6 Meter DXing Using the Buddy System

In my 6 meter season wrap-up I mentioned that I and a couple of friends all passed the 100 country DXCC mark (confirmations) on 6 meters this year, and that called for a celebration. With the gradual rollback of pandemic restrictions that became possible and we had our get-together in late August. 

Sharing the accomplishment with friends, when all have the same accomplishment to celebrate, is particularly enjoyable. It is not really coincidental that the three of us passed the DXCC milestone in the same year. As I've said on multiple occasions, the digital modes changed the DX game forever on 6 meters. Despite my strong preference for the "traditional" modes, FT8 in particular is well suited to the brief and elusive nature of most long DX paths via sporadic E propagation on 6 meters, and its occasional tie-up with TEP to reach across the equator. 

We are shown at the QTH of Cezar VE3LYC (on the left) having a BBQ, complete with a variety of Romanian treats. The latter was particularly welcome since my family comes from Romania and with the passing of my parents it brought back many pleasant memories. The picture was taken by Lucy, Cezar's wife, who is to be thanked for the wonderful meal we shared.

Paul VA3LX is in the centre and I am on the right. Both Paul and Cezar are in FN14 and I'm in FN24. Both of them live near the city of Kingston on the shore of Lake Ontario. Cezar and Lucy's home in on the very picturesque lakefront, just upstream of the city and the Thousand Islands. This is a rare photograph of yours truly since I rarely show pictures of myself. Readers and more interested in what I'm doing, and not on me.

In that light I want to turn my attention to the DX buddy system. It has slid in importance over the years as DX spotting networks, RBN, PSK Reporter and other online systems tells us where and when to find the DX. These remove a lot of the drudgery of finding rare DX. However, many DXers prefer to do the work on their own, to find the DX without outside assistance. Regardless of approach, you still have to work them.

In the buddy system, when one of the group's members notes the DX station or path opening, they spread the news to their DX buddies. This can be done in many ways, and for the three of us it has mostly been via email. Email is fast and it is not especially "pushy" in comparison to many alerting services. It suits us.

For our small group, the buddy system worked very well. All of us are at least partially retired, which gives us time to monitor 6 meters and react to pings from each other. There is also friendly competition among us regarding our successes, stations and operating styles. We are effectively egging each other on. The enthusiasm for our common pursuit rises from the positive feedback. At the BBQ we discussed the ways in which we can improve our results next year: remote operation, amplifiers and antennas.

During the exceptional 1989/1990 solar maximum, F-layer propagation frequently appeared, with shorter path DX continuing to be via sporadic E. I had just one local buddy with whom I kept in regular contact: Gord VE3KKL. F-layer propagation is more predictable but not enough to plan your operating schedule to the solar indices. 

Finding DX was also more difficult since there was no global DX spotting network and you had to spin the dial to find those CW and SSB stations. The scanning feature of VHF/UHF rigs came in very handy, provided you and your family could tolerate the constant hiss and occasional signal burst emanating from the radio shack. Gord's family tolerated it, but just barely.

The problem for me back then was my time. I was young, working full time and with a busy social calendar. The buddy system mostly went in one direction. Getting calls from Gord at work was aggravating since I could not get on the air, and I regrettably missed many openings and the possibility of new countries. Remote operation was out of the question. When I couldn't react to his alerts we could still share our passion for 6 meters by discussing openings, predicted openings, DX stations heard or rumoured to be active.

I am relating this story since I learned not long ago that Gord became a silent key earlier this year. We spoke less frequently in recent years. I was remiss in reestablishing contact with the many old friends during that 20 years of inactivity. But soon after I returned to 6 meters we bumped into each other on 6 meter SSB and later in person. However, like many, he didn't make the leap to digital. There was little left for him to work on the traditional modes.

We all need our DX buddies on 6 meters. Recruit them, celebrate milestones and remember them when they're gone.