What would you do if you ran across a really poor operator on the air...and you knew him? When I say "poor operator", what I mean is, someone who is probably not intentionally causing QRM but maybe they don't know any better and the QRM is a side-effect?
Would you tell him or her? Would you just let it go? I know if someone posed those questions to me, I'd probably say that it depends on the circumstances.
Well, I find myself in that predicament and I don't know what to do.
Here's the details - a nearby ham - and by "nearby" I mean that he lives within 5 miles of me - has been active on 20 meters lately. I don't know him well, but I have made his acquaintance. In recent days, he's been trying to work some DX stations on SSB and he's not having much success. Either they're not hearing him, he's not in the right place at the right time, or they're ignoring him because of his behavior.
He's incessantly calling out of turn, calling when the DX stations are calling for specific stations (not him), tromping over ongoing QSO's, and calling before the DX stations have ended their contacts . And it's not a random, isolated thing - it's an on-going, long term approach. And I've encountered it at least 4 times this week. In fact, each time that I've stumbled across him, he's committed some sort of screwball action.
To top it off, instead of using standard phonetics, he's using ridiculous words that a foreign speaking ham is unlikely to understand. This isn't his call, but let's say it ends in "LHU". Instead of saying Lima - Hotel - Uniform, or even London - Honolulu - United, he might say something like Long - Handle - Underwear. I know that's not a crime, but c'mon, he's not doing himself any favors and he's probably angering or confusing the DX.
There have been some, not many, on the air comments directed towards him by other hams trying to work the DX, but he seems oblivious or undeterred. Maybe he's not hearing them? I would think he has to be, since I'm hearing them. I don't agree with their approach to call him names, but I can understand their frustration. He's kind of spoiling the fun, you know?
Now, here's the kicker, the fellow has been a ham for a long time (extra class), licensed since the mid-30's, in fact. So, I'm sorta torn between the following:
1. Cut him some slack, maybe his hearing isn't that good.
2. Leave it be, maybe his station is marginal and he really doesn't know if the DX is coming back to him or not (ok, probably not true, if he heard them to begin with...unless he's relying on spots only).
Or,
3. Tell him because he ought to know better no matter how long he's been a ham.
I know if I were doing something boneheaded and didn't realize it, I'd want someone to tell me. How would I react? Hard to say, depends on what I've done. But my dilemma is, does he know what he's doing and just not care? If that's the case, then, indeed, it's wrong. I feel that I have an obligation to point it out to him, but at the same time, will I just make a bigger mess of things and should I just leave it alone and tune away?
What would you do?
Tuesday, July 7, 2009
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5 comments:
Depends on what you mean't by "mid-30s".
If you mean his age is something like in his 40's now and he has been licensed since his mid-30s, then maybe you should tell him you noticed he was not having much luck and offer to go over and check out his rig, and you could sit with him and work with him giving some gentle nudges, and even showing by EXAMPLE working some QSO together. I remember learning lots of good 'technique' by sitting and working with experienced hams. I learned things I didn't think of on my own like how to just say your last two letters during a pile up and only the whole call sign when they come back to you with the "ending in alpha bravo".
On the other hand, if you meant since the 1930's, hehe your probably never going to get very far with him unless your his senior. :)
>I just leave it alone and tune away?
I guess one more thought, if he is doing this stuff on purpose and knows he is making an ass of himself, it might be good to let it be known that YOU know what he is doing.
There is a bit of anonymity with DX, and he might think twice if he knew a local ham that could talk about him at a local club meeting or on the local repeater would tell others he is causing problems.
AND depending on his reactions to your letting him know your concerns....
It may be appropriate to a) Notify the FCC and get them to send him a letter, or get someone from the FCC Volunteer Auxiliary to notify him via a "Official Observer Notice".
The Amateur Radio Service policy is "POLICE YOUR OWN" you know.
If he's been licensed since the 1930s he's been around long enough to learn how to operate. But perhaps his mind isn't as sharp as it was, or he's going deaf and can't hear what is going on too well.
I think that it would be best to say nothing before finding out the reason why he is behaving this way.
I'd definitely say something to him. If he has an email on QRZ, you can try via email. If not, you can try to get him on the air or figure out his phone number.
Something you can do so he's aware you are on and listening is also try to contact the same station, hopefully successfully, and then use that success as part of the discussion.
How he reacts are likely based on 2 factors, only 1 of which you can control. The controllable aspect is the way you approach it and the words you use. If it was me, I'd probably come at it with the following:
Hey Joe, I heard you on the radio yesterday trying to contact the DX station. Did you happen to make a contact? Assuming he says that he didn't, then you start in on what you heard the stations that were getting through do and what you heard him do.
The factor you can't control is how he will perceive your actions.
I'm new in ham radio (2 years) and new with HF (1 year) and I don't mind folks providing feedback of any kind. Now you might know, and not have mentioned, but there are plenty of old timers in my local club which are 90%+ VHF and less then 10% HF. So the fact that they have been licensed for a long time might not mean a heck of a lot for operating a different way.
Just because you hear someone 5 miles away doesn't mean the DX station can hear him. And depending on your setups (antenna specifically), just because you hear a station doesn't mean he does or as well as you hear it.
In a pileup, I see a tremendous amount of poor operating habits. I even blogged about the 13 Colonies special event behavior at http://www.k2dsl.com/2009/07/06/dx-cluster-fk-13-colonies-special-event/. Besides the DX Cluster crap, the operators were calling over and over after the spec event station already had started the contact with another station. If they weren't calling 6 times maybe they would have heard the station coming back to someone. Heck, they wouldn't even know if the station was coming back to them they were calling so much.
Let us know how it turns out.
73,
K2DSL
Thanks for all the comments, much appreciated. David, K2DSL, brings up a great point that I hadn't even considered - maybe he's spent his hamming on VHF and is new to the HF scene, regardless of how long he's been licensed. HF protocol has definitely changed through the years too. So even if he did HF years ago, he may be rusty. And, like Julian says, he may also be hard of hearing if he's elderly. I hope I'm still around to operate in my 70's.
I noticed several hits on my blog from my surrounding area that have never appeared before, could it be that someone else has noticed this too? Perhaps they called it to his attention already? I've not heard him the past few evenings.
I think, at this point, I will wait and see if I run into him again and if he demonstrates the same behavior. If he does, I believe that I will call him and politely say that I've been noticing that he's not having much success landing the DX he's calling, maybe I can help a bit? If he's receptive, then great. If not, then I suppose it isn't out of the question to report him if he continues to make QRM.
Ed
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