One thing I noted that at least one or two of the VP6DX team did was to mix in the directional calls. For example, on 30 meters, at the time I worked them, the op did about 5 minutes of "UP EU", about the same just "UP", then the same "UP NA", then "UP" only again... with an occasional "SA" mixed in there.
I think that was a good compromise. Gave each area a few minutes while propagation was open, and a general non-specific call so that other areas that had propagation at the time weren't excluded. And the intervals were short enough to down play the chance that propagation would fade out before someone got their shot for the night. Also, while I agree with Pete that the DX station needs to be skilled to be able to pull some of this off... well, let's face it, not everyone is. Like many skills, it's one that can and must be honed. So, that means that when the inexperienced op tries it, we must be patient (or learn patience) and give them a chance to hone those skills. Otherwise, you have situations like so much of the armchair quarterbacking that got thrown at many members of the TI9KK operation. If the inexperienced ops never have the chance to learn, then what are you going to do when experienced ops aren't available? 73 -----Original Message----- From: [EMAIL PROTECTED] [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] Behalf Of Peter Dougherty Sent: Sunday, March 16, 2008 11:21 PM To: [EMAIL PROTECTED]; dx-chat@njdxa.org Subject: Re: [DX-CHAT] Directional CQs At 10:52 PM 3/16/2008, Charles Harpole wrote: >Many recent DXpeditions have, in my opinion, over-studied the data >to serve "under served areas", have propagation charts, and be extra >aware of their "important position" as the only (last?) hams to be >at that locale. One effect is the extensive use of DIRECTIONAL >CQs... usually "only EU" or "only NA." This is one of my biggest gripes in DXing (well, that and "by the numbers"). Human nature says that whenever you exclude a group of people for whatever "good" reason you have, the excluded will generally take offense and resentment will start to form, regardless whether this is rational or not. As such, there really is only one solution to this problem, and that's to open it up to everyone, everywhere for as long as possible (though I do think looking for the hardest parts of the world from where the DX is operating on the low bands, at the grey-line, is excellent operating practice). What this means, on the other hand, is the DX station needs to be skilled enough to handle the onslaught of callers from everywhere and have equipment and abilities to work the pileup down efficiently. The other problem with directional calls is CW - It's very difficult on CW to convey a sense of where you want to hear from. It's easy to send USA or NA, but that leaves out Central and South America - would the DX want those too? Or does he really JUST want the US/Canada? Ditto for calling for JA, but leaving out the rest of Asia, VK and ZL, or EU but not Africa, the middle-East or western Asia, etc. It's easier on SSB and RTTY, but still, the longer it takes to say WHO/WHERE you're listening for, the bigger and more unruly the pileup will get. It's easier for the pileup and the operator to send "XX1XXX QRZ UP" than "XX1XXX QRZ EU AFRICA AND MIDDLE EAST ONLY" or whatever. Sure, the wall will become louder on and near your QSX, but just work the loudest ones. Eventually you'll either get tired and go for an 807, or you'll run out of 59++ signals and you'll get to dig deeper to the ones who are "only" 59, then the 57s, then the 55s, etc...at least till you get spotted and get another round of 20-overs calling you again. If you have a rock-solid wall of noise with nothing leaping out at you, expand your QSX range to 5 or 7 kHz on SSB. Maybe even 10 if it's unusually bad. Work the edges, pick off the big guns. Eventually, you'll settle down to a single QSX with luck, pick 'em off with little effort. I sure can't speak for HS-land, but when I was on C6 I found that to be the easiest way to make Q's...take all callers. Though I DID take EU only for a couple of hours one night as I wanted to boost my country count a little. Regards, Peter, W2IRT 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
