So the day started well with good WX but I knew it would not last. Not enough time to get to my bigger targets but maybe a window in the afternoon for a small summit. The biblical scale rains started at 1000am and finished 1430 as the forecast said. I whizzed to Braigh na h-Eiaglaise NS-128, parked up, booted and off into the mist having setup a sched with Barry GM4TOE on 13cms. In the mist I missed I had turned through 180 degs so Barry was 59 off the back of the antenna. He was only 51 on 2m, got to love 13cms!
On to 20m putting a rare summit on and it’s seemed lively with a nice stream of callers when… BRRRAAP. Well it was someone sending their call at probably 30-35wpm. I was calling at 19wpm so that’s a bit rude to reply so fast. I don’t mind a bit faster but 2/3rds as fast again. I’d call BRRAAP, BRRAAP. I’d try to work someone. BRRAAP,BRRAAP. I got a bit of the call and sent QRS. BRRAAP BRRAAP BRRAAP BRRAAP. I sent long hand “CAN YOU SEND ANY FASTER AS I CAN COPY 1 CHAR IN 10?” and the reply was BRRAAP BRRAAP
So you know what… I just turned off and packed up and left the summit. Sorry but if someone is going to be so bloody ignorant to send massively faster than the caller and ignore QRS but persistently call when it’s obvious I cannot copy the call at that speed well I do not intend to waste the few minutes I have left on Earth trying to descramble the call.
Why do people do this? Does he think that everyone will be impressed? Does such sending speed mean he’s hung like a Donkey? Because to me it’s sheer arrogance or ignorance or both.
Sorry if you were waiting for another band on a rare summit but blame the RW3 speed machine.
Right, I’m going to shoot up and go to the bar over the road and get bladdered.
Well, you aren’t the only that has gone QRT due to bad behaviour on the chasers. Sad for the people who behave nicely, and for us activators of course, but it is one of the only options we have
Sorry I wasn’t at home and on the air this afternoon to hear this “Macho Morse Speed” perpetrator Andy - it would have been good to find out who it was so we could all avoid going back to him in future. Hopefully he will read your message and think again the next time he winds up the pot on his keyer, or maybe he just presses a key marked 35 WPM on his keyboard. It makes you wonder about the mentality and plain common sense some folk have in our hobby when things like this happen…
I am a quite slow CW operator and often copy only a part of a call sign and respond with a ?. I find almost all chasers and activators very considerate of my slow copy a poor sending. I do hope I am getting better with experience; but at the same time I am also getting older - so experience and age probably balance one-another!
When I find a chaser persistently sending faster than I can copy and persistently blocking other chasers I do have a solution. I change to another band. I would rather stay on a particular frequency until I have worked all the chasers calling; but when the QRM of a persistent BRRAAAP is precluding a pleasant summit it seems best to move out of the way.
[perhaps to the BRRAAP I am the QRM?]
I have chosen equipment (KX3 with ATU) and antenna (33’ wire with a 9/1 unun) to allow quick changes.
My experience - quite limited - is that 99.99% of chasers and activators are doing their very best and I have found that 99.99% are courteous - for 1 of 1000 to not understand my need for QRS that is better courtesy than I find on the highways!
G0FEX
Hi Andy
I have had a similar experience a few years ago, I was quite proficient at the code, 21 wpm, but when stations were coming back to me at a fast rate of knots, I just gave it up, this happened on quite a few occasions, whether these people think they are being clever I have no idea, but I did enjoy the CW.
I am trying to get it back into my head but it is taking a bit longer now, but I will keep plugging away at it.
Stay safe.
Ken
Hi Andy,
I too send and copy code around 19wpm when activating. Also, my brain doesn’t work as well when I’m up 12-14k feet on a summit! As AA0BV stated, most of the chasers try to match our speed…but not all. However, I’m not going to let a few bad operators spoil my activation. It takes too much effort to climb peaks and activate!
I also noticed that some chasers try to call me when I’m in the middle of a QSO…particularly a S2S QSO when we send more info to each other…summit ref, etc. I assume they just get impatient since they can’t hear the station I’m working.
In any event, the chasers are generally a great group of operators on this side of the pond.
73, Brad
WA6MM
Probably the same guy that tried convince me that there were no DX conditions by continually saying this over the DX station’s transmissions last week… and thus ensuring I lost my nice DX pileup
I absolutely love it when I call an activator who is running 25wpm and he / she slows down to my 18wpm. Now that is excellent operating!
My answer to being called by a BRRAAP is to QSY up or down about 300Hz just to get him (it is unlikely to be a her) out of my receive passband. Usually someone has a filter wide enough to detect the move and others follow. Usually the BRRAAP does not have the intelligence to understand what is happening and so doesn’t follow. If he does, then I just move back. They usually have a patience level inversely proportional to the speed they are sending!
It’s also conceivable that Braap doesn’t know Morse code.
They had programmed their rig to send their call sign etc not knowing what it even sounds like nor how to decode responses. Relying on s/w to decode Andy’s messages which was a struggle for it as it wasn’t at 35wpm.
A shame indeed Andy, I did listen for you yesterday, but conditions were very poor here on the South coast, I have found that all activators will slow down for me, even if they are sending at 25wpm+, I have not been in SOTA that long, and only recently got back in to CW, my comfort speed is 16-18wpm.
Surely its polite to ask to slow down your rate or increase if its possible etc, so your both comfy with it. Hell if i started CW, we be there all day doing one Qso at 1 wpm LOL
Karl
Sorry Andy and I emphasize with you mate but I could see the funny side as I read your story. Bit rude not to QRS when asked but like Paul says maybe he doesn’t know the Q code. I can handle 35 wpm so i’d give him some of his own medicine. My usual SOTA cw speed is 14 wpm with gaps depending on my chaser.
better luck next time
Ian vk5cz …
Hi Andy,
Sorry to hear that you were buzzed. Cannot say I have suffered this on Sota. I like the idea of tuning off a few hundred Hz and staying with it. I always tune off a bit from my self spot QRG, that way I do not suffer as badly with the coherent carrier problem from multiple callers all on 7.032400. Old cloth ears can then hopefully resolve the callers.
I also have a people magnet, about 300 people followed Colin, GM0WAD/P and me up the tourist track to The Ben. On a wet Monday, staggering!
As we descended with the mast and the VHF aerial sticking proud of the rucksack I was asked:
“Are you mountain rescue?” 3 times
“Have you been fishing?” twice
“Are you checking the accuracy of GPS?” once
“Wots that?” many times
And best of all…
Where are we?
PS, we did not get rained on, we just had dryish scotch mist. 3hrs 4 min up, 2hrs 35min down. 70th year.
Normal, I’m afraid - and that isn’t counting those on the other routes such as from the carpark at the roadhead in Glen Nevis, and probably a good assortment of climbers on the cliffs on the north side of the summit. In better visibility a peep over the edge to the left of Gardyloo Gully would probably have revealed a procession of ropes on Tower Ridge - its a wonder they haven’t installed traffic lights!
I was asked twice on one activation if I was searching for aliens.
sigh*
As for the OP I was also going to guess it might be someone that does not know CW and is just keyboarding or macro-ing it. They know just enough to hear CQ or maybe QRZ, but, since the SOTA signals are typically light, their decoder can’t resolve anything else and they cant read the well deserved admonishment. Doesn’t in any way justify, but that is the only way I can think someone would sit there and do that without just being a jerk. Who knows.
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