"If I Can Hear 'Em, I Can Work 'Em!" Really?

It's something of a cliche for those who are attesting to their antennas' miraculous capabilities to spout out "If I can hear them, I can work them."

Now, I'm sure these prople are well-intentioned, but they certainly can't be very regular or careful operators, because there are sometimes occasions - more often than one would imagine - where stations are received strongly, but can't be worked, or worked only with difficulty.

There are numerous factors for this 'one-way propagation', and it's pretty clear from reading the literature that many of these factors are either poorly understood, or note understood at all.

I've noticed on 12m that signals during the summer and now the lowering part of the solar cycle, are propagated from South America by a form of sporadic E.  Sometimes, the signals coming in are quite strong, but it isn't always the case that signals from here (or anywhere else in the EU) are being heard at all in South America.

There isn't anything wrong with my set-up: a 3-element LFA Yagi that has an overall gain, with the ground, of some 14.5dBi.  It's just a feature of the way propagation works.

So, when next you hear someone saying that if he can hear them, he can work them, he/she clearly needs a bit more operating experience to realise it's a slightly silly thing to say.

More Dumb-Ass Operators

Oh, the joys of weekend radio operating!

Out goes the gentlemanly operating of the weekdays, in comes the truly idiotic, slow-witted operating of the weekend part-timer.

'Click and Collect' digital working has now reached quite intolerable levels.  Many operators seem to think that all they need do is call me with a signal report, not bothering to wait for theirs or continue the QSO to its standard end on JT modes.  No, just call once and clear off! 

Here's the news: none of you who try this type of pointless operating get a confirmed QSO.  You just get a nice straight line through the QSO in the paper log.  You will never hear from me again.

More than this is the failure of some to keep up with what's going on.  If you find a station you're in contact with suddenly appear ten or twenty Herz up the JT waterfall, do you:

(1) Notice this, do nothing and keep transmitting in the original spot

or

(2) Notice this, realise it's the other end experiencing QRM, and shift to the new TX spot?

Well, it seems the overwhelming majority of those I am trying to keep a QSO going with opt for the former - which means they, too, will get no confirmation because they're too dim-witted to adapt.

Rant over.  For now...