I don't think FT8 will necessarily doom ham radio, but it could (and likely
will) change the face of DXing for awhile.
But, to me, the excitement of DXing comes from the necessary element of
uncertainty -- when the outcome remains in doubt until the final "RR, TU es
73." Pitting ones skills and station against that uncertainty (propagation,
pileups, other operators' skills, and my own ability to hear and understand) is
where the satisfaction lies. That's the "magic" in radio (at least for me).
Reliance on a computer to do signal processing, forward error correction, etc.,
largely takes my skills out of the picture, and reduces that tantalizing
uncertainty to a "ho-hum" level. (If, indeed, we are looking to a future of
reliable computer-to-computer amateur communications, what is the point of a
"weak link" radio interface?)
What would hunting be if nothing more than a few keystrokes on a laptop or
smartphone landed a nice 8-point buck on your tailgate? What would fishing be
if nothing more than a few such keystrokes put a trophy fish in the bottom of
the boat? Some wouldn't care; a trophy is a trophy. But I'll wager most would
quickly tire of it and quickly return to the "traditional" sports.
Digital modes come and go. Morse has been with us from the start.
73,
Mark -- WA9ETW
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