[UK-CONTEST] being spotted......

[Andrew Williamson]

Chris G3SJJ wrote....

> Can't you just tell when you have been spotted, great to see the rate
meter 
> going up though. 

I knew exactly when I was spotted.  The instant, incessant and unruly
pileups let me know.  I may have been running a nice steady 150+ but when
the packet pouncers hit (I have other names for them that I won't repeat
here) and kept calling over and over without listening.... the rate would
drop down to below 100.  So frustrating.  And it wasn't just the East
Europeans who were the culprits.  There were at least two stations from the
UK whose call I had to send and tell to QRX whilst I tried to finish the QSO
I was in the middle of.  I don't like doing that but even when I went back
to the full call of a DX station they kept calling/QRMing me so what else
could I do.  They soon shut up when they were named and shamed on air! 
Their actions were totally unnecessary and very poor operating (I'm not
going to name names, but they know who they are - I know at least one, if
not both, are on this list!!!).  What did they think I was going to do...
give up on the QSO I was in the middle of just to work them?  How arrogant. 
I don't do that an neither should any operator, so don't try it!!!  

From my perspective, this year marked a low point in operating standards....
 things like

Incessant calling without listening - I spun the dial more than once on 160M
and started CQing on a different frequency when the pileup didn't listen but
kept the second RX on my old freq to see what would happen (at least until
my rate got back up again).  After more than three full minutes had passed
some people were still calling me incessantly on my old freq!!!  On my new
freq, the rate had gone through the roof again.....

People who are S9+ on a reasonably clear band and move in less than 150Hz
away - what is that about?  This happened at least half a dozen times.  Some
are well-known contesters with decent stations.  If they're S9+ with me, I'd
like to think I'm audible with them too!!

People who decide to tune-up zero beat on your frequency before calling, and
then proceed to key-down for about a minute.  I'm glad I'm not buying their
tubes if it takes them that long to tune an amp!  Interestingly, this seemed
to be mainly a U.S. phenomenon (at least it tended to happen mostly during
the U.S. runs).

People who send /QRP.  Isn't that illegal in most countries anyway?  They
are, by choice, running lower power which *usually* makes them p1$$ weak to
start with.  No problem, I'll struggle to make out the call because points
are points, but *why* make it any longer and more difficult than it needs to
be?  Just send your call and forget about the stupid /QRP bit!

With the way the pileups behaved this year and the apparent free-fall of
operating standards, maybe there are times when you need to work split in a
contest (I didn't at any time by the way).

Andrew GI0NWG (a.k.a. GI1W this past weekend)
10M sucked this year from 54 deg North