NO5NN.org not only provides resources for all those interested in “non-5NN TU” activities, that is, enjoyable Quality Over Quantity activity and especially in CW, but also we hope to assist the newcomer and those interested in good operating practices.
In doing so, there is certainly far more that is allowed when enjoying CW, than those far fewer things that are considered bad operating, out of ignorance, or deliberate selfish or inconsiderate practices. In this article we shall address one of the latter, so you will know what to do.
By “DX LID” we mean the poor operators of so many “DX Expeditions”. Those who carry out these activities, unlike the locals who are there to stay and have their own desirability degraded as a consequence, are all too often ignorant, inconsiderate or incapable operators. If you want to know what a real DX operator looks like, please take a look at the page of the late 5T0JL.
Of course, there are exceptions: just as there are a very few contesters who give honest reports, follow the contest rules, do not use CW decoders and do not cheat, there are also a few DX Expedition operators who know how to operate from a much sought-after DX location.
The majority however, seek the easy way out: they allocated their FT8 operations to within the CW band instead of using the many frequencies available in the digital band, or in CW they use “UP” and take calls from anywhere up to 10, 20 or 30kHz higher in the band, those calls not listening on their own TX frequency and thus causing DQRM to existing CW QSO.
How to control pile ups effectively would be the subject of a different much longer article, as a former DX OP who was in a very rare DX location resulting in big pile ups, there are many tips I can share. Today, however, we shall limit ourselves to looking at one of the things NOT to do when operating a “DX” location or station: the unlimited, unspecified UP SPLIT.
A prime example of the typical DX LID OP today is the “button pusher” on a “power trip”. Instead of calling and listening on the same frequency, until and unless there really is a “pile up” too large to manage with his often inadequate skills or lack of experience, he does the following:
- Calls CQ and ends with “UP” right from the start even when it is unnecessary
- He may even do this for 5, 10, 15, 20 even half an hour with hardly any replies
- He often does not need to use split at all, he does this purely for the fun of it
- He does not specify where he is listening, just “UP” instead of UP1
- He could use UP1 and take calls from 400-900 Hz above his frequency only
- No one is replying to him but he still insists on sending “UP” as if it is a power trip
- Eventually a pile up results when someone puts him on the internet DX Spotters
- Now the masses of DX Chasers call him without checking their TX frequency “QRL?”
- Any and all QSO taking place in the 5, 10, even 30 kHz above the DX LID are DQRM
Needless to say there is no reason in such cases to even use split, and certainly not an unspecified “UP” instead of “UP1”. When the pile up is truly unmanageable within the bandwidth, he could easily send 3? ONLY 3 K to take callsigns with a 3 in it, and go through all the digits, and/or take a part of the world where he is currently beaming, e.g. EU ONLY K
The button pusher on a power trip wanting to feel like a DX Pedo King does not care in the slightest however, all that matters is his personal satisfaction, like an irresponsible dictator.
The way to treat such DX LIDs, is to ignore them, don’t call them. If your QSO is suddenly swamped by a pile up of DX LIDs calling the DX LID King, you obviously need to tell the station interfering with you to QSY. However, the station causing your QSO QRM, is not listening on your frequency, and did not check it before transmitting.
So, where is he listening? On the DX LID King’s frequency. So, obviously, the only way you can inform the station(s) making QRM to your QSO is to go on that frequency where they are listening, send “BK” give the callsign(s) of those making QRM and tell them “QSY”.
You will then find that the DX LID Police, who never give their callsigns when carrying out their DX LID Cop Duties, will tell YOU to QSY since you are making QRM to the DX LID. Ignore them, for they are wrong. If need be, continue to tell those stations making QRM to QSY.
Before long you will find there is now a pile up of Police on the DX LID King’s frequency, making DQRM to the DX LID King. Your small signal is nothing compared to theirs, and eventually the DX LID King and his followers may learn some valuable lessons!
Alternatively, we at NO5NN.org have come up with a great alternative as to what to do when an irresponsible “DX” station swamps your QSO and you get lost in the resulting pile up, without the need to become labelled as a “DQRM” pariah by the “DX (LID) Community!”
This alternative, is to simply QSY to the QSX / Calling Frequency of that band, and look for the lost QSO partner there. However, this may take several years to become a widely known option.
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3 thoughts on “The Modern “DX LID””
I decided to find out who is making all the FT8 QRM in the top 5 kHz of the CW bands on 17m and 12m, by using Kiwi web SDR which have FT8 decoder ability. Surprise, surprise, NOT: it’s a major DX PEDO. The Mediterraneo DX Club and it’s useless visit to Burkina Faso XT2MD, where it will NOT leave one single CW rig behind for the locals, NO education about Real Amateur radio and no club station, they’ll only leave their shit and trash behind.
They know FULL WELL where the limits of the digital bands are, but they chose to ignore the empty top half of their 20kHz wide band, and instead take over the 5kHz from our CW bands. This is likely exactly what other DX Pedos are doing, and this of course means that thousands of others simply FOLLOW the bad example of the DX Pedo since they want to put an FT-Hate “QSO” with a new country into their computer log.
They are thus all complicit in the QRM. I gathered lots of callsigns and could email them all to complain, but what would be the point? They’ll only do it again as all if fair in love and war and DX PEDOS. The only way is to make the CW bands unusable to the DX PEDOS by making it busy, which means we need to learn from the example of the Swedish CW activity group which placed their activities into the “Hot Band” area of 40m during the several year long war when the digitals refused to move out of the CW Band. Who won the war in the end? The CW Ops. The Swedes had high power TX and the digital modes were no match to the persistent CW. So we need to create more activities to take plae in the TOP 5.
But there’s another more effective method in the short term: whichever DX PEDOS cause QRM and invade CW sections with their FT-HATE modes, when they go onto their CW to activate for CW, using their digital decoders and poor unqualified operators who can at best pick out a callsign and push a button, all we need to do to give them a taste of their own medicine, is do as is spelt out in the article above: go right ZERO BEAT onto their frequency and call out all the stations that you hear in split calling them, i.e. put your TX VFO onto the DX PEDO QRG, and put your RX into the pile up, and calmly, like a good band policeman, call out each callsign along with QSY. Yes, you are asking the stations calling the DX PEDO to QSY, not the DX PEDO, who should be listening on or near his frequency but is not, and the more of us will do this the more they will get the message that such DX PEDOS who have no standards and honor and no respect for other radio amateurs who are NOT interested in their DX PEDO, and who resent the invasion of digital modes into CW bands, are giving them a lesson the only way they understand, hitting them back hard and in kind.
Sounds too extreme for you dear reader? Then pray tell me a better way!
A very good response in the cwgen-join@mailman.no5nn.org Discussion:
I don’t have a magic wand which will make all disrespectful people to change their mind and start paying attention to others, but I am always uncomfortable with doing something like DQRM.
Since DX-peditioners usually care about their image, the name and shame on DXer channels could influence bad behaviors. I got some good experiences with contacting the DX-ped pilots and DX communities by reporting the DX-pedition is dumb enough to operate outside the IARU band plans.
I am with you one your first point, being more active on the top of our sub-bands is certainly a way to show these frequencies aren’t free for all who want them. The Top9 and S+L EUCW initiatives should be encouraged.
Then I am still wondering with CW ops aren’t using the whole spectrum allocated by the IARU (when your local regulation allows it). Having CW traffic between data or voice signals reminds non-CW ops we still exist and are active. There is a world beyond the CW sub-band limits.
Cheers
Phil F5IYJ / AA2CW
Of course, we all commit mistakes, and in the heat of a DX operation deviation from current band plans may happen by accident. However, in this case it was intentional. The sub-band abuse was announced on its frequency plan long before the DXpedition started. (https://www.mdxc.support/xt2md/frequency-plan/)
Premeditated sub-band abuse is not even unusual. As long as CW ops do not even comment such behavior we can hardly expect any change here.
Obviously, the reputation of DX groups do not even suffer from unorthodox frequency choices.
In this case, even the LotW policy is unorthodox since a payment is required for LotW entries. https://www.mdxc.support/xt2md/qsl-policy/ states “Fees: LoTW only (no QSL card): 2 € via PayPal (OQRS).”