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All you can do is make sure you stay both calm and polite, but take firm charge of the proceedings (a bit like a benevolent schoolmaster!), which you are running according to your rules, not theirs.  After all, it’s your pile-up.

Nor, if things get difficult, should it be necessary to resort to ultimata such as, "If you refuse to behave, then I'm going QRT!"  This sort of approach merely proclaims to everybody on frequency that you yourself obviously can't cope.  Indeed, if a pile-up gets out of hand and starts degenerating into chaos, then it's almost always the DX station's fault for not running it properly.

And I'm sure we've all listened in amazement to stations attempting to run their SSB pile-ups by numbers/call areas (1, 2, 3...) or by 'making a list'.  In both cases a highly frustrating practice and one which invariably causes more problems than it solves.  Again, if things get really busy and your ears can't cope, the solution's obvious: work split. This way you will be heard a lot better too!

As for split 'up' operation: casually listening to some DX station pile-ups in Gibraltar, it continues to amaze me how many (mainly EU) stations consistently ignore this fairly simple and eminently sensible 'split' request - and continue to call on the DX station's frequency. Are they totally thick (= stupid), or what?

It also amazes me, in a pile-up situation, how many (again, mainly EU...) stations totally ignore the DX station's directions, eg in a CW pile-up 'OZ4?' - upon which you still get DL1s, SM5s and UA6s etc. coming back. Are they totally thick too? 

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I also object to being shouted at on the air by stations who say they still haven't received my QSL card for a QSO two years ago, say, and that 'Zis is disgraceful!' etc.  I will reply 100% to all incoming (non-band/mode dupe) cards via the RSGB Bureau for QSOs up to 2002 as soon as possible, but then we all know that in some cases it can take several years for cards to be exchanged this way.  And if they're that keen to receive your QSL card, why didn't they send you their card direct?  Dead easy!

Please note too that I do not QSL automatically, ie for every single QSO in the log.  So if you want my QSL card, then please send me yours first (direct only for QSOs as of 1 January 2003).

I hasten to add that I will not reply to QSL cards containing rude comments such as 'You are late with the card!'.  This one turned up recently on a QSL from YU, which immediately ended up in File 13.

Nor will I reply to that very occasional QSL card with a picture motif depicting something which I heartily disapprove of and also find in very bad taste. Example: a card I once received featuring - and clearly glorifying - the mushroom cloud of a nuclear test explosion in the Pacific.

All of which reminds me of that delightful line found mainly on cards from DL:

Is it really?  Well, it's nice to be educated again!  Or, again on a card from DL, a charming cartoon of a little boy nearing the end of his current 'sitting' on the loo and about to reach for the toilet paper.  The caption:

Mind you, this card probably says a lot more about the sender than most.  And he's obviously a man who sees it as everybody's moral duty to 'QSL 100%', which is what it says on his card too.  But why on earth send off and also expect a return QSL card for every single QSO in the log, band/mode dupes an' all?  To my mind this is totally crazy.  But there again, my amateur radio education is clearly lacking somewhere.

QSL policy

Please note that for QSOs with ZB2FX or ZG2FX as of 1 January 2003 I will only reply to QSL cards sent to me direct (see QRZ.com...) and accompanied by the usual self-addressed envelope plus 'green stamp' or IRC.  I will continue to reply to cards received via the Bureau for QSOs up to 31 December 2002.

I hasten to add that I do not make any money at all out of my 'QSL direct only', nor is it my intention to do so. Far from it!   

QSL OK via the Bureau for QSOs with ZB3ØØFX.  

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Persistent breakers can be a particular nuisance.  If you decide to blacklist the culprits, then chances are they won’t take a blind bit of notice.  Often the best solution is to ‘work 'em to get rid of 'em’.  Indeed blacklists can be more trouble than they're worth.  I do, though, make a firm note in my PC log of anybody whose on-air antics have caused me major problems.  In which case the station in question might find that his/her QSL card is one of the very few which I somehow forget to reply to.

Equally out of order: stations who consistently ignore directional CQs/QRZs such as ‘Outside Europe only’.  In Gibraltar I once had a problem with a T9 mobile station who kept on breaking in and calling me, even though I'd made it very clear at the time that I was listening for 'long path W6/W7 only'.  This truly amazing individual then proceeded to tell me that he couldn't hear any W6s or W7s (although I could...), so I should at least do the 'polite thing' at long last and work him instead.  I could hardly believe my ears!

Nor is there any point in breaking in and shouting "[callsign] QRP, QRP!".  There are bound to be several QRP stations on frequency.  If you then say "Go ahead the QRP station" this will invariably cause considerable chaos, which is why it's not a good idea to react to this sort of thing.  As a QRP station, just give your callsign like everybody else.  I always try and make a firm point of regularly listening for weaker stations.  However, I will not issue QSL cards to '[callsign]/QRP', seeing as that is not a legal callsign.

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Some very friendly UK stations can also be quite good at calling you several days running on the same band/mode.  If you're not very busy, then fair enough - and it's "Good to talk to you again!".  However, in an obvious pile-up situation these dupe calls are not only unnecessary but also add to the QRM.     

As for the QSL cards: later on, of course - if you're running a PC log - such dupe cards immediately become apparent and, at least at this end, duly find their way straight into File 13.  Indeed I will not normally reply to dupe cards received via the Bureau for further contacts with the same station within the past five years on exactly the same band/mode.  I don't mean to be difficult, but surely if my PC log tells me that you should already have my QSL card for 12 SSB, then why send me another card for a later QSO asking me to confirm 12 SSB yet again?

After all, amateur radio is supposed to be a hobby, not a job.  As a friend of mine in one of the rarer Mediterranean countries so aptly put it recently:

"I am determined to pursue the hobby for my personal enjoyment - not as a 'job' whose responsibilities include working everyone on every single band/mode and producing thousands of QSL cards."

At considerable personal expense too, I hasten to add.

While we're on the subject of QSL cards: occasionally I get cards from husband and wife teams and/or stations who operate from different locations, with the various callsigns all printed on their card - but with no obvious indication as to which callsign it was we actually worked under.  An example based on a recent QSL card from an Austrian station:

I'm quite good at solving cryptic crossword puzzles, but in this case how on earth am I supposed to work out which callsign it was?  I'll eventually find it in my PC log, by process of elimination, but it still takes time to sort out.

It can also be rather frustrating when a station insists on listing umpteen QSOs on one single QSL card (the record to date is ten...).  This might seem a brilliant and highly economical idea, but believe me: without a magnifying glass the details can sometimes be quite difficult to read.  But then at the tender age of 60 I'm obviously getting old!

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I very much dislike doing this, seeing as it’s bad practice.  It’s also rather cheeky and, if you go along with it, obviously encourages others to do the same.

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A little cheeky and an obvious pile-up stopper if you go along with it.  Skeds at a later time are a slightly different matter, but can equally disrupt your normal operating pattern.  Beyond that it obviously depends on your personal, non-radio plans.

Too many skeds can seriously ruin your social life.  Highly dedicated DX-pedition operators in far more exotic locations than ZB2 or 8P, for whom non-radio plans and a social life never were part of the equation in the first place, will probably disagree here!  Also, it’s all too easy to lose track of the sked details.  One possible exception: ‘other band/mode’ requests from DX stations you might like to work on another band/mode yourself.

In this category too, mainly in a CW pile-up: stations who ask you when you're likely to be QRV on another band, eg 'When u 12?'.  This holds things up - and, more often than not, you haven't even thought about the answer to this question either.  In a recent CW pile-up I even had a station asking me 'When u other bands [plural]?'.  I'm still thinking about the answer to that one! 

In contests, requests for a 'brief QSY' to another band are also a fairly frequent phenomenon - to give the other station a new country/band multiplier.  No matter how understandable it may be, for a mere 'contest dabbler' like myself this sort of thing can get rather wearing, especially when it soon turns out that the other station has more than one other band in mind.  But then you can always say no!  Even then, a few highly dedicated contest operators refuse to leave it at that and come back to you with a 'Why not?'.  Sadly, another reason to QSY to the WARC bands when there's a contest on.

Another brief word on contests. As you've probably gathered, I'm not a huge contest fan, but then each to his/her own. I do, though, find it rather frustrating when, at the weekend, most of the usable HF amateur radio band spectrum is packed out with stations yelling 'CQ Contest' and making it virtually impossible for non-contest stations like myself to do anything at all on those bands.

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Well meant, I'm sure, and sometimes helpful - but if I need a minder, I'll ask for one.  I can probably hear some of these other (DX) stations myself and will get round to them as soon as I can.  It goes without saying that in good DX conditions I always make a firm point of regularly listening for stations 'outside Europe'.  Beyond that it's surely up to me which stations I call?  And if I fancy working Europe again for a while, then so be it.  Mind you, I've long since learned that whatever you do in such situations, you'll never please everybody.

8

A considerable pain.  Some very friendly UK stations can also be quite good at it.  It goes roughly like this:

In a busy SSB pile-up situation, especially with a good path between ZB2 and the UK, those three words, 'By the way...', are probably the ones I dread most!  Perhaps I ought to take more decisive measures to ensure that it never gets to that stage in the first place - à la 9K2ZZ, surely one of the most efficient SSB operators of all time - but quite honestly I haven't got the heart (sorry, Bob...).

Lack of brevity is also a frequent syndrome on PSK31 and, to a lesser extent, RTTY, neither of which is the fastest of 'pile-up' modes in the first place.  OK, so I know it's all too easy to go through the usual ritual of pressing all the pre-programmed F-keys, but I can easily do without the exact details of which datamode software the other station is running, what his/her PC is, how many MB of RAM it's got etc.  Sadly, this is also the reason why I don't go on the datamodes as often as I would like from Gibraltar.

All in all: if you're in a busy pile-up and keen to work as many stations as quickly as possible, it stands to reason that it's not a good idea to mention your rig details and other such trivia - even your name.  If you do this, then others will start doing the same!  What is important is that you give your callsign at regular intervals (I tend to do it at least after every other QSO...) and also your QSL information - say, every ten minutes.  If you have a fair-sized pile-up going, then chances are somebody will have long since put the details on the DX cluster anyway.

Nor in ZB2 or 8P should there be any need to give your QTH over the air, seeing as this ought to be blatantly obvious.  And most IOTA enthusiasts won't need you to tell them that the reference number for Barbados is NA-021.  

Gibraltar is a different matter.  Occasionally I do get asked what the IOTA reference number for ZB2 is - and it's obvious disappointment at the other end when I tell the other station that it doesn't have one, because it's not an island!  And in a way it's a great pity that Gibraltar isn't totally surrounded by water.  After all, these days that magic IOTA reference number would probably make life even more interesting...

9

It goes roughly like this:

followed by the question:

I mean, how much time have we got...

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Again, mainly on CW: I also object to (big signal) stations who work you, then QSY a mere 0.5 to 1 kHz up or down and then immediately start calling CQ there. Yes, maybe I ought to upgrade from my old TS-850 and also invest in a few even narrower filters, but this sort of behaviour clobbers things completely and as a result you can hardly hear a thing. I do wonder why they do it.

12

Some years back on 20m I remember being interrupted by a then well-known 'big gun' G station, who duly announced that he'd arranged a sked with a very rare DX station on 'my' frequency - and would I (and the pile-up) please stand by while he gave him a call.  "After all," he added, "you've been on this frequency long enough."  Words failed me.  I gave him the opportunity nevertheless, although he never did make contact with the very rare DX station.  I'm sure that his main intention was actually to draw attention to himself and his callsign.  It was rather sad, really.

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As for ZG2FX (special Gibraltar National Day prefix on/around 10 September): normally a quick look in the latest prefix guide soon sorts this one out.  Until which time some Europeans occasionally assume that you must be in the New Zealand area. All this despite reports only minutes earlier of 59+30 into down-town Milan or Frankfurt/Main. Under normal circumstances, most unlikely from ZL.     

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