aa8c0 at yourlk4rlmsu41>
> Content-Type: text/plain;       charset="iso-8859-1"
> 
> Good Day All,
> 
> This morning as I was monitoring the assembled multitude attempting to
> contact T30RH, it really struck me as to how folks like Jacek 
> must have the
> patience of Job to endure what they do in the mounting of 
> such an effort...
> 
> As if the logistics of merely GETTING to some far-flung island country
> aren't taxing enough, one must then endure the agony of attempting to
> extricate callsigns in the midst of out-of-turn callers and 
> seemingly "deaf"
> Hams who continually do little more than sending their 
> callsign over and
> over and over again.
> 
> This morning was a classic in that regard: poor Jacek 
> REPEATEDLY sent the
> broken call of a "K2" station he'd heard, appealing for all 
> others to stand
> by---but for all his pleas, he was incessantly deluged by no 
> less than two
> other Stateside amateurs (and I use the term amateur both 
> figuratively, AND
> literally) who continued honking away with their calls right 
> on top the
> 2-lander...
> <SNIP!>
> ************************************
> _______________________________________________
> UR RST IS ... ... ..9 QSB QSB - hw? BK