Route 66 OTA Sept 11 thru Sept 19th

Great pictures, thanks. I always enjoy the Billy Goat, one of my favorite places when I'm in Chicago.

 

Well, Route 66 is over for this year. It seemed very successful, there was a lot of activity, judging by what I heard on the air. We'll see how each station did when the totals are posted on the Route 66 website. It seemed to me that most of the participating stations were fairly active, maybe only 2 or 3 that could have spent a lot more time on the air. Some of the stations could have significantly increased the number of stations that they worked if the operators would have spent less time making each contact, especially when there was a pile-up. This is especially true for those stations that devoted a limited amount of time to operating. This is a very popular event, and many stations would like to work all of the Route 66 locations. A lot of them weren't able to do so because some of the Route 66 stations wasted a lot of time with useless comments instead of exchanging only the necessary information and quickly moving on to the next station. A short rag-chew is OK when things aren't too busy, but it's poor operating procedure when there are other stations waiting. Most of the ops seem to be really friendly guys and they enjoy what their doing, so I don't mean to sound ungrateful for their efforts. Thanks to everyone who donated their time to make this event possible.

 

Many thanks for the link to the photos! Very cool vacation that I would love to do myself. I did a military move cross-co9untry many years ago and followed a lot of RT66 from Oklahoma City to Barstow as I drove to San Francisco. Such interesting history!

Maybe a National Road or Lincoln Highway event might get off the ground one day! Or maybe a North-South road event, like RT1 on the East Coast of Pacific Highway/101 on the West.

Thanks again to all the ops who put this on and made it fun. Huzzah!

 

THIS IS NOT A CONTEST!! We do expect to rag chew with stations calling. The fact we are on 9 days should allow everyone to get into our logs.

 

You are correct, this is NOT a contest, it is a special event. It is one of the more popular annual special events, if not THE most popular one. As such, there are many thousands of hams who work the Route 66 stations. Look at the numbers from past years, you'll see that the stations with the higher numbers of contacts make several thousand QSOs. I would think that many of those thousands of hams who worked those stations would like the OPPORTUNITY to work ALL of the Route 66 locations. Why then, don't ALL of the Route 66 stations have a similar number of contacts? Yes, the stations on and very near to the West Coast are at a disadvantage compared to the stations in the midwest and mountain states. But some Route 66 stations make several thousand QSOs, while others make less than half, or less than a third of that, or even 1/10 the number of QSOs of the top performing station. The event is on the air for 9 days, but not all of the participating Route 66 locations are active on every one of those 9 days. They are not on the various bands at the times that allow propagation to all parts of the country. Obviously, many hams who would LIKE to work ALL of the Route 66 stations DO NOT have the OPPORTUNITY, contrary to your assertion that they do. Part of the reason that they don't have this opportunity, is because SOME of the Route 66 operators WASTE a lot of time making each QSO when many other stations are waiting. We all like to hear a friendly voice at the other end confirming our callsign, giving us a signal report, and exchanging names. It's even OK to engage in a little small talk IF THERE ISN'T MORE THAN ONE OR TWO OTHER STATIONS WAITING ON FREQUENCY. However, to spend more than half a minute per QSO during a pile-up is VERY poor operating technique. It shows a disregard for all of the other hams who are waiting to make contact. It is frustrating for them to wait on frequency, maybe for an HOUR or more, and then lose propagation or have the operator QRT. That may have been the ONLY opportunity for a lot of them to work that particular station, so they don't get to log a station that they WOULD have been able to work, if the operator of that station hadn't been selfish and rag-chewed with a FEW stations, instead of making quick but friendly contacts with MANY stations.

The 4 Arizona stations were very active this year, and I'm sure that most hams who wanted to work them had the opportunity to do so. My comments on this thread and elsewhere were not directed at any of those stations. In fact, if you look around, you will see that I commended W6V for being available to anyone who wanted to work them. Give credit where credit is due. Also, a little constructive criticism may not change those who think only of themselves, but it may improve the operating habits of those who want to make the special event a more enjoyable experience for everyone.

73

 

All the one by one RT 66 station operators are volunteers and many of them have to make a living, so they can't operate as much as they would like to do so! That is a factor that needs to be remembered.
As a member of the Northern Arizona DX Association,(the originators of this SE) and the one person that gave the club the idea to make this a multi station event( which I am extremely proud of), I want everyone to know that our original intention, right from the start, was to make this a casual, friendly event ! Not a contest type of event! We wanted to make it challenging, interesting and not a 59, next, type of report. So, that is what we do. We want to hear the stories of your RT 66 adventures , not just your signal report. I am sorry if that does not please you. We are a contest club and chase DX and know about making the big and fast numbers in the chase, but not for Special Events! The clean sweep idea kind of gets in the way the intent of our event, and it evidently is more important to some than others.
If you are interested in more details of this event, see the article "Get Your QSOs on Route 66 " in QST dated May 2001.
Otherwise, I hope you enjoy it as much as we do and am sorry we just can't please everyone, but we try! We have operated
this every year for the last 22 years, after bringing up the idea originally in 1999. Good luck in the chase!
73, Bob, NF7E, Northern Arizona DX Association.

 

Sounds like any other "Contest".
I'm happy I was able to make contact with 14 of the 22 stations.

 

I heard on of the op's say good luck in the contest after each QSO.

Of course it wasn't a contest.

 

Route 66 On the Air is certainly not a contest. The May 2001 QST article explains the event's origin. The original idea was to have a DXpedition-like event that was run from home, not from a difficult to reach island somewhere. If one listens to rare DXpeditions and follows the DX Code of Conduct, ragchews aren't mentioned or held, but very short contacts are. The purpose of short contacts is to put as many stations in the log as possible.

As the W6H team leader, we focus on providing as many contacts to chasers as possible. We aren't rude, but we do work stations very quickly to achieve our focus. While not a contest, we often make more contacts than the rest of the W6x stations. We can't do that by conducting ragchews although we hear and enjoy comments from chasers about their Route 66 experiences. We ask they keep them short in consideration of others waiting to contact us.

We provide advice on breaking the pileups and how to be considerate of others on our QRZ.com page. Most chasers don't see that advice until after their contacts. Most chasers have never read the DX Code of Conduct. I suggest all read it. It provides wonderful advice that can make the readers better ops and Amateur Radio better for all of us.

Thanks to all for the thousands of contacts I made this year as W6H. What a kick overlooking Route 66 where is passed through the Rio Grande Valley on its way from Santa Fe to Albuquerque. See you next year.

73, Bill, K8TE

 

We had a QSO on 9/18 and logged on the Zed and LOTW. Very cool. As a WA state resident, I was just helping some folks land some Salmon Run points and heard you call out.

Thanks for contact.
73,
-Tom