23-12-2022, 10:31 AM
Here is one that is topical : do you have the "Hold TX Freq " box ticked ?? There are (as always) two sides to this one.
Using Wide Graph to find a clear audio frequency on BOTH periods and putting your transmit frequency there (Control + left mouse click for WSJT-X and its ilk) is the one I prefer. That hopefully means that your transmissions will be on a clear frequency... maybe. But then what signals don't you see on Wide Graph that your target station does see ? Is that frequency really busy in his/her propagation zone ? You "takes your chance" and try it. BUT if you keep calling and the other station does not respond, that might be a clear indication that the chosen frequency is busy in that locality and it is probably time to select another transmit audio frequency.
The other side says that you should leave it unticked so that you respond on their transmit frequency however that often does not work. Have you ever listened to the pileup that occurs when LOTS of stations call a rare DX callisgn on their frequency ? It is a mess, and it you analyse who the DX responds to, it is most likely to someone NOT on their own transmit frequency !
SO, KEEP IT TICKED !!
I find that lots of stations respond to CQ calls with level reports down below -15dB, and on a busy band that usually results in no QSO. On a quiet band (activity-wise), I often have two-way contacts down in the -20dB area. So before you call that elusive DX, see how strong he really is. It might not be that you are using a busy frequency, just that you are not putting enough signal into their QTH...
On that same topic, it is useful to compare sent and received reports. Many stations are using 100W rigs, and theoretically if you are too, then the exchanged reports should be quite similar. After all, antenna gains work together to give a composite value so it doesn't matter if you have 10dB of antenna gain and him 3dB, the total transmit-to-receive path losses are the same. Going further, if you give a send report of +3 then you should expect something similar back. But so many times the report back is below -15 thus indicating that they do not have transmit/receive performance equivalency OR they have a very noisy environment. Maybe something they can fix - or - you can if it is the other way around ?
Something to contemplate !
Using Wide Graph to find a clear audio frequency on BOTH periods and putting your transmit frequency there (Control + left mouse click for WSJT-X and its ilk) is the one I prefer. That hopefully means that your transmissions will be on a clear frequency... maybe. But then what signals don't you see on Wide Graph that your target station does see ? Is that frequency really busy in his/her propagation zone ? You "takes your chance" and try it. BUT if you keep calling and the other station does not respond, that might be a clear indication that the chosen frequency is busy in that locality and it is probably time to select another transmit audio frequency.
The other side says that you should leave it unticked so that you respond on their transmit frequency however that often does not work. Have you ever listened to the pileup that occurs when LOTS of stations call a rare DX callisgn on their frequency ? It is a mess, and it you analyse who the DX responds to, it is most likely to someone NOT on their own transmit frequency !
SO, KEEP IT TICKED !!
I find that lots of stations respond to CQ calls with level reports down below -15dB, and on a busy band that usually results in no QSO. On a quiet band (activity-wise), I often have two-way contacts down in the -20dB area. So before you call that elusive DX, see how strong he really is. It might not be that you are using a busy frequency, just that you are not putting enough signal into their QTH...
On that same topic, it is useful to compare sent and received reports. Many stations are using 100W rigs, and theoretically if you are too, then the exchanged reports should be quite similar. After all, antenna gains work together to give a composite value so it doesn't matter if you have 10dB of antenna gain and him 3dB, the total transmit-to-receive path losses are the same. Going further, if you give a send report of +3 then you should expect something similar back. But so many times the report back is below -15 thus indicating that they do not have transmit/receive performance equivalency OR they have a very noisy environment. Maybe something they can fix - or - you can if it is the other way around ?
Something to contemplate !
Doug VK4ADC @ QG62LG51
http://www.vk4adc.com
This Forum is only going to be as interesting as the posts it contains.
If you have a comment or question, post it as it may trigger or answer the query in someone else's mind.
http://www.vk4adc.com
This Forum is only going to be as interesting as the posts it contains.
If you have a comment or question, post it as it may trigger or answer the query in someone else's mind.