[AMRadio] Open vs Closed QSOs

[D. Chester]

Unless you have something specific to communicate to one of the ops in a 
QSO, I think it is the ultimate in rudeness to break in just to shoot the 
breeze when you cannot hear the other station on 75 or 160.  OTOH, that is 
the norm on the higher frequencies because of the skip zone.  Years ago I 
used to work a daily get together on 20m and you could count on at least a 
third of the stations being inaudible at a given location, and thus much of 
the time was spent listening to noise and QRM. That is one reason I lost my 
enthusiasm for 20m.  40m can be the same way in the evening.

Another operating practice I find particularly annoying these days is when I 
am working AM, we are not using rapid fire break-in, and the other station 
makes a lengthy transmission then just drops the carrier without giving a 
callsign, saying "over" or "go ahead", or leaving some clue that he is 
standing by for me to transmit. Even that silly sounding CB practice of 
ending transmissions with "c'mawn" is better than nothing at all. I am never 
sure if they faded out,  had rig trouble or if they stood by  for someone 
else to transmit.  This seems to occur frequently with new licensees or 
newcomers to AM.  I  suspect they are accustomed to working SSB with vox, 
where everyone just stops talking when they want to stand by. Unfortunately, 
I am afraid the practice is catching on with AM operators as I hear it more 
and more frequently, and it is not always from newbies.

Don k4kyv
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