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DX seems to operate in the fast lane
22 November 2015 | by DX for new CW operators
How to copy those high speed ops?
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| EA8TL's Hexbeam in the Canary Islands |
Well this morning I wasn't having much success getting an answer to my calls on 40m, and 20m seemed dead. So I popped up to 17m and there was a good signal coming in that no one else was answering. I listened over and over and finally copied EA8T (op name Jorge) located in the Canary islands off the coast of Africa. I replied to him and worked him at my relatively slow 18wpm sending speed. I wasn't very graceful in my response and he got my call wrong on the first go 'round but resent it correctly after that. The entire time no-one else answered him even though there was plenty of activity elsewhere on 17m. Are the Canary Islands considered blasé as far as DX?
Anyway I was happy to get the response. I know (or surmise) that my 80m Windom has some fairly pronounced gain nodes in different directions on the higher bands but I didn't know which directions they pointed. I guess one of the nodes points toward Africa (yaaay!)
My copy speed is slowly increasing as I've been operating CW for about 3 months now, but I wonder if there are DX stations on some segments of the band plan for slower speed operations. I spent about 20 minutes sending my call at 18wpm down to 12wpm on the QRP segment of 17m (18.096 MHz) but no one answered. I know I was getting out given the previous contact.
So lower your power and raise your expectations
73/72
Richard N4PBQ
Anyway I was happy to get the response. I know (or surmise) that my 80m Windom has some fairly pronounced gain nodes in different directions on the higher bands but I didn't know which directions they pointed. I guess one of the nodes points toward Africa (yaaay!)
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| Path from N4PBQ to EA8TL in the Canary Islands |
Do DX operators just not want to bother with newbies such as myself? I wonder. I'd appreciate suggestions in the comments section.That's all for now
So lower your power and raise your expectations
73/72
Richard N4PBQ
4 Responses to “DX seems to operate in the fast lane”
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Hi Richard, it was interesting to read your comments and I thought I might be able to put your mind at rest. Most good operators will match their speed to that of the caller, so if you call at 18 wpm (a decent speed BTW!) it is only good manners to answer you at that speed. If you are slower, then that should also not be a problem. Stations that are called by many people at once (and I do not mean pileups here but normal busy stations) may on occasion get fired up and adrenalin-fuelled after a little while of trying to work through the crowd of callers with rapid-fire 599s – they might find it hard to slow down and might even appear (or be) rude in their haste. In my experience they are, however, not the norm. I ran a full-size windom and maximum of 100W up until last year, and there is no doubt it can be harder to rustle up an answer on a quiet band, but if the band is open, then patient CQ calling should come up with results. Having said that, the band condx have been dire between NA and Europe lately, they can only get better. (Today was reasonable for a while on 17 CW, then closed again quite quickly.)
I think CQ calling is dying out a little on the bands, and we are in danger of selling our amateur souls for the chance to work a quick 599 with too many special event stations – but that’s a discussion for another day!
If you need GM on CW on any band, let me know and I’ll be glad to make a sked with you.
73 and keep pounding away with that key, it’ll bring success in the end!
Colin
Richard, I share your frustration trying to copy some of the super high-speed CW ops. I used to be able to copy around 35+, but that was when I was younger and before I was inactive for a few years working on my career. So, here is how I cheat: I have a little digital recorder that I use to record the high-sped CW ops, and then, I play it back by slowing my recorders speed down. That way, I copy 100%. My speed is working its way back up, but in the mean time, this approach works for me! 🙂
I share your frustration trying to copy some of the super high-speed CW ops. I used to be able to copy around 35+, but that was when I was younger and before I was inactive for a few years working on my career. So, here is how I cheat: I have a little digital recorder that I use to record the high-sped CW ops, and then, I play it back by slowing my recorders speed down. That way, I copy 100%. My speed is working its way back up, but in the mean time, this approach works for me! 🙂
Thank you for the suggestions and comments.