No Code Lids – Amps – DX Clusters…and the Deaf

I find it strikingly amazing (and perhaps I should not be) at the number of imbeciles in Ham Radio today. I am not sure if it is genetic or stupid by choice…or perhaps it because “today's” hams feel autonomous behind their IP address and monitor. Which ever the case, Ham Radio is heading down a path that is not pretty.

Just watching the DX Cluster today upon arriving home from work (I should have stayed there <smiling>) gave me cause to wonder about the absence of grey matter being used today when posting spots….

What did I witness that gave me so much cause for concern? Before I get into that…. If you are a “Ham”  today, you have a great number of resources! The INTERNET being one! It is like a “TOOL” and you better learn how to use it! ….ESPECIALLY if you are going to put your call sign out on the DX CLUSTER!

Ah yes! The DX CLUSTER…where Chat Room jargon has taketh over! What Bull Crap this has morphed in to. I have written about it often; however, it is AB SO LUTE LY amazing that people use this service like their own private girlie (pardon me YLs and XYLs) chat room bitch sessions. Enough said! You get the message.

Having said this, today VK9MA (Mellish Reef) was spotted….and the then the rampant moron like postings started!!! LMMFAO! Yes sir! I could hear the antennas whizzing and amps being tuned 10 KCs either side of the “Mellish Reef” station…. one after another people (not real hams mind you) worked this guy….AND …TO MAKE SURE THE WHOLE world KNEW they worked this “RARE DX” station….THEY TOO spotted VK9MA …signing the post with their call signs! Why the hell would you not look up that “rare one” before posting? EVERY CONCEIVALBE logging program now days LOOKS up the call and INSTANTLY tell you if it is valid or not! If yours doesn’t ….BETTER STEP UP and get one that does or you are living in the dark ages!…. The DX station was signing their call PERFECTLY!…but I am sure some FAT FINGERED SOB (with a heart rate of 140) typed in wrong or heard it wrong with a hearing aid battery that I am sure was operating below 10% charge. Either way, the perpetuation of BAD POSTS ensued. What irresponisble operating…..SURE we all have made a bad post now and then..but how many should it have been? Here is a posting of the VK9MA Hall of Shame Recipients:

KC0CK

W4KPG

WG5J

Just to name a few…

And then to really set off the ultimate DX ALARM was P50W!

WOW…get on it! This was really P40W….. Is there ONE ham on the planet that thinks P5 would show up and ME not know about it? HI HI…NO HELL WAY!!!! LOL

Jesus, Mary AND Joseph! What are these “ops” thinking…oh! My fault…I forgot they were not…..

They studied the answers to a test, were given a license to spot, (some received CW Code readers as parting gifts) and away they went. They bought radios (of which they don’t know how to use)…computers, antennas, BIG AMPS, …and oh my FREAKIN’ God how the ham bands have flourished!

Have you REALLY listened as of late? 10M and 75 SSB sound like throw back days of channel 19 and the wild wild west! It is terrible that the FCC does not HUNT DOWN and HANG from their own towers these RUDE BASTARDS! If I were in charge…oh my …….

And then there are the DEAF MOFOs in Ham Radio. You know the ones! Those poor idiots who call and call and call and guess what? HALF of them can’t even hear the DX station….the other 1/2 don’t care who they are trying to come back to and they just call and call too!

Then there are my FAVORITE GROUP! The ELITE of the ELITE! Those HIGH PROFILE DXers (yeah right)… who say one thing and do something else….. THERE ARE A BUNCH OF YOU ROTTEN ASSWIPES out there and they KNOW I have recordings of them calling when they should not be. Most hang out on 160 and 6m flaunting their JUST OPERATING habits and refined wine drinking nights behind the radio…but they really are THE most poor of the poor of operators! TWO FACED INGORANT Bastards from hell! LOL

Noses tossed in the air, 5KW through the best hard line money can buy…and away they go…

In the end…it is everyone who suffers, because of the once few and now more prevalent  “LID” that lurks on your radio dial. What to do? I’ll tell you what to do…..because we all know one. You pull that guy aside and you tell them politely you know what they are doing and you would appreciate it if they cleaned up their act. They are giving YOU and ME a bad name!…and I for one am tired of hearing it and I am tired of having to address it! They will either listen and slowly things get better….or they play DEAF and STUPID…..In the case of the latter, they would by default be confirming what you probably already knew was the truth….

They are INDEED a “Ham Radio” LID!….BUT…you did your part to improve the airways. Suck it up and go after the next guy in line!…oh yeah…and write the FCC AND ARRL and tell them you are mad as hell at their inability to clean things up! The good ole days were nice!

Until next time!

73 and Good Dxing

Jose

“The Elmer most never had”

Hurricanes and other major “Events”

 

Well, Hurricane Irene has left her mark on the east coast of the USA. Having lived in Florida a great deal of my life and now residing in Massachusetts…..I can explain some differences.

Northern “Hams,” for the most part are super willing to deal with Snow/Ice….. but have no clue about Major Blows! In Florida…when a storm approaches….people board up…stock up …and hold up….. In New England….they get stupid….don’t do anything because they think all is well. Until you have experienced hell, one has ZERO/NADA/ZILCHO idea how to handle it…but where the hell did common sense go? Out the window at Dorathy’s QTH in the Wizard of Oz? Mary, Jesus AND Joseph….Just board up and get smart…..

Watching TV of the peeps in Rhode Island, did you see those dolts? Just 10+ foot waves….and where the hell were the parents of those brainless fools? Anyway, I digress!

Speaking of towers….. I have a handful of ham ‘acquaintances” up here that simply put their towers up on a pure “cheap” budget, and guess what? YEP! TIMBER!!!! Idiots! Putting a tower up cheaply and without real thought is like driving in NYC without your seat belts on….WHAT ARE YOU THINKING??? Anyway…..

I am VERY happy I OVER ENGINEER EVERYTHING at the BAA QTH….. over size guys….oversize concrete blocks…. super larger than needed turnbuckles…. VERY LARGE Hardware etc….. Granted, I have some BIG ASS ANTENNAS (BAA <smiling>)… to hold up…but it is my big ASS up on the tower doing the work….. and sometimes my son…Do you think I want something happening to him? NO!…SO…….everyone who may read this…. get off your duff and inspect your towers/antennas and ENSURE they are 140% safe!!!

Worrying about them is NO NO NO fun when a storm hits….. Towers should last in well over 100 MPH winds….and if the antennas come off….SO BE IT!! But your tower should NOT fall…unless you have trees near it and in that case I blame you again… CUT THEM ALL DOWN TOO!!!! LOL….

All in all, I am very happy to have made it through yet another storm….. but then again…..I knew damn good and well it wasn’t going anywhere!

 

Until next time!….

Jose N4BAA

Your Chief Elmer!!!

"OH" is not a "ZERO"

Just so all the SSB operators KNOW...without any question.....
The NUMBER "0" also properly referred to as "ZERO".....
Is never ever ever correct to be transmitted as "OH".....
Even for you GOONS that insist on giving your phone number with an "OH" in it....
I dare you to try to dial an "OH"....if you do...you would be dialing a 6/SIX!

For the SSB contesters..... 59 009 is not sent as "59 OH OH nine"....those in fact are ZEROs...... so "59 ZERO ZERO NINE" is correct.....

It DOES make a difference.....

Jose
N4BAA

OPERATING CHARACTER - "EASY TO HIDE BEHIND PILEUP"

VP8ORK South Orkney Islands DXPedition started this week and "OH MY GOODNESS"....

It still amazes the number of callers who don't give a hoot in hell or "rat's ass" about their operating character! ZERO...NONE!....

No matter what station VP8ORK acknowledges, HORDES of callers STILL insist on calling and calling and calling still. Being a realist, I have to apply some logic...

1. Perhaps the caller really can't hear them that well. If this is the case....
A. Wait for propagation to change so you can copy the station and ONLY CALL when it is your turn.....or
B. Get a better antenna system so you can hear better. (A FOR SALE sign does wonders for propagation!)

2. The operator really is a LID and has NO IDEA WHAT THE HELL THEY ARE DOING....if this is the case.....
A. They need an ass whoopin' to liven them up to standards! There is no excuse for someone who does not want to operate correctly. WHY? Because it does matter!! There is a CORRECT way to operate you radio.... This is the "CHARACTER" I am speaking about.
B. They need to be hung up from the first set of guys until they stop twitching... Now I know the contesters reading this will say that will adversely affect the number of QSOs possible in any given contest....but the long term effects will be wonderful! So...it is case of needs of the many outweighing the needs of the few!

Additionally, these LID operators find it easy to mask themselves or "HIDE" behind the "camo" of a pileups where the DX station is operating SPLIT!! Really? Not so much! I have hours of recordings of stations like *ZXL, *DG, **LZ, and others who just turn the power and "attitude" up to just call and call and tail end and do whatever to get in the log....

Next pileup you are in....take note of who the DX station comes back to and tune up the band where the are listening...and just JOT DOWN EVERY CALL YOU HEAR that is OBVIOUSLY not PAYING ATTENTION and whose "OPERATING CHARACTER" is DISMAL to say the least.... You will hear some BIG NAME CALLSIGNS in there too! I mean some very very prominent calls! Send them an email and tell them you heard how they operate. Better yet...make a recording and send it to me... I am compiling a list to put on a website for everyone to 'grade'! What is the answer?

This is ALL too easy.... When I was operating as KG4SB from Gitmo Cuba....I had a great solution..... When I noted callers who just wanted to do it "their" way..... I logged their QSOs with an ! at the end of their call.... Oh they were happy at first.....they got in JOSE's log..... then the QSLs rolled in...and guess who wasn't in the log??? YOU GUESSED IT! EVERY call with a "!" after their call got a NOT IN LOG report with their returned QSLs! Needless to say, these ops are PISSED OFF BEYOND belief! I was not and will not reward ANY station with confirmation of a QSO if they were not at least 'decent' ops..... NO LoTW uploads...NO eQSL uploads....NO QSL period! Many of these QSOs were on 80 and 160 meters....and those operations from GITMO are few and far between..... of the 30,000 QSOs I have made from there, I have a list of 411 different stations that I will not confirm QSOs with .... SORRY amigos/amigas that is how the ball bounces! More and more DX stations are doing this as well! I LOVE IT! You MAY think they don't know what is going on...but I will tell you they do!

So.... you guys/gals who want to 'pump up the volume' and be asses!.... YOU are cleared for takeoff.... But you know what ......no GOOD sense can be talked into these lame brained folks! They are too set in their ways and will NOT assimilate one bit. They are their own breed. And they breed other lame brains as well. So...be on the watch for those "pileup boneheads".... I'll be posting a list of them soon!.... It won't be BAA's opinion regarding their poor operating choices, it will simply be posted for others to judge for themselves.

Until next time, tune for max power out, make sure you can here who you are calling, keep the pileup behavior in check, and make sure your Operating Character is what it should be.

73, God bless and for Pete's sake....learn CW!

Jose - N4BAA
Chief Elmer

To Hell with PHONETICS....LEARN YOUR NUMBERS

It is amazing that we have turned into a hobby where you can get a FEDERAL LICENSE just form MEMORIZING answers to questions...WORD FOR WORD mind you! Ridiculous!!! What the FCC should be ensuring is that every ham knows what the numbers from ZERO to NINE are....

I am listening to 8Q7VR on 75M SSB (PIG FARMER TERRITORY..BTW)... and the DX station is going by numbers......
Asks for ONES ...and every HAM with ANY number in his/her call sign is calling!

What in the HELL are you people smokin', thinkin', expectin'...etc.....
If you have never had an Elmer or if you have one and perhaps you don't give a damn..... DON'T FREAKIN' call IF YOUR VERY OWN CALL SIGN DOES NOT CONTAIN THE ONE AND ONLY NUMBER the DX STATION IS ASKING FOR!!!!!!

Is this so hard to understand? I have started recording these YAHOOS....and I am going to post them on a n4baa.com (coming soon)...so everyone can listen to both sides of what is going on..... and THEN they will have to recognize that it isn't JOSE, N4BAA bitchin' about their operating style.

This is not a matter of doing it MY way (WHICH IS THE CORRECT WAY BTW)...it is about being courteous and polite and all those things your PARENTS should have taught you when you were growing up.... So you either did not have a parent that gave a crap....OR....get this idea....... YOU JUST DON'T GIVE A DAMN! If you are in the latter group...then the FCC should SWIPE your license and put your sorry ass in life's penalty box for ...oh...I don't know...... FOREVER!!! That would be appropriate!

SO, as I step down from my PLATINUM SOAP BOX...... LEARN your damn numbers and call ONLY when you are suppose to!

ZERO
NINE
EIGHT
SEVEN
SIX
FIVE
FOUR
THREE
TWO
ONE

Stepping DOWN.......

73 and God bless!
Jose "Chief Elmer"

P.S. Here is a link to the DX CODE
http://www.dx-code.org/

If you can't play by the rules....don't play!

DX SPOTTING - HAMS GONE WILD !!!!!!!

It is no secret that I send out about 75 to 100 emails per day attempting to educate hams as to WHY spotting DX stations with comments like:

* NIL HERE
* Not a peep in XX
* Please turn beam to XXXX
* Please 160M at our Sun Rise

ETC ETC ETC....

PEOPLE/HAMs/DXers/RAG CHEWERS/ who ever and what ever the hell category you place yourself in......FOR THE LOVE OF GOD AND EVERYTHING SACRED!!.....STOP IT!!!!

If you just don't give a damn or perhaps are a CB convert.....or for what ever reason...... YOU ARE BEING AN ASS!!! CAPITAL "A"!!!

Why? GREAT question from the HAM in the back of the class....

Because 90% of all hams use computers and DX TELNETS interface with their computers...and when you spot some BS comment like you can't hear the station....well guess what???? Your BOGUS spot sets off 10.5 metric butt tons of DX alarms, SMS texts, emails ALLLL over the planet.....

CONGRATULATIONS...!!! You have just labeled yourself, "LID OF THE MONTH!"....
Congrats again...no parting gifts...no consolation prizes...just plain, in your face world, I am a dumbass for spotting like I did...

THERE is NO...ZERO...NADA value in you spotting that you can't hear.... NONE!

If you just have to spot a comment...and wish to NOT label yourself as a jerk lid who either doesn't know better or worse doesn't care....... do so at the BOTTOM EDGE of what ever band.......for example....28000, 21000, 14000, 18100, 7000, 3500, 1800 etc....I think you get the picture......

NOTE:!!! READ THIS IF NOTHING ELSE!....... THIS WILL NOT SET OFF ALARMS ALL OVER THE PLANET...... GOT IT?????

If you need to re-read the previous statement now.....PLEASE DO SO...... FAILURE to comprehend what it means will in fact result in you receiving a 'coaching" email from me when you violate what I have told you!!!

1/3 people tell me to SCREW OFF....That is OK...their asses anyway...even if they listen to me! HI.....
1/3 Apologize, say THANK YOU!!! and THEY GET IT!
They help spread the word and educate others....

The other 1/3?...Well, I never hear back from them. They will fall into abyss and we will never know...BUT...I pray they get it......

So.....post often...post well, and POST CORRECTLY!!!!!

73/88
Jose - N4BAA
Chief Elmer

PART TIME CONTESTERs

Happy New Year my Ham Radio World....
Just finished a weekend of NAQP CW and ARRL RTTY Round Up contesting...
WOW....some people still just do not get it...ESPECIALLY on RTTY....

I just want to indicate the following non contester, contester, part time contester or what ever category you fall into.....regarding contest exchanges.....

If you answer someone calling CQ...you MUST MUST MUST assume this operator is in it to win it....and does not want to waste time.....your or especially his/hers!...

Having said that ...when they acknowledge you with:
(your CALL) 599 (exch HERE) K (notice how short and to the point that is..)

Do NOT NOT NOT reply with:
(THEIR CALL) de (YOUR CALL) QSL (YOUR EXCH HERE)
PLEASE COPY 599 (EXCH HERE) 599 (EXCH HERE)
(YOUR CALL) de (THEIR CALL) K

What the hell are you thinking? The station calling CQ could have made 4 QSOs in that time period.....

Bottom line is keep it as short as there is....PERIOD...If your macros are LONG....
CHANGE THEM! CHANGE THEM! CHANGE THEM!

Sure he is thankful for call, but if you want it to be that long.....come back when there is less than 4 hours left in the contest.....call them then.....Until then...
Just shorten the MACROs up and not piss everyone off.

Nothing worse than LONG CONTEST MACROS in RTTY/PSK contests...Just TERRIBLE....

Oh .....and when a station is calling CQ.....don't reply with your CALL AND full report BEFORE the station even acknowledges you.
Again, what the hell are you thinking? Are you thinking you are just soooo loud there is no way he/she can't hear just YOU? Stop kidding yourself! Just send your call 2 or 3 times MAX..(NOT NOT NOT 4 5 or 6 times!....) THEN when the station calling CQ comes back to you and gives a valid report....

THEN and ONLY THEN should you reply with a SHORT MACRO with included report and exchange!

Simple isn't it?

AMAZING how many people just have not been taught the CORRECT WAY to proper contesting!!!

Until next time!

73/88 and God Bless!!!
(Oh yeah...and Vote Republican!!!)

Jose - N4BAA
Chief Elmer