I wonder what some of you think about the practice of working DXpeditions on multiple bands and modes. Since I’ve only been mostly active again over the past 2 or 3 years, I haven’t been around enough to judge for myself whether or not this is a trend that’s taken off recently or has it existed all along? I’m sure people have tried to work DXpeditions or rare DX as much as they can, but was the interest of trying to work them on all bands and modes such a popular pursuit as it appears to be now?
I’ve read some banter that indicates that some believe that the popularity of Club Log has caused this chase to explode because anyone can type in anyone else’s callsign and see how many times they’ve worked someone and on what bands and modes. In addition, there’s always a running tab of the top stations to work a popular DXpedition, further filtered by region, country, or call district. Also, as John, AE5X, pointed out in his blog recently, you can even see which operator you worked.
Do you think this is a good thing? Some seem to feel that this activity diminishes the likelihood of Mr. Average DX’er or Mr. QRP being able to work the DX, or, at the least, makes it much harder. Presumably this is due to the increased competition from heavyweight DX’ers to nab as many different QSO’s as they can. Maybe, but I don’t have a good feel for how much more congestion this might add. How many people pursue this aspect? A lot? Just a few? I don’t know.
I can see some merit to the argument, especially for DXpeditions that are short on time, those that aren’t on the air very long. On the other hand, should people who enjoy working them as much as possible be targeted as poor operators or “pig” operators? I certainly wouldn’t go that far. They have as much right as anyone to work the DX. Just like you and me.
And, again, I’m not referring to the stations who repeatedly call on the same bands to let the DX know they’re ‘59’ again tonight, just like last night and the night before that. Those fellers ought to be strung up somewhere. I’m talking about the people who do it fair and square and play by the rules. Get their QSO and move on and don’t cause QRM. I wonder, if I had a station capable of working rare or semi-rare DX all over the spectrum, would I find it fun to try and make 18 or 19 different QSO’s with the same station? Hard to say, but I’m sure the temptation would be there. For the time being that’s not a concern because I usually find time to only make one or two QSO’s. I’m happy with one (especially if it shows up in the online log), the rest are a bonus.
Those who manage to work a DXpedition on, say, 19 different slots, where in the world do they find the time? Especially if they work full-time, how on earth is this possible when 10 meters might only be open for a short time in the middle of the day? I understand that there’s easy explanations that could account for some of the contacts…they run home for lunch and get on the radio. They take the afternoon off. They set their alarm to wake up at 3 am in the morning. That’s not unusual at all for hard-core, dedicated DX’ers. But to get them on ALL bands and modes? That’s pretty fantastic. And if you look closely, it’s generally the same stations that appear at the top of these ‘most worked’ lists.
At any rate, I’m curious what others think of this practice and whether or not it is making life more difficult for average or budding DX’ers, or if it’s just another topic that’s making the rounds on eHam?
