W2LJ's Blog - QRP - Do More With Less.

///////////////////////////////////////////
A rant about working pileups - from both ends.

Posted: 22 Feb 2016 07:42 AM PST
http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/feedb...m_medium=email

I was trying to work one of the NPOTA guys yesterday and wasn't having much
success, which is OK. Sometimes that's just how it goes, a lesson learned
the hard way from the QRP Fox hunts. I'll not name names or call signs or
the location of this particular activation, as I would like to keep with
the old "Dragnet" thing of "changing the names to protect the innocent."

The pile up was pretty hot and heavy - it's amazing, in a way, how popular
this NPOTA program has become! I guess most Hams are kind of competitive
by nature, and I suppose there's a little "pile up breaker" in a lot of us.

To get on with the story (and my rant), the Amateur Radio op decided to
make sense of the pile up by resorting to working call sign areas, which is
a good strategy. It thins out the herd a bit, albeit making for littler
herds, but it DOES calm things down a bit.

The op worked about four stations from call area 1, then only a couple from
call area 2, then about three from call area 3 - and then commenced to work
about 30 or 40 from call area 4. And no, the NPOTA entity was not in call
area 4 - so it wasn't a case of favoritism there.

My point is, if you're going to work by call areas, which is a recognized
method of culling down the herd of a pile up - then be FAIR about it. It's
definitely NOT fair, if you're going to spend five minutes on some call
areas and then a half hour on others. Yes, propagation may determine that
it works that way, but it's still not the right thing to do. If you're
going to work call areas, then give everyone a fair chance. Work a set
number (maybe 10 or less) and then move on to the next area. If an area
seems to be in the skip zone, at least give those guys a decent chance.
Heck, you can even say (for instance), "I'm not hearing anyone from call
area 8. Last chance, anyone from 8 land before I move on?"

And guys, it's a nice practice to call for DX and QRPers between working
call area 0 and then going back to call area 1.

By the same token ...... chasers - clean the wax out of your ears!

If the NPOTA activator is calling for call area 4 - we should NOT hear call
signs with 2s, 5s, or 7s in them. If he's working call area 4 and you live
in Tennessee, but your call sign is W7ABC, then you wait until he gets to
the 7s. Either that, or apply for a call sign with a 4 in it.

More importantly, if you can't even hear the NPOTA station clearly enough
to tell that he's working by call areas in the first place, then what are
you doing throwing out your call sign? Throwing out your call sign on a
frequency just because the DX Cluster that you use is telling you there's
an NPOTA station on frequency is NOT the thing to do. What if by some wild
chance he hears you and answers you and you can't hear him well enough to
know that he just answered you? I'll tell you what's going to happen -
everyone else on frequency is going to make note of your call sign and
associate it with the word "Lid" - and I don't think you want that to
happen.

Others in the pileup - when you hear a Lid being a Lid - don't comment. We
all know he/she's a Lid by their actions. Your emphasizing the point just
makes it worse.

Bottom line - Activators ...... use Common Sense.

Chasers ..... mind your manners and adhere to the DX Code of Conduct.

As Stan Lee would say, "'Nuff said!"

72 de Larry W2LJ
QRP - When you care to send the very least!