[ADXA] Gaining Skill, Experience, and Working Bouvet

[w5zn at w5zn.org]

Greetings ADXA Folks,

I was taught long ago by Larry Price, W4RA, that everyone is entitled to 
their opinion, even if its wrong! We laughed lot about that over the 
years before he became SK simply because he told me that on more than 
one occasion.

DXpeditions generate a lot of opinions. Some are valid, some are not, 
and some who offer an opinion just need to go sit in the truck 
(something my dad would tell me when I started talking too much as a 
kid).

Obviously, Bouvet will go down as the largest DXpedition opinion 
generator in quite some time. Crozet was a very limited operation 
however we knew that from the very start so there wasn't disappointment 
in only seeing Thierry on a couple of bands and modes.

Bouvet is different. There were big plans, big money raised, lots of 
"anticipation" (with all due respect to Carly Simon) and wild 
expectations. Once the 3Y0J team arrived at Bouvet, reality set in. 
Unlike Crozet, there is no established camp and infrastructure, the 
weather is significantly different and the physical stress to just get 
on the air and operate is significant. We know from past Bouvet 
DXpeditions and also those to places like Peter 1 it is a harsh 
environment. It is very easy for us to sit in our comfortable shacks and 
second guess what's happening on Bouvet. Heck, we even do that after a 
Saturday afternoon football game right here at home where we can watch 
all the excitement in real time! I was doing quite a bit of complaining 
yesterday until Kim finally told me to "shut up and suck it up!" and 
then she something about "JUST GET IN THERE AND WORK 'EM!" I wonder 
where she heard that one?

I'm disappointed that the Bouvet team has had to scale back plans. It is 
unknown how long the operation will continue, there are just too many 
variables in the equation. For now, based on the latest news release, 
they will only be operating 30 meters thru 12 meters CW and 
SSB......WHAT? NO FT8????

And here comes the opinion I'm "entitled" to, even if you believe I'm 
wrong. It was rough, really rough last night on 30 CW with all the DQRM, 
their weak signal, and a humongous pile up. To break through such a pile 
up takes operator skill and experience. FT8 is an excellent mode that I 
support and it has provoked a lot of hams to become active on HF and 
start working DX. However FT8 doesn't provide much of an opportunity, if 
any, to develop operator skill. DX'ing is a very intense radiosport 
activity and you won't develop the skill to compete if you're only an 
FT8 op when an operation is using mainly CW. I want to strongly 
encourage those of you who are not yet proficient in managing a DX 
pileup on CW, or simply not proficient in CW, to get in there and 
listen.....then listen again, then listen some more. Try different 
options with your station to improve reception of the DX signal, either 
to improve the copy or to eliminate some of the DQRM. Only you can 
develop the experience to fine tune your station. Then listen to the 
pileup. Determine and understand how the operator is working the pileup. 
They all use a different approach. Some start low and move up working 
stations to a point then move back down and start over. Some work up and 
then slowly work back down. Others just grab stations at random. Pay 
attention to what is happening and learn, gain that experience. The 
experience you gain from this will improve your skill on every mode, SSB 
and digital.

And just remember - "You Can't Run With the Big Dogs if You Pee Like a 
Puppy!!" Those in ADXA who have worked them all or within a few didn't 
just sit around and miraculously wind up on the DXCC Honor Roll 
overnight. They developed skill and experience and improved their 
station that came from paying close attention to operations like Bouvet 
over the years. These opportunities don't come very often so please take 
advantage of it, even if you don't make it into their log.

So, while 3Y0J is not currently running FT8, use this opportunity to 
LISTEN AND LEARN. It will pay huge dividends down the road for the next 
"BIG ONE".

End of OpEd piece!

Let's all pay attention to Bernie's "The Daily DX" or the 3Y0J Facebook 
page (a link is on our website) for the latest news and see how the 3Y0J 
DXpedition progresses. GL in the hunt and as always "GET IN THERE AND 
WORK 'EM!!!"

73 Joel W5ZN
ADXA President
-------------- next part --------------
An HTML attachment was scrubbed...
URL: <http://mailman.qth.net/pipermail/adxa/attachments/20230207/9c988e68/attachment-0001.html>