09/17/2021 -- 02:29Z -- 14.080 FT4 Rx: 1318 --- JT1CO in Mongolia

Right now, this minute, calling CQ with no takers because he is virtually the ONLY station on the band segment.  I worked him EASY on the first call.

He is a REALLY cool guy. I have his card and his QRZ page USED to have him sitting in front of his rig wearing a really cool suit of leather and steel armor ala Mongolia under Ghenghis Kahn.

I wish he'd do that again for cards. It was just TOO fucking cool.

No Ghengis Khan on his page now, just a sullen looking ham and him in the snow waving a ski pole ;)  I'll probably send him a card and a few bucks for return postage since this is likely the only time I'll work Mongolia.

09/17/21  22:57Z -- TI200I (that's two hundred) is on 14.270.5 calling CQ with few takers.  It's a special event station for the Costa Rican Bicentennial Celebration.

14.329 W7DX in Washington state. Salmon Run contest.  Coming in super strong in MA. http://salmonrun.wwdxc.org/

14.268.2 Tina in Liechtenstein HB0/DL5YL

Leo in Chile has a great signal up the coast.  

CE3KEY 14.220 Mhz

D60AC in Comoros is on 14.192. I think he's working split and listening on 14.305. He's calling for outside of Europe only. I just turned the radio on and have already got a couple of laughs from him.

"Outside Europe only! I will work North America, South America, Africa, anywhere but Europe."

"I will not work Europe! You are wasting your time!"

"Italian station, are you in Europe?"

"You are making QRM! I will not work you!"

"Why are you working me again?!!! And on the same band! Why are you working me again?!!!"

His regular QRZ page says that he does these DXpeditions to help guys get ATNO's, and not for big stations to work him numerous times on different bands.

S57DX is active on 14.280.00 now

D60AC in Comoros is 14.275 MHz. No real pile-up. He's very organized and efficient -- he's calling by continents (mostly North America).

EDIT: Think he went split mode now and is listening on 14.285 MHz.

Wish I got home form work earlier in the day!

Somebody calling foreign language rn on 14.220 that I can't quite understand.

09/24/2021 0410Z -- 14.080 FT4 Rcv: 609 -- 3D2CR DXpedition to Conway Reef -- -1 db with nobody calling.

Even though I don't currently do FT8, I've been following his saga:

https://dxnews.com/3d2cr/

Apparently there's been a pirate posing as him pretty much from the beginning and even running simultaneously with him, so be aware of that possibility. But -- remember the old saying, "Work first, worry later." There was also mention of him suspending transmissions on 9/23 due to extreme winds, but maybe that was temporarily.

You have to give the guy credit. He's only sleeping about 2 hours a day to give everyone a chance to put Conway Reef in their logbooks.

There is always the possibility of a pirate, especially with the really rare ones.  I don't understand why people do that, but then I don't understand a lot of what goes on in the world today.  I guess I'll find out if I never get a confirmation of the contact.

One thing I read on QRZ is that the pirate has a weak signal compared to the real deal. I know nothing about FT8, but I *think* that the signal you've reported is pretty strong? Odds are you are probably good to go.

Like you, I have no idea what a pirate gains from their actions. They can't get confirmation for any of their QSO's, as far as I know. I guess they're just mean-spirited people who like to cheat people out of a chance to add a rare station to their logs. I got duped a couple of months ago by a pirate posing as a Vatican City station on 20M phone.

I really do need to learn FT8, just so I can pick up rare stuff that doesn't show up on SSB. I watched a guy run it at field day, but it seemed pretty complex to me.

You never really know for certain whether it was a pirate or just a logging mistake.  In the end the result is the same in that you don't wind up in the log like you thought you did.  It's really unfortunate with DXpeditions since by the time you figure it out they are already back home.

FT8 and FT4 (which are virtually the same as far as operation goes) are so simple to use anyone can do it.  The software can be a bit difficult to get set up properly but once it is running right there could really be nothing more simple to use:
Step 1 - Pick a clear spot on the waterfall to transmit in

Step 2 - When you see the station transmitting double-click that line in the window and his receive frequency will be set up, the messages will be properly formatted, and transmit will be enabled.

Step 3 - Wait until you get a timeout (didn't contact him) or a "RR73" from him (did contact him)

The two modes have some distinct advantages though:
o  If everyone configures their software properly everyone is running in "Split" or QSX mode.

o  YOU don't decide when to transmit, the software does.  There are two "Periods"; Even / First and Odd / Second which determine whether your radio transmits on even or odd minutes.  When you double-click a station to initiate a contact the software picks the opposite period from his.  This insures that you and he do not transmit at the same time.

o  All of the stations within the range of the waterfall are displayed when they transmit.  You can show every message that comes through or select "CQ Messages Only" by clicking a button.  I don't have to troll up and down the band or watch spotting stations to see what's there, all I have to do is watch the display.

o  The ability of the software to properly decode weak signals is amazing.  I've seen times when I could barely see a pattern on the waterfall but the software was decoding it without any problems.

o  DXpeditions frequently use "Fox and Hound" mode which allows them to get QSO rates of about 500 per hour.

And some disadvantages:
o  People don't know how to configure it properly and don't use the "Hold Xmit Freq" which allows everyone to use split and prevents them from transmitting dead on the station's receive frequency.

o  Forget about holding a conversation, that's not what it's for.  It is a digital equivalent of a hit-and-run DX contact where you exchange signal reports and move on.

o  You absolutely, positively MUST have something on your computer to keep the time synchronized.  The software uses your computer's clock to know when to send and if it's off you will be out of sequence with everyone else.  This means that part of your transmission will be missed and won't decode properly.  There is free software to do this, you just have to remember to start it when you start WSJT-X.

At first blush it does appear to be about as much fun as watching paint dry but once it is used for a while it becomes a lot of fun.  If you need help getting it set up let me know and I'll be glad to help.  It's not hard but there are a lot of options that have to be properly set for it to work right.

5Z4BU in Kenya has been booming into Indiana for a couple of hours now on 14.267 MHz.

That is one rude pile up.  Idiots calling way before the Kenyan station finishes his exchange.   Then the keep piling on each other for a 40 seconds steady trying to be the last heard.

Yeah. F*ck that sh*t.

i held on for it to thin out.  I think he responded to me once but with the wrong numeric so I didn't answer.  Then the QRZ next I didn't win the toss up.

no dice, conditions fading.

Well, that sucks. I'm pretty sure I heard him and the pile-up, as I had gotten home early, but I turned off the radio to help a buddy try to sort out a GPS issue he was having (I failed) so I was doing phone tech support for an hour or more and when I got back to the radio he was gone.

When I posted, there wasn't really any pile-up to speak of. He spent a lot of time telling everyone he wanted North America and the Caribbean only.

I spun the dial and picked up 6I1M for the Mexican Independence celebracion on 14.185

RTTY contest

target rich environment

I just wanted to publicly thank SACraig for spending 2 hours on the phone this evening helping me get FT4/FT8 set up and overseeing my first few QSO's via that method. I'm sure it took a lot of patience to walk a novice like me through the steps. This mode won't replace SSB for me, but it's nice to branch out into new avenues of ham radio, and it certainly opens the door to rarer countries that don't use SSB.

You're very welcome, glad to help.  It was relatively painless getting things configured, and it just takes a little time to get used to what's going on and how best to use the software.

FT8/FT4 are just other tools to be used.  There's no reason to feel like we are limited to one mode, I run CW, RTTY, FT4/FT8, and some SSB.  I get bored with the same thing every day and tend to change up regularly.  These modes are just another way to do that.  I admit it isn't for everyone, and those who liken it to watching paint dry aren't that far off.  But it has its uses and it has advantages other modes don't have.

You might want to take a look at JT Alert since it adds some functionality to WSJT-X that is kind of handy.  Specifically, and the feature I use the most, is the ability to watch for a particular callsign to show up.

Anyway, play with it, have fun with it.  Let me know if you have questions.

Just talked to a guy in OR on 17 meters, and he had me at 55 when I turned down my power to 1 watt. 57 at 20w.
That was pretty cool. It was also my first 17m contact. I listened to a guy in N Scotland for a while, but could not reach him.

Was it Geoff on the Isle of Hoy? (Scotland)

Posting from a DX spot, I didn't look to see if I could hear him:

14.185.0 mHz - 10-04-2021 - 2309Z - S9OK (that's not a zero, it's an "O") in Sap Tome and Principe.

I saw this one come up and listened for awhile.  I could tell there was someone there, and that there was a pileup, but nothing clear enough to attempt contact.

Saw another spot for a station in Italy with the comment "Worse operator ever!"

I got him about 40 minutes before you posted this. He was running split. Already have the Clublog confirmation and a QSL card ordered via OQRS.

I also got Mariana Islands and Egypt tonight.

I didn't even bother listening.  I have a cold an am not in a mood to fight a pileup.  Besides I have a card from there from working S92IJ in 1993.

I listened to a pileup a few weeks ago but I don't recall who the DX station was.  Whoever it was he was calling them out and refusing to log them if they got out of line.  He was calling by country at first and called "Italy Only, Italy Only" and some K-something sqwaked out his call.  The DX guy laid into him, "K-Something ARE YOU IN ITALY??? ...... K-Something I ASKED IF YOU ARE IN ITALY ...... I GUESS NOT ..... Stations in ITALY ONLY call now".  This time he got Italy only stations ;)

Since he was running split, at least I didn't have to hear any pile-up, but did have to contend with the few callers who weren't running split.

He was calling by numbers, and as he climbed from 0 to 9, I watched the waterfall. The lower numbers had tons of activity, and by the time he got up to 8, it had died way down. When he called 9, I got him within a half dozen attempts.

Hope you get to feeling better!

I almost got Oscar in Guatemala last night but his signal dropped and the noise climbed the moment he came back with my call. I might be in his logbook, not sure, but I couldn't say in honesty that we completed a QSO. There was heavy rain in my QTH and the band wasn't great.

Par golf. Italians are either the absolute best out there or the worst. In the entire country there are probably only two that are middle of the road.

For some reason I can't figure out the assholes are generally given the IZ call sign.

While I have not heard too many reprimands on the air over the years, the bulk have been aimed at pathetic sounding It-tah-lee Zooo-loos.

They don't follow the DX stations instructions at all. If the DX is working the numbers and asks for 3s an IZ8 will jump in. If the DX is CQing Japan, an IZ will jump in.

The worst is when a DX station is running split and ends each QSO with 'listening up'. Guess who will walk on the DX station?

What's worse is he won't quit after repeated warnings by the DX police. When I hear one doing that I wait until the DX police have given him 3-4 warnings. Then I key up and reply "IZ whatever you are 5-9" and send him on his way. If he gets his card returned it's T.S.

IUs for the most part seem pretty squared away.

Yeah, there are exceptions and I'm painting with a wide brush.

Scored 5H3MB in Tanzania on 14.305 MHz a few minutes ago.

SM5X ao 14.243. sweden

LN8W Norway on 21.293

Wow, I have 4 new countries working 15 and 17 meters this morning.

Iceland TF3T on 14.277.

Picked up three from Finland calling CQ Contest

OG66X on 14.221
OH8L on 14.247
OH8X on 14.2134

All SSB.

EA3JE in Barcelona currently on 14.238

Just got LZ5DB, Milen, in Bulgaria on 14.262

7.145 TI5VMJ in Costa Rica.  Nice signal when a lot of noise out there.  I had called Juan Carlos before when he had been calling before and didn't make contact.  It is nice to go back and get the missed QSO.

Only been a month or so but he is the only QSL card I've gotten back so far. Good guy.

3DA0RU  18.0728 split . . .  just got him up at 18.0745


https://www.ar15.com/forums/outdoors/radio-expedition-3DA0RU-Kingdom-of-Eswatini/22-701335/

I just got the Kingdom of Eswatini on 14.243, but it was 3DAØWW. Apparently they only confirm on clublog, so I have now signed up for that. Now I need to figure out how to get that down into QRZ, my preferred online log.

14.210 T77LA San Marino