Posted: 3/19/2014 6:40:40 AM EDT
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I've been listening to hear how other people call CQ, and honestly I've never heard anyone. I always seem to tune in to the middle of a conversation. How do people happen to find people calling CQ? It seems like it would only take a few seconds to make the call; not enough time for someone to randomly hear it. Do I just need to go park myself on a quiet frequency and listen?
Maybe I'm making this too complicated, I just don't want to piss anyone off. |
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I just stroll through the frequencies, listening for a couple seconds and move to the next 1kHz, back and forth on the band I am authorized for. Have run into a couple people calling CQ. Of course there is also the ARRL Centennial W1AW portables who always call CQ.
But don't take what I say as of any authority because I am a noob, licensed in Feb, have 4 contacts and have been on the bands for only 1 week. |
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What I've seen, in my very limited experience, has been that (on the historically CW locations) that there is quite a bit of calling CQ. 7030 & 7040 for example I hear it all the time, it's pretty distinctive :) Same is true on 7114 (slow speed).
As far as phone, I'm no help at all, when I get a better radio I'll know more. |
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CQ CQ CQ ALPHA BRAVO 1 CHARLIE DELTA ECHO
Wait 4 or 5 seconds Repeat. If you want only foreign stations use CQ DX CQ DX CQ DX <callsign> If you want to join a conversation use one of the following: BREAK CONTACT <your callsign> or everybody's favorite "BREAKER ONE NINE GOOD BUDDY!" 
ETA: I just scroll through the band listening for someone calling. If you use Ham Radio Deluxe, you can have it quickly scan the band for you and show a graph of where the signals are. Some radios have this built in. |
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Quoted:
1. Ask if frequency is clear 2. Cq cq cq 20 meters, *your callsign* calling any station, anywhere. Cq cq cq 3. Wait for reply 4. Repeat You have to call long enough and frequently enough that someone spinning the dial hears you. Yep, you have to extend the call a bit so it lasts long enough that someone hears you as they are dialing, but not so long that they have to wait around for a half-hour for your to finish. Here is an example. (He starts calling at 3:20) 
and another one...
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I troll the frequencies.
Running the scan mode in the .tenths gives me enough time to stop, go back and catch whatever made the sudden noise. It does bother me a bit when they're calling CQ ENDLESSLY. They don't shut up for about 3 minutes. As a result I sometimes keep going onto the next one
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Just please learn and use a standard phonetic alphabet.
Some of the ones I hear drive me completely nuts trying to figure out what the hell they are saying. It's bad enough that I when say "Kilo Foxtrot Five", my wife tries to correct me and says "King Frank Five". |
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Personally, I love the phonetic "Kilowatt One Kilowatt Watt " but I think chuck does it sometimes just to be a jerk.
When calling CQ, I listen, then listen some more. Throw out my call and ask if the frequency is in use. If no reply in 20 seconds, I call the same way again. Then, and only then: I start by giving my call letters, then phonetically, then letters, and saying CQ CQ CQ giving the frequency, CQ CQ CQ, then call letters, then call phonetically, CQ CQ CQ, then call letters, then listen. If nothing is heard, I say "Nothing heard" and start it over again. I've had interesting conversations with people who are running old rigs without DRO who really can't tune to a particular frequency, lol. |
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Quoted:
I've been listening to hear how other people call CQ, and honestly I've never heard anyone. I always seem to tune in to the middle of a conversation. Yes, it seems this is becoming a lost art, at least on 40M and below, and particularly on 80 and 160M where coverage is mostly local and its seems like every frequency is filled with a little clique of guys that meet every night, drink beer and talk on the radio. But on the higher bands where there is a lot more DX you hear it a lot more frequently. Unfortunately the higher bands are most active in the daytime when everyone is either at work or play. Except for the ham nerds, of course 
How do people happen to find people calling CQ? It seems like it would only take a few seconds to make the call; not enough time for someone to randomly hear it. Do I just need to go park myself on a quiet frequency and listen? Spend more time on 20M and up. You don't need to park, a good CQ call is pretty long, 30 seconds even, which is a good, long time for a CQ call. Maybe I'm making this too complicated, I just don't want to piss anyone off. Not at all. When you decide to call CQ, the video posted above is a really great example. I usually throw in my name and location a couple of times, as well. You never know when somebody is looking for a particular country, state or county. Just semi-randomly string together you call, phonetic call, name, location, and, of course, CQ. Some people will throw in the band and words like "hello", "calling" and so on just to take up space and time to make the call a little longer and less boring. After you've made 10 or 20 CQ calls you will fall into your own pattern of speech. Don't worry about it, just be clear and keep it around 30 seconds. And check if the frequency is in use first. |
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Quoted:
Just please learn and use a standard phonetic alphabet. Some of the ones I hear drive me completely nuts trying to figure out what the hell they are saying. It's bad enough that I when say "Kilo Foxtrot Five", my wife tries to correct me and says "King Frank Five". When I hear: America Japan 4 Germany France Denmark calling CQ. I wonder which country he is in or is calling 
Learning (and using) this should be mandatory to get your license. 
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If you are going to DX you might as well get used to at least hearing call signs on SSB with these.
A......AMERICA, Amsterdam B......BOSTON, Baltimore, Brazil C......CANADA, Columbia, Chile D......DENMARK E......ENGLAND, Egypt F......FRANCE, Finland G.....GERMANY, Guatemala, Geneva, Greece H.....HONOLULU, Hawaii I.......ITALY J......JAPAN K......KILOWATT, Kentucky, King L......LONDON, Lima, Luxembourg M......MEXICO, Montreal N......NORWAY, Nicaragua O......ONTARIO, Ocean, P......PORTUGAL, Pacific Q......QUEBEC, Queen R......RADIO, Romania, Russia S......SANTIAGO, Spain, Sweden T......TOKYO, Texas U......UNITED, URUGUAY V...... VICTORIA, Venezuela W......WASHINGTON X......X-RAY Y......YOKOHAMA Z...... ZANZIBAR, Zulu, Zed |
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If you are going to DX you might as well get used to at least hearing call signs on SSB with these. Yeah, sometimes a distant station just can't seem to understand me when I say Victor. Victoria usually clears it up for whatever reason. Other than that I try to use the standard phonetics unless someone is having an issue understanding me. ...hmmm....maybe I just sound like I have a mouthful of ping pong balls or something.
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| Sadly a lot of foreign stations where English is a second language simply can't understand military phonetics very well. I've been in pile-ups where I know he can hear me but he's just not grokking my call. As soon as I change to using countries for phonetics I get picked right up. |
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Yeah, sometimes a distant station just can't seem to understand me when I say Victor. Victoria usually clears it up for whatever reason. Other than that I try to use the standard phonetics unless someone is having an issue understanding me. ...hmmm....maybe I just sound like I have a mouthful of ping pong balls or something. Quoted:
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If you are going to DX you might as well get used to at least hearing call signs on SSB with these. Yeah, sometimes a distant station just can't seem to understand me when I say Victor. Victoria usually clears it up for whatever reason. Other than that I try to use the standard phonetics unless someone is having an issue understanding me. ...hmmm....maybe I just sound like I have a mouthful of ping pong balls or something. Sierra is what seems to drop from my call sign. If I switch to Sanitago, that clears it right up. That is the only time I deviate from standard NATO phonetics. |
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I appreciate the replies. This makes more sense. I just didn't want to become a lid over some wording or something.
I just had this sense that if I screw it up, the ham community will never forget, and I'll be laughed off the air forever. Maybe that's unrealistic. |