K5TED, I like the description you gave.  This raises a good point on which I am confused, and I would appreciate your clarification (and others as well). 

If you will allow me to use you and me in an example to help me understand and learn....

Let us say you have a rocking, DX chasing ham shack.  TH11DX or one of those huge OptiBeam monsters on a 200 foot tower.  Then we get the word that OH2BH, Martti is headed back to Scarborough Reef for one last DXpedition before retiring.

No way am I going to work BS7H with my dipole and 100 watts with the pileup.  So I ask you (oh please oh please) may I come over to your shack to work "the reef?"  Say you do know me, we had some 807's at Dayton last year.  And I tell you I'll repay the favor...I'll pay for the replacement ring rotor for your 40 meter yagi at 100 feet on that tower since it burned out in September.  I NEED BS7H for Honor Roll.  You say sure, not needed to replace the ring rotor.  I insist, because without your generosity I am not getting BS7H.  (The scenario here is that I am exchanging something of value for the access to airtime from your QTH)

QUESTIONS: How do I sign when calling BS7H while sitting in your shack?  Can I just use my callsign?  Do I need to do the full "control operator" ID thing?  Is this legal, exchanging something of value for access to airtime from your shack?

Now let us extrapolate.  I am in NC, and it is not practical to travel to your QTH in San Antonio.  But you say "hey, I can do an internet setup and let you work him from wherever you are"  I say "Actually, I will be on the road and staying in a hotel in the evenings, to this is AWESOME."  You say "No problem."  I still insist on replacing your ring rotor, because I want BS7H REALLY BAD.   (The scenario again is that I am exchanging something of value for the access to airtime from your QTH, but I am accessing it remotely)

QUESTIONS: How do I sign when calling BS7H while sitting in your shack?  Can I just use my callsign?  Do I need to do the full "control operator" ID thing?  Is this legal, exchanging something of value for access to airtime from your shack and accessig it remotely?

Thanks

QRZ.com says his OQRS email is 'dxshack.hiroo@gmail.com', but that account has been deactivated.

Thanks

AF3Y/Gene

We are in the same boat, except I think you have more patience than I do.  I was licensed in 1977 as a 13 year old know-it-all teenage wise-a$$, and was quickly humbled with a great Elmer (Ed Reddington W4ZM, SK).  He helped me learn a lot of good adult behaviors that went beyond the hobby (like self awareness and teamwork).  He also is respondible for my DX addiction shortly thereafter, but I did not get obsessed with it and truly chasing the honor roll until 2001.  Sometime after 2001, I think my patience faded as my expectations grew.  I never heard a peep from VU7 or BS7 DXpeditions.  Gene, do you find your location to have significant receiving improvements due to salt water proximity?  Is that offset by the thunderstorm static?

Thanks to all on this thread who made me chuckle and realize not to take any of this too seriously.  If anything, the QRMers are just a challenge that negates the value of the clusters.  In the old days, the LIDs needed to find the DX just like we chasers did, by tuning around and some luck.  Now we all find it quicker.

Congrats.  Well done.  20 meters, because it is open worldwide pretty much 24x7, is tougher for us than lower bands (when darkness restricts the prop).

Speaking from my own experiences, I agree 100% with KB5UBI.  You can never have too many antennas for different scenarios.

STAYVERTICAL/Rob

Well said.

I swear, V8 and XX9 must be the hardest for me to get to from East Coast USA.  Only one V8 ever heard, V85SS.

Similar thread going on under "does alcohol play a factor in LID behavior"

I swear, the last time I remember it being this bad was back in 1989-1990 with Bouvet or North Yemen in 1978.  I distinctly remember that "split" was interpreted as everyone tranmitting in the blind from 14200  (the limit back then) to 14300.  Nobody even knew if the station was still QRV on that band, but it did not stop the chaos.  I don't blame the DXpedition, esp when there is high demand like for this entity.  But the unwanted behaviors are really beyond the pale and totally uncalled for.  Some people just have crummy lives and take it out on their dog or their family...or in our case, on our fellow hams.

"Just spin the dial" does not cut it if we're chasing a rare DX entity.  Maybe I just need to give up chasing DX, because this is not fun like it once was.

It's not the booze.  It's the self centered attitude and the entitlement that these idiots feel they have to make others miserable.  This happens not just in amateur radio but in the workplace, on the road, in restaurants, at kids sporting events, etc.

These nincompoops are expressing frustration in their crummy lives that makes them act this way. 

We CAN spin the dial, unless it is a DXpedition we are trying to work.  I guess the only other option is to shut the rig down and try later.

I am at 306 worked with PT0S, but I have to tell you my tolerance is slipping.  I don't know if I have the fortitude to brave the pileups for ZL9 and Heard Island in the months to come.  My remaining needed list is all totalitarian countries (XZ, P5) or isolated rocks that are top on everyone else's list.  The pileups (and bad behaviors) will only be worse as I get closer to honor roll.  I guess I planned on the frustration of just hearing the DX, I really never considered that the challenges would be so close to my own QTH.

Well, there's always QRP and digital modes to work while everyone else is gnashing their teeth over these jerks.

I need to remember: it's only a hobby, this is supposed to be fun.

Just a guess here:  try increasing the TX control.  I had a similar problem with my TS480SAT when the TX level control was too low to be triggered in transmit.

Similar thread going on over on the DX thread.  What to eat to keep us going?

At the risk of looking like an idiot, I am going to ask so that I can learn:

OK, so I am an electrical engineer but I am NOT an electrician. 

My station is multiple wires and inverted L antennas.  Property surrouned by 70-90 foot trees.  Pines, oaks, maples.  The antennas are within the trees (insulated wire) and in some cases, between them.  Antennas are 200 feet from the house, which is NOT in the woods.  I have the AplhaDelta polyphaser discharge devices (which won't do a thing for a direct hit, I get that point).  Shack is on the second floor (not that this matters much, but I added the detail anyway).

The house/trees have not been hit in the 3 years we have been here.  But there have been close calls (across the street in the tall sweetgum trees, the 50kVA high voltage 150 foot towers about 300 yards north of the house).

I DEFINITELY understand the point #1: the only sure way to be safe is to disconnect the feed line and move it AWAY from the house.  Not 2-3 feet, but 50 to 100 feet.  Here's the challenge: in North Carolina, lightning is quite frequent (actually, the second state to FL in terms of lightning deaths).  I may not be at home to do the disconnect.

W8JI has a wealth of suggestions on his pages.  But exactly WHAT should I be looking for (visually) to confirm that my house has the single-point ground?  Should this be encompassing the entier foundation of the house?  Is a single point ground just a sytem of several ground rods that include the phone, tv cable, electrical ground?  The home was built in 2000, does it already have what I need if it complies with NEC code?  What do I need to do with all the feedlines (which come in through a common location point)?

SPECIFIC, DETAILED guidance with actions would be greatly appreciated.  I am not a gambler, and this topic keeps me up at night, especially in the spring and summer months.

Gene, I found that the quickest way to increase the 80M DX count is the CQ WW contests.  Hope to hear you on the bands next weekend!

N0NZG, ditto!