- This is KB9VB Parks on a year.
(muffled voice on radio)
All right. We got a pile-up.
Well, I'll start with the one ending in Papaya.
(upbeat music)
- Hi, I'm Michael KB9VBR,
your host for Ham radio QA.
I'm on a mission to inspire and educate
the amateur radio community.
And today we're going to talk about pile-ups
not those wrecks on a highway,
but instead another kind of wreck.
The one you hear on the air,
a pileup happens when you have a large number of individuals
calling for the same station. At the same time,
sideband signals don't mix and heterodyne.
Like what happens with FM.
You actually can pick out two or three people
talking at once on a frequency,
but had a dozen or more voices in
and all you hear is a wall of sound,
with maybe with distinct bits and pieces
and aloud station you'll possibly might
float to the top.
Kinda like this.
KB9VBR parks on the air.
(muffled voice on radio)
Pile-ups used to be reserved for those rare DX stations.
You know,
the entities are only seem to be on air
once in a blue moon,
or you'd hear them during a special events.
The 13 colonies special event pileups are legendary.
Your exposure to working a pileup may have been
limited to a field day,
when it seems like everyone is on the air and
they all want to talk to the same station,
but that's no longer the case.
Now with the parks on the air program,
everyone has the opportunity to work a pileup.
Parks on here has become a victim of its own success.
The wide acceptance of POTA has gotten a lot of people
on air, both as hunters and activators.
And this means only one thing, pileups.
So if you're thinking about activating a park,
don't fear the pileup instead,
embrace it with these steps.
First off, stay in control.
That sounds easy enough, doesn't it?
But really,
it's not as simple as those trait words make it sound.
Rule number one of the pileup is to stay in control.
But rule number two is hunters will try to break the pile up
by any means necessary,
no matter what.
Someone is going to come on,
giving a call multiple times, calling during the QSO,
giving partial calls
or just dropping a kilowatt of power to get on top.
Any and every exploit is fair game.
As operators we are in control
and the way in which we work the pile ups
will encourage good behavior and not reward bad behavior.
So how do we do that?
Well, the best way is to stay in control
is to use repetition,
be consistent in your calling and patterns.
Stations will pick up on those indicators
and we'll stay within those bounds.
Since you are in control,
you have the ability to say when
you will now accept new calls,
staying consistent in how you operate,
does wonders for keeping the stations in line.
73 have a good one.
This is KB9VBR parks on the year QnZ
(muffled voice on radio)
In responding to calls,
I like to mix it up a bit
as the a hundred stations make their calls,
you will hear nothing but a chaos.
You may pick up partial calls, you know,
maybe at the beginning or the end
of a call sign in the pileup.
And my best advice is to latch on the anything you hear.
If it is a complete call, well, then respond to that.
If you hear bits and pieces you use that,
like now the station ending in Quebec or
the keel Oscar force station.
This is KB9VBR parks on the air.
(muffled voice on radio)
Okay. There, there was a lot there.
The kilos, excuse me, sir.
Kilos, India?
One thing though is if you always wait till
the end of the pile ups to grab a station,
hunters are going to pick up on that real quick
and spread things out longer and longer.
Some people enjoy working that way,
but personally, I like to keep things short.
As those drawn out exchanges are a big time killer,
but what happens if you end up with a bad actor,
you can try ignoring them.
Well, they may or may not go away.
And that's no fun for everybody else.
If they don't fall in line after a few go rounds,
often the best is to work that station and move on.
A technique I found that works really well
is to listen to the pile up
and pick out two or three partial call signs
and either commit those to memory
or just jot them down on paper.
Then work those two stations in rapid succession,
kind of like this.
This is KB9VBR parks on the air.
(muffled voice on radio)
Okay. The whiskey, Victor, eight Delta Lima,
then I'll hit the park depart.
I've heard some operators spread things out so much
that they pick out about a half a dozen,
but this method feels very laborious
and you run the risk of losing stations,
that may not stick around
until you get to their call sign on the list.
Last stations create pauses,
and that allows interlopers to slip in.
So if you're trying to pick multiples,
keep it short and focused on two or three at a time.
If things are getting too heavy and you feel overwhelmed,
take a break.
And am going to take a disconnect
I got to hit the button here and saved my log here before a
Hammer's crashes.
So this is KB9VBR just stand by.
(muffled voice on radio)
Taking a break.
It can be as easy as shutting down for a few minutes.
Now you're in control.
So don't feel bad if you need to pause,
use that time to take a breath, quench your thirst,
reorganize your log sheets.
Much of the stress in operating pileups is psychological
and these brakes really do wonders.
Another simple break is just a pause
and only ask for a park to park QRP or mobile stations.
These operators often get lost in the pileups.
So taking time for them is always welcome.
Echo alpha one alpha Fox got your five, nine into Spain.
Thanks a lot for the contact today.
You're five nine into Wisconsin, whiskey India.
We're on the shores of lake Superior,
Big Bay state park.
Thanks for the contact.
(muffled voice on radio)
Seven three, stay safe.
Okay. I heard a couple park to parks.
So let's get these park to park stations.
(muffled voice on radio)
What about running the numbers?
Is that an ineffective method to handle a pileup?
It can be it,
but it isn't without its problems.
Running the numbers means,
you ask for stations
only from a particular call sign district.
Like number ones, twos or three stations.
The problem is doing it by the numbers is that
people don't like to wait around
for their numbers to come up.
The second is that you always have an imbalance of stations.
For example,
fours and fives will take longer
because there is such a large amount of them,
but you may hardly get any ones or twos.
Here again, mix it up
and be regionally or geographically sensitive
to who's calling.
If you get lost,
if you get a lot of four stations,
well start with them,
clear out the mess and then move up and down the line.
Finally, if you want to totally avoid the deep pile ups,
here's a couple of things you can do.
First off, operate QRP.
QRP, or low power operations isn't for everyone.
It can be an exercise in frustration
if you're not prepared for it,
but limiting your power is a great way to limit the context.
As the corollary of the popular saying go is,
they can't work. You if they can't hear you.
Another option is to pick times and days when there just
There's less activity on the band,
mornings and weekdays will naturally give you a slower pace.
Then Saturday afternoons on 40 meters.
So if you're just starting out
and you're nervous about your on-air performance,
now pick a slower time to get on the air.
Once you gained a confidence of a few good activations,
you won't fear the deep end.
Remember it's your activation and your pileup.
You can control it, however you please,
but with these simple tips,
working to pileups
will be more enjoyable and reduce your stress.
I enjoy the thrill of a good pileup
and I like to work around the edges to pick out the stations
that otherwise might be overpowered by the big guns.
Like I said,
stations will use every exploit at their disposal to break
the pile up.
So if you can at work a station that uses skill in timing,
rather than brute force to get through,
it will be a more rewarding experience for everyone.
These simple tips will get you started
in managing your next on pileup.
What's your favorite tip? Did I leave anything out?
Well, leave it in a comment and tell me your experiences.
Want more tips?
I've got a video of that.
Me and you may enjoy click over here to keep watching,
but that's it for this time.
I'm Michael KB9VBR have a great day in 73.