Yes, it was a glorious 24 hours!
I first tuned in on the CW portion of 80 meters about 0030Z (7:30 pm local time), and the band was packed with signals, all the way from 3750 downward.
Some of the QSOs were 20-plus wpm, which was pushing the limits of my copying ability. I could get bits and pieces, and tried to follow along on some of these QSOs. I could usually get most details if they repeated them twice. I was most interested in these speedy QSOs in what kind of key they were using.
Two gents were blazing away on J-38s, and they were running along at 20 per, and sending nearly flawless code. Clearly these gentlemen had spend a good deal of time behind a straight key.
Now to be honest, all of this activity kinda flew in the face of what I had just published in our radio club's newsletter. I had been encouraging local hams to get on the air for SKN, or at least listen in sometime over the 24-hour period.
If they tuned in during those first few hours, they found mostly high-speed CW (faster than 5 wpm, which to most recently licensed hams is considered “faster”).
I tuned across the band, listening especially for those rigs with “unique” CW tone — the telltale sign of a homebrew or classic rig.
This isn't to suggest that a less-than-pure CW note is awful or a fault. Far from it! Years ago, you could identify a ham you knew by his fist and his transmitter note.
My search was quite fruitful. I heard a number of homebrew rigs on, as well as quite an array of classic gear. Interestingly, some of the classic gear surprised me with it's clean-as-a-whistle purity. No chirp, hum or anything out-of-the-ordinary.
I had several stints at the rig monitoring, but the QRM made it tough. The filtering on my Heathkit HW-16 can't handle such crowded band conditions very well. I have a Datong FL-2 audio filter I've used in the past, so I put that back in line. It did a fantastic job of making the QRM livable. With the FL-2's adjustable filtering, I could tailor the bandpass and tuning and totally eliminate signals, even loud ones just a few cycles away. The only thing it couldn't help with were signals on the same frequency. I had a couple of situations where two QSOs were on the same frequency, and the one in the background was giving my “brain filter” a devil of a workout.
I like the Datong filter, but I had not used it because it doesn't have a speaker. Previously I used a Radio Shack DSP unit with a built-in speaker and 5 watt audio amp. The R/S DSP works pretty well, but on CW it isn't as versatile as the Datong. I hooked up an ancient Motorola speaker to the Datong's speaker output, and that works surprisingly well. I think I'll keep the Datong inline. It sure makes the rig as useable as my Kenwood TS-450S with 500Hz CW filters.
The first station I worked was after midnight local time. He had been off the air for a long time, and I was one of his first CW contacts. He sent slowly and deliberately, but very good quality. We had a great ragchew. We QSO'd for about an hour before I decided it was time to head to bed.
My other QSOs were on 40 meters CW the next day. The band was packed with SKN stations. More fun! I didn't get to spend a great deal of time on the air. The weather was so good here for Jan. 1 that we sat out on our front porch during the afternoon and the kids played catch. Screwy weather, but nice anyway.
I'm listening to 3955 kHz this evening. The guys on 3955 are where I usually set my rig for the evening after midnight — at least it was until late last year.
The political crap on 3955 — the Bush/GOP bashing — just continued night after night. I don't have a problem with political discourse, but it was a rehash of the same whining and complaining. What's worse, if you dared disagree with the liberal commentary, then you were ostracized as well. I found it humorous that this group of dyed-in-the-wool Democrats — the party of tolerance and inclusion — were themselves intolerant of dissenting points of view. Many nights I turned the rig to one of the other many late-night roundtables.
It's not so bad since the election, but in recent months some of the group have replaced their obsession with GOP bashing with hi-fi SSB.
Several of the gang have gone hi-fi SSB crazy. I don't have a problem with guys wanting to improve their audio, but it has gotten to the point where the ringleaders of the audiophile movement on 3955 belittle those who don't agree that hi-fi SSB is “it.”
One of the newer members of the group tends to dominate the frequency whenever he is on. If the conversation doesn't circle around what he wants to talk about, he seems quite pissy. I've heard him repeated start talking over the top of other guys in the middle of a conversation.
Worse yet, it's easy to hear the contempt he has for the guys on the frequency who are in the southern states. He seems to think they're just plain stupid goobers, and he frequently makes fun of how they talk and what they say — in a subtle way. He gets his own jokes, and he'll chuckle at them on the air — assuming the guys on the frequency don't get it. He just plain annoys me to death.
And this particular ham is directly responsible for driving away a good many of the regulars who once inhabited 3955. They just don't come there anymore. He's not the only reason; the rest is due to the topics of conversation. Since last fall, the discussion was political bashing of the president and GOP up until late in the year. The more recent movement to hi-fi SSB discussion — and the hours of on-air EQ tinkering tying up the frequency — have helped drive off others.
In the end, it's really kind of sad.
I was a member of their Yahoo Group until the political discourse got the point of gagging me. I bailed out on them.
It's been interesting to watch the guys on 3955 get into the SSB craze too. The ones who are really serious have been buying microphones and audio gear like crazy, and experimenting a lot.
One of the tenets of this hi-fi SSB operation is that the nice audio quality only works really well when you have a loud enough signal. If you are weak and noisy, a narrow, punchy SSB signal will whoop you every time.
Again, I have to problems with guys seeking better audio. I've experimented myself with it. It just gets old to hear night after night ad nauseum.
73 es GN … de KY4Z …. dit dit …..