Thanks WPX RTTY contest for QRMing the bands!

Yet Another RTTY Contest. Never gets old. It's really great to have two days of massive QRM for no good reason.

 

Yes, you're right! Two days of folks getting on the air, working each other and having fun? You're absolutely right: Two days is not long enough!

 

Many folks enjoy RTTY as much as you enjoy whatever it is you do... Relax...

 

Sure, they have every right to use the bands,. BUT...

I listen a LOT more than I transmit, and my impression is that rtty ops do not listen to a freq before they transmit. Time and again I hear a cw qso in progress destroyed, sqauashed, ended by a rtty op dropping on the freq.

I suspect that part of the reason is the seeming anonymity of rtty operation. Unless the other op has rtty decoder set up and running they have no idea who the inconsiderate op is. (not that it might make a difference even if they did know, just my speculation)

They seem to me to operate with impunity, not caring who they qrm.

Say I'm wrong, but I know what I've heard.

I'm not anti-rtty, or anti-contest at all, but I am anti-"entitled" ops that think they can just pick a freq and start "owning" a frequency where there are qsos already in progress.

 

The issue is QRM, not RTTY itself. Etiquette goes right out the window just about every weekend. I haven't "relaxed" over this issue for 25 years... unlikely I will now.

 

Could be worse: like my current problem. Due to the snow and wind, my antenna is literally down and out until the weather allows figuring out how to untangle the wire from the tree.

Puerto Rico probably has problems with weather too? Kind of like that big wind that decimated the island in the recent past?

So did you get on QRZ and complain about the hurricane?

Of course not, for various reasons, the least of which was that ham radio is a hobby, which is something that we do if everything else is OK.

So sit back, take a deep breath and realize that in a very short time, it will be quiet again on the bands. Very quiet. Until the next contest or other operating activity, most of which are fully advertised well before the actual event.

 

That's quite a stretch comparing Mother Nature to inconsiderate ops!

 

There is a huge difference between ( 1 ) inadvertent QRM, ( 2 ) inconsiderate QRM, and ( 3 ) deliberate QRM.

In a big contest like this one there is bound to be some inadvertent QRM, maybe even some inconsiderate QRM ( blame the op not the mode or contest ) ( and mostly not even the op, he-she may ( most likely ) not hear what you hear ).

From what I can see ( 320 casual RTTY QSOs so far this weekend ) the RTTY players have almost completely avoided the CW and digital areas. They have mostly expanded up-band which doesn't really interfere with anyone.

 

Well, maybe... But this is “daZed” where hyperbole is not just fun, it’s a way of life!

 

Gee, maybe it's a common thread because it's a common problem. I didn't start the thread because I just felt like bashing HF RTTY contesting out of boredom. I've been attempting to track a friend's HAB balloon on 20m WSPR, but for two days RTTY has been parked right on top of WSPR. That's just one example of one weekend. Other weekends make the HF packet region unusable. Some of us can only get on the radio on weekends. There's been times when I seriously considered just selling my stuff, for the single reason of getting QRMed weekend after weekend. But hey, leave 'em alone because they're USING THE BANDS and it's FUN! I can have fun too... maybe start a wide-mode Olivia contest and walk all over agreed-upon subbands, because it's FUN and I'm just USING THE BANDS!

 

This past weekend I observed that the RTTY operators were respecting the SKCC frequencies, (at least on 20...I didn't check the other bands) where I didn't see that in the past.

Re RTTY, I hope to be on this mode soon. I'm still fighting issues between my laptop and my rice box re MMTTY. One of the ops I tried contacting during the XE RTTY contest was kind enough to tell me what the problem with the signal was.

Re SKCC, I enjoy the sprints. It was an SKCC op who QSLed my QSO with VY1.

 

The ARRL encourages contesting, and I'm sure they're quite aware of the QRM problem.

This isn't just about me on one particular frequency and mode. Its about the general fact that the bands are QRM'ed intentionally by lids.

 

What's the latest (Insert Here)OTA?