Hi all,

Generally, I do NOT react this way, but this "man" bahavior was just too much.

This guy is used to call UK only, or any other specific area, which I do respect. And when he does this, I never called him.

Today, he was on 15m, 21.260.2, asking for South America LP. I just kept listening to him, without calling, just waiting for any possible general CQ call. It didn't happen. He just said "going QRT". I even didn't try to call him then, I just thought to myself that would be for the next time.

Few minutes after, I found him a bit more down, 21.253.2, and in QSO, so he didn't QRT. I monitored once again the frequency, waited for him to finish completely his QSO. He didn't give any call, even less asking for a particular area. He even didn't say he was this time QRT'ing. So I took my chance and decided to call him.

No answer, I called him about 15 seconds after, and heard "I'm QRT so I will not answer your call".

Basically, that meant to me he didn't QRT, because he DID reply to me. So I decided to repeat my call, asking if he wouldn't mind giving me at least a report to make a "full" QSO. He replied "Yes, I do mind giving you a report, because I'm QRT".

Unbelievable !!!!! Nobody else was calling him. He just refused to give me a report, no reason expressed, just because he didn't want to.

I asked him if there is any problem in giving me this report, he just said again "yes because I'm QRT, did you get it?". My answer was "apparently you are not QRT because you're answering to me", but he kept repeating that he had QRT. I re-asked him again what was the problem, since I called him at the end of his QSO, politely, respecting the basic DX code,  because he was not QRT, nor asking for a particular area. Then I just heard him saying (his words !) : "Fucking CB'er".

I was shocked !

If he didn't want to talk to me, or if he was really QRT, why answering me, and  just to say "I don't want to tlk to you"? This is not logical.

But most of all, why insults ???? !!!! ????

Of course, I'll not try to work him if I hear him, but I'm open to any explanations if he reads those lines. But this kind of behavior is NOT ham-spirit, for sure.  I'd just like some explanation, no polemic here.

Just to let you know,

Ronan, F8AFC

Hi all,

VK0KEV log is now availablle here : http://www.hrdlog.net/ViewLogbook.aspx?user=vk0kev

You can select to arrange by call-signs, which gives you an idea of the guy in your country who wkd him.

As far as French operators are concerned, only 9 operators worked him so far, mainly on 40 and 20m, including some dupes...

(I'm part of those big guns with my small HexBeam, HI HI HI)

VK0KEV	F4DPT		2011-02-07 *****	40m	LSB	59 59
VK0KEV	F5BZB		2011-03-23 *****	20m	USB	57 57
VK0KEV	F5PSG		2011-02-07 *****	40m	LSB	59 59

VK0KEV	F5TTI		2011-02-07 *****	40m	LSB	59 59
VK0KEV	F5VBY		2011-02-07 *****	40m	LSB	57 33
VK0KEV	F6AML		2010-12-26 *****	20m	USB	55 55
VK0KEV	F6FHO		2011-03-23 *****	20m	USB	57 57
VK0KEV	F8AFC		2011-03-01 *****	20m	USB	44 55

VK0KEV

F8VOE

2011-03-01 *****

20m

USB

55 55

Search for the mistake ????

Who has the weakest signal report received ??? I do not mind, I'm in the log, HI !

All of them have big beams, and it is very frequent to find them in the top 10 of F operators during major DX expeditions.

I'm happy that my very good friend Arnaud, F4DPT, is in there too (2 element beam on 40m at 28m high, that helps !)

Some guys nevertheless seem to like repeated QSO's on same band/mode....and despite good reports exchanged, such behavior is very negative simply because it potentially takes the place of someone. I still can not understand it, and you ?

VK's and ZL's have voluntarily been removed from this list, which exhaustively list people with more than 3 or more QSO's in same the band/mode !

VK0KEV	MM5DWW		2011-02-25 *****	40m	LSB	55 58
VK0KEV	MM5DWW		2011-02-23 *****	40m	LSB	53 57
VK0KEV	MM5DWW		2011-02-07 *****	40m	LSB	59 59

VK0KEV	OR4U		2011-03-25 *****	40m	LSB	59 58
VK0KEV	OR4U		2011-03-24 *****	40m	LSB	58 59
VK0KEV	OR4U		2011-03-24 *****	40m	LSB	59 56

VK0KEV	W1RQ		2011-03-25 *****	40m	LSB	58 55
VK0KEV	W1RQ		2011-03-25 *****	40m	LSB	57 44
VK0KEV	W1RQ		2011-02-10 *****	40m	LSB	59 57
VK0KEV	W1RQ		2011-02-07 *****	40m	LSB	59 57
VK0KEV	W1RQ		2010-12-06 *****	40m	LSB	55 55
VK0KEV	W1RQ		2010-11-10 *****	40m	LSB	47 58
VK0KEV	W1RQ		2010-11-08 *****	40m	LSB	47 33
VK0KEV	W1RQ		2010-11-01 *****	40m	LSB

Winner is W1RQ with 8 QSO's on the same band mode (40_SSB). Congrats guy for your ham spirit

GL !

Ronan

Hi folks,

Well, those things may happen sometimes, and they always happen when you don't want to (while chasing VU4 on new band slots for example...?)

My old friend AL811H made some strange noise a couple of weeks ago, while in STD-BY position, some kind of noise likre  " cr cr cr cr cr cr", like a component that was diying. I switched it OFF, re-started it the day after, nothing strange. Good output power, god plate voltage, back to normal I thought.

Last week-end, I fired it up again, everythiing went smoothly till a big "BANG" noise occured, a really big "BANG" noise. It looks like some "arcing" noise, although I recognize this is the first time that happens to me. No smioke smell,.

Visual inspection, nothing burnt, apparently no dead tubes. I re-put everything in place, and a few minutes after, another big "BANG" noise. That was all, I decided to switch it OFF until a solution would have been found.

I've read quite a lot on Internet, arcing issues, oscillation, shortened tubes, choke coil etc....But all I knew was that something was definitively broken inside.

I've never run it in excess, always at 500W out max (although it is capable of 800). Never exceed a grid current above 120mA, never exceed a plate current of more than 450mA (far from the red zone, HI), never exceeded 50W input power, always waited a few minutes before putting it in "TX" position. Can't blame me for bad pratice with it, that is just, I guess, a question of age (it is over 10years-old now !)

I don't like High Voltage; I prefer small signals. So the amp will be sent tomorrow for repairing to a "specialist", let's hope this is not his final trip....

I'll keep you posted on it.

Now it is time for barefoot, as I was a few years ago with no amp in the shack....My low bands activities, although rare in this moment, will be more rare now; And I'll fight longer in the pile-up, but hey, this is life!

Keep your fingers crossed :-)

Ronan, F8AFC

I took a day OFF yesterday and decided to actively chase the CY0 expedition. Actually, I've been chasing them from the beggining, but yesterday was just "too much"....Based on what I heard on some bands, I just wanted to share my view (Bold characters are my personal view)

Initial observations : 

This is a US "amateur" group going into a semi-rare DXCC expected for a long time, worldwide.

        - CY0 is a MOST-Wanted in Asia (in top 10), and hasn't been activated efficiently for some years now, last one being CY0AA in 2005. In additio, one of the guy already operated from CY0, so that looked like experimented team.                                

So the team must know what's waiting for them once reaching the air, since the demand for CY0 is high in all continents (except NA) 

Few things I still not understand

1- Even if planned for a long time, they didn't apply to a single "resident" call like "CY0xx", but they are signing using their home call-sign / CY0.

I personnally heard a guy on 20m yesterday in the US saying to the operator "tnx, now, I got'em all on 20SSB !"  Needless to say this is not an efficient practice for distant stations willing to get them.

2- They have a dedicated web-site but with neither updates nor on-line log (so far)

Nevertheless, they do reply to the comments on their guestbook....So they must have Internet access

3- They never described the equipment they are using, but only a long list of sponsors

I heard one of the op saying yesterday that they are running barefoot. But still no info on aerials. I understand about the weight restrictions, but there is a guy already there making shifts from VE to CY0, so couldn't they have organized themselves something to store earlier some equipment there ? Anywa, they are on te air, this is the main point.

4- They don't announce on my web-site when the expedition will end (will it be a 1 week, 2 weeks expedition?) ..Even if the timetable is clearly changeable, some indications would be useful.

I heard yesterday on the air this will end Monday evening their time

OK, so let's play the game with those conditions, and see what's up when they are on the air  (SSB mode)

1 - Op's don't know how to handle a "worldwide" pile-up (whose size was expectable)

     - Use of a fixed 2Kc-away split in SSB (20m yesterday @19:00z)

--> This is the best way to get QRM'd by splatters and not heard in other areas than NA.

2 - When calling to specific and distant area (VK/ZL/JA), at least 1/2 of the QSO are made with NA guys ! (Yesterday, 20m @ 11:45z)

--> Maybe they forgot that on some bands, they have a 24h a day propagation with NA.....especially on 40/20m

--> This is not an efficient way to get "respected" in the pile-up

3 - When the pile-up becomes too big at 2Kc up, they give up without announcing it (Yesterday, 17m@ 17:30z)SSB op, listening 2 to 3up, and taking 3 calls only before disappearing). 

--> The op took 3 calls only, but could have widen the split, like a classical +5 to +10Kc

4 - They obviously choose a time/frequency table to favour NA

--> Just observe the cluster spots : Low bands after EU sunrise, high bands after EU sunset.

--> They are not active at night, except sporadically, maybe to be sure to miss "outside NA" sunrise/sunset (160/80/40m QSO's must be so rare with stns outside NA).

--> They have been calling only once EU no 40m SSB at 02:00AM, and this latest 5 minutes only....

5 - At last but not least, they don't seem to apply what they are saying to "promote", DX code.

     - When they ask for a specific call-sign because they could catch 2 of his letters in the pile-up, the operator didn't make the effort to get it complete even after 2 or 3 trials. He just gave up and switched to a guy in NA instead, this is easier (I heard also on the air yesterday on 20m!). I guess this is this last point that makes me write this article !

I got them yesterday on 20m after one hour calling, despite of a good S7 signal report. This is an all time New One for me, cool. But this doesn't change my mind about this expedition and their behavior so far.

I wish all guys outside of NA all the very best to get them in the log as I did. But it looks like more a lottery than something else, with KW race and so on. I must have been lucky, maybe this is because I understood their way of working: The first arrived, the first served.

At last, I wish the operators there to return home safely (this is the main point after all those "negative" considerations), and I do wish a more prepared expedition to CY0 in a near future with adequete equipment, time table, frequency table, for the rest of the world.

Ronan, F8AFC

That was a tough thing to do, but yesterday, I saw a spot saying that Uli ZD9AH, would try again 40m at his sunrise time (05:45tu).

I woke-up at 05:00, he was just starting simplex on 7090.

Very weak here, but slightly improving.

He moved to slit operation, +3KHz up as he is used to do.

Lots of QRM, but only a few callers. I took my chance, even if he was barely readable.

I heard him answering back, in the same timing as my comments, without anybody trying to "go over me". Got a 5/5 report, and that was it at 05:45.

Hard, but this is the 6th band slot with Uli, and the 4th new band for ZD9 !!!!!!!! Just miss it on 80m now, which is definitely impossible for now.

Tnx Uli !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Ronan