Bill, W4ZV, said:
"If I cannot decode a weak signal with my own ears (not eyes), it's not a
genuine "QSO" in my book."
What is a QSO in the context of amateur radio ?
To me, a QSO is a completed two-way communication carried out using
electromagnetic waves. But, clearly, there are many different ways in which
this communication may be accomplished. Bill would not accept an RTTY QSO
as a "real" QSO. Nor, presumably, would he accept a QSO accomplished by a
deaf person who is using some form of tactile or visual technique for
reading what is being received. For Bill the penultimate transducer in the
receiving chain is his ear (the ultimate device is the brain). I think that
this is too narrow an interpretation of what is meant by a QSO, and it
would exclude many worthwhile activities carried out by our fellow amateurs.
On the matter of "aided" QSOs in which techniques such as the internet are
used, whether the "QSO" is genuine depends upon what one is trying to
accomplish with the QSO. If it is just to enjoy that QSO then anything
goes. If it is to increase one's DXCC count then the sort of QSO Jeff
describes with 9V1GO should not count. If one is competing in a contest as
an unassisted entry then nothing other than one's ears should be used. If
one is trying to communicate with another amateur on VLF using QRSS then
obviously some computer technique has to be used. Such a QSO must be
considered as "genuine".
We each have our own objectives and reasons for DXing on topband. We must
use the techniques which are compatible with these objectives.
Thanks to Wolf for initiating this interesting discussion.
73
Bob
VE3OSZ
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