Good Practices When Calling CQ on the Calling Channels

It is not good practice to maintain a QSO on a calling frequency even though propagation may appear poor, it may not be poor for radio users in other parts of the world.

After you make a general call on a calling frequency it would be considered best to QSY to another frequency then put out another general call on your selected frequency to get responses from anyone who may have copied your original call on the calling channel.

If you standby for responses on the calling channel you are creating additional QRM for other radio users on the calling frequency which is often all ready busy with other general calls from other radio users.

You should also avoid using radio frequencies which are close to a calling frequency.  For example, if you QSY from 27.555 to 27.560 or 27.565 and your signal is 9+ to other stations in Europe you may well be creating interference on the calling frequency when you transmit on adjacent frequencies.

If someone is making a specific CQ Call such as CQ Germany, CQ USA or CQ DX you should only answer a call of that type if you are in the area being targeted.  You shouldn't really respond if you are not in the targeted area since this was the type of response being requested.

Some radio operators may not understand the real meaning of DX. In Europe, for example we can consider stations in other continents such as South America or Russia as a DX but would also include countries which are generally harder to reach or are not often on air.



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