What is sad to me is all of the bad things that have been mentioned
are seen affecting every DXpedetion or unusual DX working today. It's
not just the common experience of dealing with these LIDS, it is the
unrelenting, continuous experience of it. I'm sure there isn't one
example of stupidity in operation I can comment on that isn't
familiar to each of us.
I was listening to a pileup from the E3 and some lid East NE from my
oceanside QTH kept calling; NA NA NA only NA NA NA ad nauseum. Then
came OBAMA OBAMA NA NA NA. It's obvious the guy is mentally disturbed
but that's tough to keep listening to when you're trying to hear a
faint DX signal through him. It sure would have been helpful if the
E3 would have shifted Tx freq a bit. Somebody sent something back to
the lid about his mother and amazingly the QRM stopped with that but
moments later so did the E3. The LID got his wish.
As many have mentioned, the incessant calling when the the DX is not
calling to them is pervasive and also seemingly eternal, crosses
international sources and is by no means confined to new hams who
don't know the code. I was curious to listen to the people calling
the DX, as if I were the DX, and listened with the main & sub on the
K3, the DX in the left ear & the pileup in the right.
It was incredible to hear so many older calls were completely
ignoring who the DX was trying to pull out; The DX calls AA2? and
W1..., KP4..., W5.. not to mention myriads of EU and SA are calling
in the pileup, calls that long predate any no-code licensing period.
These guys know exactly what they are doing and it is intentional QRM
of a different sort. I do feel rankled when people blame this on the
no-code licensees. I got my Extra back 35 years ago so I have no dog
in this no-code = bad CW operators in the pileups hunt. Seems to me
the vast majority of offenders are long term hams who have lost their
upbringing.
One more thing I lament tremendously (non-pileup related), is the
lack of interest in name, real signal report & QTH with a QSO
now-a-days. I understand computer logging makes so much irrelevant
like name/QTH and that a signal report is sort of useless anyway as
someone with an indoor dipole in the basement won't give or get the
same report as a triband would give at the same QTH, but it is
tradition. For sure, only rarely with todays radios worldwide do I
hear bad signals. But... I feel badly when I make a non-DXpedetion Q
and I send 579 name is Gary QTH CT and get a TU CQ CQ CQ DE XYZ
in return.
When I hear a bad signal on the air, I now-a-days send them an email
telling them date time freq & what their signal sounds like, I would
want to know if my signal was defective. Amazing how very few replies
I get back from those comments. Makes me wonder if they like that
situation as it makes their signal stand out over the clean ones.
I heard JA1NUT CQing on 15M CW & remembered his QSL card from
ragchews long ago, gave him a call & had a45 minute ragchew with him,
the first CW ragchew I've had in years it seems. Our first QSO was in
87, had a couple more till 97 and hadn't heard him till this this one
in 2014. During the QSO we both lamented the loss of CW ragchews and
the vogue contest-like/minimalist-style QSOs of today. I really
appreciated that QSO with him.
One of the things I like about this and its brother-"contesting"
forums is what seems to be a common bond of interest in maintaining
dignity in Ham Radio, and achieving a station that hears well and
transmits well. I always look to see what new email comes into this
folder for I know that among us are the people that make Ham Radio
fun and something to share with newcomers to the hobby.
These other people who don't listen or think when they transmit are
beyond my
comprehension.
73,
Gary
KA1J
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