Glorioso

I worked FT5GA on 80 on Friday evening... Have not heard much of them since...
They were on 30 meters yesterday afternoon... I have been hoping for 160...
For a major DXpedition I don't hear much presence on the bands and their website has not been updated since the 16th...
Anyone know what is happening with them?

denny / k8do

 

Hello Denny,

I had a quick shot at them Saturday morning around 13:40z on 17m cw. He had a decent signal and was picking up fast. However, the operator appeared to get highly frustrated after working NA for 20 mins while EU kept calling. He QRTd and disappeared from CW for the rest of his night until his sunrise on 20cw from 03:00 to 04:00, then made an hours worth of contacts on 20cw and left again.

Still trying to figure out their operating strategy.

GL

73

WB8Bob

 

.....

Well, they were just spotted on 17, but I heard someone comment they were moving to 20........This was @ 14:00

 

In my personal opinion, it's one of the worst DXpeditions I've heard in my time spent on the radio. A lot of lids on the air, that's for sure as well.

 

I worked them 2 bands, 30 and 40 (CW).

Last I heard they were having generator problems as well as wind blowing down the antennas. But I am glad to have them in the log!

 

This suggests that they have an operating strategy which is probably to work a dozen stations and then take an hour Pernod break. After a week, 5 operators posted 12,669 QSO's. Not very impressive. And you're right...the lids and cops have dominated the bands when FT5GA does show up.

 

Ggggrrrr!!!

I wish there was somewhere where we could post LID callsigns!! I worked FT5GA today on 17 meters after about 25 minutes of calling. He was listening between 5 and 25 khz up. It didn't do much good to locate the fellow he just worked as he pretty much changed frequency to prevent folks from calling on the same frequency he just worked. Hence, I finally just sat on one frequency about 5 khz up and he finally returned the call.

I was amazed at how many times he asked for a specific call ("TL, go ahead!") and everyone seemed to call back anyway. The Gloriosa op returned to a W6 fellow 3 times but the 6 never heard him and kept calling anyway, obviously oblivious to the fact he clearly couldn't hear the dx station he was calling. Stupid. Real stupid.

Another local station just a few miles away called and called whether the Glorioso op was talking or not. I feel like going over to his shack and suggesting he check his antenna.

I would love to mention these fellows calls, but alas . . .

 

I think you have hit upon a great truth here. Too many people who haven't figured out that part of communications (that IS what we do in ham radio, right?) is listening. I have witnessed this phenomenon you have described fustratingly too often. I also really have come to love and adore the people who, for whatever their motivation, seem to have a wonderful time calling CQ on the listening frequency, sit on their keys, yo-yo their VFO's on transmit, and of course, I must express my appreciation to the wonderful police force that not only advise everyone to go "UP" but then issue a lecture in CW as to why the offending party(s) should do so. Come on, people, what is wrong here? Why do we have to endure this sort of behavior every time we have a DX-pedition? Have we digressed into a collective of those who, if we can't work them, no one else can either? If they are working JA's at this time, is that an excuse to tune up on the listening freq? Granted, this crew doesn't seem to have a clue about propagation, but is that any excuse for any of us in amateur radio to make life miserable for every one else?

 

Yeah, been hoping for a 160 Q from them but it looks highly doubtful...
They seem to be staying on the high bands, especially WARC...
I was listening to 40 where the pirates and jammers were just all over him...
Finally he shut down without warning... The crowd calling dwindled down...
And when it was clear he was gone and not coming back one of the louder
jammers sent (cw) 'well that was fun'

Being that I do not see what gratification they could possibly get from jamming
I just shook my head...

denny / k8do

 

Am I just one of the few hams that love to just listen?

Maybe it is me I mean, but it seems that there is a HUGE group of folks that unless their antenna is putting out RF are very unhappy. The Old Men teaching me this craft taught me to listen. I have some of the best times alone in my shack listening to QSOs. Some phone but mostly CW to hear peoples fist. I love listening to CW now. I will sit for hours on end at times and just listen. You can learn a lot about what a station is doing by listening.

So is it just me or do others sit and just listen to their receivers?

 

No...wait! 160 phone!
No wait it's 10 RTTY!!
Just a minute...they are on 15 PSK31 now!!
Doh! Now QRT for 4 hours!

Brought to you by the French Wine and Baguette DX Club.

 

I have yet to hear them and have pretty much given up hope that I will get them in the log. I did work Mayotte for an all time new one, though. Not too far from Glorioso so a nice consolation prize.

 

Hearing them is an accomplishment apparently. I have them confirmed in their online logs for ssb, but so far I have managed to hit them 4 times on CW and have yet to break into the online log...even had several club members a few days ago hear both sides of a CW contact with FT5GA and me, they then worked them , and they all made the log. I am still shut out CW. Amazing. So that brings up today's observation, boys and girls...and that is the phenomenon of PIRATES. I wonder how many presently happy people will be shocked to get a NIL from this operation after having thought they worked a legitimate contact with the DX.
This operation has brought out the "Best" of ham radio from the poor operation side of things. I sure hope the world learns from it, but experience has shown that the best we can hope for in the future is more of the same...cops, lids, pirates, QRM to the max....

 

Congrats! A new one is a new one any way you look at it!!

I have actually heard them...briefly anyway! 20 RTTY for about 10 minutes and 20 phone for about the same but they were pretty weak, too weak to try to work really.
Maybe this weekend...maybe...