Thus far after 5 days of operation and probably 8 hours of radio time.

12 out of 13 colonies and WM3PEN bonus station.

However, reports are that it's been less than ideal with some of the colony station not being up to the task and many in the Ham community being LIDS>

There were reports of SSB pileups that ended in jamming and threats.

I have watched K2E work every band but 40m on CW all day for days and flee
at pile ups. They also insist on working 35+ WPM code and will not respond to anyone not sending keyer 20 WPM at least. I believe the op has little interest in the event and is using it as a pretext for collecting countries at this point.

It's not a contest, it's a special event. There are no prizes, not even a listing or a soapbox like a simple sprint. You send in $5 and get a laser copy print of the event logo with your endorsements and states worked. So, there's a little confusion on my part as to why the poor behavior.

So, one remains and while I can do 20m as well as 40m the odds of being heard or hearing a ham in Delaware from NY on 14Mhz is absurd. I can hear the replies but not the call. I did reset my cootie key to the keyer in case I get the chance though. There seems to be some of the ramifications of the loss of etiquette I have written about before. Operators who lacked elmers and the gap in displayed good practice is on display.

In my QRZ log I have the 2015 13 Colonies Special event contacts. Almost 10 years ago and that might not be the 1st one. I'd like to think that in 30 years of radio I've observed some better and some worse radio.

If any of you are being asked to volunteer to do a special event:

For pile ups:

Call QRP, call DX, then call by Zone #, and then if they are still not playing nice take a ten minute break move frequency and start over.

If you're doing CW see above, and if you are rated A1 super proficient and even own a Bengali slow the hell down, most humans aren't you. I test at copy speeds between 35-40 WPM too but this is supposed to be fun. 20 WPM 25 WPM MAX. Again, work them in groups and if they act like children take pauses and move around the band. We have tools like DXSpot and Reverse Beacon Network and will find you in minutes again but you might shake off a few lids along the way.

And remember you're representing when you are on the air, your behavior reflects on you, your club, your event, your zone number maybe...? This isn't facebook or X, this is amateur radio try and respect that you earned a license and didn't just hand some marketing agent your email and make a user name.

best 73,

N2QFD

N2QFD{Queen City BBS}:// "Does this need to be said? Does this need to be said by me? Does this need to be said by me right now?" - Craig Ferguson

--- Mystic BBS v1.12 A48 (Raspberry Pi/32)
* Origin: Queen City BBS (21:1/154)