03/05/2002 | KB0VYG Had fun in the 2002 International DX Contest useing a Kenwood TS-520 @ 100 watts & a dipole @ 40 feet. Stayed on 15 meters as conditions were great and plenty of DX in the General sub band.Usually when I look for DX on 15 it's all below 21.3 and I'm out of luck,thats good incentive to study for my upgrade! Only worked Sunday morning which for a casual operation looking for DX on 15 was, I think, to my advantage as most of the Europeans had been worked on the previous day by the big guns here in the states.Since I'm on the 'Soap Box' I suppose now is as good a time as any to comment on the " your 5&9, repeat your call again, trouble copying you " over I had to deal with in this contest as well as nearly all the contests I partake in.I guess " five and nine " is a given in a contest.A signal report with readability is a piece of information we are trying to pass along in a given contact. If " five and nine " is a 'given' why bother ? I know most stations I worked were most concerned with my state for their log.One contact,after telling my call sign for the third time almost seemed offended and a little hassled by me for giving him a "three by five november echo" report. He did take the time to say to the next station in line to work him, "stand by while i change my log for the poor report i just received".I'm not trying to hassle any one, heck , this is a hobby and we partake in it for many reasons.I'm very happy to work any station out there, contest or not, but if your readability is difficult and the signal low, your not getting a "five and nine' report since thats not true or accurate and i don't expect a "five and nine" if it takes three overs to get my info across.Anyway, perhaps a pet peeve of mine is this "five and nine" buisness.I'm off the 'Soap Box' now but want to thank ARRL for this forum. Again, back to where i started, had great fun in the contest, worked a bunch of DX on 15 !!! You can reach me at KB0VYG@ARRL.NET
if you want to in regaurds to my comments here. Thanks everyone, catch ya on the bands and always 73. Bill in Nebraska -- KB0VYG