Getting heard

[NU4B]

I hope whenever 7O gets on the air they plan a 2 month DXpedition. I guess it will take that long to run through the demand.

Speaking of "lucky" (sarcasm) Dx'ers, check out WG5G's page at QRZ.COM:
http://www.qrz.com/db/wg5g

[N3QE]

> Your being heard in a pile up comes down to throwing a
> heck of a lot of RF at the DX or getting lucky.

If your definition of getting heard is "find a pile-up (probably on the cluster) and then try to break through it", that's gonna be a rather sad life as a ham, or specifically as a DX'er.

Just IMHO.

I don't have anything against working the latest DXpedition to rock-in-the-ocean on all the bands I can. The cluster is a tool but far from a preferred mode of finding DX. Yeah, there's a lot of getting lucky, but usually if I can hear them, I can work them, even with my wimpy station. But I hear a lot of lids there too who will never ever get lucky, because they're doing nothing but throwing a lot of RF out.

I think back on my third of a century as a ham, and probably the funnest thing I ever did was work Japan, VK's, ZL's, and the rest of oceania every afternoon after junior high school as a novice, using a crappy old rig and an antenna that was nothing but a wire nailed to the side of the house.

Tim.

[AA4PB]

"Your being heard in a pile up comes down to throwing a
heck of a lot of RF at the DX or getting lucky"

You can often improve your "luck" by being smart about it. That mostly involves listening for a while and determining if the DX station is following any kind of a pattern.

[W7ETA]

I have my lucky rabbit's foot, burn some lucky insense from India at the base of a statue the monkey god, sacrifice some 1/4 watt resistors, pick out one spot in the DX pile up and just constantly call.  

When the DX qsys to another part of the band, I keep calling.

Maybe I can find a 4 leaf clover on eBay?

73
Bob

[AB0Z]

Probably off topic, but WG5G ( http://www.qrz.com/db/wg5g ) is my personal "prototype" DX'er.  Now we're talking!  Relatively(!) few dollars, but a huge amount of thought and time and physics went into his station.  Very impressive.

I still say that you can have a lot of DX fun with 100W and a properly installed wire.  It does take some practice and skill...

Mni 73 de David, AB0Z

[K2QPN]

Don't give up. Even the BIG guys can't work every station every time. Patience and perseverance will win the day.

Maximize your chances. Get set up for PSK and RTTY. Learn some CW. CW expertise is not needed - just enough to recognize a call that you listen to it a few times. I have worked over 100 countries with 5 watts and a vertical - all on CW.

Propagation rules. You can't fight mother nature. The HAMCAP program can give you a handle on when DX will be there.

I recommend the VE7CC cluster client to watch for DX spots. You can see the DX and where the spotter is located. It will show you who is hearing who.

Check the DX reports (ARRL and DX425). DXpeditions want to work you. If you wait a couple of days the BIG guys will have already worked the DXpedition.

Work contests. Many countries sponsor a contest. The stations will be looking for you.

The biggest change you can make is a better antenna. I am not bashing a G5RV - I use one. I just put up a Broadband Hexx Beam. It made and amazing difference.

73 & Good DXing,

Bob K2QPN