----- Original Message -----
From: "Mike Gilmer - N2MG" <n2mg@contesting.com>
> In my current (lack of) antenna situation I find that I absolutely must be
> the first signal heard to catch the ear of the station calling CQ
(assuming
> multiple callers). I cannot be slow on the response and simply overpower
> anyone else. So I find myself poised to send my call .....
Imagine you are listening to a pileup (lets forget RIT for a minute) and you
hear W3 then just as he's sent the '3' you hear K1AA. The brain is
distracted by the new callsign and copies it - or at least that's what mine
tends to do. So being first in doesn't necessarily make a difference as the
rest of your call gets wiped out by the followers. As has been said before
on this list, its a problem these days that everyone is so good at
zero-beating, as a pileup can sound like a single note. Just sit on a DX
station's frequency and listen for a minute or too - you'll see what I mean.
The station that gets picked up quickly is the one who is distinctive, for
one of the following reasons:
He's louder
His pitch is different
His code weighting is different
His code is quicker/slower than the rest
His callsign is in the clear i.e. sending when the others have stopped
His tone-quality is poor
His frequency stability is poor
One of my best pileup busting techniques is to very slightly wobble the VFO
knob whilst sending my callsign - it nearly always works.
Some ops might be tempted to introduce a bit of a rasp on their 'note', but
this
isn't very sportsman-like, so the best ways of pileup beating remain the
tried and tested ones, like sitting on the edge of the pack.
One of the best operators I heard during ARRL DX (on this list so I won't
embarrass with a callsign) sent his call twice a little faster than the
rest, waited a couple of seconds to see if there was a response, then
repeated.
>...............and sometimes the
> other station ends his exchange in an unexpected way (a "K" or an extra
> "TEST" or similar) and I get tricked.
If my pileups get too bad, I do this on purpose - the clever ones notice and
get their call off in the clear.
Tim EI8IC, learning all the time...
Visit the home of Budget Contesting and EI Contester Resources
www.qsl.net/ei8ic/
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