Riley

[AG4YO]

I find CW quarmtests tolerable, mainly because I operate more phone that CW and can still run AM while the quarmtest is on.  Slopbucket quarmtests are the worst of all, because the band becomes jammed full of arrogant ego-maniacs who turn all the knobs fully to the right, flat-top the hell out of their leenyars, and sit there yelling "CQ Quarmtest" at the top of their lungs like idiots, and seem to dare anyone to use any part of the phone band for any kind of non-quarmtest activity.

Probably the most obnoxious slopbucket quarmtest of all is the "Pennsylvania QSO Party".  I can tolerate field day, because it is in the middle of static season and the band is usually full of noise anyway.  I couldn't think of a better time to have a quarmtest.  There are a few who actually set up a simulated emergency station,  but most just find it an excuse to get out of the house away from the XYL on a weekend night, and drink beer (Bud Lite, of course) with the "gang".

CW Sweepstakes used to be somewhat meaningful when the exchange data simulated a 3rd party message, and genuine signal reports were given.  Now on CW every report is 599, and every slopbucket report is "five-nine", even if they have to ask for a repeat of the info several times.  What a joke!

Slopbucket Sweepstakes is about as inane as they get.

I have a few times, just for fun, listened long enough to figure out the procedure for various quarmtests, joined in on CW or AM (by carefully zero-beating the slopbucket they were completely unaware that I was on AM), and given signal reports that were not five-nine or 599.  That really throws some of them off guard.  I have even heard slopbucketeers come back stammering into the mic because they didn't know how to respond to a "four-seven" report. 

The best way to handle quarmtests is to tread softly until you hear a clear spot open up, then turn up the wick and use a big stick (mine is 127' tall).

Couldn't have said it better!  I was on 75M in an ongoing QSO a few weeks ago and after 3 hours I was aware of a DX station getting stronger.  Of course it was a contest weekend so it wasn't long before idiots were in there calling right over the QSO.  Same exact frequency. A couple of nitwits came on and said that "you guys need to move, you're covering up a DX station!".

And on Riley, someone needed to heckle his a$$ and tell him never mind about what WE do, how about YOU do your $%#%^& job!  LOL!

[k4kyv]

I was on 75M in an ongoing QSO a few weeks ago and after 3 hours I was aware of a DX station getting stronger.  Of course it was a contest weekend so it wasn't long before idiots were in there calling right over the QSO.  Same exact frequency. A couple of nitwits came on and said that "you guys need to move, you're covering up a DX station!".

Of course, you guys immediately replied, "excuse me sir", and QSY'd or went QRT if you couldn't find a clear, non-quarmtest spot to operate. 

[wa1knx]

Riley got rid of the bastard, contesting or not he's ok in my book
cuz of that single act!

[W1UJR]

The biggest problem with Riley's comments on the corntests being 'short-lived' is the fact that short-lived usually equals an entire weekend, or even half of the weekend. And the fact that there are corntests many weekends. Just glancing at my CQ Classics 2007 calendar I find:

January - 3 weekends
February - 3 weekends
March - 2 weekends
April - 0
May - 1
June - 2
July - 2
August - 2
September - 3
October - 1
November - 3
December - 2

Granted, some are VHF, RTTY and so on, but this is only a list of CQ and ARRL corntests. Call me silly, but it still looks like a pretty large chunk of time to be called 'short-lived'. Field Day is the biggest joke of all, claiming to be an emergency preparedness drill, with a class for those who want to compete from home using commercial power. Huh. 

Good point, Todd, thanks for looking that up!

Now, if I add that up, and be patient with me as I am a public school grad, that is 25 weeks per year that contests are on!
So 1/2 of the year we need to suffer from contesters!
Bad and boorish behavior for a full 6 months worth of weekends!

And people wonder why we Piss and Moan!

[Pete, WA2CWA]

Although Todd indicated two weekends in June with contests, a better indicator is the ARRL Contest Corral list that lists all known contests both domestically and internationally.

June 2-3:
2007 Alabama QSO Party
SEANET Contest
IARU Region 1 Field Day
Look Around in the Field Contest

June 9-11:
ARRL June VHF QSO Party
ANARTS WW RTTY/Digital Contest
Asia-Pacific Sprint
Portugal Day Contest
GACW WWSA CW DX Contest
Bill Windle QSO Party

June 16-17:
Kids Day Operating Event
West Virginia QSO Party
All-Asian DX Contest
SMIRK QSO Party
Summer Meteor Scatter Contest
Spanish Islands Contest

June 23-24:
ARRL Field Day
Quebec QSO Party
His Majesty King of Spain Contest
QRP ARCI Milliwatt Field Day

So it’s probably safe to say that there is a contest going on almost every weekend sponsored by someone or some group both domestically and internationally. In July, there are 17 contests spread over 5 weeks. How many contesters are there; probably more than we all realize, especially if you consider International. Where else can you do competitive sporting sitting down, in front of your rig, for 1 hour, 12 hours, 24 hours, or 48 hours. This also doesn't take into consideration the individual or group DX’peditions that can cause frenzy to small chunks of spectrum for periods of time.

Maybe this is why contesting is so popular:


Back in the old days of contesting, there was a logger/spotter:


A great contester can sit on a rock in the middle of the ocean for 48 hours:

[AG4YO]

I was on 75M in an ongoing QSO a few weeks ago and after 3 hours I was aware of a DX station getting stronger.  Of course it was a contest weekend so it wasn't long before idiots were in there calling right over the QSO.  Same exact frequency. A couple of nitwits came on and said that "you guys need to move, you're covering up a DX station!".

Of course, you guys immediately replied, "excuse me sir", and QSY'd or went QRT if you couldn't find a clear, non-quarmtest spot to operate. 

ROFLMAO!!!  Of course!   I think one of the guys said, "Hey Moron, the frequency is in use!"    or something equally as diplomatic.

[W3RSW]

The bedlam of voice qso's on a dx spot don't do much for my melodious ears but nothing sounds sweeter than a jillion CW ops vying for a report on almost the same freq.

 Just makes my heart beat faster, kind of a brain rush. The CW region of the brain must be close to olfactory cells... almost primeval with the same effect.  Really neat.

[Pete, WA2CWA]

The bedlam of voice qso's on a dx spot don't do much for my melodious ears but nothing sounds sweeter than a jillion CW ops vying for a report on almost the same freq.

 Just makes my heart beat faster, kind of a brain rush. The CW region of the brain must be close to olfactory cells... almost primeval with the same effect.  Really neat.

Just sounds like a bunch of "bugs" to me!

[WA1GFZ]

only a geek ham would go on the air with all those nice women standing by.

[W3RSW]

Yeah, those girls sure are 'purrty.'  BTW, didn't see anyone actually on a mike in that pix.

Anyway back to the CW.  Kind of what I meant was that the cacophony of a whole bunch of CW signals on same freq. takes us back to the roots of radio...    maybe what it was like when signals were 200kcs wide, receivers almost as wide and only way to tell who's who w/o ID's was by their swing.  Man - was that sentence loaded coupled with the previous subject.   

[Steve - WB3HUZ]

Funny stuff. Seems Riley should take his own advice and lighten up. He commented on a ton of things that had nothing to do with enforcement issues. Rather he expounded on his own personal opinions of various operating types and/modes. Of course, his opinions are irrelevant in the enforcement context and are no more valid or important that any other outside that context (he's just another ham).

As a taxpayer, he's there to do enforcement in accordance with Part 97. Doing anything other than this is improper and fiscally unacceptable. Part 97 says nothing about "wide banders." The term is not found in Part 97. So how could it be an enforcement issue?

Anyway, I've talked to Riley on AM and he supposedly has a Viking
Valiant. So, in many people's eyes, he's a widebander. Kinda
ironic, eh? As I said, funny stuff

[WA1GFZ]

The guys in the other lab just build a compressor blade sensor driver with a beautiful balanced gear. They just discovered they made it too thin about 1/2 inch and should have been 1 inch wide. I'm begging to rescue it from the trash. Perfect for a rotary spark exciter.
-.-. .-    -- --- -. (in damped sine)

[W3SLK]

Steve said:

Anyway, I've talked to Riley on AM and he supposedly has a Viking
Valiant. So, in many people's eyes, he's a widebander. Kinda
ironic, eh? As I said, funny stuff
 

When I spoke with him at Frank's, (The Slab Bacon) place, he told me he sold his Valiant because he never had anytime to get on the air.

[Steve - WB3HUZ]

Ah, he's a poser too.

Steve said:

Anyway, I've talked to Riley on AM and he supposedly has a Viking
Valiant. So, in many people's eyes, he's a widebander. Kinda
ironic, eh? As I said, funny stuff
 

When I spoke with him at Frank's, (The Slab Bacon) place, he told me he sold his Valiant because he never had anytime to get on the air.