On Wed, 23 Mar 2005 07:26:47 -0800, "Caveat Lector"
wrote:

[snip]

| Indeed, while I hate to join the "I hate packet" bandwagon there really
| does seem to be a correlation between continuous calling and the explosive
| growth of spotting nets.
|
|The spotting nets give a lot of info that was not available in the old
|days -- working country X only, working district X only, Up x to x freq,
|wrked em at XXX, QSX X , QSY to Band X, DX station is QRT, etc.
|
|So for the intelligent DXer this should bring more order out of chaos. But
|alas it seems to have helped very little -- so perhaps it is not the
|cluster hounds who are the problem as evidenced with the unbelievable "Who's
|the Dx" queries. Obviously these guys aren't looking at the cluster. Nor is
|the lid who is calling on the DX frequency -- one look at the packet cluster
|would reveal that --provided the lid knows what "he is working split" means.

I will admit to occasionally looking at worldwide Internet spots on
the computer in a room away from the ham shack. I do this mainly to
get a feel for what the propagation is around the globe. But I don't
have a filtered packet cluster tuning my radio for me or have voice
announcements calling me away from other things to work DX.

I don't have a problem with those who want to operate this way, I just
choose not to. That said, I do believe that clusters have caused a
certain sloppiness to creep into current DX practice.

For example, I have on occasion been the first to work some DX station
and have had him ask me to spot him. I have to decline, since I
wouldn't know how to do it if I wanted to. Why the guy can't just
keep calling CQ until he makes his own pileup escapes me.

But when he gets spotted and the pile is in place, he figures he
doesn't have to identify anymore, so guys like me that tune across the
pileup wonder who in the hell he is. I know better than to ask, but
some don't, hence the "Who's the DX?" questions. The assumption that
*everyone* is connected to a cluster is ridiculous. When did it
become a requirement that to work DX you had to have a packet cluster
connection?

If on occasion, the DX would say, this is P5A, listening up 5 for W7s
only, there would be a lot less chaos.