And on the other hand, I recall several times during the contest this weekend I would be CQing and all of a sudden someone really loud started CQing within 50Hz of me. Did they even send a "?"? Maybe, they could have while I was CQing. Or they really messed up with their SO2R and started transmitting on the wrong radio/VFO or just popped back expecting to have a clear frequency. I send QRL? twice and then a quick CQ. If after the second CQ sequence, I don't hear someone else, I consider it my frequency for now. I will QSY if I feel I have stepped on someone by mistake. And yes, there are those who are on the second radio for a while and come back expecting to have a clear frequency. Sometimes it is a value judgement whether to battle it out, just find another frequency, or try to coexist. At 100W, I don't win many of those battles.
At 2/1/2011 08:33 PM, Rick Karlquist wrote: >Ron Spencer wrote: > > In this past weekend's contest I ran into this several times. I'd tune > > the band, find a "seemingly" empty spot, listen and then send a quick ?. > > Quick so that if its in use I don't cause QRM for too long. Listen > > again and if no response a quick QRL? If no response I'd start CQing. > > Several times I followed that exact sequence only to have someone, > > presumably the previous "owner" of that spot call CQ after I'd CQ'd, > > sometimes, several times already. Again important to note absolutely NO > > response to my earlier requests if that spot was busy. > > > > Here is what I think is happening. Whomever was there was off working > > someone on the second radio. Only after I started to send CQ did they > >Maybe but OTOH, I have had this happen to me when I was trying to >listen to a weak signal on a beverage and didn't hear the QRL at >first. Sometimes I may be listening for an entire minute without >transmitting if the other station is sending slowly, etc. It >may seem like the frequency is not busy, but it is. > >I think if you find an "empty" frequency, you have to wait longer >to see if it is in use, and simply take the risk that you are >being an "enabler" for an SO2R station or the risk that the frequency >truly was empty, and someone else poaches it. (The well known >phenomenon where someone who is looking for a frequency hears your >QRL? and sends "YES" and starts CQ'ing.) > >Rick N6RK > >_______________________________________________ >UR RST IS ... ... ..9 QSB QSB - hw? BK _______________________________________________ UR RST IS ... ... ..9 QSB QSB - hw? BK
