Maybe the EZ5A station you worked was actually E75A who was spotted several times in 2012 as EZ...Use the search function on dxsummit to see if this was the same station if you are inclined.

As far as I know there are no legal EZ ops for many years.   Although with the help of some international DXers I was able to receive a QSL card from EZ via direct mail for a QSO made in 2001 just a few weeks ago.  I'd been chasing that card without success for many years and was overjoyed to receive it !

I used to think that I knew the answer to this question.  But the more I listen to DX pileups, the less I think I understand the solution from the perspective of the DX operator.

If you asked me this question 5 years ago, I could have wholehearted endorsed many of the previously held recommendations.  Things like:
1. Be loud.
2. Be fast. (Slow Rate leads to chaos)
3. Be somewhat predictable. (Timing, same end of Q indicator, callsign ID, UP indication, etc)
4. Control your own pileup.
5. Stay with Q until complete.
6. Make time for tough openings.
7. If small expedition choose focus band subset to give ATNOs/unique calls and manage band/mode fill tradeoffs.

And while these things are all still valid, I feel that the behavior of the pileup has deteriorated to a point where often the DX operator has less of impact to the management of the pileup.  Sure a bad operator can make things worse, but a good operator can not make a miracle happen.

Some recent DXpedition pileups have suffered greatly from unruly pileup behavior. Some might say it has always been so, but I disagree.  It has grown worse with time.

We need tools for pileup management that help the DX operator rather than giving him more work.  But currently people who want to help often just make the problem worse.  Without a good plan trying to ignore the ruckus is probably the best course of action.

A few ideas on what might be helpful :
Spotting network controls.  Give accounts and password protection.  Enforce access controls and discipline misusers.  

Truncate spot frequency accuracy to 1KHz resolution and DX ops can choose offset frequency.  This would go a long way to avoiding HRD automatons from autotuning on the DX.  I think there are good intentioned ops who don't understand their automation.  There are also well intentioned ops who suffer from Alzheimers.. Maybe some small steps would at least help those who are not intentionally trying to be disruptive.

Create a Direction Finding Network.  It is all well and good for the ARRL to support FMT.  But really who cares.  Promote HF DF functionality in a way where trusted inputs can be combined to determine where interference is coming from.  1 or 2 degree null accuracy is probably more useful than 1Hz frequency measurement...If we can catch a few of the deviant offenders I think the trend will reverse.

Provide ongoing training to newcomers and oldtimers alike in magazines and demos at hamfests and on you-tube.  I honestly think that some of the folks in the pileup have no real clue about what they are doing and why.  Some of these would be glad to learn better methods.  I hear people calling in a way that leads me to believe that they don't understand when to call and why.  I understand due to HF propagation that everyone calls once in a while at the wrong time.  But I am seeing large numbers of callers who seem to be clueless about when the DX is talking, what phase of the QSO they are on, almost all the time.  Maybe a video game would help?
I think some of these folks are making half QSOs by just checking online logs.  Keep saying your callsign until you show up.  I think maybe the short time update online logs are part of the problem.

Peer feedback.  I know that there are those spoofing callsigns in the pile, but there are also plenty of ops who make too many mistakes.  Sure everyone will muff the split once a century or so...  But I hear lots of guys who do it over and over and over.  The same guys who can't hear polite guys giving advice.  I think it's gotten to the point where there should be some forum to give feedback.  Maybe at DX convention a hall of senility award?  OK forget that one...but we should be able to do better...

I am sure that there are other good ideas out there.  

DX operators will end up having to use more management strategies themselves.  Already you see ops go QRT or switch bands/modes or do many rapid QSYs or point the antenna a different direction, turn PA off etc.  I think that DX operators could sometimes give more detailed instructions to the pileup.  I know that in fatiguing conditions this might be tough or sending more info when the signal is weak might not work.  But sometimes it might work to tell pileup ops where you are listening or what you will try next.  At least guys who can hear and are listening will get some reward for listening.  I think that the bottom line is that you need to reward the behavior you want and you will get more of it.  But the reward feedback loop needs to be obvious and publicized so everyone "gets it" and falls in line.

So I am not very clear about what you are saying about placement of your antenna.  If you can put it right near the salt water.  For example within 10 or so meters. Then the vertical on the high bands like 15m might be your best bet.

If it is more than 50m from the salt water and is therefore above some sandy soil, then almost guaranteed, you will be hands down better with a horizontally polarized antenna.  Even a simple dipole up 30 ft or so will have much better signal broadside to the elements.  I think that a 40m 5/8 wave antenna will not be a good performer on 15m.

But you can put two vertical wires on a single feedpoint and share the ground plane similar in concept to half of a fan dipole.  This can work quite well and is what I use most of the time on 80(1/4wire)/160(Tee Vert) fed from one coax sharing the same ground plane.  There is no switch just the two wires joined at the coax feed. The interaction is very minor and can be tweaked by tuning element lengths during construction.  The interaction will be much greater for 40m/15m however.

I don't know if you saw the Garden Beam antenna in QST a month or two ago.  This is a vertically polarized Yagi antenna.  If you could put something like this near the water's edge it would really play for you.

I experimented with an antenna that had a similar vertical yagi concept.  It had no boom like the Garden Beam but rather was made of some crappie poles that were anchored by 5 gallon paint buckets full of sand with PVC pipe and PVC Cross sticking 3 feet out of the top.  In this way you could move the antenna direction by moving the director and reflector around the radius of the driven element which was fixed.  Each element used three wires on three crappie poles.  One for each vertical element and two each for the elevated ground which were set in in the PVC cross.  The element spacing was fixed by having a rope connecting each bucket to the driven element bucket PVC tubing so you could estimate the distance without needing to drag out a measuring tape. The crappie poles are lightweight and collapsible.  You could find bamboo probably cheaper.  I wanted this to be portable for seaside testing.  3 empty buckets (Sand or stones local to operating location,) + 9 crappie poles + some wire = cheap performance DX antenna at the oceanside.  You could use PVC sand spikes like used by surf fishermen, but I found the bucket easier to move in the dark.  It comes with convenient handle.

This would be simpler than the four square and eliminate the phasing box and cabling.  It would have higher gain but have the disadvantage that you might have to go outside in the mosquito cloud or pouring rain at midnight to move the paint buckets and point your antenna to work a rare one.

This paint bucket vertical Yagi works pretty well for the high bands, but becomes unmanageable for the lower bands as the counterweight needed grows and the elements become unwieldy or require quying against the wind.

A small 2 ele Yagi or Moxon beam on a push up pole mounted to your house might be the best trade off for the higher bands.

Don't know what I was thinking...15m lambda/4 vertical is only a bit over 11 feet tall.  Guess I had 20m on the brain...

Still think that the 4sq would be a good bet for you though. 

Generally I don't like vertical antenna on the high bands like 15m.  For most people they are not as good an antenna as a horizontally polarized antenna up 1/2 wavelength.

But since you live at the salt marsh, I'd say you are probably the exception to the general rule.  What I would recommend is not using a low band antenna on a harmonic mode.  While it is fine for casual operating, and the VSWR might be low, often the pattern is poor for serious DXing.

So my first suggestion is to insert a high Q trap in a 40 or 80m wire vertical for the high band in which you have interest.  This is probably an easy reasonably low cost solution.

But what I would really recommend is a separate antenna for 15m if you can find the space.  But fortunately you don't need much space for a 15m vertical. 

What I would really recommend is a four square as close to the salt water as possible.  Sink pressure treated 4X4s at the four corners as a base and mount a crappie rod or bamboo pole on each 4X4.  Run a wire along the support.  It will only be a bit over 16ft tall.  8ft 4X4 with ~5 ft above ground + 11-12 ft fishrod It could be a few feet less if needed just use top loading.  This way you will get some gain and some directivity which can make all the difference if you have some trouble hearing due to QRN/QRM.  It might even make one of those LP+SP uber-rare DX CW 30+WPM multipath signals that are ringing like crazy become more decodeable.  Even a two element 15m vertical array would be obviously better than a single vertical or trying to make a 40m/15m combo compromise vertical.

http://www.texasantennas.com/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=188&Itemid=185

or maybe you want the 834 taller version...

I hope that this all works out...

I can't see what the harm would be in asking one tiny question...

Will this rumored DXpedition be in the Top 10 DXCC needed list globally as shown here?  

https://secure.clublog.org/mostwanted.php

Yes  No  No Comment

A French Indian Ocean/Antarctic tour with multi-stops would be a bonanza !!!  This seems like it would be an economical way to combine resources.  Maybe a 6 week tour with resupply and ham radio objectives?

I would say that if you were not hearing them on the East Coast NA then you should try to make antenna improvements or try to fix sources of local noise or interference before the next expedition.  I don't have big antennas up high on the upper HF bands and I could hear them OK on several bands from my noisy suburban QTH.
I have a variety of small 2 or 3 ele Yagi I swap around none higher than 35ft.  QRO is useful to maximize the short lived and variable openings.

This DXpedition was hands down way better than last years trek to Spratly Is.  I'd say this was due to the operators knowing which bands to be on and have their antenna pointed the right way.

First off I agree about 40 and 30m.  I expected to see better signals on these bands.  At the beginning of the expedition I thought these would be pretty solid bets.  However after listening a few days I changed my opinion.  Here's why... on 30 and 40 before sunrise, the MUF to much of ECNA was too low to support the first hop.  Then around EC Sunrise, I think they took a break for dinner.  Guys farther south who had a bit better MUF on the first hop were able to make QSOs as were guys in NE who got the greyline bump before the ops took a break.  In addition they moved stations from 30m to 160m as daylight was sweeping across NA.  This was good for topband ops, but not so good for 30m ops on the EC.  I think the antennas on these midbands were not as good as some recent expeditions that use 4SQ or vert arrays.  Before daybreak the arrival path was constantly shifting between LP and SP.  If you did not have directional antenna you see a ton of multipath ringing that is very hard to copy.

On the other hand they had good signals into the Mid Atlantic region 0000 to 0200z on 17m being the strongest band here, followed by a path on 15m over the North Pole 1200-1300z and a bit weaker on 15m around 0100z.  They also had decent signals on 20m in the evening.  They were on 12m a lot.  The signal strength was variable.  I think that guys farther south and southwest had longer openings on 12m as the MUF was higher and they had more common daylight with Spratly.

I heard them with good signals on 80m before SR one day.  They QSYed to 160m and I think they were never on 80m for EC again.  Guys farther west had more opportunity on 80m.  They had a good SR peak several days on 160m which was about 10minutes duration each day.  There was also one really good opening one morning on 160m where they worked a handful of east coast mid atlantic stations and New England.  It's hard to give Qs to all the deserving in a handful of 10min openings.  If you are not the Alpha dog, you are likely to have to wait.

All in all, I think that it was a very well run expedition and I heard them calling for NA several times.

I think that this solar cycle is actually pretty good!  Lots of band openings even on 12 and 10m.  Lots of pretty rare DX.  So the openings are short and harder to predict.  It is still a load of fun.

OK. OK. It's not like 2001 or 1990 or even close to some of the rip roaring solar cycles of yore.  You know when 10m was open until after midnight and there was 6m F2.

The flux numbers are high enough that 15m is open a lot.  The signals are a bit weaker than some years and we all have lots more QRN from our electronic pollution and rotting infrastructure.  I think fewer people are calling CQ and making QSOs and waiting for spots on the cluster but I doubt this is really due to the sun.  Even the lowbands have some elbow room.

It might get better before it takes an inevitable downturn.  Or the peak might be already gone. Enjoy it while it lasts.

You have asked some good questions so here is my input on this complex subject.


Contesting is a good way to quickly add to your totals when you are a budding DXer.  I'd say there are something like 150 common entities that you can work and easily confirm using LoTW so its a great starter strategy.  If you are chasing DXCC on multiple bands it's also a great way to add bands.  It really helps on the low bands like 80m and to a lesser degree on bands like 160.  Sometimes semi-rare or rare countries show up in contests.  These can be good or bad depending on how good the operators are and if there are on in advance to the contest.  But once you are above 200.  I think that working rare new ones during a contest only happens a few times a year.


Very few.  When I was starting out, I thought that this might be a good strategy, but in general, stations that are active can be worked given time and good enough conditions.  I have been known to beg on the air and via email or forums for a station to try 160m.  For example J8 has not been active on 160m for almost 10 years.  If a halfway decent station came on the air it would be pretty easy.  But so far this strategy has not produced much reward.  On the other hand, I did email KH2/N2NL when I heard him on the air and bugged him to be active on 160 as I needed Guam.  As it turns out Dave did not need much bugging as he is a topband addict.  When the conditions were right one sunrise, I worked him.  It was not a sked per se.  I was just at the radio almost every morning hoping for conditions for 3 months before it worked out.  He heard me and actually worked me ahead of a topband big hammer as he knew I would likely fade if he did not.  Dave posts here quite a bit and he is a super A1 DXer.


A small handful have been worked as response to CQ.  Some of them were ATNO but not that rare and would eventually be worked another way.  But it is fun to call CQ and work even common entities.  From the east coast NA working Asia requires better than average conditions for small stations like mine.  It is exciting to be working JA and have a HL or BV, 9V or other rarer entity call you.  It also is a good way to learn how a band works so you can be on the right band at a good time when it is really important for a super rare ATNO.  So I would say it is not likely to give immediate payback, but is good DX training.  Working 50W and wire antenna weak signals is also good ear training that will help in DXing.


I like to turn the big knob and find my own stations.  I don't know that this is the best strategy to add to your entity total.  But finding the station by my own ears even if it's not rare is really fun for me.  I spend a lot of time tuning the bands.  I would not say it has added that many really rare ATNO.  On the other hand I there are times doing this that you are early on the scene and can avoid the chaos that happens after a cluster spot. I'd say way less than 10% of ATNO have been caught this way.  Probably sub 5%.  But it's fun so I will keep on turning the big knob.  

When it comes down to chasing something that is rare you need to pull out all the stops if you are a peanut whistle station.  I don't mean bending the rules or acting like a fool.  I mean do your research.  Know when the expedition will start and end.  Know what frequencies they operate and observe when they are on which bands and which modes.  Pay attention to when you can hear them and when you can't. Do some data mining.  I won't reveal any secrets here, but the cluster and other sources of data are not only for real time. Talk to other operators in your area and share info even if it's from earlier operations to the same entity.  

If you know that there is likely a strange opening on a certain band and it's likely to happen in the middle of the night, make a plan to be there.  The crowd will be smaller.  Also I hate giving up this one as it is really powerful, but you seem like a nice guy.  WARC band focus.  Make or buy a good antenna.  It's an equalizer.  You have to hear the station to work them.  It seems trite, but it's true.  I live in suburbia and every year there is more noise probably this is a weakness for many smaller stations nowadays.

Don't wait until the last moment as many expeditions wind down toward the end and you might not catch the train.  Sometimes you have to wait for the big dukes to pummel each other a bit, but don't procrastinate as there may be an emergency and the dxpedition will end early.  So armed with your research you may be at the radio when something breaks and you might even get under the first wave.  So I won't say these catches come from only turning the big knob and doing your research, but the whole thing planning and scheming helps sometimes...It is kind of combo thing.  


I think that the takeaway from what I have been blabbing about here is the more time you can spend at the radio the better your result will be.  I am not saying to be addicted to the radio.  Everyone needs to balance the rest of their life.  If you just read other peoples advice it will not become as useful a tool as things you discover yourself even if you are not the first one to discover them.

HV8E is a fish beacon on 160m.  It's not in the Vatican though...Do a web search using callsign and fish beacon and you will see it is commonly heard.  There are lots of these beacons and sometimes they can be quite loud and a nuisance to DXing on 160m.

Last night there was a particularly annoying 4OUL fish net beacon on 1818 creating interference to TA2AL who had a pretty good CW signal during peaks in the QSB.

LoTW is by far the cheapest method to get bandfill confirmations.

If you want paper cards, I think that using GlobalQSL would be lower cost than direct mail one way bureau return...

100 cards printed and delivered with QSO info filled out for $13.5.

I think that emailing stations and asking them to send bureau cards where you don't send them one first is not such a great idea...   Asking them if they accept bureau cards if not clearly stated on QRZ.com might be reasonable.

Yes I did hear some of that intentional QRMing on 80m.  I still think that the ops at 9U4U made quite a few NA QSOs during that time.  I saw that they updated some photos on their website showing antenna damage from a thunderstorm.  It seems that they have improved some RX antenna with the addition of K9AY loop so maybe there will be more opportunity for NA on the lowbands in the next few days.  I think that there will continue to be pressure on 80m especially as there will be contest related band congestion due to CQWW 160 SSB contest this weekend.

I also did hear the 4X on 160m with a very strong signal.  He was saying that he had QRM.  When W4ZV had to repeat his call to make a QSO I knew that it would be pretty tough for the lower tier DXers.  I did not try as I heard a lot of callers and have worked this entity before.  The 4X stations historically have been pretty frequent on 160m with strong signals just before their sunrise. 

Operators in the Midwest NA got a decent lowband opening to 9U last night.  There seemed to be some spotlight right around SS and some lucky operators got in 9U4U logs on 75 SSB and/or 160CW. 

The low bands to much of the east coast were experiencing very strange conditions around this time and up to around 0200Z.  The long wavelength spectrum was struggling under what seemed to be a blanket of high absorption.   There was some reported 6m E-skip and maybe link to F2 into the pacific ZL to NA and KH6 to LU around the same time.  When there is 6m activity in the evening it seems that the low bands tend to be pretty skunky. 

During some of this time the 9U ops switched focus to 40m, 30m and 20m.  But they were keeping an eye out for the low bands to revive.

Later around 0300Z the low bands popped back to life and 9U was boiling into NA just before their sunrise on 80m and 160m CW.  I think it was the best opening to Burundi on the low bands during this expedition. 

I think that their persistence and good operating skills made many NA operators happy on the low bands last night.

There are still a few days left in this expedition.  If you need a low band QSO you might be rewarded if you are at your radio at the golden hour.  And on the low bands this is pretty unpredictable...

If you truly have an old enough rig that does not have split funtionality, often the RIT control can provide enough of a split to be useful.

I had an old Yaesu FT7 for a long time which had no split function.  I modified the RIT so that instead of ~+/-7 KHz it would tune 0 to - 14 KHz which would allow for me to TX up to +14K which was and still is the most common usage on the upper HF bands.