[ADXA] Gaining Skill, Experience, and Working Bouvet

Tue Feb 7 08:33:00 EST 2023

 My ideal DXpedition has always been:
Op lands on a recently created volcanic island in a rowboat, works 20m cw for four hours with 100 watts to a vertical, gets in rowboat and leaves, island sinks back into the ocean, and it counts!
FUV

    On Tuesday, February 7, 2023 at 06:11:50 AM CST, w5zn at w5zn.org <w5zn at w5zn.org> wrote:  

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
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