Ron: Well, Chuck wanted to stir us and things up again, and we gladly accomodated him. The last time I checked, about half of the licensed hams are in JA land so Asia should be the main continent to aim directional CQ's at if they are in fact needing the country. I am sure the TX5 folks had the benefits of information from previous operations (FO0AAA, etc.) and the results of recent "Needed" lists to know where the needs are. What Chuck was critical of is exactly what they should do prior to and during an op. Know where the needs are, and try and help them out. Forget the dudes that are just trying to rack up band/mode slots.
I know from experience, that they frequently only have short openings to certain continents, and that is when they have to limit their calls to them. The time might not match your "needy" time, but that is how things have to be done. I also know for a fact that they could always hear NA. After all, Clipperton is just off the coast of So Cal. Californian's could probably have worked them on 2M. And to the people who are openly critical of how or when they are doing things, or about the greatly shortened op, just be fair and really put yourself in their shoes. Few do. Look at how long it took under their poor circumstrances to just get the op started in the first place. I am sure they looked at the "best" and Worst" case scenarios of what operating in that environment would be like, and unfortunately it was the "Worst Case" x 10. They made the best of a bad situation and hung in there longer than most of the critics would have. Repeated rain squalls, high winds, lightning and intense heat plagued them and caused the operation to be curtailed earlier than expected. Add to that the pesky and relentless crabs that abound on Clipperton that just won't go away, and tell me how you would have handled it. I think they gave us their best shot and ran the operation as well as we can fairly expect. Put a few extra bucks in the envelope. They deserve it. Another point that is beat to death is the issue of calling by the numbers. At any given time, you are going to be hearing certain areas best, and if you don't periodically go by the numbers, you are only going to be working stations from those areas since that is who you are hearing over eveyone else. Also, from a US standpoint, calling for 6's means you are listening for CA. Calling for 7's means you are listening for 6 states and that ought to keep that in mind when calling by the numbers. See what you stirred up Chuck (NPI). I suspect a grin. John Owens - N7TK -------------- Original message -------------- From: "Ron Notarius W3WN" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> I would say that at the moment, NA and EU contain the largest concentrations of active DX'ers. And when considering that the last two Pacific DXpeditions -- specifically, VP6DX Ducie and TX5C Clipperton -- basically had to shoot OVER NA to get to EU, AF & AS... directional CQ's become a little more understandable. Is it entirely, 100% fair? No. But what is? There are many other factors involved than the ones Charles cites. TX5C, for one, stated that there would be a concentration on EU because of demand. I'm sure I'm not the only DX'er who sat in front of the radio, early to late evenings, hearing TX5C booming 599+40 on 80 & 40 meter CW, but unable to call because of those two simple letters, "EU." But, so what? The bottom line is, as always, that the DXpedition fronts the funds, does the dirty work, arranges the shipping and transportation -- in short, takes the risks -- and as such, determines who how & where they will call. That's the way the "game" is played. To be honest, I'm not going to sit here and gripe about the TX5C gang. Sure, I'd love to have worked them on more than one band, but I'm happy that I finally got them late Friday night on 30 -- and I almost missed that chance, too (no, the dog didn't eat my coax -- again. But I did have to take the wife in to the ER due to bronchitis; if they'd had to admit her, instead of sending her home to recover...). In many ways, this DXpedition was snake-bit, especially weather wise. To do as well as they did, with the weather-related delays and disasters they had to deal with, is commendable to them. To second guess their (or anyone else's) decisions on who to work and such is very close to being uncalled for. And frankly, I think if there were some penalties for the chronic morons who constantly call out of turn, on top of other people, on top of the DX, and call call call... a few of them might learn. Not many, but a few. And it's the chronic morons we have to worry about, along with the UP police and the like... not those who inadvertently make a mistake or give in to a moment's frustration. I've never heard of anyone guilty of a momentary lapse being put on a "secret" naughty list... though I wish a few of the chronics might make them! 73 -----Original Message----- From: [EMAIL PROTECTED] [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] Behalf Of Charles Harpole Sent: Sunday, March 16, 2008 10:53 PM To: [email protected] Subject: [DX-CHAT] Directional CQs 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." A clue.... There are FOUR (five, really) other continents--not just countries-- NOT INCLUDED in those directional calls. And, if one calls "out of turn" from one of those other CONTINENTS, one is shunned or chastened or, worse, put secretly on a banned-for-QSL-card list. Hey, can we not just fix this situation? 73 from Un-called South East Asia. Charles Harpole HS0ZCW [EMAIL PROTECTED] Subscribe/unsubscribe, feedback, FAQ, problems http://njdxa.org/dx-chat To post a message, DX related items only, [email protected] 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, [email protected] 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, [email protected] This is the DX-CHAT reflector sponsored by the NJDXA http://njdxa.org
