[Elecraft] Sub Receiver jones...

[Vic K2VCO]

Jim Miller wrote:
> Listening to K5D last night made it obvious to me (I'm slow...) the
> benefit of a sub-receiver. The exchanges that occur by the pursuers
> are impossible to find by switching back and forth between pursued and
> pursuer frequencies. I'm assuming that the pursued will take the next
> call somewhere near the last one, maybe a bad assumption.

Some DX operators (the ones I like) go through a pileup in one direction, moving up or 
down a discrete amount each time. Then they either 'snap back' to the other end of the 
pileup, or tune back the way they came. This is the best case, because if you are thinking 
you can predict where to call accurately -- and only a small percentage of callers are 
thinking!

Others hop around between two general areas. You can imagine them flipping back and forth 
each time. If you detect this, it can be helpful.

Some operators pretty much listen in one spot, plus or minus a few hundred Hz. for a long 
time. Pretty soon everyone learns where this is!

Sometimes a guy will just randomly pick someone to answer with no discernible pattern. 
This can be frustrating.

You really do need two receivers to spot the pattern. It can be hard when the DX is 
working stations that you can't hear.

I know that I have spent long periods in pileups without results until I get the pattern. 
Then -- blam, one shot.
-- 
73,
Vic, K2VCO
Fresno CA
http://www.qsl.net/k2vco