The Role of Respect in Radiosport - Part 2

I opened the first installment of this contesting series with the following quote:

"In radiosport, indeed during ALL on-the-air activities, in my mind, it goes w/o saying that respect for others should be an over-arching trait representing our on-air decorum."

Unfortunately, because ham radio operators are people too, they sometimes say/do some rather WEIRD things on the air; especially during radiosport contest events.  This 4-part BLOG entry series gives me an opportunity to air out the dirty laundry often lurking at the depths of [often] worldwide competitions.

In the first BLOG of this series we had BEEFS #1 --> #5.
[CLICK HERE] to read Part I of this series.

In this issue we will continue with BEEFS #6 --> #10, beginning with a pesky little
"creature" known as the WooDPecker.

BEEF #6 -  OVER THE HORIZON (OTH) RADAR - WOODPECKER 2.0
In the EARLY 1980's the shortwave spectrum was PLAGUED by the Russian Over-the-Horizon radar. It's FAVORITE operating frequency was 13.856 mhz (or thereabouts) - right below the 20-meter CW allocation; although the radar pulses could be heard WELL-ABOVE 14.350. This radar was dubbed "the Woodpecker" because of its pulses which had a woodpecker-like sound.

A.E.A. Corporation immediately released what they called the "Moscow Muffler"; in an attempt to combat this menace. Since then, virtually every amateur transceiver is equipped with an NB-1 noise blanker, and sometimes an NB-2; although depending on who you ask, those blankers are effective only 1/2 the time and sometimes introduce their own artifact, in the form of circuit/audio distortion.

With the demise of the Soviet Union, the Woodpecker all but disappeared. However now, in the last 2-years, a new Woodpecker has built a nest on 6.995 mhz or thereabouts. WTF is THAT all about? What Dingle Dorks decided that it is a GooD Thing to park a megawatt radar transmission right next door to the 40-meter CW band? If you're going to INTERFERE with broadcasts, I would think the illegal PIRATE Radio stations (clustered around 6.555 Mhz) would be fair game; not amateur CW.
Am I missing something?

 

BEEF #7 -  DATA CRANKERS IN CW CONTESTS & RTTY QRM IN SSB CONTESTS

Because I operate the night shift during most radiosport GiGs, that puts me on 40 meters
much of the time. The 40-meter amateur band is shared with a number of different radio services. Unfortunately, I have gotten used to data cranking on my CW run frequencies and RTTY during SSB contests. I NEVER hear the data crankers or RTTY in the SSB segments EXCEPT during radiosport contests - wassup with that?

 

BEEF #8 - STATIONS WHO WON'T ID ON A REGULAR BASIS

Many stations (whether simply DX or running a contest frequency) simply REFUSE to ID.
When I run a frequency, I program Function Key [F3] to send "TU WQ6X", opening it up for
the next caller. Sending "QRZ?" (w/o a callsign takes just as long to send as a callsign.
What is so difficult to understand about that?

BEEF #9 - CALLING CQ TEST ON CW WITH A SINGLE CALLSIGN ID FOR EACH CALL

When running a frequency, sending your callsign advertises yourself as being open for communication. If we log your callsign incorrectly, then YOU get Dinged for the QSO.

Imagine the following: "CQ TEST WQ6X". If there is quick fading or the noise-level is significant,

one or more letters of the WQ6X call can be obliterated. Sending the call TWICE (or maybe even

3 times) "CQ TEST WQ6X WQ6X" gives us a chance to catch it on the repeat. Otherwise, we have

to wait around for another "CQ TEST WQ6X" call, only to have it obliterated as well.

Bottom-line?  Keep your CQ calls Informative, yet Quick.

 

 

BEEF #10 - OTHER FORMS OF INTENTIONAL QRM

As I said above intentional QRM on the 40 meter band happens nearly all 40-meter CW contests; everything from someone playing a voice recording repeating "F - U" over and over again, to this happening during the 2017 WPX-CW contest:

 

Stations were dutifully lining up to put WQ6X in their log until 10:47z when a Loud HOWLING noise appeared, followed by an Ssb-audio CW calling "CQ WPX de YC9WSQ". 

This went on intermittently yet continuously. The QRM got so loud that I moved to 7027.27 to escape the cacophony.

Then at 12:53z YC9WSQ was now at it again on 7.027 with that HOWL seeming LOUDER than ever. This station never worked anybody so it was clearly nothing
more than harassment; or, the guy was under the influence of one of the doctor's concoctions.

After the contest, I looked up his callsign on QRZ.Com and found this WEIRD picture. Which one is the operator? The guy on the right or the witch doctor on the left? 
(Note: As of November 2020, the YC9WSQ callsign can no longer be found using QRZ.Com.  However doing an internet search on the call, I was directed to YB9URM wherein use of this call was more-or-less explained, altho I STILL don't understand it.)

As you can see, a lot WEIRD things happen during radiosport GiGs; especially during the Weird Prefix Contest.   My BEEFS get even beefier in the 3rd installment of this BLOG series coming soon to the WQ6X.BlogSpot.Com.  [CLICK HERE] to read Part 3.