On Tue, 23 Feb 2016 12:17:41 -0800, Bryan KL7CN bryan@kl7cn.net wrote:
Agree, Clayton.
To me, the best approach is to be a good example when live on the satellites.
There have been times when I have sent a note to an obviously new operator after a pass. The tone of the note is encouragement, with some examples of how things are done most efficiently (no CQ, no signal report, listening for a second or two after talking). That kind of written admonition seems to work best.
If I may add my own still-meager experiences, because they have been significantly different from the prevailing "culture" of satellite operation in the United States.
I operate in Japan (PM85jl) and have worked SO-50, AO-85, and FO-29 so far. FO-29 is rather straightforward, being a SSB bird and as such is approached in the same fashion as 2m SSB phone on the ground (find a clear frequency, call/send CQ, exchange RS(T) and QTH). But while I have not yet worked any FM satellite from the US side, operating practices are apparently different from those I have observed over here -- in Japan, China, Korea, and Russia, you will often hear CQs and signal report exchanges (always 59, of course), and nobody gives grid locators. JA domestic contacts will exchange JCC numbers, but I have never obtained a grid locator from anyone, so eventually I stopped giving mine.
I also notice that FM sat passes, even SO-50 on a sunny Saturday afternoon, are less hectic than what everybody describes the US experience to be. I end up working the same people over and over, so exchanges turn out to be more of the "oh hi Bob, nice hearing you again" variety. I hope I can shake that mentality the next time I go to the US and take a stab at working SO-50 from there, because it seems an entirely different way of operating.
Regardless of which country I'm in, I still can't seem to wrap my head around the concept of right-of-way on an FM bird. I want lots of contacts, but I also don't want to hog the repeater. I throw my callsign out when I can, but if there are a lot of callers I usually shut up to avoid stepping on anyone, and end up with two or three contacts in 12 minutes. It's like walking through a room full of cats -- I'm so concentrated on not stepping on any tails that I get nothing else done.