Do's and Don'ts
Some Do's and Don'ts of communicating in Digital modes and related with other modes as well.First of all I like to start by saying I have seen lots of mistake in the digital world and other modes as well on operating skills which have a lot to be desired.
1. When CQ ing for DX do not run CQ and Dx together such as CQDX , they have completely different meaning and can not be combined.
2. DX means in most cases out side of your conitent or your country in some cases, in the United States example DX is not from New York to Florida.
3. When you are trying to contact a station do not use very long calls such as xx4xxx de xz4zzz xz4zzz xz4zzz xz4zzz xz4zzz, the props are there or they are not there and if you also use very long call in a pileup all you will be doing in majoirty of cases is causing confusion, while the DX stations is answering another caller you are transmitting ontop of the DX station especially in a simplex environment.
4. Don't give your infomation or contest exchange till the calling station recognizes you. Wait from him to give you the green light to give your infos..Why you may ask? Because there could be that there are many stations trying to contact the same station and the DX station will have a hard time trying to figure out who is who and causes much confusion. Even though you do not hear other stations does not mean the calling station hears nothing.
5. Always listen! Listen for the DX stations giving instructions such as UP or UP2 or something similiar, if you are only receiving i.e. CQ D XX4XX> P , this might mean you are not decoding correctly and it possibly means that the DX station might be saying UP which means SPLIT operations. This then would not make sense to call the DX station on simplex!
6. When working a contest or working a DX station , when the other station gives you a chance to say Good bye go ahead and take that chance to say 73 , Good luck etc.... After he gives you this chance he will ask for more stations and say good bye to you as well, Do NOT key back up and say good bye for the 2nd time all this does is causes confusion because the DX gave the green light for other stations to call him.
7. When you see a QSO on going and they are signing out with each other wait to see which stations says CQ or QRZ , that is the key words to look for on who is in control of the frequency, It does not make sense to call a station that is leaving the frequency and if you did call you will be accussed of not listening.
8.When a station says your audio is overdriving the radio, Do not key back up with out trying to correct the problem and do not have the this type of attitude about the problem "ok thanks for the infos I will check it out a little later" All this is doing is making QRM for everyone to endure, which may or may not be corrected right on the spot.
9.When operating in split mode and the DX station is working another Station does it make sense to conitnue to call the DX station?? Why NO all you are doing is creating QRM for really no reason. You should try to get in rythem of the DX station, so he can be able to work stations easier and also get to your call much faster.
10. If you are in the situation as above and you have not heard the DX stations in a few moments this could mean you are out of sync or you can not hear the DX station or he quite because of the bad operators.
11. When a DX station give you his QSL infomation to you does it make sense to give your QSL info as well? Why NO the DX station does not have to give anyone a QSL in the first place. He is telling the station that works for him and this is the way it must be, if any other routes are taken I might not see your QSL card at all! If they go through the Bureua and that is all , then that is all he does then not Eqsl , lotw etc...(it is always a good idea to read QRZ.com on there call sign page too see what routes they want also it is a good idea for the DX station to post that as well.
12. No one is really interested in your equipment unless someone is wanting to know, In my opinion when people do that with out being asked is like trying to say well I am better than you because I own this, this and this. You like saying with out being asked , I own a Mercedes that cost so and so. Like who gives a big whoooop in the first place as long as I can communicate with you, In other words It is always polite not to do that in my book untill asked because some people are curious on what you do run ,like me! especially when they have a strong signal etc..
13. Remember NO ONE is obliged to QSL it is always a good idea to READ QRZ.com or similiar to find out QSL route always listen for QSL route on the air if all possible (if they give out any infos). When they say send SASE that means just that send S.A.S.E. or you may never get a QSL back. If they say send 1 IRC that means send 1 IRC or the equalivent to 1 IRC in green backs and consider the exchange rate to that country, in some cases this means sending more than 2 dollars.( which sending green back in the first places is risky of it being stolen)(some countries do not accept IRC as well , I think your Post Office should have a list of all countries IRC do cover)
14. When some tell you there name is Stan then it does not make sense to call that station Frank everyone on the radio goes by there QRZ entry , like example Bill for William , or some one goes by there middle name. So it is a good idea to always watch the screen and not be lazy
15. Some people actually want to know what there signal is to able to tell how well propagation is doing.I really hate it when some give me a 599 then ask what I said.
16. Give a good RST or Q (readability-meaning how well do you receive text, lots of errors? that would mean a lower number 1-5
Signal strength that is what it means. signal strength what is on your needle! Tone or Quality is you guess it quality of the tones of the audio the higher the number the more clean you are like not over driving or having ground loops etc. Here is an example of a good report, a station call me and I am getting most of what they are saying maybe 1 or 2 errors and I look at the S meter when he is the only signal on the band and it says S5 and his signal is super clean then his report would be 459.
17. Using SK is ok to use , but not continue on giving me information after you used the prosign of SK i.e. 73 take care de xx4xx sk I hope you have a great evening 73 73
