"Not my channel"

[kd7rto]

Question: is what I'm about to describe a matter of common ham radio etiquette, or just the quirks of a few individuals being overly cautious not to step on anyone's toes?

It has happened to me twice recently. I've been tuning across the 6-meter band, I stop on a QSO, wait until they are done, then call one of the party's. "Not my channel, OM". Not even a "go up 5", just a refusal.

Not that I want to force a conversation with someone who doesn't want to talk to me, but this seems rather silly. Like saying that some driver owns an intersection, because he has driven through it recently. No, when it is in use, you wait. That applies to everybody.

If I was calling CQ, a station answered, and after we're done another station called him, I would think nothing of waiting, finding another frequency, or turning the rig off and going to do something else. Part 97 calls for sharing, no frequency is for exclusive use.

If I hear a grid square that I need, but it's not "his frequency", how am I supposed to make the contact?

 

[k8wtf]

Maybe a silly question, but are you sure the other end was hearing you? Perhaps they were using tone squelch or just were not picking you up.

 

[kd7rto]

Their refusals were definitely in response to me.

 

[AK9R]

A possibility: The station you called had previously answered a CQ by the other station. The station you called may just be leaving the frequency clear for the other station to continue calling CQ.

Are you able to hear both stations in the QSO?

 

[W2NJS]

Make a note of their callsign(s) and avoid them. It's an obvious clique and you don't need them or their foolish ways of "operating." And don't hesitate to use "their" frequency, because it's not theirs at all.

 

[W9NES]

I hear this all the time on 2 meters on our local repeater as some people want to talk to their **So called Friends** If you are not in their local click then they do not want to talk to you** Just Like High School.and a Light Switch on the wall.**Turn them off and they will go away on their own** As far as others wanting to move up 5 this is a simple move to let others know that you do not want to tie up the freq and clear the freq for others to use. I hear this being used on 10 meters.

 

[majoco]

I'm with W9RXR on this. May even be a net where you can't hear the control.

 

[zz0468]

...If I hear a grid square that I need, but it's not "his frequency", how am I supposed to make the contact?

I would consider that a courteous act by the other amateur. If you need to work a station in those circumstances, call him and ask if he can meet you up 10 khz or so.

6 meters has some funny gentleman's rules... DX calling frequencies, US calling frequencies, etc. As previously mentioned, it's possible that you were on a frequency that was prior occupied by someone else, a net, ot maybe you were on a calling frequency. Read up on the band plan, and how the game is played, and you'll have a lot more fun.

 

[zz0468]

I hear this all the time on 2 meters on our local repeater as some people want to talk to their **So called Friends** If you are not in their local click then they do not want to talk to you** Just Like High School.

Some people use 2m and 440 as an intercom channel to talk to people they already know. They may not be interested in talking to someone else at the moment. It's ok, they're allowed to do that, and it has nothing to do with high school. It has more to do with THEIR particular communication's needs, and not yours.

 

[kd7rto]

I would consider that a courteous act by the other amateur. If you need to work a station in those circumstances, call him and ask if he can meet you up 10 khz or so.

6 meters has some funny gentleman's rules... DX calling frequencies, US calling frequencies, etc. As previously mentioned, it's possible that you were on a frequency that was prior occupied by someone else, a net, ot maybe you were on a calling frequency. Read up on the band plan, and how the game is played, and you'll have a lot more fun.

Fun band, but it's definitely got some peculiarities. The one that gets me is that in addition to the "Pacific DX Window" (51.0-51.1 MHz), noted on the bandplan chart I printed out from the ARRL website, they also observe a DX window from 50.1-50.125. SSB ops sometimes go above 50.2, where I hear digital modes that no doubt could do without the QRM, but they won't cross this line, where I've never heard a single signal. As for the US calling frequencies, SSB and FM, I've heard them acknowledged as such, but nobody seems to gripe when I've heard them used for long QSO's or even calling CQ.

I did some 6 meters last Summer, and I've really been enjoying it this year. No OO cards in the mail, so I can't be breaking convention all that badly.

 

[zz0468]

I did some 6 meters last Summer, and I've really been enjoying it this year. No OO cards in the mail, so I can't be breaking convention all that badly.

Well, the OO's are looking for FCC rule violations, and most of what constitutes the band plans is by gentleman's agreement, not FCC decree, so I wouldn't expect an OO to comment on it. But the other 6 meter ops? They'll grumble about it amongst themselves.

Yeah, fun band, but you have to pay attention to who and what operates where or someone's knickers will get bunched up in a knot. :lol:

 

[elk2370bruce]

No one "owns" any frequency. "Channels", by the way, are for FRS or CB" users. The portions of the radio spectrum that have been assigned to amateur radio by the FCC are for all licensees who have earned operating privileges consistent with their license privileges. These guys sound like QRZed geezers. Unfortunately, we have our bad apples in our basket just like all other hobbies. I apolgize for their closed mindedness and provincial attitude as will the overwhelming amateur radio denizens.

 

[eorange]

"Not my channel, OM". Not even a "go up 5", just a refusal.

If it were me, I'd call back and ask them nicely what they mean. If they refuse or give you grief, then there's your answer...

 

[k9rzz]

Say: "R Zed Zed, I need your grid square, go up 5!" Then you call him a couple of times. If that don't work, maybe someone else will have followed you and call you.

Oh, we had a guy in the VHF contests that drove us nutz. He would listen to us run stations and when we attracted a grid square he needed, he'd try to tail end us and grab it too. Sorry, old friend, frequency is in use! and it's back to CQ CQ! We'll have none of that! :^]

Shameless self promotion: here's our contest group in action back in '99 - YouTube - ‪VHF Contesting - 1999‬‏

 

[W9NES]

Yes it does and if you are not in the click it IS JUST LIKE HIGH SCHOOL!!! If you turn them off like a light switch they will go away.I do not agee with W9RXR.We have a group on a local Indianapolis area repeater that do this everyday.A couple of people talk to each other.When we had another ham ask a question no one knew the answer.When The ham asked if anyone was around that had the answer another Ham answered the ham with the answer to his question.When the Ham with the asnwer was thanked for his help the other Ham Ignored him and did not reply.I do not talk to people in a click.I have friends that I have on the repeater that I have known for years and they are not in a "Click" It is to bad that we have Hams that are like this.What about the old hams like myself. I try to set a example for the New Hams to follow.That is what Ham Radio is all about!!!!

 

[kb2vxa]

"We have a group on a local Indianapolis area repeater that do this everyday."
Thanks, if I'm ever out your way I'm forewarned... not that I bother with repeaters anyway. (;->) BTW, just an FYI, you click a switch and you avoid a clique.

 

[wyomingmedic]

That is common practice and the ham was being polite. He probably ANSWERED a CQ and did not want to step on the other op's toes.

And while it may not upset YOU to wait for others to finish a QSO, it may upset others. It does upset me. I have had that happen a few times. Usually while I am running a pileup. I generally give them a few back and fourths to get an alternate frequency worked out. Then i go back to my CQs.

Sometimes it is hard to find a good frequency and sometimes you are popping up on a cluster and don't want to leave that spot.

So, while it seemed rude, it was actually being polite to the feller who was on frequency first. I get folks who call me all the time in pileups because they need Wyoming or my grid or county. I generally just ignore them as it would be rude to step on the toes of the frequency.

73,
WM

 

[NR8O]

It's just a courtesy thing and it's common on HF too, at least as long as I've been a ham. If I'm tuning around the band, hear someone calling CQ, and have a QSO with that person, at the end of the conversation I just feel like the polite thing to do is allow him to continue to work additional stations on that frequency (unless he's going QRT). If someone calls me I'll suggest going up or down 5 to 10 khz to find a clear spot. Back when I was flying for a living we had HF radios in the planes for Atlantic crossings and I'd often tune around the HF bands and make contacts. If I answered a CQ and ended up having a QSO, upon sign-off there would inevitably be a small pile-up of hams calling because of the novelty of working an aeronautical mobile station. I always made it a habit to return the frequency to the original operator and slide off to a different frequency. Anyway, for what it's worth that how I've always done it. Good question though.

73, Ron - NR8O

 

[OpSec]

Shameless self promotion: here's our contest group in action back in '99 - YouTube - ‪VHF Contesting - 1999‬‏

Super Doug! (I think I stopped in that weekend...It's been about that long since I've been to Fred's)

On topic: I ran into the usual grumpy old guys on HF this year during Field Day, but I stumbled over a couple of crabby guys on 6 this year as well. I guess the band being open really got them lathered up. My take on it is if you can't live with a 24 hour contest (FD or not), you probably take the whole thing a little too serious.

 

[Murstech]

I usually apologize by playing some popular music for a few hours so they wont so bored monitoring THEIR FREQUENCY.