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The Price to Run and Work a Pileup

from Jose Nunes, CT1BOH on May 9, 2000
View comments about this article!

There is a price to be paid when a DX operator runs a pileup. That price is QRM and is totally dependent on the DX pileup operator skill. The better the skills of the pileup DX operator the cheaper will be the price he has to pay for his show. At the same time the better the skills of the DX pileup operator the better the pileup will behave because everybody will try to mimic him in admiration of his skills

There is a price to be paid when a DXer tries to break through a pileup. That price is TIME and is totally dependent on two factors. The first one is the skills of the Dxer. The second one is the skills of the DX pileup operator.

The rarity of the DX entity has nothing to do with the difficulty to run a pileup. It only serves as an excuse to the not so skilled operators who cannot match the difficulty.

The area of the world to be worked has nothing to do with the difficulty to run a pileup. It only serves as an excuse the not so skilled operators who cannot match the difficulty.

The power level and antenna gain has little to do to the difficulty of breaking a pile when compared to the skills of the DXer. It only serves as an excuse to the not so skilled DXer.

A European pile up is the ultimate measure to a pileup operator skill.

A skilled operator is able to work everybody everywhere. 10/10 of the Dxers will either be listening in admiration or trying to break through. Rates of 200 plus on CW and 300 plus on SSB will be achieved.

A not so skilled operator will work by numbers. 9/10 of the Dxers will be potential QRMers while 1/10 of the others will try to listen trough the mess created on the DX transmitting frequency, by the lack of skills of the pileup operator to match the difficulty of the pileup.

The not so skilled pileup operators DESERVE all the QRM they generate and get. It should be seen as an incentive to improve.

Unfortunately some of the operators of the big DX Pedition are chosen because of the amount of time and money they have. There is nothing wrong with this though. It only increases the price a DXer has to pay to work him.

73
Jose Nunes
CT1BOH

PS. It is better to have a not so skilled operator running a pileup than no operator at all.

Member Comments: Add A Comment
The Price to Run and Work a Pileup Reply
Anonymous post on November 22, 2000 Mail this to a friend!
Good point. However, this would be more useful if Jose would offer constructive
suggestions on becoming a better DX operator.

For DXpeditions, I agree that only the best operators should be selected.

For the rest, remember that for DXers in "rare" countries, it is their home and
they don't have the opportunity to learn slowly on the air the way we do in North
America and Europe.

From the minute they get on the air there are thousands of hams wanting to work
them on every band and mode. They can't enjoy a casual QSO with another ham
the way we can. When they try, they get constant interruptions. They may not
have access to clubs or "Elmers" to help them learn.

It is also the responsibility of the rest of the world to give them a break. Don't demand
too much, be understanding, and ask yourself how well you would do in the same
situation.
 
The Price to Run and Work a Pileup Reply
by WK6I on June 12, 2001 Mail this to a friend!
John ON4UN has an excellent chapter (chapter 2) on operating either end of
the pileup in his Low Band DX book. This chapter applies to any band, not just
the low bands. So much common sense in so few pages.

It should be required reading (and re-reading) for all DX and DXers!

73 - jeff wk6i


 
RE: The Price to Run and Work a Pileup Reply
by kg4owe on July 3, 2004 Mail this to a friend!
Nice way to landblast all but the best op's. How about methods to improve?
 
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