The delay on some SDR receivers that some Chasers use doesn’t help an Activator working a pile up.
73 Chris M0RSF
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I wrote a long response which vanished - so 
73,
Rod
A similar event happened to me a few days ago Rod. 
To try and avoid that situation when there is a few callers I’ll reply by sending their callsigns twice before giving their report.
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I did that on Sunday on g/tw-003 but it was accidental- I had my earphones on over the ear flaps of my hat for the first 10 callers before I noticed.
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The pile up for me on 20m CW on Friday was pretty unruly at times, I probably chose the wrong band as I wanted a quick activation really.
There were a couple of callers who insisted on calling over and over again at a higher speed than I was operating. At one point Mariusz @SP9AMH got frustrated and wrote a spot, so I know it wasnt just me who thought the operating was a bit sub standard at times!
Generally the operating is good but I think some chasers would do well to listen to the activator’s operating style. I generally end a QSO by sending ‘73 TU de M1BUU/P’, so many times I hear the callers start calling after ‘TU’ (some of my rigs are QSK).
Roy G4SSH was right, to be the best chaser, you need to research your activator - see what habits they have - what frequencies do they opearate on, how do they end a QSO? I think it’s fair to say that we are all mostly creatures of habit.
If it does get too much and it’s not enjoyable any more, there’s always the ‘off switch’. If you need more QSOs for the points, call other activators for S2S or general band users, or start again on a different frequency. SOTA activations should be fun for the activator too…
73, Colin
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I was chasing some HB9 activators this morning (there was one on the top of every summit I think) and several times heard people calling over the top of the activator. This was on 15m and 20m and I wonder if the chasers see the spot and not hearing anything, because they are inside the skip distance, just call anyway?
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Cross reference? This is the reason I don’t activate summits on 40 m anymore that are also within a WWFF reference. 
Ahoi
Pom
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From the distant past when I was stood infant of an unruly rabble - probably trying to impart some enthusiasm about the electromagnetic spectrum there were several techniques. One colleague removed his shoe and used it to hit the table - they were so confused it created silence, I’m not sure that throwing ones boots around on the summit is likely to be very effective. Another technique was to get very loud, but again on a summit this may well cause some difficulties, 400w up a 12m mast would do the trick (if you could get past the emf calculations) but to be honest I seem to have a heavy enough rucksack already without dragging a cart with the equipment in up the hill. Plan three was to get very quiet so they really had to listen really hard and take their turns… this might work and I might try starting with just 1 watt and then increasing the power if I was not getting the contacts. 40 is in such a good shape for relatively short hop coms 1 watt may well work very well…
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Sorry I did not get you yesterday Derek. I was particularly listening for 2x0 calls which was why I was on 40m.
73,
Rod
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Not sure why everyone feels the need to be the first Q. I usually wait until the pileup settles down.
Kent K9EZ
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I bought a new toy (SW-3b) and went to FL/VO-167 (nothing really special) to test it.
Already on 20m on late Tuesday morning a pile up came towards me, which I would never have suspected…
Maybe it’s because there are not many summits activated at the moment… I can’t say. But what I notice and what annoys me: when I ask for /p?.. then I don’t want to hear anything else than the /p - station… and none with a P in the callsign… or similar.
The bad thing is: as soon as someone has started to transmit his callsign, although it does not correspond to what I asked for,… others come right after and send their callsign too… and the /p station has no chance again.
You can count on it, people! I will call for the /p stations I want, listen to them and accept nothing else… even if it takes minutes!! You will not be on sooner! … and /p stations … please stay tuned!
73 Armin
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A perennial cropped up today while waiting with the rest to work Neil, GW0WPO/P. I was listening to a certain station, I won’t mention the prefix, passing all his irrelevant details and pleasantries. finishing with the classic line, “What’s your callsign”?
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I don’t have a problem with this having listened to many activators making QSO after QSO and never giving their own call.
73,
Rod
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Big lol , another one is “ I won’t hold it as many people are calling you but what did you have for breakfast this morning “ 
all good fun
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My approach:
- Use a wide IF filter, like 500 Hz or more and try to immediately focus on a signal with a differnt pitch compared to others. Additionally, use a relatively low side tone (say 400 Hz instead of 700 Hz). This way small differences in frequency among the callers become more perceptible.
If everyone is calling zero beat, focus on the strongest signal. - Reply as soon as most callers listen. If you wait for the pile-up to subside completely, someone will start calling again. This leads to endless calling.
- Because of 2. not everyone will be able to hear you when you start transmitting. Thus, make your call longer, e.g. “G3XYZ G3XYZ GM 5NN 5NN G3XYZ KN”
- Use full BK so you can hear during your transmission if the pile-up is still calling. If so, continue calling G3XYZ.
- Avoid using partials because it slows down the process. If you can copy only a partial, try to guess who it might be. Activators know most chasers
- Try to ignore offenders if possible because otherwise more lids will copy this behaviour.
- Stay with the call sign you have copied, even if someone is calling on top of him. Otherwise more lids will appear and copy this behaviour.
- Maintain a steady rhythm. This way the pile-up will learn when to call.
- Have fun
73, Roman
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73 Chris
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The trouble with this is that they don’t go away
I worked 80 QSOs in the two unruly pile-ups. 45 were on Craig-y-Llyn, SW-010, which is not in the Beacons National Park so I can not think why it was so popular. I did add 12 new chasers on the day (now 3200) so it must be part of some other scheme - old mines on the air, perhaps, or windfarms on the air. Looking at the “Who chased me” page I find only two “Cuckoos” and one claim of Elidir Fawr, NW-005, - definitely not.
Out again Saturday - 40m at the weekend? Back to 60m, I think
73,
Rod
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I find 60m and 30m are much more civilized - I wonder why?
P.S. I like your use of ‘cuckoo’ - it fits.
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I prefer 60m for SSB compared with 40m SSB unless I can get on the WAB net. That net with a good controller is so nice after 40m bedlam.
But I think 30m CW is favourite like you.
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