so ive been chasing VP6R for like three days straight and just could not get through. tried everything i thought i knew — full power, good timing, calling right on their frequency by accident a few times which obviously didnt help. the pileup on 17m was just insane, had to be 200+ stations calling at once.

what finally worked was listening way more carefully to where they were actually pulling calls from. they were working split and i noticed they kept coming back to stations a little above where the bulk of the pileup was sitting. so i moved up maybe 3 kHz from the crowd and just waited, timed my call for right after they finished a QSO and before everyone else keyed up again. single call, got them first try.

i know this isnt revolutionary but i think a lot of guys just park on one frequency in the split range and hammer away. the dx station is literally telling you where theyre listening if you pay attention long enough. also running a pretty modest setup here, IC-7300 and a hex beam at about 30 feet, so its not like i was just overpowering everyone.

curious what other tricks people use, especially for the really rare ones where the pileups are completely out of control

yeah the listening thing is huge and most people skip it entirely. i watched a video once of a DXpedition operator talking about this and he said the biggest mistake is guys who call continuously without ever stopping to listen where the dx is actually coming back. they have no idea if theyre even close to where the dx is tuning.

one thing i've had luck with on CW specifically is timing the tail end of the dx station's callsign. like you send your call right as they finish their last character, not a half second after. takes a little practice to get the feel for it but it gets you in that little window before the pileup crashes in. on phone its harder obviously because theres always that guy who starts calling before the dx even finishes their over.

the 7300 into a hex beam is honestly a solid setup for this stuff, dont let anyone tell you otherwise. ive worked some pretty rare entities with way less.

this is something i've been trying to get better at. im still pretty new to chasing dx seriously and the pileup thing is intimidating. like i genuinely dont know how people figure out the split when the dx doesnt announce it clearly. do you just scan around and listen for where other people are bunched up calling? i feel like im missing something obvious