The club I'm in (Potomac Valley Radio Club) has published a "
Contest Cookbook" that has a short piece by Jim N3JT, one of the founders of the CW OPS group, with hints on getting through a pileup. Copied below.
73 John K3TN
HOW TO WORK A DXPEDITION – Jim N3JTI first wrote much of what follows 24 years ago but it stands as true now as ever, perhaps even
more so. I have been on a number of DXpeditions in the past (HK0, PZ, CP, VP2E), working as
many as 5,000 stations in one weekend on CW. From the vantage point of the DX location
certain operating practices, good and bad, seem to stand out. You probably know about most of
these, but many DX contesters seemingly do not!
The goal of a caller in a pileup is to attract the attention of the DX station and make a contact as
soon as possible - ahead of everyone else. Why, then, do so many operators call the DX station
on his transmit frequency when he is plainly listening somewhere else? Yes, everyone makes
mistakes. Even the best among us has at one time or another inadvertently reversed the VFO
split frequencies and called on the DX station's transmit frequency. To avoid this embarrassing
error and not be considered a lobotomy gone bad, take the two seconds needed to check your
VFO settings before calling.
One of the best approaches to improve your chances of busting a pileup -- used by those who
consistently seem to work through large pileups with very modest equipment -- is to determine
exactly how the DX station is selecting his callers. Whatever you might think, be assured it is not
always the strongest signal that makes it through a pileup, especially if the pileup is large.
Normally, more than 2 or 3 stations on the same frequency cannot be separated on CW by the
DX station, particularly if the DX station is working them at 180 or more an hour and is listening
only a few seconds for each new cailsign.
The answer for you, of course, is to call away from what might be called the locus, the point
where all the other guys seem to be calling. This means calling 200 Hz or so up or down. If the
pileup is wide, try the edges. If the DX station is listening up or down, find the last station he
worked and call there or just above or below that spot. Even for the DX station that hops
around, there is usually a pattern of some kind that can be used to increase your calling
chances. Listen for it.
Also, it helps to determine the DX operator’s rhythm. If you let up on the key and hear him
answering someone else, send faster. If on SSB he answers a half beat after you let up on the
PTT, talk more slowly or leave a pause before you say your call. Sometimes it means delaying
your call until just after that critical time when the majority of other callers have paused to
breathe. If the DX station is working at a high rate, you can be sure that he is able to pick out a
callsign from the mass of callers after hearing it just once. So don't call longer than necessary,
especially if it is not a split operation.
Most contest DXpeditions are staffed by pretty good operators. Have good audio on SSB, clear
phonetics, clean CW, an smart approach, and you’ll improve your chances of breaking the
pileup more quickly.
73 Jim N3JT