Topband: Why the DX doesn't always work split? Especially low bands.

[Brian Machesney]

>> Murtada is a very experienced DXer, and I think he was not hearing a lot
of
>> the stations because of local QRM.  He even mentioned this as a problem,
>> which is why he probably did not consider the need to go split.

I concur with Mark's assessment. Murtada was only able to hear stations
that were S7 or better, according to the reports he handed out to the few
stations he worked.

The "plus or minus 200Hz" demonstrates considerable expertise on the part
of the callers. They know how to stay in the DX station's receiver passband
while not creating an "Internet spot pileup" that would have prevented
Murtada from working anyone. There were also several callers up 500Hz and
more even before he attempted to evade the QRM by going split.

The callers demonstrated DXing skill and consideration for each other by
alternating their calls in time, allowing Murtada to potentially start
working through the list of callers. Watch "A Beautiful Mind" to see game
theory at work. Conversely, someone was transmitting "LSN" at intervals,
which was not helpful, as I very seldom heard anyone double with Murtada.

73 -- Brian K1LI