[ADXA] The Definition of "DX"

Mon Jan 19 10:10:40 EST 2026

       This is NOT a new complaint, been circulating around for years, a lot of pros and cons. I answer all calls, I do it gladly. I will cut a contact to nab what I want and return. While AR isn’t as obscure as CT or worst MT it’s up there, the county counters look  hard for Sharp county and next door neighbor Izard county, it makes my day if I can help them nab a needed call. I have begun to dread working Ja when one station finds you it’s a hornets nest after you!
       You realize the 3.0 version now have ignore lists?
          Now the real reason I flip my lid! Several years ago KI5QQG was a newly minted General, she was hot and heavy going for WAS ft8, she needed Wa. She didn’t have the knowledge what DX meant, my fault! She is so fast on learning things I struggle to tell her some of the cranky ham idiocies, she needed Wa. There is a station beaconing cq DX from Wa she is trying to work him, he sends her a very ugly email, talk about piss me off, well if yall don’t know my Deb…. Anyhow her return email chewed him up and spit him out, then the kb warrior tried no 2 it was worse! 10 years prior I would have packed my bag, knocked the pickhead off the handle in the tool rack and found him in Wa and we would have had a training session on how to treat your fellow ham!!!! Or been in jail one or both!
      This is one of the episodes that runs new hams OFF, the cranky old farts saying stuff out loud making the new impressionable hams wounder do I want to be a part of this crap…
       Back 40 years, I am a cb’r love radio, wb5lwj gave me a tour of his ham shack. I’m all in! I get on 2 meters with friends, we make a cardinal sin on 2 meters, grammatical error, the old farts make such a big deal out of it a friend ripped his right out of his car saying I want no part of this. I believe Norris has a same story.
       DX ing ..phone, CW are mostly knowledgeable dx’ers ….ft8 everyone is there from fresh licensed to cranky old farts like me.
      Joel…you have a hell of a station, everyone hears you!!! EVERYONE hears you! Yes your contact will be a hot commodity, deal with it if you call cq! It is not uncommon if I point to EU at bandopening on 12 with this 7 ele 12 meter antenna and call cq ….to see the entire right screen turn red, I can ignore um, I can work um till I’m bored, I can change to Mshv set the queue to 20 with a 2 min time out and sit watching it run!!  I have to work hard to not be the cranky old fart! I really wanna go there!!
     Now don’t feel entitled, this isn’t the first time I have posted my view, and with Debbie’s help I am a lot lot better at saying nicer things in a public setting then I use to be!
      In all honesty we are proud to be part of this group, it has been and still is a great DX learning curve!
         Joel you did strike a nerve, I realized I still wanna go to Wa and hold a training session on how to treat your fellow ham!
          If I offended someone my apologies !
73
KF5TL
Sent from my iPhone

On Jan 19, 2026, at 7:47 AM, w5znjoel at gmail.com wrote:

How do you define “DX”? The old phrase “Beauty is in the eye of the beholder” applies.

When I passed my exams and acquired my ticket 54 years ago, I was taught a CQ to a specific area or region meant just that. If someone calls “CQ MT” they’re looking for Montana. A “CQ DX” would indicate a distant area. Stations located outside the indicated area should standby, or not call.

My friends Jon, AA1K, who lives in Delaware and Dave, W0FLS who lives in Iowa call “CQ DX” on 160-meter CW every morning to test propagation and there are DX stations who listen for them. Occasionally they will be called by a “local” station, maybe in the next state! Now, I know Delaware is a much sought after state for WAS and can understand someone wanting a Q. Jon and Dave both oblige and work the local caller but when the band is open to DX areas, which is NOT a daily or even weekly occurrence, the local callers can interfere with the ability to complete a DX contact.

This occurs more frequently on FT8. Now, all of you FT8 folks PLEASE do not get riled up. I’m not bashing FT8 but trying to emphasize good operating practice because the trend has become very bad in recent years. One example is this morning as 160 meters was open to Japan. This is not a frequent occurrence. I thought I would work a few JA’s and maybe give some of them a new state so I called “CQ DX” and was immediately flooded with local callers. I can work Oklahoma at high noon local time on 160 meters any day so why not honor my “DX” request with my CQ? I am always willing to get on, anytime, and hand out a Q if needed. A similar situation occurs when a rare DX station is on, maybe even off the normal FT8 frequency as with the current KP5 operation. I’ve had local stations call me when I’m calling the DX station. I don’t understand this and it is very bad practice. Let me say that again; this is very bad practice and suggests a very poor operator!

My point in this is, again, not to bash any specific mode but to focus on good operating practice and being a good operator. I have not noticed any of the ADXA folks doing these things, which displays good character among our group and indicates you are all very good operators.

Let’s continue to set an example of how good operators are supposed to act on the air. DX is an intense, aggressive sport that gets very ugly at times but let’s stay focused!

Now……GET IN THERE!

73 Joel W5ZN
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