We could already read a lot on the pages of the few "really" amateur radio magazines about what we should have, what is good, necessary, or, on the contrary, what we must not do and what we must completely avoid on the band.
However, when listening to the bands every day, everyone must immediately come to the conclusion that a number of operators must have been "missing school" when the above mentioned was taken over. Unfortunately, this also applies to many who proudly wear the "OM" mark on their chests.
I wrote as much on the pages of a radio amateur periodical a few years ago, and the situation was very serious then! When turned on TCVR- at KV, however, everyone must come to the conclusion that the situation has not improved since then (how could it, when the behavior on the bands has not improved and good operators are somehow no longer born...) on the contrary, the situation is completely tragic. At a time when, not only in our country, but also in other countries, amateur radio organizations and individuals passionately argue with each other about the preservation of CW during tests, many are not ashamed even of themselves, let alone of a colleague or friend who made a mistake and recklessness, and "ignorance" manifests itself more and more massively in KV operation. How not, when the operator's skill, acquired through many years of operation initially in a lower class and gradually climbing up to the highest level, is now limited to passively handing out powers without the need to know anything, or prove it in any way! The result is then the issuing of the highest grades in the country (why do we still call it that...?) and the so-called "for merit" to operators without knowledge of demanding DX operation, competitive or so much shaken CW!
So if you don't want to appear in the leading places of the so-called blacklists of some top operators or DX expeditions, you too will have to adhere to the following few principles:
1) If we do not know exactly the call sign of the DX station or the frequency (or the way it listens) - don't call me! This will prevent the popular "up..., lsn..." and so on. to our address. Playing cops on a DX station frequency will then cause more confusion and interference than good!
2) If we are already calling in a pile-up, we give our own brand max. 2x in a row! Everything else disturbs everyone involved, especially if we can't work QSK.
3) If we have invoked, we give only what we have received, n i c v i a c! So if it is only a report, we will not transmit e.g. name, even if we could hear S9+20 dB in a DX location. In addition, we robbed another station of the possibility of connection.
4) Each band has a reserved so-called DX windows, formed by several kHz, usually at the very beginning of the bands. They are intended exclusively for DX operation! So, on the 40 m band, we will definitely not deal with EA6 at the frequency of 7.002 kHz. It is difficult to know how many stations from other continents we have prevented from receiving stations from the EU. The specific band of 160 m is divided into many narrow sectors of DX operation. At one o'clock in the afternoon we can tune in to 1832 kHz with OM1, but from dusk there are already such QSO he has nothing to do!
5) If we live in Bratislava or another big city and we don't have good equipment (and that certainly isn't a high-quality factory TCVR with a power of 100 W and vertical), calling CQ is very problematic and debatable! Industrial interference is huge, income conditions are zero and questions like "QRL?..." or "in use?..." are completely worthless in this case. How many stations from other continents are broadcasting below us and we have made it impossible to receive these in the EU, we will find out (from our own experience) only from the justified anger of others who listen on our frequency! Finally, the probability of connecting with DX from the desired direction is almost zero. So if we want to give CQ e.g. towards the members of the club of which we are members, etc., this should be preceded by a thorough verification of the frequency, or possible operation on it and immediate interruption of CQ at any sign of signal below us must be a matter of course. The use of a perfect QSK is then a must.
6) If we are producing a weak signal (which is almost always the case if it is a bare 100W TCVR with a spare antenna), or if we are working QRP, we call in a pile-up only after the onslaught of strong stations. They usually use 6 (and more)-el. direction systems, or full-size verticals for the lower bands and powers of around 2 kW. The probability that we will be contacted at this time is more than minimal.
7) We only transmit as fast as we can receive and transmit 100% without a single error. What's the point of going 150 bpm when we're correcting every other word and the longer the session the more confused the opposing station is! It is a greater shame than precise CW beads at a rate of 80 marks/min.
So much and much more could be written. All principles are general, but they apply even more, e.g. on 160 m, where DX operation is even more demanding, especially for patience and knowledge of the possibilities and conditions of propagation. However, there is no need to "faff around" and over-research... using your head, common sense and decent behavior wins in most cases.
Many DX wishes
Petr, OK1RP