The Secret To Getting DX Stations To Chat.

For as long as I have been a ham (32 years), I have wondered why DX stations do not want to chat with American hams. Last night, I finally got one to actually have a conversation because I would not let him just give me a "hi and bye" contact. His callsign was EB3JT and his name was Jordi. After he gave me his basic info macro, I greeted him and asked if he worked the ARRL SSB DX Contest, hoping this would get him to open up and chat. He said he did not work it and attempted to sign off by thanking me for the QSO. I immediately asked him "Why do you only say a few words and want to sign off right away? I thought we could talk a bit more." He replied saying "OK, sorry...I (garble) and is very difficult to combine macros with words in life." I thought that was a bogus excuse and I wasn't buying it! I wrote back the following: "I don't know what digital program you use, but I use MixW 2.20 and it works fine. I wud like to have more talk with DX stations but they won't talk with me. I don't understand why they don't try. You get better at English the more you use it."

Jordi replied with the following: "My program is ham radio deluxe but I have all messages in macros. They don't try perhaps because his English is not very good and fluid....this is my case. I just understand English but is very difficult for me talk in life. because my vocabulary is not too extensive."

I replied, "I can understand you perfectly, Jordi. your English is fine. You don't need to know fancy words in order to get your point across to the other operator. I am pretty good at understanding what people mean even if they don't know how to spell some words. No problem."

Then Jordi said "OK, thanks about my vocabulary....at this moment I don't know what I can talk more." At this point, I knew I had him flat footed. I shot down every excuse he gave me. So, then I continued with "See? I knew you could do it. Well, you did not tell me what kind of radio you have or the antenna. Also, what kind of work do you do? How about your weather? Right now we have cloudy sky and 36F temperature. Wind is at 3 miles per hour out of the East."

Jordi replied with a rundown of his equipment and weather and his job. He said he works in a jewelry store with his parents and things are not going well with the business. I told him that I was laid off from my job of 17 years and jobs are scarce. After that, we started to lose propagation and we signed off. He said it was a big pleasure to chat with me.

So, my friends, it is indeed possible to get a DX station to say more than 599. You just have to use a little psychology and the power of persuasion. Knowing this, now, perhaps I might just make more DX friends. I hope this helps you, as well.

73,

John, AA9UF