During non-contests, I don't see anything wrong with someone saying -- ONCE -- "here I am!"
Every 10 minutes, that's excessive. If the band is crowded, and the station isn't that rare (me, for example), it's probably not a wise idea anyway. But if the band isn't crowded, how else can people know where you are if they THINK the band isn't open? The problem is, when one guy does it once, the next guy does it multiple times. "Pushing the envelope" can get very aggravating sometimes! But where do you draw the lines? 73 -----Original Message----- From: [EMAIL PROTECTED] [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] Behalf Of John Warren Sent: Thursday, November 01, 2007 5:46 AM To: dx-chat@njdxa.org Cc: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Subject: [DX-CHAT] Culture Change on DX Cluster? I think I detect the start of a culture change on the DX cluster. You may not care about it, or - more likely - you'll deplore it, but I think it's happening anyway, and probably can't be reversed. It's self-spotting. In most contests it's illegal, but not at other times, and for many less experienced, and often less powerful DX stations, especially outside North America, putting one's own callsign on the cluster is becoming a definite aid to CQing on the bands. Under certain circumstances, I don't look at it quite as negatively as some purists. It's useful for "priming the pump" for unusual openings, when you alert people to turn their beams to unconventional directions. For example, 10M long path when (if?) the sunspots come back, or 10M side-scatter in the summer. What say you? John, NT5C. Subscribe/unsubscribe, feedback, FAQ, problems http://njdxa.org/dx-chat To post a message, DX related items only, dx-chat@njdxa.org This is the DX-CHAT reflector sponsored by the NJDXA http://njdxa.org Subscribe/unsubscribe, feedback, FAQ, problems http://njdxa.org/dx-chat To post a message, DX related items only, dx-chat@njdxa.org This is the DX-CHAT reflector sponsored by the NJDXA http://njdxa.org