Posted: 4/25/2013 5:59:41 PM EDT
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This afternoon, I was trying to work a DX station from Africa on CW. Each time the DX station sent his call sign, he announced that he was listening up. And numerous people had spotted him as listening up. But for some reason, there were a lot of stations who didn't get the message, and were calling on the wrong frequency. Well, the band cops were going ballistic, and sending "UP UP UP" every few seconds. The amount of buffoonery made working the DX station almost impossible. Eventually most everyone got the message, and things started to calm down.
But there was this one station, who I will call "Clueless", who just couldn't figure out that the DX station was working split. He kept calling on the wrong frequency. Finally, one of the band cops got fed up with it. The next time "Clueless" called, the band cop answered and gave him a "599". Old "Clueless" responded with a "599 TU", and was gone. A couple of minutes later, the DX station went QRT. I never did make contact. What a zoo..... |
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I remember one DX on phone I worked when things were starting to get out hand he stopped and announced....
"I strictly follow the DX Code of Conduct to a T. You follow it and we'll get along fine. You don't and you'll get blacklisted and never get a card from me. Ever. Now let's behave like gentlemen and get to business. xx0xx QRZ? Up 3 to 5." The most absolute smoothest pileup I've ever experienced. Half a dozen calls at the most and he was in the log. Hell, I just listened for a while after my QSO just to see a master at work. On the other side of the coin is some of the RTTY pileups complete with band cops and lids. A 3khz wide cluster of QRM. Passed up on that attempt. Lifes too short to put up with that crap. |
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CW seems to have its share of band cops, but nothing like phone. This is one of the reasons I really like CW. It does seem a little more civil than phone....at least, most of the time it does. Passed up on that attempt. Lifes too short to put up with that crap.
I agree, and I find myself passing up some of those pileups, too. Some of the pileups seem to be so out of control, that there isn't much chance of making a contact, anyway. |
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From what I can tell the folks that miss the DX working split, in general, really should not be trying to work them anyway. Most DX if working split are very clear about it.
To me this means the guy calling on his TX freq likely got it from a cluster spot and really cannot hear the DX well enough to make a valid contact in the first place. Just my take....No, I'm not a band cop .... |
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hey if you're into it it's cool like I said trophy collecting is meaningless to me that's not to say that I don't like QSL cards - I think they're awesome as a memento of someone I've had a meaningful conversation with but "hi 59 bye" just don't cut it 59 here in NC. 73. 
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hey if you're into it it's cool like I said trophy collecting is meaningless to me that's not to say that I don't like QSL cards - I think they're awesome as a memento of someone I've had a meaningful conversation with but "hi 59 bye" just don't cut it You need another hobby then. 
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hey if you're into it it's cool like I said trophy collecting is meaningless to me that's not to say that I don't like QSL cards - I think they're awesome as a memento of someone I've had a meaningful conversation with but "hi 59 bye" just don't cut it You need another hobby then.
Hell, all advanced species like trophies...
Originally Posted By Some Amazon Chick Named Anna:
Anna: When I was little, we found a man. He looked like - like, butchered. The old woman in the village crossed themselves... and whispered crazy things, strange things. "El Diablo cazador de hombres." Only in the hottest years this happens. And this year, it grows hot. We begin finding our men. We found them sometimes without their skins... and sometimes much, much worse. "El cazador trofeo de los hombres" means the demon who makes trophies of men. |
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hey if you're into it it's cool like I said trophy collecting is meaningless to me that's not to say that I don't like QSL cards - I think they're awesome as a memento of someone I've had a meaningful conversation with but "hi 59 bye" just don't cut it You need another hobby then.
One of the great things about this is that it's so multi faceted that there is something for everyone. Some people own a bunch of different guns and hardly ever shoot them, if at all. Other people own a couple of guns and shoot them all the time. Both groups like guns, they just have different ways of enjoying them. |
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stuff like this is why I just don't bother with chasing DX battling pileups just to exchange a perfunctory greeting and signal report... I don't see the point trophy collecting's just not my thing It can be addicting. I used to enjoy breaking pileups with a kilowatt amp and a 4 el. cubic quad (100ft above ground). It's not as much fun now with a vertical and a crappy tri-bander Yagi 10 ft above the house. 
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hey if you're into it it's cool like I said trophy collecting is meaningless to me that's not to say that I don't like QSL cards - I think they're awesome as a memento of someone I've had a meaningful conversation with but "hi 59 bye" just don't cut it You need another hobby then.
Hell, all advanced species like trophies...
Originally Posted By Some Amazon Chick Named Anna:
Anna: When I was little, we found a man. He looked like - like, butchered. The old woman in the village crossed themselves... and whispered crazy things, strange things. "El Diablo cazador de hombres." Only in the hottest years this happens. And this year, it grows hot. We begin finding our men. We found them sometimes without their skins... and sometimes much, much worse. "El cazador trofeo de los hombres" means the demon who makes trophies of men. I just posted a predator picture in the cola warrior thread a few hours ago 
hey I got plenty of hobbies - radio is just one of them I like to ragchew you like to fill logbooks no big deal |
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Hey Derek45, I have T32C also. :) Was your ISS packet, or were you lucky enough to catch them on phone? FM voice.....driving to the gun club My friends FT-7900 was scanning, I was riding shotgun. I heard it and threw out my call. Colonel Warlock answered
Friend cries - " WTF...my radio...my antenna and YOU work him ! ! !"
I handed him the mic, but he didn't get through. He was a new ham and it really blew his mind. Hell....it blew my mine too. . |
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In my case with my HOA restrictions I look at it as a challenge. Anybody can work rare DX with a big tower, 50lb of aluiminum, and a legal limit amp. Now do it with wire in the attic and possibly 500w. Do I get them all? No. But but making the best of what you have is one of the satisfying aspects of the hobby.
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stuff like this is why I just don't bother with chasing DX battling pileups just to exchange a perfunctory greeting and signal report... I don't see the point trophy collecting's just not my thing It can be addicting. I used to enjoy breaking pileups with a kilowatt amp and a 4 el. cubic quad (100ft above ground). It's not as much fun now with a vertical and a crappy tri-bander Yagi 10 ft above the house. As for ragchewing, I guess I got snakebit early. Got a guy on phone once that just rambled on and on about nothing. I didn't give a damn that his daughter has worms, his dog is pregnant, what he had for lunch, that he needs to go out to get the paper. Self aborbed dork. Broke me quick of engaging conversation on the air. This hobby is so wide that everybody can find a niche and have a good time there. One in my club rarely gets on the air but he'll design and build widgets at a moments notice. The quality of his PC boards rivals any factory. Another is an Extra that doesn't do HF, he chases satellites. Still another is a master at CW. Straight key, paddles, computer. Doesn't matter. I'm learning a lot from him. He's getting bored and is breaking out of his comfort zone by giving this new fangled thing called PSK31 a try. He's learning a lot from me. |
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hey if you're into it it's cool like I said trophy collecting is meaningless to me that's not to say that I don't like QSL cards - I think they're awesome as a memento of someone I've had a meaningful conversation with but "hi 59 bye" just don't cut it You need another hobby then.
Hell, all advanced species like trophies...
Originally Posted By Some Amazon Chick Named Anna:
Anna: When I was little, we found a man. He looked like - like, butchered. The old woman in the village crossed themselves... and whispered crazy things, strange things. "El Diablo cazador de hombres." Only in the hottest years this happens. And this year, it grows hot. We begin finding our men. We found them sometimes without their skins... and sometimes much, much worse. "El cazador trofeo de los hombres" means the demon who makes trophies of men. I just posted a predator picture in the cola warrior thread a few hours ago
hey I got plenty of hobbies - radio is just one of them I like to ragchew you like to fill logbooks no big deal The current solar cycle has made it tough for DX stations to just "rag chew" with US stations with regularity. Previous solar cycles were much better for that kind of operation. Online DX spotting takes a quiet frequency and turns it a 20db over S9 wall of noise for the DX station in short order. As soon as the DX station gives his call, someone posts it to the spotter and all hell breaks loose. There is tremendous pressure on the DX stations to work as many US stations as they can, so your rag chewing goes out the window. Its just the facts of life......a 5NN and 73 is all you get these days. If you want to rag chew, then 160 thru 40 meters is you best bet. 
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Seriously, I have no idea what "UP" means. I rarely use HF, and never CW. Can someone educate me? Thanks, Mike |
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Seriously, I have no idea what "UP" means. I rarely use HF, and never CW. Can someone educate me? Thanks, Mike Up means that the DX station is operating split. He is transmitting on one frequency and receiving an another. For phone "up" may mean 5 to 10 khz above where you are hearing the DX station. On CW it is usually 1khz or more above where you are hearing the DX. Operating splits is supposed to make it easier for the DX station to be heard and to make contacts often times it just makes for a wall of noise about 50 khz wide. 
This is where the fun starts on CW for me......many times I can't hear the guy that the DX station is calling and I have to change my TX frequency many times to find the the DX. Its very much a hit and miss affair, but more often than not I can work them. Typical pile up below.
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