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

[Dave Sergeant]

As a QRP operator....

I used to use the local DX cluster in my former QRO(ish) days. These 
days the instant a station is spotted on the cluster the pileup goes 
out of control and it is impossible to crack it on QRP (or even on 
QRO..) Nowadays the global cluster is a dissentive to working DX and 
generates the bad behaviour we are seeing so often these days. So I 
never look at the cluster in any of its forms (and have just sold my 
TNC on ebay).

It was very clear last weekend what stations had been spotted. S9, 
5U7 etc generated huge pileups. At the same time I was very pleased 
to work 	quite a few good DX stations single call (and did work 5U7Z 
after relatively few calls). Bring back the old days...

I also abhor the use of the /QRP suffix and will not acknowledge it 
when stations call me with it. I have no problem making QSOs (as can 
be seen by last weekend) without it and get 599 reports like anybody 
else. My station is very modest as well..

73 Dave G3YMC

On 2 Dec 2004 at 0:43, Andrew Williamson wrote:

> 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


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