>There are an awful >lot of casual DXers, as I brought up in the eHam thread, who work >full-time jobs and strong family obligations, who really only get 2 >or 3 hours a night between supper and bedtime to play radio.
I can't argue with that! However, there are a lot of 'em in Europe too. (Wait screw 'em... we wouldn't want to spoon feed anyone ;-) ) In a sense, a large part of the point of VP6DX and their major antennas and top notch ops and intimate knowledge of propagation is to make as many QSOs with casual DXers as possible. I hit up 15m CW/SSB, 17m CW/SSB, 20m CW and I think 30m RTTY in a few short calling sessions over the course of *last Saturday* I heard 'em on 12m. Probably took me an hour or two total just dipping in and out of the shack.... one call, two call, five call kind of stuff... and the casual NA DXer will have all of that to look forward to this coming Saturday and Sunday I'm sure! Do the casual NA DXers have an easy time on FORTY meters? No, probably not, but many if not all not all of my higher band contacts on *Saturday* were completed after sunset in all of EU... mostly shutting down those bands there. I don't even think the EU's have been able to hear VP6DX much on the higher bands... but your prop charts may prove me right or wrong on that. I think EU only on 40m all evening here makes it possible for the casual EU DXer to wake up early and work VP6DX on a reliable band ... something that the US casual DXer will still have a chance to in their morning on 40m as well, I would suppose, though I haven't listened for them at that time. I think the stats tell the story... they're concentrating on EU and working about the same amount of EU and USA (and much less of everything else, to get back to Charles's point!!!) 40m is a huge band for the EUs at the expense of NA guys, I won't deny that. However, I think VP6DX is just using the propagation there as an opportunity to make up for the other bands! "If it's a 3 week DXpedition to Bhutan (I missed the first one - here's hoping another one starts up soon), I'd be insulted to be spoon-fed" Isn't a 3 week DXpedition to Bhutan spoon-feeding in its own right, as is VP6DX and any other DXpedition that isn't some dude with an IC-706 and a dipole? Dan 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
