[UK-CONTEST] 40m CQWW SSB

[Gerard Lynch]

Taking my life in my hands, I posted this to VivatMorse:

----

At the risk of being lynched, and as someone who rarely operates SSB outside 
contests, but was active with the club station at the weekend, let me humbly 
disagree.

The reason why CQWW SSB populates the entire 40 m band from 010 up with 
20-30 over 9 signals during European dark hours is that it is simply the 
most popular operating event in amateur radio.  More than 90% of the 
stations active on 40 last weekend will have been SSB contest stations, and 
I'm afraid 90% band occupancy on that basis seems reasonable.  And it's only 
one weekend a year.

Interestingly, on WPX, the contesters seems to spread down to around 020 or 
so, and I was active in the wee hours of Sunday morning on 40 CW during WPX 
SSB weekend this year and there seemed to be no trouble with people fitting 
in to the QRM free 20 kHz.  And there were few complaints.  And that makes 
at most two weekends a year where the band gets wiped out - in the others, 
CW exclusive segments seem to be respected, even in WAE and ARRL SSB.

So for those two weekends a year, what's wrong with being a bit cosy - 
heaven help us, you might even **work** some people?  Or moving to another 
band?

30 metres - even on major CW contest weekends, I rarely hear any CW stations 
above 10.125 even though our exclusive segment goes up to 140.

17 metres is never crowded even on major CW contest weekends.

12m - does anyone hear QSOs in the 910-920 CW exclusive segment, even in 
solar maxima?  Thought not!

80m - always plenty of space on 80 for a natter, occupancy really thins out 
above 3550 and I never hear anyone much above the QRQ boys on 3569.

20m - the SSB segement is getting as bad as 40 in CQ WW now, I suppose a 
combination of low sunspots keeping 10 closed and the no-code HFers.  Still, 
the 14.100 band limit was well respected when I was on the band.  On the 
other hand, we regularly push up over 100 in CQ WW CW, 125 or so seems to be 
the limit, and I seem to remember ARRL contests going that high in the past. 
Oh yes, I remember the days when 20 CW could be crowded on non-contest 
Saturdays, but they're long gone, aren't they?

40m is the only CW band which is remotely crowded, and yes, it does get 
crowded most weekends.

It seems you can't win - on the one hand one hears constant complaints about 
the lack of activity (and you can spend a long time calling CQ on 40 during 
weekdays with little change, and yes, I get out well on 40), but when there 
is a serious amount of activity, people whinge because it's too much!

Oh, and don't forget the SSB boys will be complaining in 4 weeks when *we* 
spread up to 7.075 or 80 - although any whingers are told in no uncertain 
terms by me to read their bandplan carefully.

Oddly, there was plenty of SSB activity below 21.150 this weekend, about 
which I've heard no complaint, and the digital contests, which cause QRM to 
the 40 CW exclusive segment almost every weekend these days, with far less 
participants, cause much less online complaint.  Is this a case of people 
waiting all year just so they can have a good whinge (after all, a good old 
amateur radio pastime) in the last weekend in October?

Like that DL/OE eejit who has obviously retirement QSYed down to the Med 
somewhere who spends all weekend shouting "only in CW" to SSB ops at the 
bottom of the band?  Like operating without a callsign is just like, sooooo, 
legal, mate.

And remember, 40m bandplans are different in every part of the world, so 
expecting the CQ committee to police all of them is a bit silly.

Flame away, my asbestos suit is on.

73

Gerry G0RTN
Vanity Page at http://www.gerrylynch.co.uk
"In days of old, when ops were bold, and sidebands not invented,
The word would pass, by pounding brass, and all were well contented."